Missing cmsis_tiarmclang.h file

[Hermann-Core]

Hello. I noticed that the file cmsis_tiarmclang.h is missing from CMSIS Core include directory. It was present in the previous version. Now it causes a compilation error and I had to do some manual work to get it work. Can you check it please?

[JonatanAntoni]

Hi @Hermann-Core,

Thanks for pointing this out. I guess this is an oversight as the cmsis_tiarmclang.h was basically unmaintained over years.

Could you please check if we require a special version of the CMSIS compiler header for TI at all? Ideally, we can just use https://github.com/ARM-software/CMSIS_6/blob/main/CMSIS/Core/Include/cmsis_clang.h for TI as well. If you could confirm that the standard clang compiler header works for you we'd just need to remove
special handling from

CMSIS_6/CMSIS/Core/Include/cmsis_compiler.h

Lines 34 to 38 in 783317a

	/*
	* TI Arm Clang Compiler (tiarmclang)
	*/
	#elif defined (__ti__)
	#include "cmsis_tiarmclang.h"

If this is not sufficient, we need to update the headers. I see there is still an old version for the M-profile https://github.com/ARM-software/CMSIS_6/blob/main/CMSIS/Core/Include/m-profile/cmsis_tiarmclang_m.h which would need to be updated like the other compiler headers have been.

[Hermann-Core]

Could you please check if we require a special version of the CMSIS compiler header for TI at all? Ideally, we can just use https://github.com/ARM-software/CMSIS_6/blob/main/CMSIS/Core/Include/cmsis_clang.h for TI as well. If you could confirm that the standard clang compiler header works for you we'd just need to remove special handling from

CMSIS_6/CMSIS/Core/Include/cmsis_compiler.h

Lines 34 to 38 in 783317a

	/*
	* TI Arm Clang Compiler (tiarmclang)
	*/
	#elif defined (__ti__)
	#include "cmsis_tiarmclang.h"

They are not exactly the same. There is a compatibility layer between them since the TI compiler is essentially a Clang compiler, but with specific implementations not present in the upstream Arm Clang compiler. I noticed that the TI compiler offers more features:

• Startup and low-level initialization definitions
• More comprehensive set of functions for accessing core registers
• Compiler-specific intrinsic definitions

If this is not sufficient, we need to update the headers. I see there is still an old version for the M-profile https://github.com/ARM-software/CMSIS_6/blob/main/CMSIS/Core/Include/m-profile/cmsis_tiarmclang_m.h which would need to be updated like the other compiler headers have been.

It seems more logical to proceed this way.

[JonatanAntoni]

@Hermann-Core, would you volunteer to contribute a TI header that works at least for you? We could even try to integrate TI compiler into CI if there is a free version available to run on GitHub.

[Hermann-Core]

@JonatanAntoni Ok I think I can do that. Are there specific ways or requirements that I should follow ?

Concerning the compiler, it’s free. You can get it from there.

[JonatanAntoni]

There is nothing specifically written down. I'd just follow the same concept that was used for the other compilers. Profile-agnostic declarations on the top level and profile-specific stuff added on the sub-level.

You could try to run the Core Tests and CoreValidation tests using TI Clang as well. The latter is using CMSIS-Toolbox for building which does not have TI support, yet.

[Hermann-Core]

I will try the tests with that compiler and let you know.
By the way do you have plans to add support for TI compiler in CMSIS-Toolbox ?

[JonatanAntoni]

No, we do not have plans to add this toolbox. But toolbox is open for contribution as well and adding another compiler should not be a big task. We need to enhance the schema files to allow compiler selection; and toolbox build backend requires a cmake file for the compiler providing the command line flag mappings. Please consider contributing to https://github.com/Open-CMSIS-Pack/cmsis-toolbox.

[Hermann-Core]

The link you provided doesn’t contains useful information on how to add a compiler support to the Toolbox. I hope I don’t have to go through the source code to get how a compiler support is added.

[JonatanAntoni]

Lets move to the issues of toolbox repo and raise the feature request about TI Clang support there. The toolbox maintainers might be a more expert source for getting guidance.

[Hermann-Core]

I just opened a new issue in the toolbox repo.
Here is the link to track it: Open-CMSIS-Pack/cmsis-toolbox#220