Compile

This section details some of the arguments available with the mbed compile command. Please run mbed compile --help to get a full list of arguments.

Compiling your application

Use the mbed compile command to compile your code. Supply the -m and -t arguments to set your target and toolchain, respectively.

To find your board's target name, use --supported.

The valid toolchain values are:

As an example, for the K64F and Arm Compiler:

$ mbed compile -m K64F -t ARM
Building project mbed-os-program (K64F, GCC_ARM)
Compile: aesni.c
Compile: blowfish.c
Compile: main.cpp
... [SNIP] ...
Compile: configuration_store.c
Link: mbed-os-program
Elf2Bin: mbed-os-program
+----------------------------+-------+-------+------+
| Module                     | .text | .data | .bss |
+----------------------------+-------+-------+------+
| Fill                       |   170 |     0 | 2294 |
| Misc                       | 36282 |  2220 | 2152 |
| core/hal                   | 15396 |    16 |  568 |
| core/rtos                  |  6751 |    24 | 2662 |
| features/FEATURE_IPV4      |    96 |     0 |   48 |
| frameworks/greentea-client |   912 |    28 |   44 |
| frameworks/utest           |  3079 |     0 |  732 |
| Subtotals                  | 62686 |  2288 | 8500 |
+----------------------------+-------+-------+------+
Allocated Heap: 65540 bytes
Allocated Stack: 32768 bytes
Total Static RAM memory (data + bss): 10788 bytes
Total RAM memory (data + bss + heap + stack): 109096 bytes
Total Flash memory (text + data + misc): 66014 bytes
Image: BUILD/K64F/GCC_ARM/mbed-os-program.bin

Setting a default target

To set a default target, use the mbed target command with the name of your target (in this example, the K64F):

$ mbed target K64F
[mbed] Working path "C:\project" (program)
[mbed] K64F now set as default target in program "project"

Alternatively, pass detect instead of your target name to automatically use the target already connected to your computer:

$ mbed target detect

Setting a default toolchain

To set a default toolchain, use the mbed toolchain command:

$ mbed toolchain GCC_ARM
[mbed] Working path "C:\project" (program)
[mbed] GCC_ARM now set as default toolchain in program "project"

Performing a clean build

To rebuild the project, use the -c/--clean argument:

mbed compile -c

Flashing the built program and monitor the target

You can flash the built program to the connected target by adding the -f/--flash argument to the compile command:

mbed compile -f

You can also read and write to the target's serial port by adding the --sterm argument (this can be chained with the -f/--flash argument):

mbed compile -f --sterm

Build sources and output

Source directories

By default, Mbed CLI includes the program's root directory and all its subdirectories as the source directory. To control which directories are used, use the --source argument. You can supply multiple --source arguments to include multiple directories:

$ mbed compile --source ./src --source ./lib

Build directory

The default build directory is in the root of your project and is called BUILD. You can set the build directory with the --build argument:

$ mbed compile --build my_build

Building a library

To build a static library instead of a linked executable, use the --library argument:

$ mbed compile --library

To suppress the creation of the .a/.ar archive (and instead leave the .o object files), use both the --library and --no-archive arguments:

mbed compile --library --no-archive

Build profiles

Build profiles control which arguments are passed to the compiler. For more information about build profiles, please see the build profile documentation.

The default build profile is develop, which enables debug logging. There is also a debug profile, which enables debug symbols, and a release profile that disables debug logging (to reduce the program size).

To select a profile, use the --profile argument:

$ mbed compile --profile debug

Configuration system

The Mbed OS configuration system customizes compile time configuration parameters. For more information, please see the full configuration system documentation.

To view your current configuration, use mbed compile --config (use the -v argument to display more information):

$ mbed compile --config -t GCC_ARM -m K64F -v

To filter the output of mbed compile --config, specify one or more --prefix arguments for the configuration parameters that Mbed CLI displays. For example, to display only the configuration defined by the targets:

$ mbed compile --config -t GCC_ARM -m K64F --prefix target

You may use --prefix more than once. To display only the application and target configuration, use two --prefix options:

$ mbed compile --config -t GCC_ARM -m K64F --prefix target --prefix app

Defining macros

To define macros when compiling, use the -D argument:

$ mbed compile -D MY_MACRO -D MY_VALUE=1