Attempt to rename screen Main cannot be completed. Old MainViewBase remains in generated subdir.mk

DSwea.1 · ‎2021-11-15

This should be a pretty simple thing...

I created a TouchGFX 4.17.0 project for my STM32H735G-DK dev kit using the Keyboard Example. I import the project into STM32CubeIDE 1.7.0. I generate code in TouchGFX, refresh in the IDE, build and download in the IDE.

But I eventually intend to customize the project and then move into a separate multi-screen project that is my ultimate target. So, I wish to rename the screen "Main" in the example project to the more meaningful name "Keyboard". I use the rename function in TouchGFX to do so. This creates a new set of .cpp/.hpp files "KeyboardView, KeyboardPresenter, etc." but does not move the contents of the old files, which I must do manually (the old Main* files are not removed by the rename.

I then quit the IDE, and in Windows Explorer, locate all .cpp/.hpp files with the name MainView* and delete them from the project directories. I restart TouchGFX and generate code. I restart the IDE, refresh and build.

I get the error: "make: *** No rule to make target 'Application/User/generated/MainViewBase.o', needed by 'STM32H735G-DK.elf'. Stop."

Using NotePad++, I do a global file search of the project for references to "MainViewBase". Among numerous other results, the search returns:

D:\STM32Cube\KeyboardExample-WS\KeyboardExample\STM32CubeIDE\Debug\Application\User\generated\subdir.mk (3 hits)

Line 24: ../Application/User/generated/MainViewBase.cpp \

Line 58: ./Application/User/generated/MainViewBase.o \

Line 92: ./Application/User/generated/MainViewBase.d \

Inspection of the tile subdir.mk shows that the references are entered in a distinctly different manner that other entries, as seen in the surrounding lines:

D:/STM32Cube/KeyboardExample-WS/KeyboardExample/TouchGFX/generated/texts/src/LanguageGb.cpp \

../Application/User/generated/MainViewBase.cpp \

D:/STM32Cube/KeyboardExample-WS/KeyboardExample/TouchGFX/generated/fonts/src/Table_RobotoCondensed_Regular_20_4bpp.cpp \

Despite multiple attempts to make this go away---clean project, rebuild; quit/restart TGFX/IDE, generate code, refresh, build---I cannot make this go away. TGFX keeps putting it back into the build, and, since it's a generated file, I can't just edit it out.

How can it be this difficult to simply rename a screen?

DSwea.1 · ‎2021-11-15

Solved by deleting the project's .metadata file (which contained references to MainViewBase) and restarting, and reimporting the project. How things got into this state remains a mystery, though I've seen similar cases of "orphans". Hope is that this solution will work for others in the future, though it's a bit of trouble to set things up again in the IDE the way they were before.

wired · ‎2021-12-01

I had the same problem. I reported this as a bug, and it will supposedly be addressed in 'a future release'. You have to delete the old files in the /generated folder, rename the corresponding files in your /gui folder (you may need to delete the ones the Designer created), then open up all the files under the /gui folder that contain the old class name and do a global replace. Not fun. I did not have to delete the metadata file and re-import the project as you did.