Generating Code

This section describes what the TouchGFX Generator outputs when generating code in STM32CubeMX.

Generated project

Other than the GCC compiler that is bundled with TouchGFX and used when run target is pressed in TouchGFX Designer, TouchGFX also works with (at least) the following IDEs when generating code using the Generate Code button in STM32CubeMX:

1. EWARM
2. MDK-ARM
3. STM32CubeIDE

For optimal project structure, navigate to Project Manager and select the following options for project generation:

• Application structure: Advanced
• Disable Generate under root (STM32CubeIDE only)

Select Advanced application structure and deselect Generate under root

After pressing the Generate code button, STM32CubeMX will generate some code for the selected middlewares, utilities, drivers, toolchain etc.

STM32CubeMX will also generate a TouchGFX folder in the root of the project folder with the following structure:

TouchGFX folder structure

• The App folder contains code to initialize and start TouchGFX.
• The target folder contains read-only generated code (inside generated/) and modifiable user classes (STM32TouchController.cpp, TouchGFXGPIO.cpp and TouchGFXHAL.cpp).
• The .part file is opened with TouchGFX Designer in order to create a complete TouchGFX project with TouchGFX header files and libraries. The part file contains relevant application information such as pixel format and canvas dimensions that TouchGFX Designer uses when generating TouchGFX application code.

Once the code is generated through STM32CubeMX, the TouchGFX project can be opened with TouchGFX Designer in order to develop the UI. TouchGFX Designer automatically adds any additional generated code files to the target IDE project that is selected for the current project in STM32CubeMX.

Further reading

See the UI Development section for more information about UI development using the TouchGFX Designer.

Generated Code Structure

Some files are always generated in the TouchGFX folder regardless of the configurations made in TouchGFX Generator, while others are only generated if certain features are enable/disabled (e.g. Video Decoders or Custom DMA2D class). The contents of the generated files are updated whenever developer generate code in STM32CubeMX, to reflect changes made in TouchGFX Generator AL configurations.

The listing below shows an overview of the content of a STM32CubeMX project with TouchGFX Generator enabled, with emphasis on TouchGFX related files that are always generated.

TouchGFX Folder

│   .mxproject
│   myproject.ioc
├───Core
├───Drivers
├───EWARM
├───Middlewares
└───TouchGFX
    │   ApplicationTemplate.touchgfx.part
    ├───App
    │       app_touchgfx.c
    │       app_touchgfx.h
    └───target
        │   STM32TouchController.cpp
        │   STM32TouchController.hpp
        │   TouchGFXGPIO.cpp
        │   TouchGFXHAL.cpp
        │   TouchGFXHAL.hpp
        │
        └───generated
                OSWrappers.cpp
                TouchGFXConfiguration.cpp
                TouchGFXGeneratedHAL.cpp
                TouchGFXGeneratedHAL.hpp

The following table outlines the responsibility of the most important entries.

Folder	Responsibility
myproject.ioc	STM32CubeMX Project file
Core	main.c and startup code
Drivers	CMSIS, MCU family drivers, and Board Support Packages (BSP)
EWARM	IDE project folder. Can be EWARM, MDK-ARM or STM32CubeIDE
Middlewares	Contains TouchGFX library/headerfiles and third party software like FreeRTOS.
ApplicationTemplate.touchgfx.part	The .part file is updated by STM32CubeMX with information that is relevant to TouchGFX Designer project, e.g. screen dimensions and bit depth
App	X-CUBE interface to STM32CubeMX. app_touchgfx.c contains definitions for the functions MX_TouchGFX_Process(void) and MX_TouchGFX_Init(void) which are used to initialize TouchGFX and start its main loop.
target/generated	This sub-folder contains the read-only files that get overwritten by STM32CubeMX when configurations change. TouchGFXGeneratedHAL.cpp is a sub-class of the TouchGFX class HAL and contains the code that STM32CubeMX can generate based on its current configuration. OSWrappers.cpp (The OSAL) contains the functions required to synchronize with TouchGFX Engine, and finally TouchGFXConfiguration.cpp which contains the code to construct and configure TouchGFX, including the HAL.
target	Contains the bulk of files that can be modified by the user to extend the behavior of the HAL or to override configurations generated by STM32CubeMX. STM32TouchController.cpp contains an empty touch controller interface. TouchGFXHAL.cpp defines a sub-class, TouchGFXHAL, of TouchGFXGeneratedHAL.

It is important to know that TouchGFXConfiguration.cpp contains a function that constructs the HAL and a function that starts the main loop of TouchGFX. Additional configuration can be done in the editable user-classes.

Further reading

Please read Modifying Generated Behavior section on how to apply additional configurations in editable user-classes.