package.json - working towards Issue #14

[nigelb]

Working towards #14 - Support for PlatformIO

I have been playing around using this repository as a framework to build with platformio, see platform-apollo3blue. To use this repo as a framework package for platformio it needs a simple change, the addition of a package.json file containing a small amount of metadata, and looks like this:

{
    "name": "framework-arduinoapollo3",
    "description": "Arduino Wiring-based Framework (Apollo3 Core)",
    "version": "1.0.21",
    "url": "https://github.com/sparkfun/Arduino_Apollo3"
}

[oclyke]

Neat! If we include this as-is what level of support for PlatformIO does that give us? We'd be happy to get a PR to recognize your contribution too!

[nigelb]

Hi @oclyke currently it compiles and uploads code fine. Since I have can now upload I have been testing out the provided examples and have been running into issues in which the program seems to hang midway through. I am not sure how to solve this issue without attaching a debugger and stepping through the code. I have been documenting the issues Here, any suggestions would be welcome.

I can make a pull request with the above file, if that is what you mean.

[oclyke]

Yeah I'd appreciate the PR (I know that I could just copy/paste that JSON but it's your work and it represents effort to learn about PlatformIO [which I haven't done] and we appreciate it.)

Could you also give me an idea of the basics for how to use PlatformIO? Then I could see if I can tell why the programs are hanging part way through. Thanks!

[nigelb]

I have made the pull request.

Here is a quick into to PlatformIO. Hopefully I have covered enough to get you up and running.

Basic PlatformIO Install

Although it supports a bunch of other IDEs, I will just deal with their preferred option:

1. Instillation instructions
2. A quick introduction Quickstart

The IDE installs PlatformIO to C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.platformio\penv\Scripts\platformio.exe which can be used in the Terminal window of the IDE or from a CLI. It is also simple to install PlatformIO into a python virtualenv as well: pip install -U platformio (Docs).

Once you have the IDE and PlatformIO installed we need to install the Apollo3 Platform.

Install platform-apollo3blue

Since the platform-apollo3blue platform in not in the PlatformIO registry, we need to do a manual install. The instructions are for Linux, let me know if you have any issues transferring them over to Windows. Mostly it is just replacing the platformio commands with C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.platformio\penv\Scripts\platformio.exe

Testing the Examples

Once you have all of that installed create a new project and select which ever Artemis board you are testing with (I have been using the SparkFun_Artemis_Nano)

For the tests I did, after creating a new project I opened the example in the Arduino IDE and copied the code, then in the PlatformIO IDE I created a new cpp file in the src directory and pasted in the example code. The only changes I made to this code was to add the missing function prototypes and maybe add a #include "Arduino.h" if required.

Once that is done you can press the upload button (which was illustrated in the Quick Start Guide) and then open the Serial Monitor to check the results.

Also, to get verbose output for the build you may need to copy the command and add the -v command line flag.

Modifying the build flags

The build flags passed to the compiler can be modified by editing two files:

• main.py ~/.platformio/platforms/apollo3/builder/main.py
• arduino.py ~/.platformio/platforms/apollo3/builder/frameworks/arduino.py

The arduino.py is the main one however.

[justiceamoh]

I can help out with this. I have 'some' experience with PlatformIO so I will take a stab at testing the PR later today. Thanks for putting this together @nigelb.

[oclyke]

@nigelb Great instructions! I haven't had time to try it out yet - sorry.
@justiceamoh that would be highly appreciated.

Thanks to both of you!

[justiceamoh]

I can confirm that @nigelb's framework for the artemis boards works well. I tested with the Redboard Artemis Nano on a mac, macOS 10.15. I caught a bug that was preventing upload to the target specifically on a macOS machines -- basically, the path to artemis_svl was incorrectly set by the builder script. It was a quick fix though and I've submitted a PR for it.

Other things worth mentioning, once I installed both the Sparkfun Arduino_Apollo3 and the platform-apollo3blue, I had to run pio platform update before the board was visible in PlatformIO's boards. Also, once the board was installed, I completed setting up the project using the desktop version of PlatformIO (as a plugin in VS Code). And that worked very well. Upon creating a new project, the main.cpp is provided with the expected setup() and loop(), as well as an included Arduino.h.

One feature that might be good to add is to automate the inclusion of upload_port= and upload_speed= in the platform.ini file. I can look into those.

Thanks again for the great work @nigelb! I will keep testing and will suggest improvements if I come up with any.

[justiceamoh]

I just submitted another PR for automatic detection of serial port name so that users don't have to manually define the upload_port or the upload_speed in the platform.ini file. Ofcourse, users can still chose to if they so desire.

I also see you've had issues with the PDM and EEPROM examples. I have some experience with PDM so I will take a stab at that next.

[nigelb]

Thank @justiceamoh I have accepted those pull requests.

[jerabaul29]

Just curious, what is the status on this? :) .