Command Line Tools

You can use the command line interface to build Symbian applications and to start an emulator for testing them.

Emulator

The epoc.exe emulator executable can be launched from the command line. An emulator is a software application that enables the computer to emulate hardware. The emulator does not attempt to precisely model the state of the device being emulated, but only attempts to reproduce its behavior.

Start the emulator and play around with it to learn about its features.

For more information on the emulator, see The Symbian emulator build targets.

For more information on how to launch the emulator from Carbide.c++, see Running the Application in the Emulator .

Build tools

The Symbian build chain enables building your application for the mobile device from the command line without the need for an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Because an IDE is meant to make software development easier for developers, inexperienced programmers should concentrate on learning to use the IDE. The IDE uses command line calls in the background to perform particular tasks. It is at times useful to perform the command line calls manually so that you can verify (or better understand) some behavior observed in IDE builds.

Experienced programmers can update the command line interface environment with the latest WINSCW build configuration to build applications for the emulator from the command line. You can use the command line calls to customize the build process. See The Symbian build process.

For information on the command line interface, see Build tools guide.