RE: How to apply changes to an nRF Connect SDK driver file from a Workspace App Repo?

Saxman58 — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 05:10:34 GMT

Thank you so much Hieu for the prompt and detailed reply. I believe I understand, and am in the process of reading more from the links you reference before I start making the changes.

RE: How to apply changes to an nRF Connect SDK driver file from a Workspace App Repo?

Hieu — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 06:07:27 GMT

Hi Saxman58,

I think first we need to revisit how the SDK and a West Workspace project work. They are built up of different parts, all of which are git repositories themselves.
Which repositories, where they are located, and which branch/fork/tag/commit should be used are all configured in the west manifest.
The west tool uses git in the background to clone the repository during west update, and creates the SDK, or the Workspace.

For more information, I recommend going over the application development guide of both NCS and Zephyr.

The above nature of the SDK and a Workspace is how you can use your own fork of the relevant SDK part and make your own modification.
After creating the fork, you simply modify the west manifest to point to your fork instead of the original. That is why forks work with both Workflow 3 and 4.
This is the intended/by-design way to run a project with modified SDK file.

For your example, you want to change a file in nrfxlib and you have a workspace project following Workflow 4. The application is based on the NCS Example Application.
Notice the NCS Example Application's west manifest includes a single project: sdk-nrf.
Then notice the sdk-nrf repo's west manifest includes a nrfxlib project.

In this case, you will need to have a fork of sdk-nrfxlib, and a fork of sdk-nrf.
In your sdk-nrfxlib fork, you will need to make your desired changes.
In your sdk-nrf fork, you will need to update the west manifest to use a branch or tag on your sdk-nrfxlib fork for nrfxlib.
Finally, in your project manifest, you will need to update the west manifest to use a branch or tag on your sdk-nrf fork for NCS.

That can be a lot of work for sure. If it seems so, then you can use the CMakeLists file change approach you linked. It is reasonable.

Hieu