Programming nRF52 DK in C++ in Segger Embedded Studio

[usmanmehmood55]

Hi.

I am writing software for my custom nRF52832 device but hardware wise it is identical to the nRF52 DK. 

I'm not that good of an embedded coder (or any kind of coder for that matter) and I am trying to integrate some i2c sensors on my device. 

But all the libraries of these sensors are written in C++, and are using objects and classes. Which C doesn't support.

I have managed to convert *some* of the code (in probably a very inefficient way) to plain C, but most of the code is beyond my capabilities. 

How can I code with C++ on this thing using Segger Embedded Studio? 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

- Usman

[ovrebekk]

Hi Usman

Any .cpp file should automatically be compiled using the C++ compiler, while any .c files will be compiled by the C compiler, so it should be possible to mix and match C and C++ code. 

There might be library files in the SDK that will not compile in C++, because they use language features only available in C, but it should be possible to get around this by using C++ for your sensor libraries only.

Have you tried to integrate any .cpp files in your project?

If yes, did you face any issues?

Best regards
Torbjørn 

[usmanmehmood55]

Hi Torbjørn, thanks for pointing that out.

When I compile, it gives this error where the object class is defined

unknown type name 'class'

What am I missing here?
Regards
Usman

[ovrebekk]

Hi Usman

This will happen if you try to include a C++ header file in a C file, since the C file will be compiled using the C compiler. 

Any source file where you want to access C++ libraries will itself need to be a C++ file, which means you have to make the main.c file into a main.cpp file if you want to call C++ libraries from main. 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[usmanmehmood55]

Hi Torbjørn. Thanks for the information. 

I did just that and got a plethora of  errors. 

How do I fix these?

Best regards

Usman

[ovrebekk]

Hi Usman

Which example are you using? 

Unfortunately many of the API's in the SDK, including several of the BLE API's, don't support C++. As such the standard example will not build in C++, unless you move the BLE functionality out of the main file and into a separate C file (that you can then call from the main.cpp file). 

Best regards
Torbjørn

[usmanmehmood55]

Hi Torbjørn.

Thanks for the insight. It makes a lot of sense, since I'm using ble_app_uart example as a base. 

So what I should do is, make a main.cpp file, put my non BLE code into it, rename the old main.c file into something else, and call the .c file in my main.cpp file? 

Best regards,

Usman