arduino-ide/arduino-ide-extension/README.md

Arduino IDE Extension

Arduino IDE is based on Theia, and most of its IDE features, UIs and customizations are implemented in this Theia extension.

IDE Services

IDE services typically have a backend part in src/node/ and a front-end part in src/browser/.

Boards Service

The Boards Service continuously checks the computer's ports, in order to detect when you connect or disconnect an Arduino board.

The Boards Manager lists all the known board types, and allows downloading new cores to get additional board types.

• src/common/protocol/boards-service.ts implements the common classes and interfaces
• src/node/boards-service-impl.ts implements the service backend:
  • discovering ports & boards
  • searching for compatible board types
  • installing new board types
• src/browser/boards/boards-list-widget.ts implements the Boards Manager front-end:
  • browsing/searching available board types
  • installing new board types

Core Service

The Core Service is responsible for building your sketches and uploading them to a board.

• src/common/protocol/core-service.ts implements the common classes and interfaces
• src/node/core-service-impl.ts implements the service backend:
  • compiling a sketch for a selected board type
  • uploading a sketch to a connected board

Serial Service

The Serial Service allows getting information back from sketches running on your Arduino boards.

• src/common/protocol/serial-service.ts implements the common classes and interfaces
• src/node/serial/serial-service-impl.ts implements the service backend:
  • connecting to / disconnecting from a board
  • receiving and sending data
• src/browser/serial/serial-connection-manager.ts handles the serial connection in the frontend
• src/browser/serial/monitor/monitor-widget.tsx implements the serial monitor front-end:
  • viewing the output from a connected board
  • entering data to send to the board
• src/browser/serial/plotter/plotter-frontend-contribution.ts implements the serial plotter front-end:
  • opening a new window running the Serial Plotter Web App

Config Service

The Config Service knows about your system, like for example the default sketch locations.

• src/common/protocol/config-service.ts implements the common classes and interfaces
• src/node/config-service-impl.ts implements the service backend:
  • getting the arduino-cli version and configuration
  • checking whether a file is in a data or sketch directory

"arduino" configuration in the package.json:

• "cli":
  • "version" type string | { owner: string, repo: string, commitish?: string }: if the type is a string and is a valid semver, it will get the corresponding released CLI. If the type is string and is a date in YYYYMMDD format, it will get a nightly CLI. If the type is an object, a CLI, build from the sources in the owner/repo will be used. If commitish is not defined, the HEAD of the default branch will be used. In any other cases an error is thrown.

Rebuild gRPC protocol interfaces

• Some CLI updates can bring changes to the gRPC interfaces, as the API might change. gRPC interfaces can be updated running the command yarn --cwd arduino-ide-extension generate-protocol

Update clangd and ClangFormat

The clangd C++ language server and the ClangFormat code formatter tool dependencies are managed in parallel. Updating them to a different version is done by the following procedure:

1. If the target version is not already available from the arduino/clang-static-binaries repository, submit an issue there requesting a build and wait for that to be completed.
2. Validate the ClangFormat configuration for the target version by following the instructions here
3. Submit a pull request in the arduino/arduino-ide repository to update the version in the arduino.clangd.version key of package.json.
4. Submit a pull request in the arduino/tooling-project-assets repository to update the version in the vars.DEFAULT_CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION field of Taskfile.yml.

Customize Icons

ArduinoIde uses a customized version of FontAwesome. In order to update/replace icons follow the following steps:

• import the file arduino-icons.json in Icomoon
• load it
• edit the icons as needed
• !! download the new arduino-icons.json file and put it in this repo
• Click on "Generate Font" in Icomoon, then download
• place the updated fonts in the src/style/fonts directory