The macro sequentially packs the arrays in from the top of the available flash memory, reaching down as far as it needs to go.
The lowest flash page that is partially or fully occupied with your arrays is given by the macro NANO33BLE_FLASH_LOWEST_PAGE.
Declare arrays in flash is a two-step process.
The first step is to declare the array data type, and specify its scope.
This is done with a statement with a format of
\<datatype\>*\<arrayName\>;
such as
double *arrayInFlash;
to declare an array of doubles named "arrayInFlash".
The asterisk ( * ) before the array name is important.
The scope of the array is determined by where the declaration is made.
If outside of any function, the scope is global (all functions can see the array), while if it is inside a function, it will be seen only within that function , and others to which it is passed in the function argument list.
The second step is to specify where and how big the array is.
The array macro NANO33BLE_PUT_ARRAY_IN_FLASH must be inside a function, because it makes calculations as to where the array will fit in flash. It should be called only once for each array, and prior to using that array. It makes the most sense to put it into the function setup(). The declaration must preceed the macro call, but can be in the same function (for a local array) or before all the functions (for a global array).
The array macro NANO33BLE_PUT_ARRAY_IN_FLASH does not initialize or otherwise modify the contents of the array. It just makes the sketch look in the correct place in flash memory when it encounters future references to the array.
The macro sequentially packs the arrays in from the top of the available flash memory, reaching down as far as it needs to go.
The lowest flash page that is partially or fully occupied with your arrays is given by the macro NANO33BLE_FLASH_LOWEST_PAGE.
Thus, if you need to erase all the pages your sketch is using in order to initialize them, loop with a for loop from NANO33BLE_FLASH_LOWEST_PAGE to flashNumberOfPages, erasing each page as you go.
Valid datatypes include structs and typedefs, in addition to the predefined C datatypes. Structs appear to default to multiples of flash words, so the programmer's attention to alignment issues does not appear to be neccessary.
Valid datatypes for arrays in flash using this library include structs and typedefs, in addition to the predefined C datatypes. Structs appear to default to multiples of flash words, so the programmer's attention to alignment issues does not appear to be neccessary.
Some limitations: the sizeof operator on any array declared in flash will always return 4 (=flashBytesPerWord). Also, C string functions like strcpy and strlen do not always work as one would expect to manipulate the arrays in flash, 'tho memcpy and strcpy do work to copy the contents out of flash, and memcpy does work to copy into flash, but the number of bytes should be a multple of flashBytesPerWord. I recommend using macros (ie. #define) or variables to declare the number of array elements as the sketch cannot easily figure out by itself how big a flash array has been declared after the declaration.
Some limitations: the sizeof operator on any array in flash will always return 4 (=flashBytesPerWord). Also, C string functions like strcpy and strlen do not always work as one would expect to manipulate the arrays in flash, 'tho memcpy and strcpy do work to copy the contents out of flash, and memcpy does work to copy into flash if the number of bytes is a multple of flashBytesPerWord. I recommend using macros (ie. #define) or variables to declare the number of array elements as the sketch cannot easily figure out by itself how big a flash array has been declared after the declaration.
If you want more control over the details of the declarations in flash,
