Command-line option - Who, when and why?

[atferrari]

I've have been using MPLAB for more than maybe 12 years. Right now, starting with MPLABX 5.40.

Still intrigued who use the command-line option when and why. Isn't an IDE kind of a facilitator to avoid keeping in mind so many codes and their possible parameters?

Is there, by chance, any advantage in using that sometimes?

Curious, without having used it ever.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Well going back prior to MPLAB, I wrote a version of WinPicProg that included a simple BASIC compiler, which compiled to MicroChip Assembler, and then called MPASM as a command line application to create the HEX file which was then programmed in to the chip.

So essentially it's so you can use it from within another application, not for manually typing in all the options any running it directly. It was quite common practice to provide command line options in DOS programs, even those which had their own IDE.

 

[atferrari]

Well going back prior to MPLAB, I wrote a version of WinPicProg that included a simple BASIC compiler, which compiled to MicroChip Assembler, and then called MPASM as a command line application to create the HEX file which was then programmed in to the chip.

So essentially it's so you can use it from within another application, not for manually typing in all the options any running it directly. It was quite common practice to provide command line options in DOS programs, even those which had their own IDE.

Ah, so there is no much people manually typing them. So, any IDE should be strictly based on those commands, right?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Ah, so there is no much people manually typing them. So, any IDE should be strictly based on those commands, right?

It really depends if the IDE is just an interface to the individual tools?, I've always presumed MPLAB simply calls the separate assemblers and compilers to carry out the actual work?.

If you go to Project Properties/XC8 Compiler and XC8 Linker, there are the command line options that are used.