[Dev-C++] Using dev-cpp for embedded systems development

[David B. <da...@we...>]

Hi,

We do a lot of embedded systems development.  Among other things, I use gcc
for programming a 68332 microcontroller, with gdb (and sometimes gvd) for
debugging.  The gcc and gdb are special builds for cross-compiling - in
particular, the gdb build commuicates with a hardware debugger connected to
my parallel port.

I would imagine that it should be reasonably straightforward to integrate
the embedded compiler - after all, it is a port of gcc.  The binaries have
different names, however (such as "m68k-elf-gcc.exe"), the library is
newlib, the linker files are heavily customised, and there are a number of
command-line options that are specific to the port.  The gdb port is a
special build - it supports most of the standard gdb commands, but has a few
additional commands (such as to configure the debugger hardware), requires
customised setup scripts (to set up the target board), fails to implement
certain standard commands (such as "run" - you must always use "continue"),
and obviously has differences for the different processor architecture (such
as completly different registers).  Some users also make heavy use of the
serial gdb protocol, or remote gdb systems for embedded development.

Would it be possible to use dev-cpp as an IDE with these tools?  Has anyone
else tried using it for cross-compiling environments?  At the moment, I use
a general text editor, standard make, and gdb along with gvd, but it would
be very interesting to be able to use an IDE.



David Brown
Norway