devices: implementation details

The list of installed devices and their associated locations is kept in c:\Program Files\Common Files\Symbian\devices.xml. When a kit is installed, the installer program updates this file appropriately.

A kit installs a small stub program for each tool in c:\Program Files\Common Files\Symbian\Tools\. This location is put first in the path so that the stub rather than the real tool is called.

When a tool stub is run, it:

• determines the device using the default settings and any specified overrides

• sets an environment variable EPOCROOT to the path of the device's epoc32\ tree (not including the drive letter). Real tools use this variable when they need to work out a full path.

• modifies the path environment variable, to allow a tool to subsequently call further tools from the same tools location

• invokes the real tool

Original settings of both the path and the EPOCROOT are preserved after the stub (and the real tool) returns.