C Development

EPOC supports C console applications using libc through the ESTLIB.dll provided by Symbian as an add-on to the standard EPOC system.

This is freely available as an EPOC SIS installation file in zip format here. Its also included on the Symbian C++ SDK.

I have been using three different options for developing C console applications for EPOC:

• The GNU gcc/cygwin C/C++ ARM710 cross-compiler for Windows - part of the Symbian ER5 C++ SDK.
• The epocemx package for C/C++ compilation on EPOC devices.
• The epocemx package for C/C++ compilation on Linux.

Symbian ER5 C++ SDK for Windows

A version of this SDK for the Psion Netbook/Netpad is available free from PsionTeklogix here. This very large download (94MB) includes the SDK files mentioned below.

The package runs under Windows and is intended for use with Microsoft's Visual C++ but can be used without an IDE as I am doing here. Part of the package comprises a version of GNU gcc and associated tools for compiling ARM710 target code for EPOC devices (Symbian refer to this as MARM). The sources for the GNU stuff can again be downloaded from PsionTeklogix here.

My stripped down development environment for C libc development comprises the following parts of the Symbian SDK:

• GNU Tools (\epoc32\gcc\bin\):
  [These all rely upon cygwin.dll also in this directory]
• C/C++ compiler: gcc.exe (cpp.exe, cc1.exe, cc1plus.exe)
• Assembler: as.exe
• Linker: ld.exe
• Dlltool: dlltool.exe
• Symbian Tools (\epoc32\tools\):
• PE to EPOC executable converter: petran.exe
• Symbian Include Files (\epoc32\include\):
• libc header files: libc\*.h, libc\arpa\*.h, libc\machine\*.h, libc\netinet\*.h, libc\sys\*.h
• Symbian Library Files (\epoc32\release\MARM\Rel\):
• libc library file: estlib.lib
• E32 user library file (needed by estlib): euser.lib
• entrypoint object files: Ecrt0.o
• exe stub object file: Eexe.o

In addition I use a make project management tool downloaded from the internet:

• Microsoft nmake.exe (free download) here):

or
• GNU/Cygwin make.exe here

The Microsoft nmake option is the simplest as its just a single file. The Cygwin GNU make option is more complex as it has to be downloaded as part of a larger package. (You get a bash shell too, though, so if you know how to drive Linux this is a better console than the DOS prompt!) Nmake and GNU make are not 100% compatible by any means but if you keep to the basic syntax you can produce makefiles which work with either.

Epocemx

Epocemx is available here.

Epocemx consists of a basic set of GNU compiler tools (some modified) that will run on an EPOC machine. The package includes a very nice bash like command shell for EPOC which is worth having on its own!

To use the epocemx package the following files are needed from the Symbian C++ SDK:

• Symbian Include Files (\epoc32\include\):
• libc header files: libc\*.h, libc\arpa\*.h, libc\machine\*.h, libc\netinet\*.h, libc\sys\*.h
• Symbian Library Files (\epoc32\release\MARM\Rel\):
• libc library file: estlib.lib
• E32 user library file (needed by estlib): euser.lib
• entrypoint object file: Ecrt0.o
• exe stub object file: Eexe.o

Epocemx compiles on a Linux machine. This provides a Linux crosss-compiler which can also be used to compile Epoc executables from C/C++ source. The libraries and headers are the same as thosed used for epocemx on Epoc.

Makefile

I have avoided any of the project management batchfiles or perl scripts used by Symbian in the SDK. I am using a straightforward make file which will work for all the above options (EPOC C++ SDK / EPOCEMX / nmake / GNU make).