Target Communication Framework: Getting Started
Copyright (c) 2007, 2008 Wind River Systems, Inc. Made available under the EPL v1.0
Direct comments, questions to the dsdp-tcf-dev@eclipse.org mailing list
Table of Contents
Eclipse can be used for developing clients for TCF in Java.
TCF host side code is organized into several Eclipse plug-in projects,
below are steps to create and populate Eclipse workspace with TCF projects:
TCF plugins source code is stored in <TCF Root>\plugins directory.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf
- This is the main TCF plugin. It contains Eclipse integration code for the framework.
It is the only TCF plugin, which (together with its fragments) should be required by a TCF client. The rest of TCF plugins are
clients developed as a reference implementation or for demonstration purposes.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf.core
- This is a fragment of org.eclipse.tm.tcf plugin. It contains the framework itself and interfaces for standard services.
The Java code in the fragment does not have any Eclipse dependencies and can be used outside Eclipse.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf.debug, org.eclipse.tm.tcf.debug.ui
- This is a prototype code that connects Eclipse Debug Framework and Target Communication Framework.
It allows to launch Eclipse debug session by connecting to a target running TCF agent,
and then perform basic debugging tasks, like resuming, suspending, single-stepping, setting/removing breakpoints, etc.
The code can be used as a reference for developing new TCF clients.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf.dsf, org.eclipse.tm.tcf.dsf.ui
- This code allows Debugger Services Framework (DSF) clients to access targets using TCF as comminucation protocol.
It includes implementation of DSF services as TCF clients.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf.rse
- This plugin allows Remote System Explorer (RSE) to connect to remote machines using TCF as communication protocol.
It includes implementation of RSE services as TCF clients.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf.cdt.ui
- This optional plugin improves integration between CDT and TCF debugger prototype.
It helps to search for CDT projects and executable files when creating TCF launch configuration.
- org.eclipse.tm.tcf.examples.daytime
- This is an example plugin.
The Example shows how TCF/Java binding can be extended for a new, user defined service.
The plugin provides Java binding for DayTime service.
Also, see directory
<TCF Root>/examples/org.eclipse.tm.tcf.examples.daytime.agent
for example code of a customized TCF agent, which implements DayTime service.
CDT can be used to build TCF agent.
CDT .project file is located in <TCF Root>/agent directory.
Linux: To build the agent:
Windows: For building the agent, there are two possibilities:
- Building with gcc (freely available from Wascana,
Cygwin or the
MinGW32 project): run
make
or make SYSOP=Msys
in the agent directory.
- Building with Microsoft Visual C++:
open workspace file
<TCF Root>/agent/agent.sln
and then build and run the agent using Development Studio commands. If getting an error about
IPHlpApi.h missing, you'll need to install the latest
MS Platform SDK.
For the free Visual C++ Express Edition, the
following changes in settings may be necessary:
- Project > Properties > C/C++ > Preprocessor > Preprocessor Definitions:
add _CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE
- Project > Properties > Linker > Input > Additional Dependencies :
add shell32.lib
On VxWorks, line number mapping and the SysMonitor service (needed for RSE Processes
Demo) are not yet implemented.
To build the agent: Use Wind River Workbench 3.0 or 3.1, and VxWorks 6.6 or 6.7 to create a Kernel Module
project out of source code in <TCF Root>/agent directory. Use Workbench
commands to build and run the agent. To run the agent on VxWorks Simulator
you will need to setup a simulated network - see Networking with the VxWorks Simulator chapter
in Wind River VxWorks Simulator user's guide for details.
On Linux, the default configuration from the CDT .project file included in TCF
should be fine for correctly browsing the agent source code. Linux is recommended
for working on the agent anyways, because most features are implemented already.
On Windows, open Project Properties of the agent project, and under C/C++ General >
Indexer switch the configuration to "Win32 - Cygwin" or "Win32 - DevStudio"
as needed.
For VxWorks, browsing should be configured automatically through the WR Workbench
Kernel Module Project.
Remote System Explorer is an Eclipse based component that allows users to create connections to remote machines and
explore their file systems, see list of processes and access some other resources, like remote shells.
Remote System Explorer has been designed as a flexible, extensible framework to which Eclipse plug-in developers can
contribute their own system definitions, actions, etc.
Plugin org.eclipse.tm.tcf.rse enables use of Processes and Files subsystems of Remote System Explorer over TCF.
It also extends Processes subsystem to include CPU utilization data and some other process attributes in RSE views.
To connect a remote machine over TCF:
- Make sure TCF agent is running on remote machine.
- Run Eclipse with RSE and TCF plugins installed.
- In Eclipse, do "Window/Open Perspective/Remote System Explorer" command.
- In "Remote Systems" view: do right click and select "New/Connection..."
- In "New Connection" dialog box: select TCF and press "Next" button.
- Enter "Host name" - IP host name ot the target machine, and "Connection name" - arbitrary string to name new connection.
Press "Finish" button.
- New connection should appear in "Remote Systems" view and it is ready to be explored.
RSE features supported by TCF connection:
- File Subsystem: full support, i.e. browse, upload, download, copy, move, delete
- Processes: browse, including parent/child relationship
Plugins org.eclipse.tm.tcf.debug and org.eclipse.tm.tcf.debug.ui allow to start a debug session
by connecting to a machine runnning TCF agent.
To start a debug session over TCF:
- Make sure TCF agent is running on remote machine.
- Run Eclipse with TCF plugins installed.
- In Eclipse, do "Window/Open Perspective/Debug" command.
- Do "Run/Open Debug Dialog..." command.
- In "Debug" dialog box: select "Target Comminucation Framework" configuration type and press "New" button.
- Enter a name for the configuration.
- Select a target machine in "Available targtes" list. The list shows targets autodetected on local network.
- Press "Run Diagnostics" button to test connectivity for selected target.
- Enter a program name to run in debug session, for example "/bin/ls".
- Press "Debug" to start the debugger.
In TCF debug session "Debug", "Breakpoints", "Registers", "Variables" and "Expressions" views are populated.
Source level debugging is fully supported if the source code can be found in a CDT project in current workspace.