Using the Workspace to Configure Third Party Tools

[jussij]

Third party tools can be configured using the document type as is outlined in the Configuring Zeus to Run a Third Party Compiler tip.

If is also possible to use the project/workspace feature to run third party tools. The project/workspace can be used to run compile, build, build all, clean and execute commands for both release and debug modes.

To uses these features a workspace is required, so the first step is the creation of a new workspace as follows:

1. Workspace New menu
2. Define the name and location for the new workspace
3. Use the View Navigator menu to make sure the navigator is visible
4. Change to the workspace section of the navigator
5. Using the right click mouse button, add/delete projects and folders as required
6. Next add the source file to the projects or folders

With the workspace created it can now be configured. Use the Workspace Options menu to bring up the workspace configuration dialog. Use the Project, Compiler and Debugger panels to define the appropriate command lines. The debug and release mode is controlled by the configuration dropdown list found in the top left corner. Apply the changes made. To run the command lines entered use the corresponding menu items found on the Workspace and Compiler menus.

For example if you already build your project using a my_project.mak make file you would setup the Project details to be as follows:

• Make Command Line: make -f my_project.mak
• Rebuild All Command Line: make -f my_project.mak rebuild
• Clean Command Line: make -f my_project.mak clean

Note: The make.exe utility needs to be in the path.

Zeus also has a concept of a default workspace. To access the default workspace close the current workspace and use the Workspace Options menu and the default workspace options will be displayed.

With so many settings how do you tell which one is being used?

These workspace configurations allow a great deal of flexibility, but they also add some complexity to the configuration. For example consider the case where a workspace containing two projects is currently open. If a file is loaded and a compile run, Zeus has the choice of 8 (ie 4 project debug and release, 2 default project debug and release, 1 document type, and 1 default document type) compiler options. So which compiler option is it actually going to use?

The answer is quite simple. Zeus will try to search for a suitable command line, using the follow rules:

1. Get the current build mode as set by the Workspace Select Active Project menu and use it in the search that follows
2. If a workspace is open see if the file is in any of the projects and if so use the settings defined for the project. If nothing was found, repeat the search with the currently active project.
3. If no command line was found in step 2, repeat the search using the default workspace
4. If no command line was found in step 3, repeat the search using the document type for the file
5. If no command line was found in step 4, repeat the search using the default document type

For example, this means that if all the compiler settings are defined as null in the current workspace and the default workspace then the document type settings are always used.

To help with the configuration, the output window for each of these commands will always display a line of debug output indicating where the command line was found.