Date: 29/06/2012

LDRA extends interface between the LDRA tool suite and IAR Embedded Workbench

LDRA has extended the interface between the LDRA tool suite and IAR Embedded Workbench. LDRA supports platforms such as ARM, 8051, AVR, M32C, MSP430 and their evaluation boards.

An array of tools in small-footprint environments are provided with the interface between the LDRA tool suite and the IAR embedded Workbench IDE. With out-of-the-box support for IAR C-SPY Simulator, the LDRA tool suite can be configured to automatically import and perform static analysis on the generated code. Dynamic analysis and unit testing of LDRA performs on the simulator and the target using IAR C/C++ Compiler and IAR C-SPY Debugger to download and execute the code on the target.

“Extending full simulation capabilities is particularly important with small-footprint devices,” explained Mats Ullstrom, IAR Systems’ product director. “Not only do we gain the typical advantages of testing before hardware is available, but it allows developers to fully test the application and eliminate errors and inefficiencies prior to testing on the target. Executing these tests using the speed and efficiency of a host system saves considerable expense when the on-target testing of a small-footprint device is more challenging.”

“Architectures with very little resources continue to power many applications,” confirmed Ian Hennell, LDRA operations director. “When these devices must meet certification standards, development teams typically lack the tools they need to automate their application development and certification process. This integration ensures that developers have the resources they need to successfully reach certification compliance for industrial, medical or avionics standards, even when their platforms have limited memory.”

For the targets which have limited memory with evaluation boards such as AVR STK600 and STM34F103ZE, the LDRA tool suite offers an alternative method of streaming the data back to the host via the serial port. Static analysis and unit testing on both simulator and target can be automated and run from a script. Developers can test identical instrumented executables and test harnesses on a target and simulator environment.

IAR Embedded Workbench provides full ANSI C compliance, support for embedded C++ as well as host-controlled I/O facilities not typically available for these microcontrollers. The LDRA tool suite leverages these capabilities, reading IAR project files and using these files to speed static analysis efforts via included paths, macros and other settings. The project files are used to compile, control IAR’s simulation and device-programming environments, execute on target, and extract the results. With this integration, developers gain a head start on performing system and unit tests using the capabilities already available in the IAR infrastructure.
Author: Srinivasa Reddy N