EtherCAT network-config codegen — architecture (arc42)

Architecture documentation for the EtherCAT network-config codegen toolchain (see EtherCAT network-config codegen), structured per the arc42 template and encoded with sphinx-needs using the useblocks “x-as-code” arc42 conventions.

Each decision :refines: the requirement or capability-cluster feature it constrains, so the trace from design rationale to shall-clause is preserved end-to-end. The full grilling trail behind these decisions lives in docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-31-ethercat-netcfg-codegen-design.md.

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1. Introduction and goals

The toolchain’s reason-to-exist is moving the EtherCAT bus wiring out of hand-written Rust constants and into a validated, build-time-compiled config file, without disturbing the connector runtime. Today every examples/ethercat-* main.rs hand-writes SUBDEV addresses, bit offsets, and routings, with a comment warning that the configured station address shifts whenever the topology changes. This toolchain compiles a network.yaml down to the exact &'static tables those files write by hand, computing the derived parts (addresses, working counters) and validating the whole topology.

• Building block view
  • Structural overview
  • 5. Building blocks
• Architecture decisions

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• EtherCAT network-config codegen — architecture (arc42)
  • 1. Introduction and goals