Best way to parse Arduino boards.txt

Mark81 · 31 Mar 2022, 12:56

Here a sample of the Arduino boards.txt file:

##############################################################

yun.name=Arduino Yún
yun.upload.via_ssh=true

yun.vid.0=0x2341
yun.pid.0=0x0041
yun.vid.1=0x2341
yun.pid.1=0x8041
yun.vid.2=0x2A03
yun.pid.2=0x0041
yun.vid.3=0x2A03
yun.pid.3=0x8041
yun.upload_port.0.vid=0x2341
yun.upload_port.0.pid=0x0041
yun.upload_port.1.vid=0x2341
yun.upload_port.1.pid=0x8041
yun.upload_port.2.vid=0x2A03
yun.upload_port.2.pid=0x0041
yun.upload_port.3.vid=0x2A03
yun.upload_port.3.pid=0x8041
yun.upload_port.4.board=yun

yun.upload.tool=avrdude
yun.upload.tool.default=avrdude
yun.upload.tool.network=arduino_ota
yun.upload.protocol=avr109
yun.upload.maximum_size=28672
yun.upload.maximum_data_size=2560
yun.upload.speed=57600
yun.upload.disable_flushing=true
yun.upload.use_1200bps_touch=true
yun.upload.wait_for_upload_port=true

yun.bootloader.tool=avrdude
yun.bootloader.tool.default=avrdude
yun.bootloader.low_fuses=0xff
yun.bootloader.high_fuses=0xd8
yun.bootloader.extended_fuses=0xfb
yun.bootloader.file=caterina/Caterina-Yun.hex
yun.bootloader.noblink=caterina/Caterina-Yun-noblink.hex
yun.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
yun.bootloader.lock_bits=0x2F

yun.build.mcu=atmega32u4
yun.build.f_cpu=16000000L
yun.build.vid=0x2341
yun.build.pid=0x8041
yun.build.usb_product="Arduino Yun"
yun.build.board=AVR_YUN
yun.build.core=arduino
yun.build.variant=yun
yun.build.extra_flags={build.usb_flags}

##############################################################

uno.name=Arduino Uno

uno.vid.0=0x2341
uno.pid.0=0x0043
uno.vid.1=0x2341
uno.pid.1=0x0001
uno.vid.2=0x2A03
uno.pid.2=0x0043
uno.vid.3=0x2341
uno.pid.3=0x0243
uno.upload_port.0.vid=0x2341
uno.upload_port.0.pid=0x0043
uno.upload_port.1.vid=0x2341
uno.upload_port.1.pid=0x0001
uno.upload_port.2.vid=0x2A03
uno.upload_port.2.pid=0x0043
uno.upload_port.3.vid=0x2341
uno.upload_port.3.pid=0x0243
uno.upload_port.4.board=uno

uno.upload.tool=avrdude
uno.upload.tool.default=avrdude
uno.upload.tool.network=arduino_ota
uno.upload.protocol=arduino
uno.upload.maximum_size=32256
uno.upload.maximum_data_size=2048
uno.upload.speed=115200

uno.bootloader.tool=avrdude
uno.bootloader.tool.default=avrdude
uno.bootloader.low_fuses=0xFF
uno.bootloader.high_fuses=0xDE
uno.bootloader.extended_fuses=0xFD
uno.bootloader.unlock_bits=0x3F
uno.bootloader.lock_bits=0x0F
uno.bootloader.file=optiboot/optiboot_atmega328.hex

uno.build.mcu=atmega328p
uno.build.f_cpu=16000000L
uno.build.board=AVR_UNO
uno.build.core=arduino
uno.build.variant=standard

##############################################################

I want to store this information to make searches.
Examples:

given a vid = 0x2341 and a pid = 0x0243 which board(s) fit(s) ?
which is the upload speed for the board named "Leonardo" ?

I'm not asking you to code for me, I'm just asking for some hints about the best approach: how to parse the document, how to store the information, etc...

Any idea is appreciated.

Pl45m4 · M Mark81 31 Mar 2022, 12:52

@Mark81 said in Best way to parse Arduino boards.txt:

I'm just asking for some hints about the best approach: how to parse the document, how to store the information, etc...

Create this as QFile, read every line and split the substrings by =.
Then you have some sort of Key <-> Value pairs.

https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qfile.html#using-streams-to-read-files

Edit:

To improve it even more, you could create a struct or class, which includes all settings from your config file(s). Then you can easily compare Arduino_X.name with Arduino_Y.name and any other settings.

SGaist · wrote on 31 Mar 2022, 18:41

Hi,

If you need to manage complex queries, you could also store that data in a SQLite database using the Qt SQL module.

Mark81 · 1 Apr 2022, 10:31

Thank you guys,
of course I'm able to do what you said manually.

I was wondering if there were any smart approach to automate the process, i.e. deducing the schema and mapping the data automatically. For example, using a generic map ("name", "value") instead of the specific names, in order to append all the fields (even the optional ones not present in all boards).

If there is not such a way I'm going to create a data struct manually (I have to retrieve all the optional fields) as usual.

Pl45m4 · 4 Jan 2022, 10:31

@Mark81

If you read line by line and add all substrings as key or value, as I've said, it stays dynamic and you can add as much lines as you want. Whether you create a structure or not is up to you :)

And even in a struct you could have something like "Additional information" where you put device specific stuff or options, which are not included in every "board"