Not getting a reply from Particle support on this, so putting it out into the Community.
Been using Spark/Particle for over a year, first with the web IDE, and the last several months with the OS X version of the Particle Dev IDE. At some point, I’ve started getting compiler errors that don’t reference the source file with the error. Clicking on the error opens up a blank window in the IDE called “Untitled”.
My project is a flat directory structure with about 7-8 different classes (associated .cpp and .h file), plus the main .ino sketch file. If I find & fix errors, I get a successful firmware build and can flash to the device. When errors occur, I get this:
The line numbers are correct, if you know what file to look in. I believe there is some issue with server-side parsing off the compiler/linker’s output, and how that’s being sent back to the Particle IDE. My source file names aren’t named anything weird, just normal alphanumeric names. Are others seeing this? I see this across multiple machines where I have the Particle Dev IDE installed. I’ve re-installed the IDE. (I’m running the latest version). I’ve logged out and back into my Particle account. Feels like a server side bug.
And while I’m at it, I think it’s crazy that memory usage info from the build is not being sent to the IDE so I can see stack/RAM usage for the firmware build. Seems like a glaringly missing thing that the web IDE has had - helpful to know if you’re getting close to squeezing the stack.
Awesome, thanks! While you’re looking at this thread - any insight on when we might get the firmware build memory report info fed into the Particle Dev IDE? I assume the compiler still generates it, but the web IDE can show it while the Particle IDE current cannot? I miss having that info.
Also, can you please address the fact that compiler errors are not being fully displayed in the IDE? It seems line wrapping is missing on the UI side, nor is there any tooltip/hover way to see the full compiler error. See below… can’t tell what exactly is wrong because it’s truncated at the ellipsis:
The combo of no source file linkages and truncated compiler errors make it basically impossible to get things done. I’m trying to develop a large project here on your platform. If I’m better off setting up Eclipse and the entire gcc-arm toolchain so I can compile locally and flash firmware onto my device over USB, then so be it. If you’re focused on building a solid platform for developers to build on Particle hardware and firmware, this is not building confidence. If you regress something like this, why not roll back your change until you have a fix? This bug (linked above) has been in production since July 10th? It’s August 16th. This is table stakes functionality that we can get code compiled and onto a device. @zach FYI.
Thanks for the ping Joe, I’ll pass it on to @suda who is the right person to address the issue.
Regarding the proper development path, currently there are three levels:
Beginner: Web IDE (Particle Build)
Intermediate: Local IDE (Particle Dev)
Advanced: Local toolchain with your own preferred IDE (Eclipse, Netbeans, Sublime Text, etc.)
I’d love to say that our own IDE tools are ready for advanced development, but they’re not there yet. We will continue to work on them and my hope is that we’re not too far off from a local toolchain being completely unnecessary. But in the meantime, rebuilding what Eclipse has built over the many years they’ve been on the market is not something one can do in just a few months, so we’ll continue to make steady progress in that direction.
@jdr just an update: this bug has been fixed this morning and new Particle Dev version will be released this week. Error cropping bug is also known and is on top of the backlog.
