7.9. The General Extension Language (GEL)

This section covers the General Extension Language (GEL), an interpreted language similar to C that allows creating functions to extend Code Composer Studio IDE’s usefulness. Commonly used to initialize devices or boards, it can also be extended to perform several automation tasks within a Debug Session.

In practice, the GEL is delivered in form of a file with the extension .gel and uses either the Built-In GEL Functions or the GEL Macros and follows the guidelines of the GEL Grammar - a C-based rules syntax.

The GEL file (or GEL script) can then be loaded to the IDE, either by manually loading and unloading GEL Files or automatically via the Target Configuration File.

GEL allows direct intervention with the target device including execution control, access to memory locations, set/reset breakpoints, etc.

It can also build upon the IDE by adding GEL functions to the menu bar using keywords, which facilitates the execution by simple menu entries to the Debug Session’s Scripts menu.

• 7.9.1. GEL Grammar
• 7.9.2. Built-in GEL Functions
• 7.9.3. GEL Macros
• 7.9.4. Loading and Unloading GEL Files
• 7.9.5. Adding GEL Files to a Target Configuration
• 7.9.6. Moving GEL Initialization to Production Code
• 7.9.7. Adding GEL Functions to the GEL Menu Using Keywords
• 7.9.8. GEL Functions: Alphabetical List