CCSTUDIO-THEIA: How to create a project

Kato-san,

I am curious about your directory structure. Are working with a multiroot workspace environment where you have a workspace file with ProjA folder, ProjB folder, and ProjC folder as workspace folders in the multiroot environment? Or do you just switch between ProjA, ProjB, ProjC project folders which are also the workspace folder too?

A screenshot of the Explorer view would be helpful here.

This will help me properly answer your other questions.

Takayuki Kato said:

2. What is the proper way to rename a project? 
For example, ProjA --> ProjD

As for this question, see: https://software-dl.ti.com/ccs/esd/documents/users_guide_ccs/ccs_project-management.html#renaming-projects

Thank you.

ki

Since I am responsible for multiple products, I create a separate tree for each product and manage them accordingly.
(Within each tree, I place source code (or a workspace, in the case of CCS), documentation, and related information.)
Due to workflow constraints, I do not open different workspaces simultaneously.
I believe this is completely different from a multiroot workspace.(This method cannot be used.)

What I would like to do is create a new workspace(project?) in a new folder.
And what I mean is that I want to start my daily work in a specified workspace(project?).

So, due to the wide variety of products and the different MCUs used, it's not possible to place all of them under CCS management.

It seems my understanding of projects/workspaces is insufficient regarding the project name change.

Best regrads,
Kato T.

Let's take this scenario:

Takayuki Kato said:

 (work root)\
   |--ProductA\
   |     |--- Doc (Documnet)
   |     |--- Inf (Reference information)
   |     \--- ProjA (Workspace)

I assume "work root" is just your root directory in the file system and not a CCS workspace folder. And that "ProjX" is a CCS project.

I see two potential options.

1. "ProductA" folder can be your workspace folder. So you can have CCS "Open Folder" here. Then "Doc", "Inf", and "ProjA" would be subfolders inside the workspace folder. ProjA would be a CCS project and since it contained in the current workspace folder, CCS will scan and recognize ProjA as a CCS project. I like this way since you have related supporting documentation like "Doc" and "Inf" inside the workspace folder for easy access while you work on ProjA source. And if you are using CCS AI integration, then AI would also be able see the "Doc" and "Inf" content for more context.

2. This is the easy way of just having a CCS workspace at where ProjA currently is and then move ProjA to be a subfolder inside the workspace folder. This will be fine if you want to keep your workspace content small and not have other files unrelated to the project build.

I'm thinking of changing the folder structure to the following.

   |--ProductA\
   |     |--- Doc (Documenet)
   |     |--- Inf (Reference information)
   |     |--- (... Other folders)
   |     \--- Workspace\
   |             \--- Project
   |--ProductB\
   .....

In other environments(Resesas, Nodic,...), I do the following:

   |--ProductA\
   |     |--- Doc (Documenet)
   |     |--- Inf (Reference information)
   |     |--- (... Other folders)
   |     \--- Source\
   |             |--- main.c
   |             |--- sub.c
   |             |--- sub.h
   |             |--- XXX.proj
   |             ....
   |--ProductB\
   .....

There is also the following possibility.

   |--ProductA\
   |     |--- Doc (Documenet)
   |     |--- Inf (Reference information)
   |     |--- (... Other folders)
   |     |--- Source\    (Resesas)
   |     \--- Workspace\ (TI CCS)
   |             \--- Project
   |             ....
   |--ProductB\
   .....

The problem is how to properly create this "Workspace" and "Project" under CCS management.

[One idea]
1. Create a Workspace in Windows Explorer.
2. In CCS, open a Workspace and create a Project within it.

The problem here is that when I run CCS without arguments (using a shortcut), the previous Workspace opens.
Is there a better way to handle this?

Best regards,
Kato T.

Takayuki Kato said:

[One idea]
1. Create a Workspace in Windows Explorer.
2. In CCS, open a Workspace and create a Project within it.

Yes, this is the typical way.

Takayuki Kato said:

The problem here is that when I run CCS without arguments (using a shortcut), the previous Workspace opens.
Is there a better way to handle this?

Pass in an argument that specifies the workspace folder:

https://software-dl.ti.com/ccs/esd/documents/users_guide_ccs/ccs_faqs.html#how-do-i-start-up-ccstudio-ide-with-a-specific-workspace

You can add this to the shortcut.

Pass in an argument that specifies the workspace folder:

This method is not user-friendly in current versions of Windows.
Execution from the command line is not used (old style).
Do I have to create the shortcut every time? That is a no good idea.

Edit the registry, but this is also a no good idea.
(I'm currently using this.)

The original VS Code could open files without specifying a workspace. But, it is not supported in CSS.
I think this is preferable. (Option to not use previous history)

Best regards,

Takayuki Kato said:

The original VS Code could open files without specifying a workspace. But, it is not supported in CSS.

CCS IDE is very dependent on a workspace folder, hence why one is always requested.

What behavior are you looking for? Do you want CCS to always launch IDE without a workspace opened? Or always default to a specific workspace of your choosing?

What I want,

Usually, it will launch in the specified folder(project).
(Whether it's the same as the previous day or different depends on the tasks performed that day.)
-> I fixed it by modifying the registry, but I don't think that's a good idea.

When creating a new project, start with an empty project(folder).
(Same as the first time CCS is launched.)
-> When launched using a shortcut without arguments, please ignore the history.

In terms of usage, I don't place multiple projects in a single workspace.
The usage is 1 workspace = 1 project.

This feature doesn't seem to be available in the current functionality, so I'll submit it as a request.

Best regards,
Kato T.

Takayuki Kato said:

When creating a new project, start with an empty project(folder).
(Same as the first time CCS is launched.)

Note that when CCS is first launched, it will use the default directory: <USER HOME>/workspace_ccstheia

If that default location already has content in it, then it will get picked up.

So to clarify - It is not that first time CCS starts with an empty folder. It starts with: <USER HOME>/workspace_ccstheia

Is your desire to make CCS always use this default location every time?

Or to always create a new empty folder? If so, does that mean deleting the existing <USER HOME>/workspace_ccstheia (if it exists) or just creating a new empty folder name? 

Is your desire to make CCS always use this default location every time?

This is not what I want.

I understood that this environment was different from others.
It also differs from my VSCode environment.

I'm thinking about how to use it in CCS.

Thanks,

Takayuki Kato said:

This is not what I want.

Please clarify exactly the behavior you wish. VS Code will also start up remembering the last workspace folder selected.

(It seems the writing failed, so I'll try writing again.)

VS Code has a setting that prevents it from reopening the last open window.
(Probably, "window.restoreWindows": "none")
But, this feature was not present in CCS.

Additionally, VS Code allows to close open folders. (File - Close Folder)
This feature is also not present in CCS. (I could not found it.)

Thank you. We understand your desired functionality. We will see if there is a way to do this with Theia.