PropGCC with Xcode 9

victorn

Hello everyone,

I'm on macOS Sierra and I'm having some trouble getting Xcode to work with PropGCC. I will be soon embarking on a company project using the Propeller I. Using SimpleIDE was great for learning purposes and getting used to the Prop, but now that I have to start working on a large project it just doesn't make the cut anymore.

I use Sublime Text 3 for editing regularly but I'm also having some trouble with my current makefile and PropGCC. I'd mainly like to ask for other people's opinion on how to approach this situation. Any suggestions regarding a good environment (either Xcode or something else) for developing with the Prop I and any specific tooling that you guys use would be greatly appreciated!

David Betz

I've never tried to use the Xcode IDE with Propeller C code but I certainly use it to build Mac OS X versions of PropGCC. I also use Sublime to edit both C code and makefiles. What sort of problems are you having?

Heater.

In my opinion the editor you use is irrelevant. I use all kind of things, SimpleIDE, Sublime, Atom and my current favorite Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. Of course there is always vim when I'm in a hurry.

It would be interesting to hear why SimpleIDE does not cut it for you. Given the 32K memory of the Propeller it's not like you are ever going to be making a huge code base to fit in there.

The important thing is the build tools. Why is your makefile and/or PropGCC not working?

For me, part of the beauty of the Propeller is the lack of the requirement for any complicated IDE or build tools. PropGCC, a makefile and the editor of your choice should be all you need.

victorn

I guess a better way to say it's not that I am having problems but more that I need some guidance on how to set up the environment to write for the Prop. I appreciate your quick replies, I recognize the two of you from a mile away as I've been able to perform many fixes because of your participation in the forums.

I am a bit new to the embedded development side of things, so let's just say that I am just looking for some tips from experienced guys like you, if that makes sense.

David Betz

I guess one of the problems with using makefiles is that Parallax never published the sample code that uses them preferring instead to promote SimpleIDE. You can find the sample code if you clone the PropGCC GitHub repository. The "demos" directory contains many examples that build using makefiles. You can find them here:

https://github.com/dbetz/propgcc-demos.git

victorn

Thanks David, those makefiles give me a better idea on how to get things set up.

DavidZemon

I hope the folks here on the forums aren't getting too tired of this broken record...

Another option is PropWare. I haven't had the greatest of times getting it to run on Windows, but you shouldn't have any real issues on Mac (my work is done on Linux). PropWare provides you with a CMake build system (a Makefile-generator) that takes care of all the hard stuff. You also can leverage some of CMake's great features, such as generating project files for XCode.

On top of CMake and all its great features, you'll also get access to Parallax's Simple Library, my own PropWare namespace (C++), SRLM's libpropeller namespace, and an Arduino port. Check it all out here: https://david.zemon.name/PropWare/ and let me know if you have questions.

victorn

I have read about PropWare before, I guess it is time for me to give it a try. I will get back to you with some questions later if I have any problems setting things up.

Thanks David Z!