User Interface

The CMSIS Solution extension provides the Keil Studio GUI for project management and build tools with the CMSIS-Toolbox. Combined with other Arm and third-party extensions, it implements a powerful embedded development environment.

CMSIS view

The GUI consists of these elements:

1. Dedicated views from the side bar

View	Description
	Explorer view lists all local files.
	Search view enables search/replace across all files.
	Source Control view allows you to work with git.
	Extensions view lets you work with VS Code extensions.
	Run and Debug view switches the GUI to a dedicated debug view.
	CMSIS view is the main view for working with CMSIS solution-based projects.

2. Main area of the CMSIS view

The CMSIS view shows the content of the active projects included in the solution. Each project contains configuration settings, source code files, build settings, and other project-specific information. The main area of the CMSIS view shows:

• Board and device information and related documentation.
• Groups and files: Groups and user files that you add to the project and that you can edit
• constructed-files: Contains generated files such as the RTE_Components.h header file for each context
• linker: Contains a linker script file and a <regions>.h file (or other user-defined header files)
• Components: Shows the software components selected for the project with their source files, user code templates, and APIs. Click the files to open them in the editor. Click the book icon of a component to open the related documentation. If you are using a generator to configure your device or board, then a Run Configuration Generator option is available to start a generator session.
• Layer Type (if available): The software layers in the project with their source files, preconfigured software components, and configuration files

3. Actions available through the CMSIS view

Action	Description
	Build solution calls the compiler toolchain and builds the solution.
	Load & Run application flashes the binary onto the target and starts the application.
	Load & Debug application flashes the binary onto the target and starts a debug session.
	Open csolution.yml file opens the CMSIS solution YML file for editing.
	Manage Solution Settings allows you to manage the solution settings.
	Shows further views and more actions.

4. Main area icons

Depending on the file and the context, various icons may appear:

Action	Description
	IntelliSense is active for this cproject file.
	Open the file.
	Manage the software components of the cproject file.
	Add groups or files to the cproject file.

5. Status bar

The VS Code status bar displays information about the status of your development environment and the project. The number of extensions installed might vary.

• Status message of the clangd extension (used for IntelliSense).

• You can inspect errors and warnings for a context set. For active projects in the context set, errors and warnings display when you move your cursor over the Context Set in the status bar. The indicator is red for errors and yellow in case of warnings. Click the indicator to open the Output tab for the CMSIS Solution category. If you previously closed the Manage Solution view, then this action also re-opens the view.

• The Arm Tools Environment Manager extension shows information about the tools installed. Move your mouse over Arm Tools to review the list. Click Arm Tools to get more options.

• If you are using licensed Arm tools, the active license displays. Click the active license to manage it.

Run and Debug view

The Run and Debug View in Keil Studio to the target using the request selection shown below.

1. Select the core you want to launch or attach to.
2. Interact with the cores.

Run and Debug controls

Depending on the target device (number of cores etc.), a similar run and debug control bar will be visible:

or

The icons enable access to:

Icon	Action	Description
	Continue	Resume normal program execution (up to the next breakpoint).
	Pause	Inspect code executing at the current location.
	Step over	Execute the next statement as a single command without inspecting or following its component steps.
	Step into	Enter the next statement to follow its execution line-by-line.
	Step out	When inside a function, return to the earlier execution context by completing remaining lines of the current method as though it were a single command.
	Restart	Terminate the current program execution and start debugging again using the current run configuration.
	Stop	Terminate the current debug session.
	Disconnect	Detach debugger from a core without changing the execution status (running/pause).
	Reset	Reset target device.

Available commands

You can access commands to manage your solution and the projects it includes in the following ways:

• From the CMSIS view.

• When you right-click the *.csolution.yml file from the Explorer view.

• When you click the Context Set status bar item.

• When you press Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows and Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) to open the Command Palette.

Command	Description
Create a Solution	Create a new csolution project.
Configure Solution	Set a compiler and add software layers
Manage Solution Settings	Configure the build context and debug setup.
Manage Software Components	Review, add, or remove software components
Run Configuration Generator	Open a configuration tools such as CubeMX
Build solution	Build the solution with the current context set
Rebuild solution	Rebuild the solution with the current context set
Debug	Debug the solution with the current context set
Run	Run the solution on your target
Focus on Solution View	Open the CMSIS view
Select Active Solution from workspace	If you have several solutions in your workspace, switch between solutions and select the active solution
Convert µVision project to CMSIS solution	Convert uvprojx files to csolution project format
Refresh (reload packs, update RTE)	Reload information from all installed packs and run cbuild setup update-rte
Clean all out and tmp directories	Clean all out and tmp directories for the active solution