Embedded Systems Conference, Booth # 134. San Jose, CA. September 28, 1999--Green Hills Software, the leading supplier of embedded software development tools, today announced the industry's most powerful integrated development environment (IDE) for embedded systems. Known as MULTI 2000, the new IDE is upward compatible with Green Hills' popular MULTI(r) IDE, while providing a number of significant new enhancements. Among these are a more intuitive GUI, incremental debug capability, enhanced support for object-oriented programming, a memory viewer, and an EventAnalyzer that makes it easier to understand complex real-time interactions.
The MULTI 2000 IDE, together with Green Hills' family of optimizing C, C++, EC++, FORTRAN and Ada95 compilers, automates all aspects of embedded software development. Featuring a window-oriented editor, source-level debugger, graphical program builder, and run-time error checker, MULTI 2000 also includes a version control system, instruction set simulator, performance profiler, and real-time EventAnalyzer.
MULTI 2000 provides significant enhancements to several key MULTI components, including the source-level debugger, graphical browser, text editor, project builder, and version control system. The debugger's new and improved GUI provides graphical, lay-flat, user-configurable and extendable icons that make it easy to perform debug tasks like step, halt, set breakpoints, and call memory view windows. In addition, the windows for each task (i.e., debug, register, and API calls) are color coded to make them easier to distinguish from one another. The source code within the debug window is also color coded to create a convenient language-sensitive display.
The most dramatic enhancement to the MULTI debugger is a new incremental debug capability that enables portions of an application to be debugged and recompiled separately from the rest of the application. To support this feature, MULTI divides symbol information generated by the compiler into separate files that are relevant to the code that is currently being debugged. This technique greatly reduces the size of debug files, thereby speeding program loading and startup, and making it easier to work on large projects. MULTI's incremental debug facilities, together with its open API, make it easier to utilize third-party tools, debug applications across multiple platforms and debug optimized code. Incremental debug, coupled with improved processing of C++ symbol information, also enables MULTI to offer a number of advanced C++ debugging capabilities. Among these are full namespace support, C++ function navigation with ambiguity resolution, and advanced class browsing, including debugging of C++ exception throws and long jumps.
MULTI 2000's new EventAnalyzer graphically displays system and application events on an expandable timeline in real time. Operating like a high-level logic analyzer, the EventAnalyzer GUI displays all context switches, RTOS API calls, and interrupts in a time-relative manner using intuitive icons. The EventAnalyzer also provides versatile navigation capabilities that allow programmers to zoom in and out of the timeline to obtain greater detail about particular event sequences.
The EventAnalyzer logs events on the target system and uploads them to the host GUI for display in real time with minimal target intrusion. Programmers have full control over logging parameters such as when and which events are logged, and the size of event log buffers. They can also direct the EventAnalyzer to log user-defined events by inserting API calls into their application code. This makes it easy for programmers to track important data, such as the values of program variables as they change in real-time during application execution.
The MULTI debugger's new memory viewer, which can be invoked through a user-defined button or from the command line, provides a full table of memory addresses and contents. This table can be formatted in a variety of ways, including hexadecimal, decimal, ASCII, binary and real. Memory regions can be specified symbolically, or in terms of absolute or relative addresses. Programmers can also open multiple memory windows to view several memory regions concurrently.
MULTI 2000's new object-oriented browser shows the structure of classes, static calls, and dynamic calls in a hierarchical format, color-coded to indicate the type of function or class being displayed. The browse window enables users to explore procedures, globals, and source files, each with a variety of options to control the manner in which data is presented. A single browse window can display or print the structure of any global, procedure or source file. Filters are available to reduce the scope of the view, and new filters can be defined by the user to create customized views.
MULTI 2000's new user-configurable text editor is a full-featured windowing editor that provides syntax coloring and auto indenting. Syntax coloring helps programmers quickly identify language keywords and constructs, including comments, strings, and constants. Auto indenting automatically formats source code as the programmer types it in, thereby simplifying code entry and enhancing readability.
MULTI 2000's new graphical project builder simplifies and automates the process of building complex programs. In addition to maintaining file dependencies (like makefile), the builder lets users set CPU, compiler, language and optimization options. At the same time, the builder's pull-down menus make it easy to create a hierarchical view of programs, source files, headers and other project files, which are color coded to help users distinguish among the various file types.
MULTI 2000's version control system keeps track of application source and object files, including change history, multiple versions, and check-in/check-out status. Users can also substitute their own third-party version control system, such as Rational's ClearCase.
MULTI 2000 includes a context-sensitive help system, which provides relevant HTML help in all windows. The full-featured help system is searchable, indexed, Windows-compliant, and can be used across all supported platforms, including Unix.
MULTI 2000 is available for most major 32-bit and 64-bit RISC and CISC CPUs, as well as a number of popular DSPs. MULTI also supports a variety of host/target connectivity options, including BDM and JTAG OCD (On-Chip Debugging) solutions, EST's visionICE, HP's Processor Probe, ARM's EmbeddedICE, and various ROM Monitors.
More on Green Hills
Incorporated in 1982, Green Hills Software, Inc., is a leading supplier of software development tools for 32- and 64-bit embedded systems. Green Hills offers a family of optimizing C, C++, Embedded C++, Ada 95, FORTRAN and Pascal compilers. The company's unique MULTI software development environment automates the compile-edit-build-debug cycle by integrating advanced facilities such as an RTOS-aware source-level debugger, performance profiler, program builder and version control system.
Green Hills Software's tools support all major 32-bit and 64-bit advanced microprocessor families and target environments, including instruction set simulators, ROM Monitors, commercial and home grown real-time operating systems (RTOS) and in-circuit emulators (ICE).
Green Hills Software is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA., and has US offices in California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, and Florida. International headquarters are located in the United Kingdom, with offices in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. For sales information on Green Hills Software products, please call 1-805-965-6044 or email inquiries to sales@ghs.com.
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