When should I "pristine build" and "erase and flash" to the board?

[tonyl02]

I noticed in the nRF extension in VS Code, there are the "pristine build" and "erase and flash to the board" options. I was curious when I should use these options instead of a normal build and flash.

Thank you!

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

You should use the Pristine build option whenever you have made changes to your input files (as opposed to application files / source code files), such as the prj.conf, to make sure that these changes are included in the new build.
If you are only making changes to your source code then you can just use the regular non-pristine build option.

Best regards,
Karl

[tonyl02]

Thank you for your reply! I was wondering what the input files are exactly, besides the prj.conf file. Also, I was wondering when I need to do "erase and flash to board" instead of a normal flash? 

[Karl Ylvisaker]

Hello,

Thank you for your patience with this!

tonyl02 said:

Thank you for your reply!

No problem, I am happy to help! :) 

tonyl02 said:

I was wondering what the input files are exactly, besides the prj.conf file.

The input files are the CMakelists/prj.conf/devicetree files, and you can view them in the Visual Studio Code editor in the application explorer pane.

tonyl02 said:

Also, I was wondering when I need to do "erase and flash to board" instead of a normal flash? 

Erasing also makes sure to delete the UICR and flash memory, so if you are working with an application who is making changes to these areas you might want to use 'erase and flash' to ensure that no information is stored there from the previous run of your application.

Best regards,
Karl