CrossWorks for ARM User Guide

Building your applicationsWhen CrossStudio builds your application, it tries to avoid building files that have notchanged since they were last built. It does this by comparing the modification dates ofthe generated files with the modification dates of the dependent files together with themodification dates of the properties that pertain to the build. If you are copying filesthen sometimes the modification dates may not be updated when the file is copied—in this instance it is wise to use the Rebuild command rather than the Build command.You can see the build rationale CrossStudio is using by setting the EnvironmentProperties > Build Settings > Show Build Information property and the buildcommands themselves by setting the Environment Properties > Build Settings > EchoBuild Command property.You may have a solution that contains several projects that are dependent upon each.Typically you might have several executable project and some library projects. TheProject > Dependencies dialog specifies the dependencies between projects and to seethe affect those dependencies have on the solution build order. Note that dependenciescan be set on a per configuration basis but the default is for dependencies to be definedin the Common configuration.You will also notice that new folders titled Dependencies has appeared in the projectexplorer. These folder contains the list of newly generated files and the files that theywhere generated from. These files can be decoded and displayed in the editor by rightclicking on the file and seeing if it supports the View operation.If you have the symbols window displayed then it will be updated with the symboland section information of all executable files that have been built in the solution.When CrossStudio builds projects it uses the values set in the properties window. Togeneralise your builds you can define macro values that are substituted when theproject properties are used. These macro values can be defined globally at the solutionand project level and can be defined on a per configuration basis. You can view andupdate the macro values using Project > Macros.The combination of configurations, properties with inheritance, dependencies andmacros provides a very powerful build management system. However, these systemscan become complicated. To enable you to understand the implications of changingbuild settings, right clicking a node in the project explorer and selecting Propertiesbrings up a dialog that shows the macros and build steps that apply to that projectnode.Building all projectsTo build all projects in the solution, do one of the following:•On the Build toolbar, click the Build Solution button.—or—58 Chapter 5 Building projects