- Platform Builder Basics
- Creating a New Platform with the Platform Wizard
- Building and Executing the Platform
- Creating Applications for Your Platform
- Running Windows CE on a CEPC
- Integrating New Components into the Image
- Customizing the Build Using Environment Variables
- Extending the Platform Builder Catalog
- Creating a New Board Support Package
- Summary
Building and Executing the Platform
Once Adam is created, Platform Builder shows the components included in the project in its Workspace window (Figure 3.7). The Workspace window has two tabs: Components and Parameters. The component view shows that several essential components have been included in Adam for us by the Project Wizard. Of particular interest is the component called MAXALL.
){kind=link}
Figure 3.7 The new project's Workspace window
Recall that we selected Maximum OS (MAXALL) by default as the kind of platform we wanted to create. MAXALL has several subfolders, each of which corresponds to a module (see Table 3.2). Recall that a module is a set of components that have a common basis of functionality. By including a module, you can pull in all or selected components of related functionality into your project. The modules included in Adam are inherited from MAXALL.
Table 3.2 Modules Inherited from MAXALL
|
Module |
Description |
Examples |
|
CE_MODULES |
Operating system components |
filesys (the file system), GWES, tcpstk (TCP/IP), and so on |
|
IE_MODULES |
Internet Explorer components |
wininet (the WinInet API) |
|
WCEAPPS_MODULES |
Windows CE application components |
msgstore (the message store), office (Pocket Office applications) |
|
WCESHELL_MODULES |
Windows CE shell components |
ctlpnl (control panel), explorer, webview (an HTML Web control) |
Building Adam will build all the components and modules that are part of the platform. Select Build | Build Platform... from the menu to build the platform. The Platform Builder IDE shows the results of the build in the Output window under the Build tab. You will notice a series of messages that correspond to important sequences undertaken by the CE build process. Since we will dissect these sequences in Chapter 10, let's look at them just briefly for now.
The first message you see is Building Platform header files... The process of building platform header files is also called building the system. This phase is responsible for building the Windows CE components and modules that have been included in your platform. During this process, header files specific to your platform are generated. When creating code for your platform, you must include these header files because they will contain only information that is relevant to components that are part of your platform. These header files preclude the possibility that a platform-specific module will compile and link but fail at runtime because of a failure to locate the component. What follows is a series of messages emitted by Cebuild and its helper utilities.
The next step in the build process is accompanied by the message Building... This message marks the process of compiling and linking source code from the BSP and platform-specific drivers, libraries, and applications. The verbiage that follows this message comes from the build process as it attempts to build the libraries, drivers, and applications in the platform.
The message Copying Platform header files... is displayed to indicate the phase in which all the binaries and configuration files generated by the previous stages of the build are copied into a folder, which acts as a repository for the final phase. The final phase takes all the files copied into the repository and creates the image of the Windows CE operating system. This image will conform to the specifications laid out by your platform. It includes the components you specified and will support the processor and board you selected via the wizard. This final phase is preceded by the message Creating kernel image... On completion of a successful build, you should see the message Adam – 0 error(s), 0 warning(s). We are now ready to create an application!