Nios II IDE
This section documents changes to the Nios® II integrated development environment (IDE).
Managed library support
The IDE can now manage library projects. For details, see the Nios II IDE online help.
Command-line operation & project generation
Users can now create and build new software projects from a command line without using the graphical user interface (GUI). For details, see Altera-Provided Development Tools chapter in the Nios II Software Developer's Handbook.
Debugger enhancements
- Added a new trace display view.
- Added hardware breakpoint support. Use is transparent to the user.
- Added the ability to attach to a processor without resetting execution of the running process.
- Added the ability to start and halt multiprocessor collections simultaneously.
- Added a MicroC/OS-II thread view that can display thread status whenever the processor is halted.
- Stepping in the debugger is now significantly faster.
For details, see the Nios II IDE online help.
Enhancements to instruction set simulator (ISS) trace features Flash Programmer can program arbitrary data to flash memory
The Flash Programmer now allows you to program an arbitrary data file to flash memory. For details, see the Nios II IDE online help.
User-definable new project location
Users can now specify a default location for new software projects.
Toolchain
This section documents changes to the Nios II toolchain, such as the GNU compiler and other utilities.
Upgraded gcc to version 3.4.1 Upgraded gdb to version 6.1 Command-line operation & project generation
Users can now create and build new software projects from a command line without using the graphical user interface. For details, see the Altera-Provided Development Tools chapter in the Nios II Software Developer's Handbook.
Update to the ABI implementation
There was an error in previous implementations of the tool chain with respect to the application binary interface (ABI), allowing situations in which fields in a struct might be over-aligned. The Nios II development kit version 1.1 toolchain with GCC 3.4.1 corrects this issue. However, the result is that code which contained these structs is not binary compatible with previous releases. Recompile all your code to ensure that issues are resolved.
C Standard Libraries (newlib) & HAL
This section documents changes to the C libraries included in the Nios II development kits.
Run-from-flash support
Running from flash memory is now supported. The all memory sections (e.g., .reset and .rodata) can be placed in flash, except for .rwdata, which must reside in volatile memory.
Updated Lightweight IP to version 0.7.2.
This has no effect on the API.
HAL DMA ioctl() macro names updated
Some of the DMA ioctl() generic request macro names were updated to improve clarity. The old names are still supported for backwards compatibility. For details, see chapter HAL API Reference in the Nios II Software Developer’s Handbook.
Changes to Development Tools Behavior
This section documents instances in which the behavior and default settings of the Nios II development kits have changed from earlier releases.
Faster code/not-debuggable option
The "Faster code/not-debuggable (-fomit-frame-pointer)" check box is no longer available in the Nios II IDE C/C++ Build settings. The frame pointer is now omitted by default when optimizing, and the generated code remains debuggable.
