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How to Use Microchip Graphics Suite (MGS) Composer on Linux®

Last modified by Microchip on 2025/07/14 11:58

Introduction

The Microchip Graphics Suite (MGS) Harmony Composer is a software tool that helps users create and manage Graphical User Interface (GUI) elements for their applications. It is part of MGS, which is a comprehensive, easy-to-use set of graphics tools for developing GUIs for Microchip's 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) and microprocessors (MPUs).

For general information on MGS Composer, refer to the general user guide.

This page provides supplemental information on how to use MGS Composer on Linux®.

Install the Dependencies for Linux

To run MGS Composer on an Ubuntu® Linux desktop, install the dependencies by running the following command. For other Linux distributions, the dependencies may be different.

sudo apt-get install libfreeimage-dev libxcb-cursor0

Launching MGS Composer

The MGS Composer executable for Linux is distributed through the MGS GitHub repository. This repository is included as a submodule in the MGS Cross-Platform SDK for Linux.

The MGS Composer executable for Linux is located in the <mgs_xp>/gfx/middleware/legato/composer/linux/ directory.

To launch MGS XP Composer, run the following commands.

cd <sdk>/gfx/middleware/legato/composer/linux/
./composer &

MGS Composer will launch in its own window.

MGS Composer New Project Wizard

From here, you can select New project or Load an existing project.

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Setting the Code Generator Output Directory

For the example applications in the SDK, the MGS Composer-generated screen design code is stored in the <mgs_xp>/apps/<application>/gfx directory.

Currently, MGS Composer only takes absolute paths, so make sure to modify the Code Generator directory to point to the right path in your workspace.

 In MGS Composer, go to Project > Project Settings.

 Click Code Generator.

 Un-check Generate Harmony Interface. This will disable all MPLAB® Harmony-specific generated code.

 Set Generate Path to the absolute path of the gfx folder in the new application directory, <mgs_xp>/apps/mynewapp/gfx.

 Set Generate Name to legato.

MGS Composer Generate Path

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Generating the Design

To generate the code for the screen design, click on the Generate button on the upper right section of the MGS Composer.

MGS Composer Generate Project

This will generate the screen and asset code for the MGS Composer project in the specified generate path and folder name.

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