Learn how to take advantage of the Pebble build system by creating customized wscripts that let you concatenate JS files, automatically run linters, and internationalize your apps with Cherie Williams (Developer Evangelist).

1. 2015 Pebble Developer Retreat
waf, wscript & Your Pebble App
Cherie Williams - Troublemaker

2. Agenda
• Why modify my wscript?
• Pebble SDK & Fat PBW
• What is this “waf” thing?
• Why is Pebble using waf?
• wscript
• Why do I care about waf?
• wscript Recipes
• Debugging

3. Why modify my wscript?
Making the Pebble SDK build system work for you

4. You can…
• Add C compiler flags
• Add custom defines for your apps (eg. #ifdef
NOLOG)
• Concatenate multiple JS files or do other file
manipulations at build time

5. You can…
• Collect & build source from a non-standard
project
• Add a linter (or two!)
• Run arbitrary scripts at build time to modify
resources or other files

6. You can…
• Add automatic testing
• Profile builds or add build visualizations
• Read in arbitrary text at build (eg. appinfo.json)

7. You can…
• Include an external library
• Build libraries for distribution
…the possibilities are endless!

8. Fine Print
Recipes + content from today’s talk are
*not* compatible with CloudPebble

9. Pebble SDK & Fat PBW

10. SDK: Capabilities Today
• Builds for up to 3 Pebble platforms
• Can build apps, as well as workers
• Handles platform-specific resources
• Packages a single PBW for distribution
aplite
Pebble Classic
Pebble Steel
basalt
Pebble Time
Pebble Time Steel
chalk Pebble Time Round

12. What is this “waf” thing?
A brief introduction to the Pebble build system

13. Introducing waf, a Python build system
• Open source, actively maintained
• Active community on Google Groups
• Task parallelization & dependency handling
• Language agnostic, but includes C compiler support
• Integrates with Eclipse, Visual Studio and Xcode
• Includes framework to build & distribute custom build
systems

14. Why is Pebble using waf?

15. This guy

16. Why Pebble uses waf
• Efficiently handles dependencies for large, complex
projects (such as Pebble firmware)
• Python!!
• Easy method overriding
• Can package & distribute additional scripts in the SDK
• Convenience modules for Logs, Node and methods
for easy file substitutions

17. wscript
The build script behind waf

18. Basic wscript (non-Pebble)
def configure(ctx):
print "Configure"
def build(ctx):
print "Build"

19. Basic wscript
$ waf configure build
Setting top to : /Users/cherie/waf-demo/
default
Setting out to : /Users/cherie/waf-demo/
default/build
Configure
'configure' finished successfully (0.009s)
Waf: Entering directory '/Users/cherie/waf-demo/default/build'
Build
Waf: Leaving directory '/Users/cherie/waf-demo/default/build'
'build' finished successfully (0.009s)

20. Invoking waf via the pebble-tool
pebble clean waf distclean
pebble build waf configure build (-v)
pebble build (-- --other-flags) waf configure build (--other-flags)

21. Standard Pebble wscript
def options(ctx):
ctx.load('pebble_sdk')
def configure(ctx):
ctx.load('pebble_sdk')
def build(ctx):
ctx.load('pebble_sdk')
build_worker = os.path.exists('worker_src')
binaries = []
for p in ctx.env.TARGET_PLATFORMS:
ctx.set_env(ctx.all_envs[p])
ctx.set_group(ctx.env.PLATFORM_NAME)
app_elf='{}/pebble-app.elf'.format(ctx.env.BUILD_DIR)
ctx.pbl_program(source=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/**/*.c'), target=app_elf)
if build_worker:
worker_elf='{}/pebble-worker.elf'.format(ctx.env.BUILD_DIR)
binaries.append({'platform': p, 'app_elf': app_elf, 'worker_elf': worker_elf})
ctx.pbl_worker(source=ctx.path.ant_glob('worker_src/**/*.c'), target=worker_elf)
else:
binaries.append({'platform': p, 'app_elf': app_elf})
ctx.set_group('bundle')
ctx.pbl_bundle(binaries=binaries, js=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/js/**/*.js'))
Read in command line options
Configure environment for build
Run build
For each HW platform:
• Create app binary
• Create worker binary (optional)
Bundle into PBW

24. Why do I care about waf?
Understanding how your Pebble project is built

25. wscript
The build script behind waf

26. Basic wscript (non-Pebble)
def configure(ctx):
print "Configure"
def build(ctx):
print "Build"

27. Glossary
Context
An object for each command executed that stores all the
information necessary for the command execution
BuildContext
The build context holds all the information necessary for a
build

28. Basic wscript (non-Pebble)
def configure(ctx):
print "Configure"
def build(ctx):
print "Build"

29. Modified Basic wscript
def configure(ctx):
ctx.env.MESSAGE = "Hello World"
def build(ctx):
pass

30. Glossary
Environment
A group of settings and variables that are stored in a
Context and that is cached between execution of
commands
NOTE: A single Context can have many, arbitrary
environments

31. build/c4che/*.py
AR = 'arm-none-eabi-gcc-ar'
ARFLAGS = 'rcs'
AS = 'arm-none-eabi-gcc'
BINDIR = '/usr/local/bin'
BUILD_DIR = 'basalt'
CC = ['arm-none-eabi-gcc']
CCLNK_SRC_F = []
CCLNK_TGT_F = ['-o']
CC_NAME = 'gcc'
CC_SRC_F = []
CC_TGT_F = ['-c', '-o']
CC_VERSION = ('4', '8', '4')
CFLAGS = ['-std=c99', '-mcpu=cortex-m3', '-mthumb', '-ffunction-sections', '-
fdata-sections', '-g', '-Os', '-D_TIME_H_', '-Wall', '-Wextra', '-Werror', '-Wno-
unused-parameter', '-Wno-error=unused-function', '-Wno-error=unused-variable']
CFLAGS_MACBUNDLE = ['-fPIC']
CFLAGS_cshlib = ['-fPIC']
CPPPATH_ST = '-I%s'
DEFINES = ['RELEASE', 'PBL_PLATFORM_BASALT', 'PBL_COLOR', 'PBL_RECT', 'PBL_SDK_3']
DEFINES_ST = '-D%s'
DEST_BINFMT = 'elf'
DEST_CPU = 'arm'
DEST_OS = 'darwin'
INCLUDES = ['basalt']
LD = 'arm-none-eabi-ld'
LIBDIR = '/usr/local/lib'
LIBPATH_ST = '-L%s'
LIB_ST = ‘-l%s'
LINKFLAGS = ['-mcpu=cortex-m3', '-mthumb', '-Wl,--gc-sections', '-Wl,--warn-
common', '-Os']
LINKFLAGS_MACBUNDLE = ['-bundle', '-undefined', 'dynamic_lookup']
LINKFLAGS_cshlib = ['-shared']
LINKFLAGS_cstlib = ['-Wl,-Bstatic']
LINK_CC = ['arm-none-eabi-gcc']
MESSAGE = ‘Hello World'
PBW_BIN_DIR = 'basalt'
PEBBLE_SDK = '/Users/cherie/pebble-dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/basalt'
PEBBLE_SDK_COMMON = '/Users/cherie/pebble-dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/common'
PLATFORM = {'PBW_BIN_DIR': 'basalt', 'TAGS': ['basalt', 'color', 'rect'],
'ADDITIONAL_TEXT_LINES_FOR_PEBBLE_H': [], 'MAX_APP_BINARY_SIZE': 65536,
'MAX_RESOURCES_SIZE': 1048576, 'MAX_APP_MEMORY_SIZE': 65536,
'MAX_WORKER_MEMORY_SIZE': 10240, 'NAME': 'basalt', 'BUILD_DIR': 'basalt',
'MAX_RESOURCES_SIZE_APPSTORE': 262144, 'DEFINES': ['PBL_PLATFORM_BASALT',
'PBL_COLOR', 'PBL_RECT']}
PLATFORM_NAME = 'basalt'
PREFIX = '/usr/local'
RPATH_ST = '-Wl,-rpath,%s'
SDK_VERSION_MAJOR = 5
SDK_VERSION_MINOR = 70
SHLIB_MARKER = None
SIZE = 'arm-none-eabi-size'
SONAME_ST = '-Wl,-h,%s'
STLIBPATH_ST = '-L%s'
STLIB_MARKER = None
STLIB_ST = '-l%s'
TARGET_PLATFORMS = [u'basalt', u'aplite']
cprogram_PATTERN = '%s'
cshlib_PATTERN = 'lib%s.so'
cstlib_PATTERN = 'lib%s.a'
macbundle_PATTERN = '%s.bundle'

32. Modified Basic wscript
def configure(ctx):
ctx.env.MESSAGE = "Hello World"
def build(ctx):
ctx(rule="echo ${MESSAGE}",
source='', target='')

33. Glossary
Task Generator
An object that handles the creation of task instances, and
helps simplify the creation of ordering constraints
Task
An object that represents the production of something
during the build (files, in general) and may be executed in
sequence or in parallel

34. ${MESSAGE} is shorthand for ctx.env.MESSAGE

35. Modified Basic wscript
$ ../Pebble/waf configure build
Setting top to : /Users/cherie/waf-demo/
default
Setting out to : /Users/cherie/waf-demo/
default/build
'configure' finished successfully (0.002s)
Waf: Entering directory '/Users/cherie/waf-demo/default/build'
[1/1] echo ${MESSAGE}:
Hello World
Waf: Leaving directory '/Users/cherie/waf-demo/default/build'
'build' finished successfully (0.030s)

36. Modified Basic wscript w/Dependency
def build(ctx):
ctx(rule="echo 'hello' > ${TGT}",
source='',
target='message.txt')
ctx(rule="cp ${SRC} ${TGT}",
source='message.txt',
target='copy.txt')

37. Glossary
Build Order
The sequence in which tasks must be executed.
Dependency
A dependency represents the conditions by which a task can be
considered up-to-date or not, and can be explicit (dependency
on file inputs & outputs) or abstract (dependency on a value). waf
uses dependencies to determine whether tasks need to be run
(changed checksum of source files) and the build order of tasks.

38. ${SRC} and ${TGT} are shorthand for source and target

39. Pebble Project Build
Let’s see how dependencies work

41. Glossary
Node
A data structure used to represent the filesystem. Nodes
may represent files or folders. File nodes are associated
with signatures, which can be hashes of the file contents
(source files) or task signatures (build files)

42. Node != Existing File

43. Glossary
Command
A function defined in the wscript file that is executed
when its name is given on the command-line, and can be
chained with other commands
Ex:
waf distclean (`pebble clean`)
waf configure build (`pebble build`)

45. Agenda
• Why modify my wscript?
• Pebble SDK & Fat PBW
• What is this “waf” thing?
• Why is Pebble using waf?
• wscript
• Why do I care about waf?
• wscript Recipes
• Debugging

46. wscript Recipes
https://developer.getpebble.com/build

47. Recipe #1
Add compile time flags

48. Create waftools/pedantic.py
def configure(ctx):
ctx.env.append_value('CFLAGS', '-pedantic')
def configure(ctx):
ctx.load('pebble_sdk')
+ ctx.load('pedantic', tooldir='waftools')
Add to wscript

49. [23/35] c: src/default.c -> build/src/default.c.18.o
In file included from ../src/default.c:1:0:
/Users/cherie/pebble-dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/aplite/include/pebble.h:
974:33: error: ISO C does not permit named variadic macros [-
Werror=variadic-macros]
#define APP_LOG(level, fmt, args...)
^
/Users/cherie/pebble-dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/aplite/include/pebble.h:
1121:3: error: type of bit-field 'type' is a GCC extension [-
Werror=pedantic]
TupleType type:8;
^
/Users/cherie/pebble-dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/aplite/include/pebble.h:
1132:13: error: ISO C forbids zero-size array 'data' [-Werror=pedantic]
uint8_t data[0];
^

50. Recipe #2
Add build options & associated defines

51. Create waftools/defines.py
def options(ctx):
ctx.add_option('--no-log', action='store_true', default=False,
help="Mark a build to exclude app logging output")
def configure(ctx):
if ctx.options.no_log:
ctx.env.append_value('DEFINES', 'NOLOG')
Add to wscript for options & configure
ctx.load('defines', tooldir='waftools')

52. Add to main project.c file
#include <pebble.h>
#if defined(NOLOG)
#undef APP_LOG
#define APP_LOG(...)
#endif

53. Before
$ pebble install --emulator aplite --logs
Installing app...
App install succeeded.
[22:45:45] default.c:60> Done initializing, pushed window: 0x2001a5fc
[22:45:50] javascript> Ready!
$ pebble build -- --no-logs
…
$ pebble install --emulator aplite --logs
Installing app...
App install succeeded.
[22:49:34] javascript> Ready!
After

54. Recipe #3
Add a linter

55. Create waftools/linter.py
def options(ctx):
ctx.add_option('--jshint', action='store_true',
help="Run JSHint on the JS files in the build")
def configure(ctx):
if ctx.options.jshint:
try:
ctx.find_program('jshint', var='JSHINT')
except ctx.errors.ConfigurationError:
print "jshint was not found"
def build(ctx):
if ctx.env.JSHINT:
ctx(rule='${JSHINT} ${SRC}', source=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/**/*.js'))

56. Add to wscript
def options(ctx):
ctx.load('pebble_sdk')
+ ctx.load('linter', tooldir='waftools')
def configure(ctx):
ctx.load(‘pebble_sdk')
+ ctx.load('linter', tooldir='waftools')
def build(ctx):
ctx.load('pebble_sdk')
+ ctx.load('linter', tooldir='waftools')

57. $ pebble build -- --jshint
[25/36] jshint ${SRC}: src/js/another.js src/js/pebble-js-
app.js
../src/js/pebble-js-app.js: line 2, col 24, Missing semicolon.
1 error
Waf: Leaving directory `/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/default/
build'
Build failed
-> task in '' failed (exit status 2):
{task 4343355600: jshint ${SRC} another.js,pebble-js-
app.js -> }
' jshint ../src/js/another.js ../src/js/pebble-js-app.js '

58. Recipe #4
Use source code from multiple folders (2.x + 3.x)

59. Modify wscript
def build(ctx):
for p in ctx.env.TARGET_PLATFORMS:
- ctx.pbl_program(source=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/**/*.c'),
target=app_elf)
+ ctx.pbl_program(source=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/{}/**/*.c'.format(p)),
target=app_elf)
if build_worker:
- ctx.pbl_worker(source=ctx.path.ant_glob('worker_src/**/*.c'),
target=worker_elf)
+ ctx.pbl_worker(source=ctx.path.ant_glob('worker_src/{}/'
'**/*.c'.format(p)),
target=worker_elf)

60. Recipe #5
Concatenate multiple JS files

61. Modify wscript
def build(ctx):
ctx.set_group('bundle')
+ js_files = ctx.path.ant_glob('src/**/*.js')
+ if js_files:
+ ctx(rule='cat ${SRC} > ${TGT}', source=js_files, target='pebble-js-
app.js')
- ctx.pbl_bundle(binaries=binaries, js=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/js/**/
*.js'))
+ ctx.pbl_bundle(binaries=binaries, js='pebble-js-app.js' if js_files else
[])

62. A Word on Future
Proofing
Sometimes the SDK default wscript will be updated, but by
abstracting code out of wscript and into waf tools, it will be
much easier to maintain customizations!

63. Debugging
When your wscript changes go wrong

64. `pebble -v` (waf -v) for command-lines
[ 6/41] c: src/concentricity.c -> build/src/concentricity.c.16.o
21:27:05 runner ['arm-none-eabi-gcc', '-std=c99', '-mcpu=cortex-m3', '-
mthumb', '-ffunction-sections', '-fdata-sections', '-g', '-Os', '-D_TIME_H_',
'-Wall', '-Wextra', '-Werror', '-Wno-unused-parameter', '-Wno-error=unused-
function', '-Wno-error=unused-variable', '-fPIE', '-I/Users/cherie/pebble-
apps/pebble-dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/chalk/include', '-I/Users/cherie/pebble-
dev/PebbleSDK-dev/Pebble/chalk/include', '-I/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/
concentricity/build', '-I/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity', '-I/Users/
cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity/build/src', '-I/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/
concentricity/src', '-I/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity/build/chalk',
'-I/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity/chalk', '-DRELEASE', '-
DPBL_PLATFORM_CHALK', '-DPBL_COLOR', '-DPBL_ROUND', '-DPBL_SDK_3', '-
D__FILE_NAME__="concentricity.c"', '../src/concentricity.c', '-c', '-o',
'src/concentricity.c.16.o']

65. `pebble -vvv` (waf -vvv) for complete
21:51:50 preproc reading file '/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/
concentricity/build/chalk/src/resource_ids.auto.h'
21:51:50 deps deps for [/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity/
build/chalk/appinfo.auto.c]: [/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/
concentricity/build/chalk/src/resource_ids.auto.h]; unresolved
['pebble_process_info.h']
21:51:50 task task {task 4344651216: c appinfo.auto.c ->
appinfo.auto.c.16.o} must run as it was never run before or the
task code changed
21:51:50 runner_env kw={'shell': False, 'cwd': '/Users/cherie/
pebble-apps/concentricity/build', 'env': None}
21:51:50 envhash d751713988987e9331980363e24189ce []

66. Zone Description
runner command-lines executed (same as -v)
deps implicit dependencies found
task_gen task creation & task generator method execution
action functions to execute for building the targets
env environment contents
envhash hashes of the environment objects
build build context operations, like filesystem access
preproc preprocessor execution
group groups & task generators
$ pebble build -- --zones=deps
23:01:45 deps deps for [/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity/src/
concentricity.c]: [/Users/cherie/pebble-apps/concentricity/src/ui.h];
unresolved ['pebble.h']

67. Helpful waf Links
• Pebble Recipes
• https://developer.getpebble.com/build
• GitHub Project
• https://github.com/waf-project/waf
• Google Group
• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/waf-users
• Book
• https://waf.io/book/

68. 2015 Pebble Developer Retreat
Questions?
https://developer.getpebble.com/build