User Interface

The CMSIS Solution extension for VS Code provides a 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.

This quick start section explains the commands and capabilities of the CMSIS view and the status bar.

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

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 extension uses these settings and files to manage and build a software project for a board or device.

The main area shows:

• 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

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.

Here is an example of how the status bar can look:

• If you have a development board connected, the connected hardware displays using the Arm Device Manager extension. Click the connected hardware to open the extension.

• The current debug configuration displays using the Arm Debugger extension

• 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.