When run without any arguments, the commands work the same way that
their CMake equivalents do. For example, if using the Ninja CMake
generator, these are equivalent:
west flash <----> ninja flash
west debug <----> ninja debug
west debugserver <----> ninja debugserver
Like CMake's build tool mode, you can also run them from any directory
in the system by passing the path to the build directory using
--build-dir (-d):
west flash -d build/my-board
The commands will run the CMake-generated build system, so they keep
dependencies up to date and users don't have to manually compile
binaries between running CMake and using this tool.
The commands also support important use cases that CMake can't:
1) Any arguments not handled by 'west flash' et al. are passed to the
underlying runner. For example, if the runner supports --gdb-port,
the default can be overridden like so:
west debugserver --gdb-port=1234
Command processing by the 'west' command can also be halted using
'--'; anything after that point (even if it's an option recognized
by the west command) will be passed to the runner. Example:
west debug -- --this-option-goes-to-the-debug-runner=foo
2) Any runner supported by the board can be selected at runtime using
the -r (--runner) option. For example, if the board's flash runner
defaults to nrfjprog but jlink is supported as well, it can be
selected with:
west flash -r jlink
3) The runner configuration can be persisted elsewhere, edited
offline, and selected at runtime, using --cmake-cache (-c):
west flash -c /home/me/some/other/CMakeCache.txt
Signed-off-by: Marti Bolivar <marti@opensourcefoundries.com>
Marti Bolivar