User guide

Nios II IDE Help System

A Nios II C/C++ library project can contain reusable, general purpose functions that

multiple Nios II C/C++ application projects can share. A library containing common

arithmetical functions is one example. Building a Nios II C/C++ library project results in a

.a library file. The Nios II IDE manages these library projects for you. Nios II C/C++

library projects typically do not have dependencies on a Nios II system library project. You

can reference Nios II C/C++ library projects from Nios II C/C++ application projects or

from other Nios II C/C++ library projects.

Nios II user-makefile C/C++ application project:

Using a Nios II user-makefile C/C++ application project gives you total control over the

build process. However, creating and managing the makefile is your responsibility. The

Nios II user-makefile C/C++ application project can contain any files required by the

makefile, and the result of building the project is whatever you specify in the makefile. A

Nios II user-makefile C/C++ application project is nearly the same as a standard make

project in the Eclipse C/C++ Development Toolkit (CDT). The main difference is that

Nios II user-makefile C/C++ applications use the Nios II toolchain for compiling the code,

whereas the CDT requires you to define the toolchain yourself.

The altera.components project:

After creating or building a Nios II project, the source code for the newlib C library, device

drivers and software packages is linked to the altera.components project found in the

Nios II C/C++ Projects view. These links allow the Editor view to display shared code, so

you can set breakpoints in the code during debug.

The altera.components project is created automatically any time the Nios II IDE

identifies the need for the shared source code. If you alter or delete any files in this

project, the effect is global to all projects in the Nios II EDS installation. If you happen to

delete the altera.components project folder, it is automatically recreated.

Project properties

control how the project builds and functions. Project dependencies allow a

project to reference other projects that reside in your workspace.