Linux App Visual Studio Code¶

Objective¶

This wiki page will describe how to setup Visual Studio Code so it can be used to build and debug an ARM Linux user-level program on the AM62x.

General setup¶

• Install and setup visual studio code. See vscode_setup
• Make target name. See ssh_target_naming_and_port_forwarding
• Be familiar with generating a Makefile. See vscode_generate_makefile
• Information on VSCode tasks and launch files. See vscode_tasks_and_launch

Hello World Example¶

• Create a project directory using the attached hello.tar.gz file.
  • Source file is just main.c with hello world
  • Note these example files
    • .vscode/tasks.json
    • .vscode/launch.json
    • build.sh
    • hello.pro
• Start VScode.
  • Connect to your development host
  • Start a terminal view in VScode on the development host
    

    cd <project_directory>/hello
    code .
    

• Build the app for debug mode. ctrl-shift-B, select build debug
• copy to target
  • Start a Terminal View. Main Menu->Terminal->New Terminal
    

    scp debug/hello target_62x:
    

• run on target
  

  ssh target_62x ./hello
  

• Debug the program
  • start gdbserver on target
    

    ssh target_62x gdbserver :10000 ./hello
    

  • start debug session
    • Press the debug icon on left. (Triangle pointing to right with bug on lower left)
    • In the Run and debug combo box at top, select Attach to target_62x
    • Should stop with arrow at the printf line.
    • Step over the printf
    • Step over the fflush
    • Should see Hello on the terminal view where gdbserver was started
    • Click the disconnect icon or shift+F5
• VSCode debugger quirks
  • Only plant or remove breakpoints when the target is stopped, not when the target is running.
  • Only disconnect a debug session when the target is stopped.
  • Doing these operations while the target is running will cause confusion. You may have to kill the gdbserver manually on the target and you will have to start a new debug session.

Summary¶

A sample debug session with a simple hello world project has been demonstrated.