1. Scope

This AN intends to explain the intend use cases for the two different editors that can be used to configure the OS module, ISOLAR, and RTAOSCfg.exe. Additionally, we will cover how changes in RTA-CAR 12.4.0 effect using the RTAOSCfg tool. We will discuss the differences between them, along with how to access the OS editor in both, and how to handle common edge cases. This AN won't cover detailed OS configuration in either ISOLAR or the RTAOSCfg tool.

2. Prerequisites 

This AN will assume that you are already familiar with the AUTOSAR OS module, and that preceding modules in the stack (RTE, BSW) have already been generated (if you intend to generate your OS or edit fields such as the CoreRef which reference into other modules).

This AN in part covers some behavior introduced in RTA-CAR 12.4.0, but the other sections apply equally to earlier versions of the RTA-CAR stack.

3. Definitions

RTA-CAR: The RTA Classic AutosaR product

RTAOSCfg: The RTA-OS standalone configuration tool

ISOLAR / ISOLAR-AB: The combined editing tool for configuring the complete RTA-CAR stack

4. ISOLAR & RTAOSCfg.exe

4.1 RTAOSCfg.exe

RTAOSCfg.exe is included in your RTA-OS install directory to allow configuration of only the OS module for customers who do not use any other RTA-CAR components. This config tool is not aware of any other modules in the RTA-CAR stack and does not always handle references into other modules in a convenient manor, requiring the manual input of full AUTOSAR paths in these cases, which can be inconvenient for the tool's user. 

The RTAOSCfg.exe tool can be found in the bin directory of your RTA-OS installation (default: C:\\ETAS\RTA-CAR_12.4.0\RTA-OS_12.4.0\bin\RTAOSCfg.exe)

4.1.1 Prior to RTA-CAR 12.4.0

In versions of RTA-CAR before 12.4.0, the RTAOSCfg tool expects paths to references with destinations outside of the OS module to be entered into plain text entry boxes. This requires the user to manually locate the path to the relevant object by locating the destination object in the arxml files manually and then concatenating the short names of the containers it is located within. A common example of this is when referencing into the ECUM to provide the CoreRef for an OSApplication. As the ECUM is a destination outside of the OS you will need to manually locate the EcucCoreDefinition that you wish to associate the OSApplication with and then find its path by concatenating its parent container's short names. In the image below the path of EcucCoreDefinition_0 is "/rtk_cpu/EcuC/EcucHardware/EcucCoreDefinition_0". If you wanted to map an OsApplication to this EcucCoreDefinition you would then need to manually enter this path into the text entry box for CoreRef in the OsApplications configuration (see second image below). There is no validation so make sure the path is complete and correctly typed.

4.1.2 RTA-CAR 12.4.0

In RTA-CAR 12.4.0 functionality has been added to the RTAOSCfg tool that has replaced some of the plain text boxes for external references with a drop-down selector list. For example, to configure the CoreRef for a OsApplication you can select it from the drop down present in the OsApplication configuration window. If the EcucCoreDefinition you want to reference isn't in the list, make sure to add the file that contains it to the project. You can do this by clicking the "add existing file" button (Open folder with a plus) in the toolbar, and then selecting the file that contains your EcucCoreDefinition.  See below image.

4.2 ISOLAR

Due to the limitations of the RTAOSCfg tool users with more complex use cases, such as those who are using multiple tools in the RTA-CAR stack (E.G. RTA-RTE, RTA-BSW) are advised to use the ISOLAR tool to edit the OS along with those other modules and the SW model. ISOLAR is aware of the full RTA-CAR stack and as such it is more consistently able to provide quality of life features, such as providing lists of valid references when filling in certain fields, and the ability to follow already configured references to allow easy access to underlaying objects that might affect the behavior or implementation of the object you are currently configuring. In general, the full ARXML object model employed by ISOLAR also allows for more complex layouts of ARXML projects such as splitting configuration over multiple files in a way that does not impact the ease of editing the configuration.

ISOLAR can be found in your RTA-CAR installation directory (default: C:\\ETAS\RTA-CAR_12.4.0\ISOLAR-AB_12.4.0\RTA-CAR.exe). In general, the RTA-CAR executable should be used to launch the tool when it is present, as this will load both the ISOLAR tool along with the plugins that are used to easily access the RTA-CAR config and code generators. 

To access the OS editor in an already open project, locate the OS module in the ECU Navigator (ECU Navigator -> <Your project name> -> ECU Configurator -> Bsw Modules -> Rte Os -> Os)

You can open the OS module in either the Generic editor or the OS editor. The generic editor allows you to view the structure of the ARXML object model project and edit parameters directly. The OS editor is designed specifically for configuring the OS and has some views and tools that might make configuration easier depending on your use case. To open in either view, right click on the OS module in the ECU Configurator and select "Open with", then the editor of your choice. From here the various parameters and objects of the OS can be created and configured. For example, to configure the same EcucCoreDefinition as discussed earlier, we would open the OS module as above (this example will use the OS editor), then we select the OsApplication we want to modify in the left pane of the editor. Next, we select the drop down beside CoreRef, you can then choose to select from either all of the EcucCoreDefinitions in your system, or only the ones that have not yet been mapped. Lastly, select the EcucCoreDefinition you want to associate with this OsApplication then hit okay.

5. Conclusion

While both the RTAOSCfg tool and ISOLAR allow for editing of the OS module, the use of ISOLAR is recommended for all customers who have access to the tool, and RTAOSCfg.exe is recommended for customers who are only using the RTA-OS module without the rest of the RTA-CAR stack.