Importing EW projects must be done with the cpptesttrace utility. The cpptesttrace utility scans the command lines for processes spawned by the iarbuild utility. 

The importing process consists of two stages: 1) Generating the Build Data File (.bdf) and 2) importing this file in C++test. 

Generating a .bdf from an EW Project

  1. For runtime testing, increase "Stack/Heap" in EW project options to at least 2048(800h)/ 1280(500h) respectively to allow for testing overheads.
  2. Start console.
  3. Set the compiler toolchain on PATH (as for C++test; 'cspybat' on PATH & EW_DIR envar are not needed).
  4. Set the C++test install directory on PATH.
  5. CD to the project's directory.
  6. Run the following command:
cpptesttrace --cpptesttraceProjectName=<prj_name> --cpptesttraceResponseFileOption=-f --cpptesttraceOutputFile=<prj_dir>\<prj_name>.bdf 
iarbuild <prj_name>.ewp -build <EW_project_config_name>

Use an EW project configuration name (e.g., Debug, Release, DebugRunFromFlash, etc.)  for the -build argument.

Specify the absolute path to the --cpptesttraceOutputFile option. This is because several .bdf files are likely to spread through working directories spawned by iarbuild toolchain commands.

You may need to place quotation marks around the options containing spaces/braces.

In most circumstances, you should name your C++test project after the .ewp file name when using the --cpptesttraceProjectName=<prj_name> option. 

By default, the trace feature is configured to capture each toolchain executable name recognized by C++test through built-in compiler configurations. If the process' command-lines aren't scanned, specify the compiler and linker executable names by adding a --cpptesttraceTraceCommand option to the cpptesttrace command.


The cpptesttrace command always appends its output file, so you should remove the previous .bdf file before re-scanning the project.

You may also use -log all after the -build flag to show detailed build progress information. The -log all option is an iarbuild option.

Import a BDF into C++test

  1. Start console (or reuse this for BDF generation).
  2. Set environment for the appropriate toolchain as described in the documentation (executables on PATH, EW_DIR envar).
  3. Start C++test.
  4. Follow steps of importing the BDF file described in documentation (see Importing project using Build Data File with the GUI wizard).
  5. Confirm project settings correctness in Properties > Parasoft > C++test > Build Settings.

You must repeat the entire process following any changes to the original project unless you are adding new sources in existing source locations.