Workbench 4 Overview

Workbench 4 Overview

Learning Objectives

After this section you will be able to:

  • Describe what Workbench 4 is
  • Describe how Workbench relates to the Eclipse IDE
  • Navigate the layout of workbench

Workbench is an integrated development environment (IDE) that supports the construction of VxWorks projects.

What is Workbench 4?

Workbench 4 sits at the top of the ecosystem, bridging the integrated hardware, middleware, and software to develop VxWork projects.

It has a variety of tools in its arsenal:

  • Compilers
  • Project facilities
  • Static debugging and analysis
  • Dynamic debugging and analysis
  • Target simulation

Wind River Studio is another great option for working with and implementing VxWorks projects.

Wind River Studio- The Platform For Intelligent Edge Systems

Workbench 4 is a Wind River product, but it runs off of a common platform.

Eclipse Framework

Workbench is based on the Eclipse platform. This is a popular IDE, with many intuitive design choices, making it easy to pick up and navigate. Eclipse is an open platform for tool integration that leverages open-source licensing and a community of tool developers. Workbench provides some powerful features from Eclipse, these include:

  • An open-source, standards-based framework for development tools integration
  • A graphical user interface (GUI) framework and tool integration
  • Open access, extensibility, and standardization
  • Plug-in extensions and support
  • C/C++ and Java development tools
Workbench Interface
1. Connection menu

This menu allows for you to set up connections with a target. This can be a real target or a simulator.

2. Project Explorer

In the Project Explorer you will find all your project files that are saved in workbench.

3. Development Window

In this view, you can open and edit different files in your VxWorks project. This is the main workspace where you will spend a majority of your time in development.

4. Terminal

The terminal will allow you to execute commands and connect to the shell.

5. Perspectives

These are the perspective tabs. Workbench comes with a few premade ones.

Some include:

  • System Development
  • System Viewer
  • Debug
  • Analysis
  • Docker Tooling

You can also access the perspectives by going to "Window > Perspective" on the tool bar.

6. Utility Window

This window contains different utility widgets. You can open specific ones, but most perspectives have certain widgets open by default.

Some include:

  • Breakpoints
  • Debug
  • Docker Containers
  • Outline