Batch "Makeimg" Possible from IDE?

Hey guys. I don't know if my topic describes what I'm trying to do very
well, so let me see if I can clarify a bit.

I need to generate multiple builds of my target nk.bin that each contain
several different DLLs, and different registry settings for those DLLs.
Currently, I have some conditional sections in my platform.bib and
platform.reg based on a set of environment variables to determine what files
and registry settings to include for a given build.

Now, what I was trying to do was create unique build "configurations" for
each image I need to create with different DLLs and registry settings. This
would allow me to specify the correct environment variables in the settings
of each configuration to include the corresponding DLLs and registry values.
Even cooler, this allows me to use the "Batch Build" feature to build
multiple configurations in one pass. That would allow me to compile
everything without human intervention.

But, that leads me to several problems.

First, each configuration will have to perform a complete sysgen phase and a
complete platform build, including all of my "User Features." This turns
into a TON of time for all of the configurations I'm trying to generate.

Second, each of my "User Features" projects has to support each of these new
configurations, even though their settings are identical. It's a pain in
the butt to create a new configuration for each of my 40 or 50 User
Features.

So, what I'd really like to do is just "batchify" (is that a word?) my
Romimage/Makeimg build phase. I'd like to take one build, and then romimage
it several times with different DLLs and registry settings for each. I
don't want to do a full build for each? Is there any way to do this in the
IDE? Would I have to switch over to a completely command line driven build?
Or...can I create some kind of external batch file that would execute this
at the end of the build for me?

Is this making sense? Am I smoking crack?

Thanks in advance guys. I hope I'm just missing some nifty magical
feature...

Mark Murawski
Vocollect, Inc.

Bruce
Wed Sep 03 10:05:01 CDT 2003

Mark:

Yes this makes sense, can't comment on whether you are smoking crack or not.

The following is a possible solution, assuming that the environment
variables that you are changing are NOT SYSGEN_* variables, but instead
affect your platform.* and project.* files only.

Seems like you could create a PostMakeimg.bat file that would:
1. Copy the result of last makeimg to another directory
2. Change environment settings
3. Run makeimg
4. Repeat.

You could even make the running of sections of the batch file dependent on
some environment variable so that it only runs when you want it to run.

I have not used or looked into the Batch Build menu, so I don't know if that
can solve your problem.

Bruce

--
Bruce Eitman (eMVP)
Senior Engineer
Accelent Systems Inc.
www.accelent.com

Mark
Wed Sep 03 13:46:23 CDT 2003

Thanks Bruce.

Your assumption is correct. The environment variables I'm changing are NOT
SYSGEN_* variables. They only affect my project.* files. (They don't even
touch my platform.* files.)

It really does look like the batch build is only for whole configurations,
and it doesn't give you any finer granularity of control. It'll do a whole
build. Now, I just have to figure out how to properly invoke makeimg. I'll
let you know how it goes.

Mark

"Bruce Eitman (eMVP)" <beitmannospam@accelentnospam.com> wrote in message
news:eGPlBzicDHA.1748@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Mark:
>
> Yes this makes sense, can't comment on whether you are smoking crack or
not.
>
> The following is a possible solution, assuming that the environment
> variables that you are changing are NOT SYSGEN_* variables, but instead
> affect your platform.* and project.* files only.
>
> Seems like you could create a PostMakeimg.bat file that would:
> 1. Copy the result of last makeimg to another directory
> 2. Change environment settings
> 3. Run makeimg
> 4. Repeat.
>
> You could even make the running of sections of the batch file dependent on
> some environment variable so that it only runs when you want it to run.
>
> I have not used or looked into the Batch Build menu, so I don't know if
that
> can solve your problem.
>
> Bruce
>
> --
> Bruce Eitman (eMVP)
> Senior Engineer
> Accelent Systems Inc.
> www.accelent.com
>
>

Bruce
Thu Sep 04 07:57:57 CDT 2003

From a batch file simple call makeimg, no arguments needed.

--
Bruce Eitman (eMVP)
Senior Engineer
Accelent Systems Inc.
www.accelent.com

Mark
Wed Sep 17 10:00:17 CDT 2003

I finally got back to this problem now, and I'm running into a bit of a
problem. Let me see if I can explain what I'm running into...

Under CE 2.12, we would invoke makeimg repeatedly from a .bat file to
generate multiple nk.bin images. The only difference was the different
environment variables each time. In our project\oak\files\project.bib (Yes,
it's 2.12 directory structure) we had conditional chunks. The
platform.bib/.reg would still contain all of the conditional chunks after
being copied into the release directory.

Under 4.20, it's looking like our project.bib file actually gets filtered
based on the environmental variables before it gets put into the release
directory. The resultant .bib and .reg files no longer contain the
conditional sections. They only contain the sections that were in place for
the whole platform build. So, even though I'm changing environment
variables and repeatedly calling makeimg, the environment variables aren't
making a difference.

So, I either need to do something to reparse the .bib/.reg files, or hand
copy different pre-edited .reg and .bib files into my release directory
prior to each invocation of makeimg. I'm going to take a quick look through
the build phases to see if I can figure out how to automatically re-munge
these files. Otherwise, I guess I'll just keep specific project.reg and
.bib files, and copy the right ones into the reldir.

(Of course, I'm sure I'm missing something simple.)

Mark Murawski
Vocollect, Inc.

"Bruce Eitman (eMVP)" <beitmannospam@accelentnospam.com> wrote in message
news:uyTqrQucDHA.2392@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> From a batch file simple call makeimg, no arguments needed.
>
> --
> Bruce Eitman (eMVP)
> Senior Engineer
> Accelent Systems Inc.
> www.accelent.com
>
>