CrossWorks for ARM User Guide

Project dependencies and build orderYou can set up dependency relationships between projects using the ProjectDependencies dialog. Project dependencies make it possible to build solutions in thecorrect order and where the target permits, to manage loading and deletingapplications and libraries in the correct order. A typically usage of projectdependencies is to make an executable project dependent upon a library executable.When you elect to build the executable then the build system will ensure that thelibrary it is dependent upon is up to date. In the case of a dependent library then theoutput file of the library build is supplied as an input to the executable build so youdont have to worry about this.Project dependencies are stored as project properties and as such can be defineddifferently based upon the selected configuration. You almost always want projectdependencies to be independent of the configuration so the Project Dependenciesdialog selects the Common configuration by default.Making a project dependent upon anotherTo make one project dependent upon another, do the following:•From the Project menu, click Dependencies to display the Project Dependenciesdialog.•From the Project dropdown, select the target project which depends upon otherprojects.•In the Depends Upon list box, check the projects that the target project dependsupon and uncheck the projects that it does not depend upon.Some items in the Depends Upon list box may be disabled, which indicates that if theproject were checked, a circular dependency would result. Studio prevents you fromconstructing circular dependencies using the Project Dependencies dialog.Finding the project build orderTo display the project build order, do the following:•From the Project menu, click Build Order to display the Project Dependenciesdialog with the Build Order tab selected.•The projects build in order from top to bottom.If your target supports loading of multiple projects, then the Build Order also reflectsthe order in which projects are loaded onto the target. Projects will load, in order, fromtop to bottom. Generally, libraries need to be loaded before applications that use them,and you can ensure that this happens by making the application dependent upon thelibrary. With this a dependency set, the library gets built before the application andloaded before the application.Chapter 4Project dependencies and build order53