1 /** @page primertcl OpenOCD TCL Primer
3 The @subpage scripting page provides additional TCL Primer material.
7 ****************************************
8 ****************************************
10 This is a short introduction to 'un-scare' you about the language
11 known as TCL. It is structured as a guided tour through the files
12 written by me [Duane Ellis] - in early July 2008 for OpenOCD.
14 Which uses the "JIM" embedded Tcl clone-ish language.
16 Thing described here are *totally* TCL generic... not Jim specific.
18 The goal of this document is to encourage you to add your own set of
19 chips to the TCL package - and most importantly you should know where
20 you should put them - so they end up in an organized way.
25 ****************************************
26 ****************************************
28 Adding "chip" support - Duane Ellis July 5 - 2008.
31 In your "openocd.cfg" file add something like this:
33 source [find tcl/chip/VENDOR/FAMILY/NAME.tcl]
36 source [find tcl/chip/atmel/at91/at91sam7x256.tcl]
38 You'll notice that it makes use of:
40 tcl/cpu/arm/<NAME>.tcl.
42 Yes, that is where you should put "core" specific things.
43 Be careful and learn the difference:
45 THE "CORE" - is not the entire chip!
48 That "file" listed above is called a "CHIP FILE".
50 It may be standalone, or may need to "source" other "helper" files.
52 The reference [7/5/2008] is the at91sam7x256.tcl file.
54 ****************************************
55 ****************************************
57 Open: at91sam7x256.tcl
60 A walk through --- For those who are new to TCL.
62 Examine the file: at91sam7x256.tcl
65 source [find path/filename.tcl]
67 In TCL - this is very important.
69 Rule #1 Everything is a string.
70 Rule #2 If you think other wise See #1.
72 Rule #1: The wife is correct.
73 Rule #2: If you think otherwise, See #1
75 Any text contained inside of [square-brackets]
76 is just like `back-ticks` in BASH.
78 Hence, the [find FILENAME] executes the command find with a single
79 parameter the filename.
81 ========================================
83 Next you see a series of:
87 It is mostly "obvious" what is going on.
89 Exception: The arrays.
91 You would *THINK* Tcl supports arrays.
92 In fact, multi-dim arrays. That is false.
94 For the index for"FLASH(0,CHIPSELECT)" is actually the string
95 "0,CHIPSELECT". This is problematic. In the normal world, you think
96 of array indexes as integers.
98 For example these are different:
103 Why? Because 0x0c {lowercase} is a string.
104 Don't forget UPPER CASE.
106 You must be careful - always... always... use simple decimal
107 numbers. When in doubt use 'expr' the evaluator. These are all the
111 set foo([expr $x]) "twelve"
114 set foo([expr $x]) "twelve"
117 set foo([expr $x]) "twelve"
119 **************************************************
120 ***************************************************
122 Open the file: "bitsbytes.tcl"
124 There is some tricky things going on.
127 First, there is a "for" loop - at level 0
128 {level 0 means: out side of a proc/function}
130 This means it is evaluated when the file is parsed.
132 == SIDEBAR: About The FOR command ==
133 In TCL, "FOR" is a funny thing, it is not what you think it is.
135 Syntactically - FOR is a just a command, it is not language
136 construct like for(;;) in C...
138 The "for" command takes 4 parameters.
139 (1) The "initial command" to execute.
140 (2) the test "expression"
141 (3) the "next command"
142 (4) the "body command" of the FOR loop.
144 Notice I used the words "command" and "expression" above.
147 1) executes the "initial command"
148 2) evaluates the expression if 0 it stops.
149 3) executes the "body command"
150 4) executes the "next command"
153 As show, each of these items are in {curly-braces}. This means they
154 are passed as they are - KEY-POINT: un evaluated to the FOR
155 command. Think of it like escaping the backticks in Bash so that the
156 "under-lying" command can evaluate the contents. In this case, the FOR
159 == END: SIDEBAR: About The FOR command ==
161 You'll see two lines:
164 set vn [format "BIT%d" $x]
166 Format is like "sprintf". Because of the [brackets], it becomes what
167 you think. But here's how:
169 First - the line is parsed - for {braces}. In this case, there are
170 none. The, the parser looks for [brackets] and finds them. The,
171 parser then evaluates the contents of the [brackets], and replaces
172 them. It is alot this bash statement.
177 set $vn [expr (1024 * $x)]
180 In line 1, we dynamically created a variable name. Here, we are
181 assigning it a value. Lastly Line 3 we force the variable to be
182 global, not "local" the the "for command body"
187 proc create_mask { MSB LSB } {
191 Like "for" - PROC is really just a command that takes 3 parameters.
192 The (1) NAME of the function, a (2) LIST of parameters, and a (3) BODY
194 Again, this is at "level 0" so it is a global function. (Yes, TCL
195 supports local functions, you put them inside of a function}
197 You'll see in some cases, I nest [brackets] alot and in others I'm
198 lazy or wanted it to be more clear... it is a matter of choice.
202 **************************************************
203 ***************************************************
205 Open the file: "memory.tcl"
208 Here is where I setup some 'memory definitions' that various targets can use.
210 For example - there is an "unknown" memory region.
212 All memory regions must have 2 things:
216 And the array must have some specific names:
218 Where: THING is one of:
224 RWX - the access ability.
225 WIDTH - the accessible width.
227 ie: Some regions of memory are not 'word'
230 The function "address_info" - given an address should
231 tell you about the address.
233 [as of this writing: 7/5/2008 I have done
234 only a little bit with this -Duane]
240 proc memread32 { ADDR }
241 proc memread16 { ADDR }
242 proc memread8 { ADDR }
244 All read memory - and return the contents.
246 [ FIXME: 7/5/2008 - I need to create "memwrite" functions]
248 **************************************************
249 ***************************************************
251 Open the file: "mmr_helpers.tcl"
254 This file is used to display and work with "memory mapped registers"
256 For example - 'show_mmr32_reg' is given the NAME of the register to
257 display. The assumption is - the NAME is a global variable holding the
260 The code does some tricks. The [set [set NAME]] is the TCL way
261 of doing double variable interpolation - like makefiles...
263 In a makefile or shell script you may have seen this:
265 FOO_linux = "Penguins rule"
266 FOO_winXP = "Broken Glass"
267 FOO_mac = "I like cat names"
273 FOO = ${FOO_${BUILD}}
275 The "double [set] square bracket" thing is the TCL way, nothing more.
279 The IF statement - and "CATCH" .
281 Notice this IF COMMAND - (not statement) is like this:
282 [7/5/2008 it is this way]
284 if ![catch { command } msg ] {
287 error [format string...]
290 The "IF" command expects either 2 params, or 4 params.
292 === Sidebar: About "commands" ===
294 Take a look at the internals of "jim.c"
295 Look for the function: Jim_IfCoreCommand()
296 And all those other "CoreCommands"
298 You'll notice - they all have "argc" and "argv"
300 Yea, the entire thing is done that way.
302 IF is a command. SO is "FOR" and "WHILE" and "DO" and the
303 others. That is why I keep using the phase it is a "command"
305 === END: Sidebar: About "commands" ===
307 Parameter 1 to the IF command is expected to be an expression.
309 As such, I do not need to wrap it in {braces}.
311 In this case, the "expression" is the result of the "CATCH" command.
313 CATCH - is an error catcher.
315 You give CATCH 1 or 2 parameters.
316 The first 1st parameter is the "code to execute"
317 The 2nd (optional) is where to put the error message.
319 CATCH returns 0 on success, 1 for failure.
320 The "![catch command]" is self explaintory.
323 The 3rd parameter to IF must be exactly "else" or "elseif" [I lied
324 above, the IF command can take many parameters they just have to
325 be joined by exactly the words "else" or "elseif".
327 The 4th parameter contains:
329 "error [format STRING....]"
331 This lets me modify the previous lower level error by tacking more
332 text onto the end of it. In this case, i want to add the MMR register
333 name to make my error message look better.
336 Back to something inside show_mmr32_reg{}.
338 You'll see something 'set fn show_${NAME}_helper' Here I am
339 constructing a 'function name' Then - I look it up to see if it
340 exists. {the function: "proc_exists" does this}
342 And - if it does - I call the function.
344 In "C" it is alot like using: 'sprintf()' to construct a function name
345 string, then using "dlopen()" and "dlsym()" to look it up - and get a
346 function pointer - and calling the function pointer.
348 In this case - I execute a dynamic command. You can do some cool
349 tricks with interpretors.
353 Function: show_mmr32_bits()
355 In this case, we use the special TCL command "upvar" which tcl's way
356 of passing things by reference. In this case, we want to reach up into
357 the callers lexical scope and find the array named "NAMES"
359 The rest of the function is pretty straight forward.
361 First - we figure out the longest name.
362 Then print 4 rows of 8bits - with names.
365 **************************************************
366 ***************************************************
368 Open the file: "chips/atmel/at91/usarts.tcl"
371 First - about the AT91SAM series - all of the usarts
372 are basically identical...
374 Second - there can be many of them.
376 In this case - I do some more TCL tricks to dynamically
377 create functions out of thin air.
381 The "CHIP" file has defined some variables in a proper form.
383 ie: AT91C_BASE_US0 - for usart0,
384 AT91C_BASE_US1 - for usart1
387 Near the end of the file - look for a large "foreach" loop that
390 foreach WHO { US0 US1 US2 US3 US4 .... } {
394 In this case, I'm trying to figure out what USARTs exist.
396 Step 1 - is to determine if the NAME has been defined.
397 ie: Does AT91C_BASE_USx - where X is some number exist?
399 The "info exists VARNAME" tells you if the variable exists. Then -
400 inside the IF statement... There is another loop. This loop is the
401 name of various "sub-registers" within the USART.
403 Some more trick are played with the [set VAR] backtick evaluation stuff.
404 And we create two variables
406 We calculate and create the global variable name for every subregister in the USART.
407 And - declare that variable as GLOBAL so the world can find it.
409 Then - we dynamically create a function - based on the register name.
411 Look carefully at how that is done. You'll notice the FUNCTION BODY is
412 a string - not something in {braces}. Why? This is because we need TCL
413 to evaluate the contents of that string "*NOW*" - when $vn exists not
414 later, when the function "show_FOO" is invoked.
416 Lastly - we build a "str" of commands - and create a single function -
417 with the generated list of commands for the entire USART.
419 With that little bit of code - I now have a bunch of functions like:
421 show_US0, show_US1, show_US2, .... etc ...
423 And show_US0_MR, show_US0_IMR ... etc...
425 And - I have this for every USART... without having to create tons of
426 boiler plate yucky code.
428 ****************************************
429 ****************************************
430 END of the Tcl Intro and Walk Through
431 ****************************************
432 ****************************************
436 Some "GPIO" functions...