## TargetController The TargetController component possesses full control of the connected hardware (debug tool and target). Execution of user-space device drivers takes place here. All interactions with the connected hardware go through the TargetController. It runs on a dedicated thread (see `Applciation::startTargetController()`). The source code for the TargetController component can be found in src/TargetController. The entry point is `TargetControllerComponent::run()`. ### Interfacing with the TargetController - The command-response mechanism Other components within Bloom can interface with the TargetController via the provided command-response mechanism. Simply put, when another component within Bloom needs to interact with the connected hardware, it will send a command to the TargetController, and wait for a response. The TargetController will action the command and deliver the necessary response. All TargetController commands can be found in [src/TargetController/Commands](./Commands), and are derived from the [`Bloom::TargetController::Commands::Command`](./Commands/Command.hpp) base class. Responses can be found in [src/TargetController/Responses](./Responses), and are derived from the [`Bloom::TargetController::Responses::Response`](./Responses/Response.hpp) base class. **NOTE:** Components within Bloom do not typically concern themselves with the TargetController command-response mechanism. Instead, they use the `TargetControllerConsole` class, which encapsulates the command-response mechanism and provides a simplified means for interaction with the connected hardware. For more, see [The TargetControllerConsole class](#the-targetcontrollerconsole-class) section below. Commands can be sent to the TargetController via the [`Bloom::TargetController::CommandManager`](./CommandManager.hpp) class. For example, to read memory from the connected target, we would send the [`Bloom::TargetController::Commands::ReadTargetMemory`](./Commands/ReadTargetMemory.hpp) command: ```c++ auto tcCommandManager = TargetController::CommandManager(); auto readMemoryCommand = std::make_unique( someMemoryType, // Flash, RAM, EEPROM, etc someStartAddress, someNumberOfBytes ); const auto readMemoryResponse = tcCommandManager.sendCommandAndWaitForResponse( std::move(readMemoryCommand), std::chrono::milliseconds(1000) // Response timeout ); const auto& data = readMemoryResponse->data; ``` `readMemoryResponse` will be of type `std::unique_ptr`. The `CommandManager::sendCommandAndWaitForResponse(std::unique_ptr command, std::chrono::milliseconds timeout)` member function is a template function. It will issue the command to the TargetController and wait for a response, or until a timeout has been reached. Because it is a template function, it is able to resolve the appropriate response type at compile-time (see the `SuccessResponseType` alias in some command classes). If the TargetController responds with an error, or the timeout is reached, `CommandManager::sendCommandAndWaitForResponse()` will throw an exception. #### The TargetControllerConsole class The `TargetControllerConsole` class encapsulates the TargetController's command-response mechanism and provides a simplified means for other components to interact with the connected hardware. Iterating on the example above, to read memory from the target: ```c++ auto tcConsole = TargetController::TargetControllerConsole(); const auto data = tcConsole.readMemory( someMemoryType, // Flash, RAM, EEPROM, etc someStartAddress, someNumberOfBytes ); ``` The `TargetControllerConsole` class does not require any dependencies at construction. It can be constructed in different threads and used freely to gain access to the connected hardware, from any component within Bloom. All components within Bloom should use the `TargetControllerConsole` class to interact with the connected hardware. They **should not** directly issue commands via the `Bloom::TargetController::CommandManager`, unless there is a very good reason to do so. ### TargetController suspension The TargetController possesses the ability to go into a suspended state. In this state, control of the connected hardware is surrendered - Bloom will no longer be able to interact with the debug tool or target. The purpose of this state is to allow other programs access to the hardware, without requiring the termination of the Bloom process. The TargetController goes into a suspended state at the end of a debug session, if the user has enabled this via the `releasePostDebugSession` debug tool parameter, in their project configuration file (bloom.json). See `TargetControllerComponent::onDebugSessionFinishedEvent()` for more. When in a suspended state, the TargetController will reject most commands. More specifically, any command that requires access to the debug tool or target. Issuing any of these commands whilst the TargetController is suspended will result in an error response. Upon suspension, the TargetController will trigger a `Bloom::Events::TargetControllerStateChanged` event. Other components listen for this event to promptly perform the necessary actions in response to the state change. For example, the [GDB debug server implementation](../DebugServer/Gdb/README.md) will terminate any active debug session: ```c++ void GdbRspDebugServer::onTargetControllerStateChanged(const Events::TargetControllerStateChanged& event) { if (event.state == TargetControllerState::SUSPENDED && this->activeDebugSession.has_value()) { Logger::warning("TargetController suspended unexpectedly - terminating debug session"); this->terminateActiveDebugSession(); } } ``` In some cases, the TargetController may be forced to go into a suspended state. This could be in response to another program stealing control of the hardware. Actually, this is what led to the introduction of TargetController suspension. See the corresponding [GitHub issue](https://github.com/navnavnav/Bloom/issues/3) for more. For more on TargetController suspension, see `TargetControllerComponent::suspend()` and `TargetControllerComponent::resume()`. --- TODO: Cover debug tool & target drivers.