Professional Windows® Embedded CE 6.0

Chapter 6. Debugging and Debugging Tools

In most embedded development projects, there are multiple options and methods to reach the same design goals. Throughout the development process, even with the best engineering team, you are expected to spend a great deal of time and resources to look for alternative ways to improve system performance, debug, and identify problem areas. A productive debugging environment can help minimize the time and effort you need to spend for debugging, which can have a direct impact on the project's cost, schedule, and success.

The Windows Embedded CE Platform Builder and Visual Studio 2005 development environment provides an efficient debugging environment, with easy-to-use debugging tools, to help minimize the needed efforts for debugging and to resolve design deficiencies.

Many different options and resources are available to help with the debugging process. Some options are from Microsoft, some are from third-party vendors and may require additional debugging hardware, and some are undocumented processes from other developers sharing their knowledge. In this chapter, we will attempt only to cover the common debugging tools available within the Platform Builder tool.

Chapters 4 and 5 covered the steps to create the OS design, generate the OS runtime image from the OS design, and establish connection between the development workstation and target device to download the CE runtime image to the target device. In this chapter, we will use the same OS design ...