Replacing Embest IDE with Keil

You would be best to speak direct to your local Keil Sales Office, Distributor or whatever about this.

See the 'Contact' link at the foot of the page...

Then you will be able to discuss in detail the nature of your project, what you currently have, and what you hope to get from Keil.

You can, of course, try out the free Evaluation version - as the name suggests, that's what it's there for!

In what way(s) do you feel that your current IDE is "old" or lacks "power" ?

Note that uVision isn't exactly state-of-the art...

"IDE with a better project management tool."

Again, what is it about your existing "project management tool" that you find inadequate?

The project management within uVision isn't amazing...

Is it?

Then which is better to use - keil vs realview?

For us, we started with embest IDE because it is free.

But as our product divesify, we need a good IDE that can sort our coding more modular and crate batches of different software version...

For example, let's say the workspace has 10 different source code functions. i am thinking of creating a lib out of each of this source code and make each lib file a modular code. then, just link the lib file. so, in future, when we start new project, just hv to call that function name....

any good recommendation?

or do u think we shld just get a gcc, compile the codes into lib file instead since it is free or it is definitely worth the $ to invest in a decent IDE

would appreciate some advise

thanks

Is what?

"which is better to use - keil vs realview?"

Realview is Keil!

"need a good IDE that can sort our coding more modular"

That is something that you as the designer need to do - an IDE will not do it for you!

"and crate batches of different software version..."

uVision's project management is quite simplistic - not particularly great at managing multiple variants/versions.

Again, you really should be discussing this direct with your local representative - it will be much easier for you to discuss exactly what you require, and for them to show you exactly what the tools can do.

"let's say the workspace has 10 different source code functions"

That would be a very small project indeed!

"i am thinking of creating a lib out of each of this source code"

I don't see how a library would help here?

"worth the $ to invest in a decent IDE"

I think the $$$ are more related to the Compiler, etc, than the IDE?

There's nothing to stop you using Keil's (ie, ARM's) compiler, etc, with any other IDE of your choice...

Use whatever compiler you have, if it is up to the task.

You might possibly look at Code::Blocks or Eclipse as new IDE for editing/building.

But in the end, you can work very well with any good editor together with command-line tools for building and a decent debugger.

I remember that Embest is also a Local Distributor of KEIL products.

Thanks guys for the helpful reply.

10 is a just a simple illustration.... our actual coding is quite complex as we have 40+ source codes. We wanted to make modular and create library file so that next time, our distributors can simply modify the firmware easily using the library files that we generated for them. so, they just need to write a simple main.cpp and then just call the library files, without having to read through those long source codes. This would help us streamline our process, reduce time and improve efficiency. It would be a hassle everytime for us to send our engineers over to redo the firmware whenever customer has a different requirement... much like creating an API... so we need to identify standard modules and create library.

is there any IDE tat u think can fit our needs?

I am a mechanical engineering, not really a computing student. writing firmware is fine for me but as to how those process creates those software library, i am not an expert...

i have download both realview and keil trial version... will see how it goes..

So what you really need to do is to hire a Software Engineer who knows what he's doing, and can make appropriate decisions, surely?

so we need to identify standard modules and create library.

is there any IDE tat u think can fit our needs?

You incorrectly assume that the IDE has particularly big relevance to that.

The IDE is just a tool. No amount of tooling can replace the engineer knowing what he's doing.

Indeed!

Would you hire a software engineer to do a mechanical engineering task?

Remember: the usability of your entire product is likely to hinge on the usability of the software; so you really need someone who really knows what they're doing and can really get this right - it's not just a side-issue to be dropped on someone else as a fill-in or a tidy-up.

One thing to be aware of with Libraries is that they will (most likely) be specific to a particular tool (possibly also a particular version of a particular tool) - so you need to carefully consider whether you want to lock your customers in to that specific tool (possibly also a particular version of that particular tool)...

@Brian
Arm as a Cambridge UK based company controlls Keil Software
reference: microcontroller.com/news/arm_keil.asp

There's a clue in the way that there's an ARM logo at top-left of this site, amd it says "Tools by ARM" as part of the Keil logo...