What is the Partition Manager orig_span item in pm_static yml files?

[rlk0]

The examples for the Matter Light Bulb app and others contain pm_static_...yml files with sections that look like:

mcuboot_primary:
  orig_span: &id001
  - mcuboot_pad
  - app
  span: *id001
  address: 0xD000
  region: flash_primary
  size: 0x165000

I cannot find "orig_span" in the Partition Manager documentation, nor anything about the "&id001" and "*id001" values. What are these and are they documented somewhere?

[Menon]

Hello,

These are generated metadata fields, and you can ignore them when defining your pm_static file,you don’t need to define or write them yourself. The Partition Manager automatically generates these fields in the partitions.yml file. You can check the generated partition file in the build folder of your application.

Kind regards,
Abhijith

[rlk0]

Yes, they look like they might have been generated. However, in the examples, they show up in the root directory, nominally as input. Since they are presumably intended to be a starting point for developing custom applications, they are confusing. Perhaps the pm_static files supplied with the examples should be changed to reflect what the actual input file should look like.

[Menon]

Hello,

I understand your confusion and what you’re pointing out. What you’re seeing in the board specific pm_static file is related to YAML specs, not something specific to Partition Manager.

Please refer to the YAML specification for anchors and aliases. The full-length example there shows how &id and *id are used.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith

[rlk0]

I get this may be perfectly well documented YAML. But the context here is specifically Partition Manager, which does not cover the use of this syntax to define partitions. In particular, the documentation here: Partition Manager does not cover this syntax and I'm guessing the required partitions can actually be defined using only the documented syntax. Program examples, provided by Nordic should, it seems to me, use only the documented Partition Manager syntax. The whole DTS defined partitions, vs Partition Manager partitions is already confusing enough for new users without adding in undocumented syntax.

[Menon]

Hello,

rlk0 said:

I'm guessing the required partitions can actually be defined using only the documented syntax.

That’s true, and I understand what you’re pointing out. I agree that it can be a bit confusing.

Kind Regards,

Abhijith