[Openocd-development] OpenOCD GUI

[Dean G. <dn...@gm...>]

Hi list,

I've been sort of bothered by the lack of a GUI for OpenOCD.  I've seen this
project: http://openocd-gui.sourceforge.net/, but I'm not entirely certain
if I like their direction.  My main concern is the lack of activity and the
goal of using C++ or TCL/Tk.  At any rate, I was going to start putting
together some documents to outline what a GUI application for OpenOCD might
look like.  This includes some rough sketches of how I might envision the UI
and what properties would be configurable etc.

What I wanted to find out from the OpenOCD community is the interest in this
and if there is any preference on how the frontend would be put together.
Right now I'm thinking of making it an Eclipse plug-in or creating a
separate JAR built using Java Swing or SWT.  I'm sort of avoiding the use of
C++, C, TCL/Tk, Python, or Perl/Tk mainly because everyone should have some
form of Java interpreter that has support for Swing and Java is very easy to
work in.

Another thing of interest is a feature list.  I've started a feature list in
this email and additions are welcome.

1. OpenOCD server configuration
    a. Telnet Port
    b. GDB Port
    c. TCL Port
    d. Target Type
    e. Interface
2. Start and stop OpenOCD with log output to window
    a. Colored output for errors, info, etc.
3. Connect to OpenOCD to issue commands
    a. Perhaps a list of available commands filtered based on target and
interface
    b. Target status display
    c. Multiple windows for multiple targets/interfaces
4. Target flashing/loading of programs

This is just a start for the list of features and mirrors some ideas from
OpenOCD-GUI.  I'm sure I'll think of more and I'm sure the people on this
list know things that I've missed.  In a week or two I'll put together some
design documentation based on suggestions and resubmit to this list for any
revisions or opinions.

On another note, this leads me to wonder if there is a possibility of an API
in the future so that one could query an OpenOCD executable to see what it
supports in terms of target and interface hardware.  It might be possible to
just make it part of the version command so that an external program can
query for what devices can be used for debugging.  Or it could be a command
issued over the telnet or GDB connection.  Thoughts?

Anyway, lengthy email aside, I appreciate anyone's input on this as I build
up a spec for a GUI.  If the guys from the OpenOCD-GUI project on
Sourceforge are on this list and are willing to talk Java, or convince me of
another method, don't hesitate to contact me off list.  Thanks for any input
from users and developers out there.

// Dean Glazeski