Variable Editor 1)

Working with ECU description files

The Variable Editor provides a project management framework with the necessary functions for managing a number of variable descriptions. These functions include modifying, editing, importing and exporting variable descriptions.    

  • Create and edit ECU description files (A2L files)
  • Update address information of ECU variables from map files
  • Automate address update and A2L file generation via a command line

Application Areas

An A2L file according to the ASAM MCD-2 MC standard (formerly ASAP2) contains all the information about measurement and calibration variables in the ECU. This includes information on the variables’ memory addresses and conversion methods, the memory layout and data structures in the ECU and communication parameters for the measurement and calibration interface. The automotive industry has widely adopted the A2L file format as a de-facto standard.

The dSPACE Variable Editor is a stand-alone tool specially tailored to the ECU software development phase. It lets you create new A2L files from scratch or import and modify existing ones. The editor is fully compatible with the ASAM MCD-2 MC standard. 

Key Benefits

The Variable Editor serves to visualize, edit, and create ECU description files. You can import any number of A2L files into the editor, making it easy to copy and paste selected variables and groups into an existing or new description file. This makes it possible to generate subsets of existing A2L files and to merge the contents of multiple files.

With the integrated map file manager, linker map files can be assigned to an ECU description file to update address information at a click.

In addition, the Variable Editor lets you export and import selected variables and exchange new or modified variables between users.

1) The Variable Editor is no longer part of the dSPACE Release DVD. It is available here.

  • Variable Editor Product Information, PDF, English, 1253 KB
Documentation Contact Information

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