20 Chapter 1: Before you begin
Software overview
Typically, you will develop your application for Matrox 4Sight
on a standard PC and connect to a Matrox 4Sight unit remotely
for debugging purposes. In this case, the development PC must
host the development tools: IDE (editor, compiler, etc.),
MIL/MIL-Lite, and debugger. Matrox 4Sight must host either
an embedded operating system (Windows NT Embedded or
Windows CE
1
) or a full operating system, as well as the files
necessary to run a MIL/MIL-Lite application and a remote
debug monitor. You will code and compile the application on the
development computer and then copy the application to the
Matrox 4Sight unit, where it will be used.
You can also develop your application on Matrox 4Sight itself,
if you have sufficient storage space. The DiskOnChip does not
have sufficient storage space for application development; you
will need an additional hard drive. In this case, you need to
install your operating system and development tools on Matrox
4Sight. In addition to Windows NT Embedded, Matrox 4Sight
also supports a full version of the Windows NT operating
system.
Windows NT
Embedded
Windows NT Embedded is a subset of standard
Windows NT. Selectively chosen Windows NT components,
including peripheral drivers, file systems, networking, and
utilities are included in the embedded operating system, while
other components are excluded. The version of Windows NT
Embedded included with the Matrox 4Sight unit reduces the
storage requirements for the operating system to as little as
20 Mbytes.
When Matrox 4Sight hosts an embedded operating system,
such as Windows NT Embedded, the performance of certain
remote management tasks, such as copying files to the Matrox
4Sight, might not be immediately obvious. This is due to the
embedded operating system’s limited configuration.
Chapter 3: Managing the Matrox 4Sight under Windows NT
1. Windows CE will be supported in a future release.