Hexmate Command Line Options

Hexmate is automatically called by the command line driver, xc8-cc to merge any HEX files specified on the command line with the output generated by the source files. Some other hexmate functions can be requested from the driver without running Hexmate explicitly, but full control you may run hexmate on the command line and use the options detailed here.

If Hexmate is to be run directly, its usage is:

hexmate [specs,]file1.hex [... [specs,]fileN.hex] [options]

where file1.hex through to fileN.hex form a list of input Intel HEX files to merge using Hexmate.

If only one HEX file is specified, no merging takes place, but other functionality is specified by additional options. Tabulated below are the command line options that Hexmate accepts.

Table 1. Hexmate Command-line Options
Option	Effect
`--edf`	Specify the message description file.
`--emax`	Set the maximum number of permitted errors before terminating.
`--msgdisable`	Disable messages with the numbers specified.
`--sla`	Set the start linear address for type 5 records.
`--ver`	Display version and build information then quit.
`-addressing`	Set address fields in all hexmate options to use word addressing or other.
`-break`	Break continuous data so that a new record begins at a set address.
`-ck`	Calculate and store a value.
`-fill`	Program unused locations with a known value.
`-find`	Search and notify if a particular code sequence is detected.
`-find...,delete`	Remove the code sequence if it is detected (use with caution).
`-find...,replace`	Replace the code sequence with a new code sequence.
`-format`	Specify maximum data record length or select INHX variant.
`-help`	Show all options or display help message for specific option.
`-logfile`	Save hexmate analysis of output and various results to a file.
`-mask`	Logically AND a memory range with a bitmask.
`-ofile`	Specify the name of the output file.
`-serial`	Store a serial number or code sequence at a fixed address.
`-size`	Report the number of bytes of data contained in the resultant HEX image.
`-string`	Store an ASCII string at a fixed address.
`-strpack`	Store an ASCII string at a fixed address using string packing.
`-w`	Adjust warning sensitivity.
`+`	Prefix to any option to overwrite other data in its address range, if necessary.

If you are using the driver, xc8-cc, to compile your project (or the IDE), a log file is produced by default. It will have the project’s name and the extension .hxl.

The input parameters to Hexmate are now discussed in detail. The format or assumed radix of values associated with options are described with each option. Note that any address fields specified in these options are to be entered as byte addresses, unless specified otherwise in the -addressing option.