Build and Simulation

This document describes how to build and run HoneyGUI Visual Designer projects, including development environment setup, build process, and simulation testing.

Overview

HoneyGUI Visual Designer supports simulation on PC, allowing rapid GUI application development and testing without embedded hardware. Projects use the SCons build system and support Windows, Linux, and WSL environments.

Development Environment Requirements

Windows

Required software:

MinGW-w64: C/C++ compiler
- Recommended version: 8.1.0 or higher
- Installation path: C:\mingw64 (default)
- Download: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/
Python: 3.9.7 or higher
- Download: https://www.python.org/downloads/
SCons: Build tool
```
pip install scons==4.4.0
```
kconfiglib: Configuration tool
```
pip install kconfiglib
```
VSCode: Code editor
- Download: https://code.visualstudio.com/
- Install HoneyGUI Visual Designer plugin

Optional software:

CMake: 3.31.2 or higher (if using CMake build)
```
pip install cmake
```

Linux/WSL

Required software:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential python3 python3-pip libsdl2-dev

# Install Python tools
pip3 install scons==4.4.0 kconfiglib

Environment Variable Configuration

Windows:

Ensure MinGW-w64 bin directory is in PATH:

# Check compiler
gcc --version
g++ --version

# If not found, add to PATH
set PATH=C:\mingw64\bin;%PATH%

Linux/WSL:

# Check compiler
gcc --version

# Check SDL2
pkg-config --libs sdl2

Project Structure

Standard HoneyGUI Visual Designer project structure:

my_project/
├── project.json          # Project configuration file
├── ui/                   # HML design files
│   ├── main/
│   │   └── main.hml
│   └── settings/
│       └── settings.hml
├── assets/               # Resource files
│   ├── images/          # Image resources
│   ├── fonts/           # Font resources
│   └── models/          # 3D models
├── src/                  # Generated C code
│   ├── {ProjectName}Entry.c
│   ├── SConscript
│   ├── ui/              # UI code
│   ├── callbacks/       # Callback code
│   └── user/            # User code
└── win32_sim/           # Simulator directory (after build)

Project Configuration File

project.json defines basic project information:

{
  "name": "MyWatchApp",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "My smart watch application",
  "resolution": "410x502",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "license": "MIT"
}

Supported resolutions:

240x240 - Small round watch
410x502 - Standard smartwatch
466x466 - Large screen watch
480x272 - Landscape device
800x480 - Tablet/car display

Build Process

Build Using VSCode Plugin

Open Project: Open HoneyGUI Visual Designer project folder in VSCode
Generate Code:
- Click the Generate Code button in toolbar
- Or use command palette: Ctrl+Shift+P -> HoneyGUI: Generate Code
Configure Application:
- Use command: HoneyGUI: Configure Application
- Select application to run
Build Project:
- Use command: HoneyGUI: Build Project
- Or execute in terminal:
```
cd win32_sim
scons
```
Run Simulator:
- Use command: HoneyGUI: Run Simulator
- Or execute manually:
```
# Windows
./win32_sim/gui.exe

# Linux/WSL
./win32_sim/gui
```

Build Using Command Line

Complete build workflow:

# 1. Enter simulator directory
cd win32_sim

# 2. Configure application (optional)
menuconfig ../Kconfig.gui

# 3. Build project
scons

# 4. Run
cd ..
./win32_sim/gui.exe  # Windows
./win32_sim/gui      # Linux/WSL

Clean build:

cd win32_sim
scons -c

Debug mode:

# Skip strict checks for development debugging
set DEBUG_MODE=1        # Windows
export DEBUG_MODE=1     # Linux/WSL
scons

Build Configuration

Application Configuration (Menuconfig)

Configure application before building:

cd win32_sim
menuconfig ../Kconfig.gui

Configuration interface allows selection of:

Preset applications (watch demo, GUI demo, etc.)
Screen resolution
Feature toggles

Configuration is saved in .config file, read by both SCons and CMake.

Compiler Flags

Default compiler flags (strict mode):

-Wall: Enable all warnings
-Werror: Treat warnings as errors
-O2: Optimization level 2

Debug mode flags (DEBUG_MODE=1):

-g: Generate debug information
-O0: No optimization, easier debugging
Don't use -Werror

Build with CMake (Optional)

HoneyGUI also supports CMake build system:

cd win32_sim
mkdir build
cd build

# Windows (MinGW)
cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" ..
mingw32-make -j 32

# Linux
cmake ..
make -j 8

# Run
cd ../..
./win32_sim/build/gui.exe  # Windows
./win32_sim/build/gui      # Linux

Running the Simulator

Start Simulator

# Windows
./win32_sim/gui.exe

# Linux/WSL
./win32_sim/gui

The simulator window will display your designed GUI interface.

Interaction Methods

Mouse Left Click: Simulate touch tap
Mouse Drag: Simulate swipe gesture
Mouse Long Press: Simulate long press
Keyboard ESC: Exit simulator
Window Close: Exit simulator

Debugging Tips

View Logs: Simulator outputs debug information to console

Use GDB Debugging (Linux):

gdb ./win32_sim/gui
(gdb) run
(gdb) break main
(gdb) continue

Visual Studio Code Debugging (Windows):

Configure launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Debug HoneyGUI",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/win32_sim/gui.exe",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "MIMode": "gdb",
      "miDebuggerPath": "C:/mingw64/bin/gdb.exe"
    }
  ]
}

Common Issues

Build Errors

Error: gcc not found

'gcc' is not recognized as an internal or external command

Solutions:

Confirm MinGW-w64 is installed
Check PATH environment variable
Restart terminal/VSCode

Error: SDL2 library missing

fatal error: SDL2/SDL.h: No such file or directory

Solution (Linux):

sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev

Error: Python module missing

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'SCons'

Solution:

pip install scons==4.4.0 kconfiglib

Runtime Errors

Error: Cannot start simulator

Failed to initialize SDL

Solutions:

Windows: Confirm system supports OpenGL
Linux: Check SDL2 library installation
WSL: Need to configure X Server (e.g., VcXsrv)

Error: Resource file not found

Error loading image: assets/logo.bin

Solutions:

Confirm resource files have been converted to .bin format
Check file path is correct
Rebuild project

Performance Optimization

Build Speed Optimization

Parallel Compilation:

# SCons
scons -j 8  # Use 8 threads

# CMake
make -j 8

Incremental Build: Build system automatically recompiles only changed files after partial modifications

Use ccache (Linux):

sudo apt-get install ccache
export CC="ccache gcc"
export CXX="ccache g++"

Runtime Performance Optimization

Resource Optimization: Use appropriate image formats and resolutions
Code Optimization: Avoid time-consuming operations in frequently called callbacks
Compilation Optimization: Use -O2 or -O3 optimization level for release builds

Continuous Integration

Build HoneyGUI projects in CI/CD pipelines:

# GitHub Actions example
name: Build HoneyGUI
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install -y build-essential libsdl2-dev python3-pip
          pip3 install scons==4.4.0 kconfiglib

      - name: Build project
        run: |
          cd win32_sim
          scons

      - name: Archive artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
        with:
          name: gui-binary
          path: win32_sim/gui

Next Steps

Learn Code Generation to understand code generation process
See Event System to implement interaction logic
Refer to Resource Management to manage project resources
Read Embedded Deployment for embedded deployment solutions