VisualDSP builtin Tcl use
by Theo Verelst
I've been working with Analog Devices' 'VisualDSP' Digital Signal Processor Integrated Development Environment (version 3.5.6 june 2004), which has tcl built in.
info patchlevel 8.3.1
The tcl has got most things built in, even sockets, though no Tk.
There are tcl commands (see help 'Overview of Tcl scripting') to add menu items, though, and also one can invoke all existing menu's, just use
dspclickmenuitem "Session:Select Session:BF561...."
for instance to select a session from the menu (for instance when two evaluation boards are connected).
Unfortunately, well throughthoughness is limited: for instance Open Project will simply present the user with the Microsoft Windows' (I run it on XP, I think it isn't available on linux) file selector, while I'd prefer to simply have a tcl script load the IDE with all kinds of stuff. The 'dspprojectload' command doesn't allow multiple projects to be loaded, which is a shame, because using the BF561 dual core Blackfin DSP evaluation board, it would be handy to use Tcl to load all 4 or more subprojects, instead of having to do that by hand. Maybe more experimentation is needed.
I didn't try debugging using Tcl commands and DSP step-execution control/logging, though that looks powerful from the manual.
Main complaint more to Analog or the programming company: tcl should be able to do more! It shouldn't be all too hard to make the usability of tcl more profound. I got the impression more attention went to activeX scripting, which to me seems less scientifically valid or desirable.
LV Does the package require or load command work? If so, execute
puts $auto_path
and you will find the various folders where tcl libraries can automatically live, and of course you could add to that path to get it to see things like a Tk that you built yourself.
Of course, that's a VERY old version of Tcl in there. Have they thought about upgrading?
See also my page about DSP http://www.theover.org/dsp , I might put more links about tcl on when appropriate.