User guide

Creating Projects

Importing, Exporting, and Sharing Projects and Files

The Nios II IDE allows you to import and export existing Nios II IDE projects, folders, and

files. Importing and exporting IDE projects allows you to archive projects and share projects

with other designers. Importing files allows you to associate files on your hard drive with a

Nios II IDE project. You can also import projects created from the command line.

To import Nios II IDE projects:

1. Copy the project directory to the host file system.

2. In the Nios II IDE, on the File menu, click Import.

3. In the Select an import source list, expand Altera Nios II.

4. Select Existing Nios II IDE project into workspace.

5. Click Next. The Import Project From File System page appears.

6. Click Browse and locate the directory that contains the .project file for the

project you wish to import. Nios II project directories contain a .stf file and a

.project file.

7. Click OK.

8. Click Finish. The Nios II IDE adds the project to the list of available projects in the

Nios II C/C++ Projects view.

Importing projects from an earlier version of the Nios II IDE might prompt you to convert

the project files to the new version. Converted projects no longer load in previous versions

of Nios II IDE.

Importing previously built projects might prompt you to delete the build contents of the

project. Click Yes to prepare for a clean build when you next build the project.

Note: Avoid spaces in project names. Build problems might occur later if the project

name contains spaces.

To export Nios II IDE projects:

Use an external file management tool (such as Windows Explorer) to copy the project

directory elsewhere. Files in the project directory and its subdirectories contain related

information about a project. You export a project by copying all of these files to another

location. If you are concerned about size, you do not need to copy the Release or Debug

directories, because the build process recreates them.

To determine where the project resides, right-click on the project in the Nios II C/C++

Projects view and then click Properties. The Info page of the Properties dialog box

appears, displaying the project's location.

Note: Common files that the project references, such as the software components

directories, are not exported as part of the project. If you want to archive them, you

have to copy them manually.

To import files and folders into an existing project: