The videos & labs in Path to Programmable Blog 8 - Developing Zynq Software provided a brief intro to the software development workflow using Xilinx SDK. We now move on to the next set of videos which go over creating applications, using the Xilinx drivers and debugging.
Chapter 4 Video - Developing Applications
The video picked up from where the chapter 3 video has stopped - the examples & documentation for the drivers that Xilinx provides for the Zynq peripherals. It then moved on to the linker script generator which allows users to set memory locations for the stack & heap etc. Towards the end of the video, the slides were about Xilinx SDK: how errors & warning are displayed, and how the project explorer arranges applications, BSPs & hardware platforms.
Lab 4 - Develop a Zynq Software Application
In this lab, we were instructed to create a new application, import an example and have a look at the linker script. SDK displays a summary of the linker script in a nice looking page, and you also have access to the text file.
We then generated a new linker script using the tool, and moved the code, data & heap from their original locations in the Block RAM to the RAM. After doing this we created a couple of new applications using the templates for memory & peripheral tests, and then proceeded to look at the internal code.
Chapter 5 Video - Connecting Hardware & Debugging
This video was short and first explored the 'debug' and 'run' configurations of Xilinx SDK, followed by the debug perspective - which will be familiar to anyone who has used Eclipse based IDEs in the past.
Lab 5 - Connecting SDK to Hardware
We started this lab by connecting the MiniZed and flashing the bitstream to it. We created a run configuration and ran the Hello World and Memory Test applications.
Debugging is similar, except the configuration is created for 'debug' instead of 'run'. After launching the debug session, Xilinx SDK switches to the 'Debug' perspective and halts. The rest of the lab explained the use of breakpoints, and debug controls (step over, step into, step return).
Progress:
The chapter 4 & 5 set of labs & videos were short and were centered around navigating Xilinx SDK - which anyone who has used a Eclipse based IDE will be familiar with.
