Re: [Openocd-development] OpenOCD GUI

[Nico C. <nc...@DE...>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ope...@li... [mailto:openocd-
> dev...@li...] On Behalf Of Michael Schwingen
> Sent: dinsdag 20 oktober 2009 8:48
> To: ope...@li...
> Subject: Re: [Openocd-development] OpenOCD GUI
> 
> Dean Glazeski wrote:
> > Another thing of interest is a feature list.  I've started a feature
> > list in this email and additions are welcome.
> I don't see how a GUI will improve my work in any of these areas:
> >
> > 1. OpenOCD server configuration
> >     a. Telnet Port
> >     b. GDB Port
> >     c. TCL Port
> >     d. Target Type
> >     e. Interface
> I need to write a custom board config file in most cases. A GUI won't
> help me set up SDRAM controller registers and other board details.
> > 2. Start and stop OpenOCD with log output to window
> >     a. Colored output for errors, info, etc.
> Reduce the number of printed messages. Those remaining don't need any
> colouring in order to be understandable.
> > 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
> How would the GUI know about the target and interface configs I have
> written?
> I think xterm+telnet provide everything that is needed in this
category.
> > 4. Target flashing/loading of programs
> I usually add a "do_flash" procedure to my board scripts - a GUI can't
> provide much improvement here.
> 
> 
> I do think GUIs are fine for the right job - eg. for a debugger. A GUI
> that replaces simple commands with buttons does not provide much merit
> for me.

IMHO a GUI is a good idea but it has to be cross-platform. I have been
using WxWidgets for cross platform development for several years and I
must say the transfer between Windows and Linux is seemless.

I don't think a GUI is usefull for debugging because OpenOCD is a
man-in-the-middle. A GUI will be usefull though for testing setups and
flash programming. Console commands are fine for pro's but for a
beginner a GUI is much easier. Perhaps there should be a log window
which shows the commands send to OpenOCD.

Nico Coesel