Echelon Neuron C - Manual (Page 234)

222 Neuron C Function Libraries
Definitions
Application program A Neuron C source program that has been compiled,
assembled, and linked with a system firmware image.
The application program is not a stand-alone executable.
It contains external references to the system image, and
must be loaded into the memory of a device that contains
the corresponding system image.
Library A file produced by the nlib.exe Neuron librarian,
containing one or more pure C object files produced by the
Neuron assembler. The Neuron Linker can extract these
object files from the library and combine them with a
Neuron C application program.
Pure C The Neuron C language is a set of extensions added to a
subset of the ANSI Standard C language. The term pure
C in this document refers to use of the subset language
without the Neuron C extensions.
Stand-alone tool The term stand-alone means that a tool is available from
the Windows command prompt, so that it can be used
outside of the project manager. All of the tools described
in this appendix can be run in a stand-alone manner.
NodeBuilder Support for Libraries
You can use the NodeBuilder Neuron C compiler, assembler, and librarian to
construct Neuron libraries from pure C source files as described in Appendix A,
Neuron C Tools Stand-Alone Use , on page 211. You can then use libraries within
a NodeBuilder device template to construct application programs using the
NodeBuilder project manager.
The NodeBuilder project manager does not detect when a library needs to be
rebuilt due to changes in the source files that make up the library. When you
construct libraries, you should use standard software engineering techniques to
manage your software baseline and ensure that current versions of your software
are being used. Use of a third-party make program can help in managing
software dependencies.
The NodeBuilder tool contains full support for linking an application program
with one or more libraries containing Neuron object code and data written in
pure C. The NodeBuilder tool does full dependency checking on the use of
libraries. When a library is modified, the NodeBuilder tool automatically detects
this condition and re-links the device’s application program when you call the
build function.
To make a library known to a NodeBuilder project, add the library to the
Libraries folder in the Project pane. Refer to the NodeBuilder FX User's Guide
for details about the use of libraries within a NodeBuilder project and device
template.
Any Neuron C program that references one or more symbols from the library
automatically includes the appropriate modules from the library at link time.