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CMSIS-Pack
Version 1.3
Delivery Mechanism for Software Packs
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The Pack Description (*.PDSC) Format uses standard XML annotations and is defined in the schema file PACK.xsd. Software components are distributed through Software Packs. A Software Pack is a zip file containing a single Pack Description file that describes dependencies to devices, processors, tool chains, or other software components.
A descriptive text of the Software Packalong the text information for devices, components, and examples is part of each a Pack Description (*.PDSC) file. In addition, information is provided which facilitates downloading, updating, and versioning of of a Software Pack. The *.PDSC file contains also the complete version history of the Software Pack with a brief list of the most significant changes.
A Software Pack must have a unique filename which uses the following format: <vendor>.<name>.<version>.pack.
Where:
The Pack Description (*.PDSC) file belonging to such a Software Pack file (<vendor>.<name>.<version>.pack) is version independent and has the format: <vendor>.<name>.pdsc.
Where:
Example filenames for software packs:
Software Pack for CMSIS Version 4.0 released by ARM.
Device Family Pack for STM32F4 Version 1.0.0 released by ST Microelectronics.
The XML schema file PACK.xsd defines the sections used in a *.PDSC file. The current PACK.xsd can be found under the ARM.CMSIS.*.Pack in the .\CMSIS\Utilities-directory.
The Pack Description (*.PDSC) Format is structured using grouping elements and contains the following top level elements:
This example of a *.PDSC File explains the sections, particularly how dependencies are used to identify individual files of Software Components.
The ARM.CMSIS.*.Pack also contains an extracted example of a PACK file. It can be found in the .\CMSIS\Pack\Example-directory. In a real-life *.PACK file this would be the archive's top-level containing the *.PDSC file and the subdirectories with all the files that are part of the Software Pack. Here, an exemplary PDSC file is stored which is renamed to *.pdsc.txt. This PDSC file can be used to examine the contents of the PACK. It is also a starting point for writing your own Software Pack.
The folder structure of this exemplary Software Pack is as follows: