ELF compiler for ARM7 based Real-time embedded OS VxWorks 5.5

Google for "ARM compilers" and you'll find lots. Some are free such - gcc - and others cost a lot - Greenhills, IAR etc. There are some in the middle which are not free but are much cheaper than the dear ones - Rowley. I'm sure Windriver will have a compiler they prefer for work with VxWorks but I guarantee it won't be cheap.

Incidentally, the 'exe' is not regular, it just happens to be the object code format you are most familiar with (I guess you are from a PC background).

The last I knew, the ARM compiler that Rowley sells is gcc.

Precisely. ELF _is_ the "regular" executable/object file format. The .exe format is an oddball, proprietary format.

Op Mon, 21 May 2007 13:51:56 +0200 schreef Tom Lucas :

That one is called the Wind River Compiler (formerly Diab).

Exe is not a format, just an incarnation of the PE (Portable Executable) format, which in turn is a perversion of the COFF format.

I realise that the underlying compiler is still gcc but I would say that from the OP's point of view they would appear to be two different beasts. From the questions the OP asked one can infer that he is not overly familiar with the linker end of the build process and is likely to assume that the IDE _is_ the compiler.

But you are certainly correct, Crossworks generates object code using gcc.

The one that came with VxWorks 5.5 for that architecture. You'll need the VxWorks environment anyway because of OS headers and libs and the build environment.

And yes, it's expensive.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Frank-Christian Krügel

The IDE (including the debugger) are Rowley's -- I hope nobody thought I was implying they weren't or that Rowley was doing anything wrong. If you want an IDE (particulary if you want Linux support), Rowley is the first place I'd look.

The fact that the compiler itself is open-source is a real bonus.

My doubt number 2 (sorry for sounding so stupid as its very new to me)

if I am able to write some code us> >

I (blush) have to admit that I've never used VxWorks, I expect I'm the only subscriber here who hasn't. But if it's anything like other RTOSses you compile your application along with the OS, producing a single ELF (or whatever format) file that you then load into the target device's memory. Any filing system available is normally only used for data files.

Paul Burke

I believe it may be possible to load your code into memory at a certain location and have the OS jump to it when required but this is only a guess based on how it appeared to work when I had a brief encounter with VxWorks some time ago. Of course, this requires that VxWorks already be loaded.

I do know that the LogicLoader OS that comes with LogicPD's development kits allows an elf to be uploaded serially or via ethernet (or JTAG too) and that the program can be started from the OS in a windowsish style (more DOS really). I believe the OS is based around uCos but I don't know for sure.

I think the OP is standing at the bottom of a steep learning curve but one probably less steep than trying to bring up a new processor from scratch. I'm sure Lewin has written a book about about this sort of thing - it does seem to be rather up his street ;-)