Import a Keil µVision project

In Keil Studio, you can convert a Keil μVision project to a CMSIS solution by opening the folder that contains the *.uvprojx file that you want to convert. Then, do one of the following:

• From the Explorer view, right-click the *.uvprojx file and select Convert μVision project to CMSIS solution.
• From the CMSIS view, choose one of the following options:

1. Click Convert a μVision Project to CMSIS Solution and open your *.uvprojx file to convert it.
2. Click Views and More Actions , then select Convert μVision project to CMSIS solution and open your *.uvprojx file to convert it.

A dialog box displays. You can carry out the following tasks:

  - Open the solution in a new workspace with the **Open** option.

  - Open the solution in a new window and new workspace with the **Open project in new window** option.

You can also run the CMSIS: Convert μVision project to CMSIS solution command from the Command Palette. In that case, select the *.uvprojx that you want to convert on your machine and click Select.

If a *.csolution.yml file already exists in the same folder as the *.uvprojx file, then a pop-up message displays in the bottom right-hand corner. Click Overwrite to overwrite the existing file. The conversion starts immediately.

1. Confirm that the Arm Tools Environment Manager extension can automatically activate the workspace and download the tools specified in your vcpkg-configuration.json file.

2. Check the Output tab. If there are any conversion errors and warnings, they display in the CMSIS Solution category. You can also check the uv2csolution.log file.

The *.cproject.yml and *.csolution.yml files are available in the folder where the *.uvprojx is stored.

Caveats

Depending on how your µVision project is written, the conversion may encounter problems. The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of issues you might see.

Using Arm Compiler 5

The conversion does not work with Arm Compiler 5-based projects. Only projects using Arm Compiler 6 can be converted.

Solution

Update an Arm Compiler 5 project to Arm Compiler 6 in Keil μVision, then convert the project to a CMSIS solution in VS Code.

Using dollar sign in linker misc controls

In µVision, you can use the dollar sign ($) for Linker misc options in the Options for Target dialog:

This will cause a malformed YML access sequence in the generated cproject.yml file that will fail during builds.

Solution

Remove the $ sign and save the project in Keil μVision, then convert the project to a CMSIS solution in VS Code.

Using dots in project file names

In µVision project names, you can use the dot, e.g. MyProject_1.0.uvprojx. In CMSIS solution project format, dots are used to separate project names, build type, and target types (refer to Context). Thus, using dots in project names will lead to:

error csolution: schema check failed, verify syntax

Solution

Remove dots from project names.

Project located in paths containing a dollar sign

In some operating systems, paths can contain the dollar ($) sign. Building the project will fail with a similar message:

error csolution: malformed access sequence: '/$test/Blinky_FRDM-K32L3A6

Solution

Use the -O option to redirect all output to a directory without the $ sign.

Component mismatches when using generators

Older projects using GPDSC-based generators will see an issue after the conversion. In the original uvprojx file, an entry for STM32CubeMX could look like this:

      <component Cclass="Device" Cgroup="STM32Cube Framework" Csub="STM32CubeMX" Cvendor="Keil" Cversion="1.1.0" condition="STCubeMX" generated="1" generator="STM32CubeMX">
        <package name="FrameworkCubeMX" schemaVersion="1.0" url="project-path" vendor="Keil" version="1.0.0"/>
        <targetInfos>
          <targetInfo name="nucleo"/>
        </targetInfos>
      </component>

Modern DFPs with generator support would look like:

      <component Capiversion="1.0.0" Cclass="Device" Cgroup="STM32Cube Framework" Csub="STM32CubeMX" Cvendor="Keil" Cversion="1.0.0" condition="STM32H7_SC" generator="STM32CubeMX">
        <package name="STM32H7xx_DFP" schemaVersion="1.6.3" url="http://www.keil.com/pack/" vendor="Keil" version="2.7.0"/>
        <targetInfos>
          <targetInfo name="nucleo"/>
        </targetInfos>
      </component>

uv2csolution adds a non-existing pack node Keil::FrameworkCubeMX@^1.0.0 which will lead to an error like this:

error csolution: required pack: Keil::FrameworkCubeMX@^1.0.0 not installed

Solution

Delete the corresponding line from the cproject.yml file.