Getting started may be the most challenging part of every new library. This guide is describing how to start with the library quickly and effectively
Library is primarly hosted on Github.
You can get it by:
- Downloading latest release from releases area on Github
- Cloning
main
branch for latest stable version - Cloning
develop
branch for latest development
All releases are available on Github releases area.
This is used when you do not have yet local copy on your machine.
- Make sure
git
is installed. - Open console and navigate to path in the system to clone repository to. Use command
cd your_path
- Clone repository with one of available options below
- Run
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/MaJerle/lwprintf
command to clone entire repository, including submodules - Run
git clone --recurse-submodules --branch develop https://github.com/MaJerle/lwprintf
to clone development branch, including submodules - Run
git clone --recurse-submodules --branch main https://github.com/MaJerle/lwprintf
to clone latest stable branch, including submodules
- Run
- Navigate to
examples
directory and run favourite example
- Open console and navigate to path in the system where your repository is located. Use command
cd your_path
- Run
git pull origin main
command to get latest changes onmain
branch - Run
git pull origin develop
command to get latest changes ondevelop
branch - Run
git submodule update --init --remote
to update submodules to latest version
Note
This is preferred option to use when you want to evaluate library and run prepared examples. Repository consists of multiple submodules which can be automatically downloaded when cloning and pulling changes from root repository.
At this point it is assumed that you have successfully download library, either with git clone
command or with manual download from the library releases page.
Next step is to add the library to the project, by means of source files to compiler inputs and header files in search path.
CMake is the main supported build system. Package comes with the CMakeLists.txt
and library.cmake
files, both located in the lwprintf
directory:
library.cmake
: It is a fully configured set of variables and with library definition. User can include this file to the project file withinclude(path/to/library.cmake)
and then manually use the variables provided by the file, such as list of source files, include paths or necessary compiler definitions. It is up to the user to properly use the this file on its own.CMakeLists.txt
: It is a wrapper-only file and includeslibrary.cmake
file. It is used for when user wants to include the library to the main project by simply calling CMakeadd_subdirectory
command, followed bytarget_link_libraries
to link external library to the final project.
Tip
Open library.cmake
and analyze the provided information. Among variables, you can also find list of all possible exposed libraries for the user.
If you do not use the CMake, you can do the following:
- Copy
lwprintf
folder to your project, it contains library files - Add
lwprintf/src/include
folder to include path of your toolchain. This is where C/C++ compiler can find the files during compilation process. Usually using-I
flag - Add source files from
lwprintf/src/
folder to toolchain build. These files are built by C/C++ compiler - Copy
lwprintf/src/include/lwprintf/lwprintf_opts_template.h
to project folder and rename it tolwprintf_opts.h
- Build the project
Configuration file is used to overwrite default settings defined for the essential use case.
Library comes with template config file, which can be modified according to the application needs.
and it should be copied (or simply renamed in-place) and named lwprintf_opts.h
Note
Default configuration template file location: lwprintf/src/include/lwprintf/lwprintf_opts_template.h
.
File must be renamed to lwprintf_opts.h
first and then copied to the project directory where compiler
include paths have access to it by using #include "lwprintf_opts.h"
.
Tip
If you are using CMake build system, define the variable LWPRINTF_OPTS_FILE
before adding library's directory to the CMake project.
Variable must contain the path to the user options file. If not provided and to avoid build error, one will be generated in the build directory.
Configuration options list is available available in the :ref:`api_lwprintf_opt` section. If any option is about to be modified, it should be done in configuration file
.. literalinclude:: ../../lwprintf/src/include/lwprintf/lwprintf_opts_template.h :language: c :linenos: :caption: Template configuration file
Note
If you prefer to avoid using configuration file, application must define
a global symbol LWPRINTF_IGNORE_USER_OPTS
, visible across entire application.
This can be achieved with -D
compiler option.
To verify proper library setup, minimal example has been prepared. Run it in your main application file to verify its proper execution
.. literalinclude:: ../examples_src/example_minimal.c :language: c :linenos: :caption: Absolute minimum example