/idf-eclipse-plugin

Eclipse plugin for ESP-IDF CMake based projects (4.x and above)

Primary LanguageJavaEclipse Public License 1.0EPL-1.0

Espressif IDF Eclipse Plugins

IDF Eclipse Plugins aiming to provide better tooling capabilities, which simplifies and enhances standard Eclipse CDT for developing and debugging ESP32 IoT applications.

Table Of Contents

Prerequisites

  • Java 8 and above : Download and install Java SE from here
  • Python 3.5 and above : Download and install Python from here
  • Eclipse 2018-12 CDT and above : Download and install Eclipse CDT package from here
  • ESP-IDF 4.0 and above : Follow the download instructions from here
  • Git : Get the latest git from here

Note: Make sure Java, Python and Git are available on the system environment PATH.

Getting started with the IDF Eclipse Plugins

Eclipse provides two ways to install the IDF Plugins

  • Installing IDF Plugins using update site url
  • Installing IDF Plugins from Local

Installing IDF Plugins using update site url

You can install the IDF Eclipse plugins into an existing Eclipse CDT installation using the update site url. You first need to add the release repository url as follows:

Installing IDF Plugins from Local

  • Download the latest update site archive for IDF Eclipse Plugins here - https://github.com/espressif/idf-eclipse-plugin/releases
  • Unzip the archive
  • In Eclipse, choose Help -> Install New Software
  • Click Add… button
  • Select Archive from Add repository dialog and select the file com.espressif.idf.update-1.0.0-xxxxxxx.zip from the extracted folder
  • Click Add
  • Select Espressif IDF from the list and proceed with the installation
  • Restart the Eclipse

Installing ESP-IDF Tools

ESP-IDF requires some prerequisite tools to be installed so you can build firmware for the ESP32. The prerequisite tools include Python, Git, cross-compilers, menuconfig tool, CMake and Ninja build tools.

For this getting started follow the instructions below.

  • Navigate to Help > Espressif IDF Tools Manager > Install Tools
  • Provide the ESP-IDF Directory path to get started with the installation. Check the Console for the installation details. Installation might take a while if you're doing it for the first time since it has to download and install xtensa-esp32-elf, esp32ulp-elf, cmake, openocd-esp32 and ninja tools.

Note: Make sure you run this step even if you've already installed the required tools, since it sets the IDF_PATH,PATH,OPENOCD_SCRIPTS and IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH based on the idf_tools.py export command.

ESP-IDF Directory selection dialog:

Create a new Project

  • Make sure you are in C/C++ Perspective
  • Go to File > New > Espressif IDF Project (If you don't see this, please reset the perspective from Window > Perspective > Reset Perspective..)
  • Provide the Project name
  • Click Finish

Create a new project using ESP-IDF Templates

  • Make sure you're in C/C++ Perspective
  • Go to File > New > Espressif IDF Project (If you don't see this, please reset the perspective from Window > Perspective > Reset Perspective..)
  • Provide the Project name
  • Click Next
  • Check Create a project using one of the templates
  • Select the required template from the tree
  • Click Finish

Import an existing IDF Project

  • Make sure you're in C/C++ Perspective.
  • Right click in the Project Explorer
  • Select Import.. Menu
  • Select Existing IDF Project from Espressif import wizard menu list
  • Click Next
  • Click on Browse... to choose an existing project location directory
  • Provide Project name if you wish you have a different name
  • Click Finish to import the selected project into eclipse workspace as a CMake project

Configuring Launch target

Next, we need to tell CDT to use the toolchain for our project. This is accomplished through the Launch Bar, the new widget set you see on the far left of the toolbar. And this will be shown only when you have a project in the project explorer.

  • Click on the third dropdown
  • Select New Launch Target
  • Select ESP Target
  • Provide properties for the target where you would like to launch the application. Enter a Name for the target and select the Serial Port your ESP device is connected to on your machine. The OS and architecture need to match the settings for the toolchain. You can see those settings in the Preferences by selecting C/C++ and Core Build Toolchains.

Compiling the Project

  • Select a project from the Project Explorer
  • Select Run from the first drop-down, which is called Launch Mode
  • Select your application from the second drop-down, which is called Launch Configuration(Auto-detected)
  • Select target from the third drop-down, which is called Launch Target
  • Now click on the Build button widget which you see on the far left of the toolbar

Flashing the Project

ESP-IDF has a tool called idf.py which is a wrapper around make flash command with some handy operations. Flash operation can be initiated with just a click of a launch button(second button from the left) and it's auto-configured to flash the application with the default flash command i.e, idf.py -p PORT flash.

To provide the customized flash arguments, please follow this link for further instructions.

Viewing Serial Output

To see what program do we need to configure Eclipse terminal to connect the serial port.

  • Click on the Open a Terminal icon from the toolbar
  • Choose Serial Terminal from the terminal drop-down
  • Select Serial Port for your board. Example: /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART
  • And, configure the remaining settings and click on Ok to launch the Eclipse terminal and which will listen the USB port

Configuring the Project

IDF plugin will allow you to configure sdkconfig without leaving the Eclipse environment.

SDK Configuration editor

Project configuration is held in a single file called sdkconfig in the root directory of the project. This configuration file can be modified using SDK Configuration Editor

To launch the SDK Configuration editor:

  • Navigate to sdkconfig file
  • Double click on the file to launch the SDK configuration editor
  • Use Ctrl+S or Command+S based on the OS environment to save the changes. You can also use Eclipse Save button from the toolbar
  • To revert the sdkconfig editor changes, either you can close the editor without saving them. Or you can right click on the sdkconfig file and select Load sdkconfig menu option to revert the changes from the editor.

CMake Editor

CMake Editor Plug-in is integrated with IDF plugins for editing CMake files such as CMakeLists.txt. It provides syntax coloring, CMake command content assist, and code templates.

CMake editor preferences can be controlled using Eclipse > Preferences > CMakeEd

Debugging the Project

Please refer to JTAG Debugging guide

Predefined debug launch configuration files can be found here. These can be used for reference.

Please refer to Importing Debug Launch Configuration section for importing the existing configuration files into Eclipse. Make sure to modify the debug launch configuraton project specific settings after importing.

Configuring Environment Variables

Eclipse auto configure the required environment variables in the Preferences > C/C++ Build > Environment section If IDF Tools are installed using Help > Espressif IDF Tools Manager > Install Tools menu option.

Mandatory required environment variables:

  • IDF_PATH
  • PATH
  • OPENOCD_SCRIPTS
  • IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH

Due to any issues if the required environment variables are not configured, Please follow the step by step instructions below.

  • Click on the Environment preference page under C/C++ Build.
  • Click “Add…” again, and enter name IDF_PATH. The value should be the full path where ESP-IDF is installed.
  • Similarly we shoud configure OPENOCD_SCRIPTS, IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH and PATH environment variables

This is how they looks like:

IDF_PATH

/Users/kondal/esp/esp-idf

OPENOCD_SCRIPTS

/Users/kondal/.espressif/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.10.0-esp32-20190313/openocd-esp32/share/openocd/scripts

IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH

/Users/kondal/.espressif/python_env/idf4.0_py3.7_env

PATH

/Users/kondal/.espressif/tools/xtensa-esp32-elf/esp32-2019r1-8.2.0/xtensa-esp32-elf/bin:/Users/kondal/.espressif/tools/esp32ulp-elf/2.28.51.20170517/esp32ulp-elf-binutils/bin:/Users/kondal/.espressif/tools/cmake/3.13.4/CMake.app/Contents/bin:/Users/kondal/.espressif/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.10.0-esp32-20190313/openocd-esp32/bin:/Users/kondal/.espressif/tools/ninja/1.9.0/:/Users/kondal/.espressif/python_env/idf4.0_py3.7_env/bin:/Users/kondal/esp/esp-idf/tools:$PATH

In the above path, last segment $PATH need to be replaced with the system environment PATH based on the operating system. For example, to get the system environment PATH.

  • In macOS, $echo $PATH
  • In Windows, $echo %PATH%

Configuring Toolchains

We need to tell Eclipse CDT what is the core build toolchain and CMake toolchain which need to be used to build the project. However, this will be auto-detected if you've installed the tools using the Help > Espressif IDF Tools Manager > Install Tools option from the Eclipse.

If due to any issues if these toolchains are not detected, Please follow the step by step instructions below to add a new toolchain.

Configuring Core Build Toolchains

  • Open Eclipse Preferences
  • Navigate to C/C++ -> “Core Build Toolchains preference page
  • Click on Add.. from the User defined Toolchians tables
  • Select GCC as a toolchain type
  • Click on Next>
  • Provide the GCC Toolchain Settings:

Compiler: /Users/kondal/esp/xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc, Operating System: esp32, CPU Architecture: xtensa

Configuring CMake Toolchain

We now need to tell CDT which toolchain to use when building the project. This will pass the required arguments to CMake when generating the Ninja files.

  • Navigate to “C/C++ -> “CMake” preference page
  • Click Add.. and this will launch the New CMake Toolchain configuration dialog
  • Browse CMake toolchain Path. Example: /Users/kondal/esp/esp-idf/tools/cmake/toolchain-esp32.cmake
  • Select GCC Xtensa Toolchain compiler from the drop-down list. Example: esp32 xtensa /Users/kondal/esp/xtensa-esp32-elf/bin/xtensa-esp32-elf-gcc

NOTE: Eclipse CDT has a bug in saving the toolchain preferences, hence it's recommended to restart the Eclipse before we move further configuring the launch target.

Launch Configuration

To provide the customized launch configuration and flash arguments, please follow the step by step instructions below.

  • Click on the Launch Configuration edit button
  • Switch to the Main tab
  • Specify the Location where this application has to run on. Since idf.py is a python file, will configure the python system path. Example:${system_path:python}
  • Specify Working directory of the application. Example: ${workspace_loc:/hello_world}
  • In additional arguments, provide a flashing command which will run in the specified working directory
  • Flash command looks like this: /Users/kondal/esp/esp-idf/tools/idf.py -p /dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART flash
  • Click OK to save the settings
  • Click on the Launch icon to flash the application to the selected board

Troubleshooting

Error Log

The Error Log view captures all the warnings and errors logged by plug-ins. The underlying log file is a .log file stored in the .metadata subdirectory of the workspace.

The Error Log view is available under Open the Log view Window > Show View > Error Log .

To export the current log view content into a file, press the Export Log toolbar button or select Export Log... from the context menu. Then, enter a file name.

Always provide an error log when reporting an issue.

Console View Log

The Console View provides all the warnings and errors related to the current running process or build. To access the console view.

From the menu bar, Window > Show View > Console.

Espressif IDF Tools Console

The Espressif IDF Tools Console is part of Console view, this will be opened only during the installation of IDF tools from the Eclipse.

If any issue while installing the IDF tools using Help > Espressif Tools Manager > Install tools, please check the Espressif IDF Tools Console to see the errors reported.

If this is not active, it can be switched by clicking on the Display Selected Console icon from the console view.

How do I upgrade my existing IDF Eclipse Plugins?

If you are installing IDF Eclipse Plugins into your Eclipse for the first time, you first need to add the new release's repository as follows:

If you've already installed IDF Eclipse Plugins using update site URL, you can get the latest changes using below

  • Help > Check for Updates
  • If updates are found, select Espressif IDF Plugins for Eclipse and deselect all other items
  • Click Next to proceed with the installation

Importing an existing Debug launch configuration

To import an existing launch configuration into Eclipse:

  • Select Import... from the File menu
  • In the Import dialog box, expand the Run/Debug group and select Launch Configurations
  • Click on Next
  • Click on Browse... to select the required location in the local file system
  • Select the folder containing the launch files and then click OK
  • Select the checkboxes for the required folder and launch file
  • If you are replacing an existing configuration with the same name then select Overwrite existing launch configurations without warning
  • Click on Finish

How to raise bugs

Please raise the issues here https://github.com/espressif/idf-eclipse-plugin/issues with the complete environment details and log.

FAQ

  • Which version of Java should I use?

Java 8 and above

  • Which version of Eclipse should I use?

Eclipse 2019-12 CDT and above

  • How do I know the installed version of Java in my system?

You can check using "java -version" command from the terminal

  • Espressif Menu options and Espressif IDF Project menu is not visible in my Eclipse

Make sure you have installed Java 8 and higher and you're in the C/C++ perspective

  • How do I access the error log?

To view the Eclipse error log: From the main menu, select Window > Show View > Other. Then select General > Error Log.

  • How do I know the installed IDF Eclipse Plugins version?

You can check using Eclipse menu > About Eclipse > Installation Details > Installed Software > Search for "Espressif"

  • How do I uninstall IDF Eclipse Plugins from the Eclipse?

Eclipse > About Eclipse > Installation Details > Installed Software > Search for "espressif" > Select the espressif IDF plugins > Uninstall..

  • Unable to install IDF plugins in Eclipse?

Please check the error log from the main menu, select Window > Show View > Other. Then select General > Error Log.

  • Do IDF Eclipse Plugins support CMake IDF project creation?

Yes, you can create IDF CMake project using File > New > Espressif IDF Project

  • Can I import my existing IDF project into Eclipse?

Yes, you can import using Import Menu. Import... > Espressif > Existing IDF Project

  • Deleted C/C++ build envrionment variables still appearing?

Uncheck Eclipse Oomph Preference Recorder. Which can be performed by following. Eclipse Preferences >Oomph > Setup Tasks > Preference Recorder > Uncheck "Record into".