Crossware Releases Version 5 of Embedded Development Studio

Version 5.0 of the Embedded Development Studio supports all of the microprocessor and microcontroller development tools in the Crossware portfolio and extends the range of features by providing:

* Tabbed document views with tear-off tabs
* Compiler decorated source code views with collapsible blocks
* Bookmark and C/C++ navigation views with drag-and-drop tunnelling
* Integrated multi-media documentation combining text, images and movie clips
* Improved searching and viewing of the electronic documentation
* A double click status bar to open Go To Line Number dialog

Alan Harry, Crossware’s founder and CEO, said: Our aim with this new version of our Embedded Development Studio was to create a Windows development environment that allows programmers to concentrate on the primary task of software development - to make the process quicker, more flexible, intuitive, and self configuring.

Version 5.0 introduces tabbed document views which allow an open document to be brought into view just by clicking its tab. This simplifies the task of switching between open documents and viewing which documents are open.

Tearing off a tab allows the document view to float anywhere on the desktop. This allows more flexible and effective use of the desktop and allows the maximum advantage to be taken of a system with multiple monitors. For example, source code can be edited full screen on a second monitor. Tearing off a terminal emulator tab, allowing it to remain visible at all times makes it easier to observe as it updates itself with incoming data.

Also, documentation topic tabs can be torn off multiple times thereby allowing multiple documentation topics to be arranged on the desktop. Documentation topics can now contain audio-visual movie clips, as well as text and still images, and torn off topics allow these video clips to be readily reviewed as well as allowing the text and still images to be easily referred to while editing source code.

Compiler decorated source code views are another new feature within version 5.0 of the Embedded Development Studio. Browse information generated by the compiler is used to decorate the source code views. Source code lines which are not compiled due to pre-processor directives are shown in grey and so it is immediately obvious that these lines to do not form part of the current program.

Furthermore, multiple lines of uncompiled code constitute a block which can be collapsed to a single line. This makes the source code view less cluttered and easier to follow. The body of the C/C++ function also constitutes a block which can be collapsed to a single line. Collapsing all of the function bodies and uncompiled lines in a source code view, which can be done with a single command, allows the source code to be viewed as an outline, speeding navigation and improving comprehension.

Version 5.0 also features bookmark and C/C++ navigation views. Bookmarks set in a source code view are now also displayed in a tree structure in a bookmark view by filename and line number. A single click on a bookmark item in this tree will bring the bookmarked line into view whether or not the document containing the bookmarked line is open. For bookmarks in opened documents, the text of the line is displayed in the tree making the bookmarks self-identifying.

If the cursor position of a bookmarked line is known, this is restored when the bookmark item is clicked. The programmer can therefore move from bookmark to bookmark and immediately start typing at the restored position. If a block of text is selected and dragged to a bookmark, the bookmarked line will be brought into view. The programmer can then continue dragging into the newly displayed text and drop the selected text into the chosen location. The bookmark acts as a tunnel linking the source and destination locations.

The compiler browse information is also used to create a navigation view. All C/C++ function definitions and references are displayed in a tree view. This provides a useful overview of the complete program and a single click on an item in the tree brings the function definition or reference into view. The compiler browse view also acts as a drag-and-drop tunnel in a similar way to the bookmark view.

The new version of the Embedded Development Studio also features: integrated multi-media documentation combining text, still images and audio-visual movie clips; improved searching and viewing of the electronic documentation; and a double click status bar to open Go To Line Number dialog. For a multi-media tour of all the new features of Version 5.0, please visit: www.crossware.us/xmanuals/estudio5/index.html.

Crossware’s Embedded Development Studio is at the heart of Crossware's embedded development software tool set. It binds together tool chains, simulators, debuggers, code creation wizards, workspace generators, etc. and provides editing, serial i/o and facilities for viewing and searching electronic versions of the documentation. The Embedded Development Studio supports all of the Windows tools from Crossware providing the flexibility, for example, to develop either a complex 32-bit ARM application or a simple assembler program for the 8051 microcontroller.