Configuring Netbeans for Arduino Development

My current favorite tool for developing non-trivial Arduino projects is Netbeans with C++ support. Netbeans is a great candidate for Arduino programming because it allows you to define specific tool collections for projects and it uses standard Makefiles to manage the build. So all you really need to do once you have Netbeans working for writing C++ projects is add a tool collection for Arduino and create an appropriate Makefile. This documents my setup and has been vetted with NetBeans 8.2.

NetBeans will be happiest if you let it know where the build tools for your project live. Set up a new tool collection for Arduino along the lines of the figure below:

If you are using an Arduino that uses something other than an AVR microcontroller, the paths will need to be adjusted.

I use my own Arduino-Build to do the actual building. I used to use Arduino-Makefile, so you may prefer this if it works for your project. I won't cover either of those in any depth here as they are each their own thing. However, you can use the following as a cheatsheet for setting things up.

If you're using Arduino-Build, then your project's Makefile should resemble the following:

Makefile

# Point BB at the arduino-build script
BB=/your/path/to/arduino-build
 
# You shouldn't have to change any of these.
.PHONY : compile clean upload monitor upmon
 
build:
	$(BB) build
 
clean:
	$(BB) clean
 
upload:
	$(BB) upload
 
monitor:
	$(BB) monitor
 
upmon: upload monitor

You will also need an arduino.conf file in the root of your project that's similar to:

arduino.conf

# === Arduino path ===
ARDUINO_PATH=/home/mithat/opt/arduino
 
# === Board parameters ===
BOARD_PACKAGE=arduino
BOARD_ARCHITECTURE=avr
BOARD=nano
BOARD_PARAM="cpu=atmega328old"
 
# === Communication settings ===
PORT=/dev/ttyUSB0
SPEED=9600

Consult the Arduino-Build readme for information on figuring out the board parameters and other fiddly bits.

When creating a new project with Arduino-Makefile, your local project Makefile should look something like the following:

Makefile

# Project config
ARDUINO_LIBS = SoftwareWire AsyncTimer
BOARD_TAG = pro
BOARD_SUB = 16MHzatmega328
MONITOR_PORT = /dev/ttyUSB0
MONITOR_CMD = screen-wrap
 
# "Platform" config
ARDUINO_QUIET = true
ARDUINO_SKETCHBOOK = $(HOME)/Arduino
ARDUINO_DIR = $(HOME)/opt/arduino
ARDMK_DIR = $(HOME)/Build/Arduino-Makefile
 
# Include parent Makefile from <https://github.com/sudar/Arduino-Makefile>
include $(HOME)/Build/Arduino-Makefile/Arduino.mk

While your setup should be working now, NetBeans will be shouting at you a lot about things not being defined, etc. That's because you need to add code completion directories to the tool collection. Do this on the Code Completion > C++ tab of the tool collection dialog.