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  VS Arduino › Visual Micro › Visual Studio 2017, 2019, 2022 › Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
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Hot Topic (More than 8 Replies) Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager (Read 2952 times)
DeeJayOne
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Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Jun 9th, 2023 at 9:54am
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Hello,

I haven't understand how it works :
- Do we need to install Arduino IDE for the usage of Visual Micro Plugin with MS Visual Studio ?
- Why do we need to choose between Arduino 1.6/1.8, Arduino 2 or No IDE ?
- Where Visual Micro plugin store Arduino libraries files ?
- I have updated libraries files from the Arduino IDE 1.8 and when I open the micro explorer and select "board manager", I have a list in the "Available updates" section but I don't understand what it means. As an example :
Adafruit SAMD Boards by Adafruit Version 1.7.12 INSTALLED version 1.7.11 is installed download size 4 545 856 bytesView source
It says 1.7.12 is installed (version installed in Arduino IDE) and it also says v1.7.11 is installed.

It is not clear for me.

My setup : MS Visual Studio Community 2017 + Visual Micro 2022.1128.1925
« Last Edit: Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:02am by DeeJayOne »  
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Simon@Visual Micro
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #1 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:02am
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Quote:
- Do we need to install Arduino IDE for the usage of Visual Micro Plugin with MS Visual Studio ?

Unless you use the "Visual Micro (No IDE)" option then yes installing the Arduino IDE ensures Visual Micro uses the same locations to store sketches, as well as the same board packages and libraries as in the Arduino IDE.  These can be overridden in Visual Micro if desired as well.

Quote:
- Why do we need to choose between Arduino 1.6/1.8, Arduino 2 or No IDE ?

The way that the preferences are stored in the Arduino IDE has changed between 1.6/1.8 and 2.x which is why we need to know which ones to use.  You can have both Arduino IDEs installed, with different settings.

Quote:
- Where Visual Micro plugin store Arduino libraries files ?

Visual Micro will use the standard Sketchbook\libraries folder, where Sketchbook is defined in the Arduino IDE.  This can also be overridden to a custom Sketchbook folder on the IDE Locations screen in Visual Micro.
Documentation: https://www.visualmicro.com/page/User-Guide.aspx?doc=Advanced-Config-Manager.htm...

Please attach a screenshot of the Micro Explorer window showing these libraries.

Please also attach a screenshot of the IDE Locations Window with the "Arduino 1.6/1.8" IDE selected at the top of the window so we can see the settings.
  
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DeeJayOne
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #2 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:44am
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As example, a screenshot for the ESP32 board core library in Visual Studio
« Last Edit: Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:46am by DeeJayOne »  
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DeeJayOne
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #3 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:48am
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Arduino v1.6 Location Window
  
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #4 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:51am
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Arduino IDE v1.6 Board Manager ESP32
  
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #5 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 10:54am
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No IDE Location Window
  
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #6 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 11:39am
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Thanks for the images, from your original post it seemed it was a Library issue not a Board Package issue.

The 2.0.3 RC1 shows INSTALLED in red as it is not currently installed, and is followed by the 2.0.9 version in italics which is installed. This only happens when using the development index for the ESP32 boards.

We will look at why this is showing as an update when it is an earlier version and amend this thread when a fix to that element is available.
  
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DeeJayOne
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #7 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 12:34pm
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OK, thanks for your reactivity.
  
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #8 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 12:56pm
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Maybe, my question was not clear. Using the "library" word can be a bit confused. I mean a library can be a "software library" or a "core API library for specific boards".

I think, this is not already clear in Arduino IDE. They speak about Board Manager for "Hardware Core API + some Software Libraries included" and Library Manager for "Addon Software libraries".

Moreover, the folder path (at least in Windows) is different  for "Board libraries" and "Addon libraries".
I don't understand why one is in the "AppData\local" folder and the other is in Documents folder.
  
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #9 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 1:07pm
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Thanks for the clarification.

In the Arduino ecosystem the "Board Packages" include all board and platform definitions, and determine which toolchain is used with the boards.  These often also include some libraries within them, which are specific to the board package and its' CPU Architecture.

There are also thousands of additional libraries (not supplied by the board package creators) which vary on which architectures they can be used on (e.g. some libraries only work on only ESP32 or AVR, other libraries will run on all boards).  This is determined by the author of the Add On Library.

There are two locations for the libraries to ensure they can be differentiated:
1) AppData\Local - Board Packages and toolchains.  Some libraries may be located within the Board Package folder if they are supplied.
2) Sketchbook\Libraries - Libraries which the user has chosen to install beyond the ones provided above.

The reason they are kept separately is to ensure the user has the choice to download a later copy of a library (which may also be included in a Board Package).  When you upgrade the board package the user installed library is not removed, meaning your code would keep using the one you expect, even though the board package has changed.
  
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DeeJayOne
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #10 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 1:33pm
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I'm fully agree, your answer is clear.

I'm asking why in Arduino IDE, they mix "Sketches" location at the root of "Documents\Arduino" and "custom libraries" location as a sub-folder of the "Sketches" location.
By default, they should at least create a sub-folder named "projects" as an example to avoid mixing all Sketches folder and the "libraries" folder at the same path level in "Documents\Arduino".

Maybe, it is a feature request but why don't use 2 separate path setting for "Sketches" and "Custom libraries"

Please see the attached screenshot with a feature example.
« Last Edit: Jun 9th, 2023 at 1:51pm by DeeJayOne »  
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Re: Micro Explorer - Arduino IDE selection & Library/board manager
Reply #11 - Jun 9th, 2023 at 2:24pm
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This is something that has always been the case in the Arduino specification.

To compound this you can also have a Sketchbook\hardware folder which can contain custom board packages and definitions.

If the Arduino specification changes we will of course follow any developments.
  
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