Help Needed in Building a Simple Project with STemWin and STM32CubeIDE

[xpress_embedo]

Hello Everyone,

I need help in building the project as I am facing some issues.

As we know we can't configure the STemWin from CubeMX/STM32CubeIDE and to use the STemWin library we have to add it separately in our project.

I created a simple project using CubeMX/STM32CubeIDE which is auto-generated and then I took the reference from the example STemWin_HelloWorld present in the CubeF7 package.

I think I did most of the steps, by comparing these two projects, but I am getting the error.

../STemWin_Config/GUIConf.c:54:10: fatal error: GUI.h: No such file or directory
 54 | #include "GUI.h"
 | ^~~~~~~
compilation terminated.

But in my project this file is present and added to the project, even the path is also updated in the project settings, I don't know why I am getting this error, that this file is not present.

One strange thing which I have noticed is as shown below, here in include section I can see most of the include paths related to STemWin are disabled/greyed out, I don't know what is the reason.

While the example project which is working fine, this is not greyed out/disabled.

Maybe the issue is related to this.

I am using STM32F769I Discovery Board, and STM32CubeIDE 1.8.0.

I have attached the complete project ziped with this post, please help me in resolving this.

I think the issue might be very simple which I missed due to lack of knowledge.

Thanks in advance.

[xpress_embedo]

Okay, I was able to solve this problem (I am still getting some other build errors, but not related to this, which I will fix in sometime).

I observed properly and found that when I added path they are added as "/STemWin_Template/...." but if we see other include paths which are not greyed out, it's without the project name, so I just removed "/STemWin_Template" and I am not getting this error again.

So I updated as below.

Now I have few other issues which I will try to resolve. Thanks

PS: The screenshot attached on the original post are from Ubuntu machine and this screenshot is from Windows, but the project is same.

[Imen.D]

Hi @xpress_embedo​ ,

Glad to know you overcame this problem :)

If you still have issues, don't hesitate to come back to the Community either with new threads or as a continuity of this one (when related to same initial topic).

Thanks

Imen

[xpress_embedo]

Thank You @Imen DAHMEN​ 

I am new to STM32CubeIDE so maybe I didn't have much knowledge of all the settings and configuration.

But usually with other IDE's like IAR, when we add path and it is compatible with the IDE.

Here with STM32CubeIDE when I added path, by default it appended STemWin_Template which is project name with the path.

So the good thing is my project is up and running, but I have one issue which when I checked on original project directly opened from CubeF7 example.

The issue is as below, if I single step while debugging my project, nothing gets displayed on the display. But if I press F8 (run) then it works fine.

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World from STM32F7\r\n");
 GUI_DispStringAt("Hello world!", (LCD_GetXSize()-100)/2, (LCD_GetYSize()-20)/2); 
 while(1);
}

Another issue is that, if I put a delay like HAL_Delay(1000) or even GUI_Delay(1000), and now even I press F8 (run), then nothing gets displayed after that delay, while control reaches while(1), example is given below

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World from STM32F7\r\n");
 GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispStringAt("Hello world!", (LCD_GetXSize()-100)/2, (LCD_GetYSize()-20)/2); 
 while(1);
}

I can see "Hello World from STM32F7" but not "Hello World"

I am asking this question because this issue is present on the exiting example present in the CubeF7

Do you know what could be issue?

[Imen.D]

Hi @xpress_embedo​ 

Firstly, GUI_Init must be called before any STemWin function or GUI routines is used, and the CRC module (in RCC clock enable) must be enabled before calling GUI_Init, if not STemWin will not work.(This is mentioned in the "4.2 GUI initialization" of AN4323)

 /* Init the STemWin GUI Library */
 BSP_SDRAM_Init(); /* Initializes the SDRAM device */
 __HAL_RCC_CRC_CLK_ENABLE(); /* Enable the CRC Module */
 
 GUI_Init();
 
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_ASCII);
 
 GUI_DispStringAt("Starting...", 0, 0);

I advise you to check and get inspired from to the "STemWin_HelloWorld" available in the latest release of the STM32CubeF7 MCU package:

\STM32Cube_FW_F7_V1.16.1\Projects\STM32F769I_EVAL\Applications\STemWin\STemWin_HelloWorld\

You can follow the guide UM2579 to import the example from SW4STM32 to STM32CubeIDE.

Imen

[xpress_embedo]

Hi @Imen DAHMEN​ 

Thank You for your response.

But maybe I am not very much clear in my last post.

As suggested by you, I am already using the "STemWin_HelloWorld" example from the CubeF7 MCU package.

And it works fine (also the project I created taking this as reference works fine).

I have two problems (this problem is also present in the STemWin_HelloWorld example.

• When I used single step debugging I can't see anything on the display, but if I pressed F8, I can see the text on the display.

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World from STM32F7\r\n");
 GUI_DispStringAt("Hello world!", (LCD_GetXSize()-100)/2, (LCD_GetYSize()-20)/2); 
 while(1);
}

• When GUI_Delay is used, there is delay but nothing after the GUI_Delay Works. So Let's say, I used the below program and started debugging, and then pressed F8 to run the program freely.

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World from STM32F7\r\n");
 GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispStringAt("Hello world!", (LCD_GetXSize()-100)/2, (LCD_GetYSize()-20)/2); 
 while(1);
}

I can see "Hello World from STM32F7" but not the "Hello World" on the middle of the screen. I have attached the picture also.

Right Side image is when I didn't used GUI_Delay and didn't use single step debugging.

Left side image is when I used GUI_Delay, GUI_Delay is doing it work can be seen from the below screenshot, my control is reaching the while(1), so it means GUI_Delay is not blocking the GUI_DispString function call.

 

Also regarding the points you mentioned that GUI_Init must be called and CRC should be enabled is already done. And since this is the example from CubeF7 package, I just modified it to include Delay and another Display String line.

Do you have some suggestions here now?

[Imen.D]

Hi @xpress_embedo​ ,

I apologize for the late reply; I was out of the office for a few days.

I haven't tested the provided "STemWin_HelloWorld" example available in the CubeF7 MCU package, since I'm working from home, and I don't have access to that specific board, but that should work.

I will try to contact our STemWin expert internally for investigate more and answer your questions.

Is it possible to check the display behavior when increasing the memory allocated to the GUI?

Note that if there is no enough memory to create the memory device, the performance of the display will be decreased.

Did you try the Windows Manager?

“GUI_Delay�? API calls internally “GUI_Exec�?. The call of “GUI_Exec�? regularly is recommended to update the modified windows.

“GUI_Exec�? API send notifications to STemWin callbacks and update all invalidated windows.

  

Imen

[xpress_embedo]

Thanks @Imen DAHMEN​ for your response.

I will answer your questions.

"Is it possible to check the display behavior when increasing the memory allocated to the GUI?

Note that if there is no enough memory to create the memory device, the performance of the display will be decreased."

I increased the memory and there is no effect at all, situation is still same, I did changes in GUIConf.c file, earlier the value was 256 and I changed to 400, but as mentioned situation is same.

#define GUI_NUMBYTES (400) * 1024
U32 aMemory[GUI_NUMBYTES / 4];

Did you try the Windows Manager?

I would say I tried but not whole heartedly, and when I tried it also doesn't work properly, maybe I can spent some more time on this but I am curious why a simple program with delay is not working. Earlier I was using the emWin windows simulator and I don't have any problem in the simulator window, GUI_Delay was working fine there, which means that this is supported by library and should also work on STM32F769I-DISCO board. Anyways I know that you guys will find the solution for me, many thanks for that.

GUI_Delay�? API calls internally “GUI_Exec�?. The call of “GUI_Exec�? regularly is recommended to update the modified windows.

“GUI_Exec�? API send notifications to STemWin callbacks and update all invalidated windows.

Thanks for detailed explanation, my understanding was that GUI_Delay uses GUI_X_Delay and GUI_Exec functions internally. And I will share one scenario with you.

Below is the program, where I wanted to display three Hello World message on the LCD Screen, and as I mentioned in the previous post that when I used GUI_Delay function, the emWin API which I use after the delay doesn't work.

So, in this case I just "Hello World-1" message on the screen (If I remove delay I get all three messages)

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-1\r\n");
 GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-2\r\n");
 GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-3\r\n");
 while(1)
 {
 GUI_Delay(100);
 }

Assuming that GUI_Delay(1000) is equals to GUI_X_Delay(1000) + GUI_Exec(), the above program can be breakdown as.

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-1\r\n");
 // GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_X_Delay(1000);
 GUI_Exec();
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-2\r\n");
 // GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_X_Delay(1000);
 GUI_Exec();
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-3\r\n");
 while(1)
 {
 GUI_Delay(100);
 }

but now I modified the program like below. Here I give a delay, and then used emWin API to display "Hello World-2" on display and then used GUI_Exec function.

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-1\r\n");
 GUI_X_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-2\r\n");
 GUI_Exec();
 GUI_X_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World-3\r\n");
 GUI_Exec();
 while(1)
 {
 GUI_Delay(100);
 }

And in this case I get "Hello World-1" and after 1 second delay "Hello World-2" but no "Hello World-3"

This means that first call of GUI_Exec does it work, but after this it doesn't work. I don't know the reason, just sharing whatever I find here and did till now.

And my understanding is that, it might be due to the same reason when I do single step debugging I am not able to see anything on display.

Just to mention I am not the only one who faced this issue, some of the posts from the ST Community which are not yet solved.

STemWIn, GUI_DispString function isn't working after a while

I'm working on stm32f469 discovery board for GUI application , using stm32cubemx 5.4 and graphics framework stemWin, where I want to display integers from 1 to 5, my delay function is not working I guess, only 1st value 1 is displaying on the screen.

Why does not the LCD update in STM32H747I-DISCO board?

"I haven't tested the provided "STemWin_HelloWorld" example available in the CubeF7 MCU package, since I'm working from home, and I don't have access to that specific board, but that should work.

I will try to contact our STemWin expert internally for investigate more and answer your questions."

If possible for you, in case you have any other ST board with a LCD, you can test the HelloWorld program with the usage of GUI_Delay function, but if difficult for you, for me it's not a problem.

I will wait for some answer from your side after you get some inputs from STemWin experts team members.

Just to mention, since the subject of this post was different, I had created another post, but it's not an issue, you can still reply me here and once we get the solution I will update that post also.

STemWin_HelloWorld Example Debugging and GUI_Delay Not Working

Since this topic was urgent for me, I have created a Support ticket also with case number 00149151

And @Imen DAHMEN​  thanks a lot for supporting me with this issue I am facing.

[Imen.D]

Hi @xpress_embedo​ ,

I suggest to check/increase the stack and Heap of the project.

Imen 

[xpress_embedo]

Hi @Imen DAHMEN​ 

Below is the stack and heap size of the current example project

/* Highest address of the user mode stack */
_estack = 0x20080000; /* end of RAM */
/* Generate a link error if heap and stack don't fit into RAM */
_Min_Heap_Size = 0x9000; /* required amount of heap */
_Min_Stack_Size = 0x2000; /* required amount of stack */

I changed it to, no effect :worried_face:

/* Highest address of the user mode stack */
_estack = 0x20080000; /* end of RAM */
/* Generate a link error if heap and stack don't fit into RAM */
_Min_Heap_Size = 0xC000; /* required amount of heap */
_Min_Stack_Size = 0x4000; /* required amount of stack */

Did you get some information from the STemWin experts in your team?

I am also waiting for some update the web support ticket (they have checked on STM32F769I-EVAL board and the delay works, but they will check on STM32F769I-DISCO board)

Maybe I will share some information here also regarding my conversation on web support ticket/case.

They checked on STM32F769-EVAL board and the demo works fine.

So, I opened the STM32F769I-EVAL STemWin_helloworld example, and without analyzing took the risk to compile and program on my board.

And guess what happen I can see two times string with some 1 second delay, which I programmed.

The below is the program I used.

void MainTask(void) {
 GUI_Clear();
 GUI_SetFont(&GUI_Font32_1);
 GUI_DispString("Hello World\r\n");
 GUI_Delay(1000);
 GUI_DispStringAt("Hello world!", (LCD_GetXSize()-100)/2, (LCD_GetYSize()-20)/2); 
 while(1);
}

The output is not perfect, I can see some strangely printed text ("Hello World"), which I assume for the obvious reasons because they have some different pin-outs (I checked this later by comparing LCD configurations of both projects).

I requested them to re-check on the STM32F769I-DISCO board and not on STM32F769I-EVAL board.

Because the board I have is brand new and pre-programmed demo works really fine here, so I doubt there is some configuration issue, which for me might be very difficult and will take more time to analyze and fix, but since you guys are experts you can find and fix them really easily.

The point is GUI_Delay function works really well in other project but not here, which to me looks like some configuration issue.

So now I am waiting for the feedback from them also, and in case you have some information you can also share with me.

Thanks in advance.

[xpress_embedo]

Hello @Imen DAHMEN​ 

Did you get some inputs from your colleagues regarding this demo project?