The boot monitor handles semihosting SWIs the same as a debugger handles SWIs. This enables an image that is not linked against with the platform library to be loaded into flash memory and have the boot monitor manage the I/O.

All I/O using stdio(), for example printf(), uses the same devices as the boot monitor console (either UART-0 or the Keyboard/LCD depending on the Boot Monitor configuration switch settings). File functions access the flash and character I/O devices using the mechanisms described in Redirecting character output to hardware devices.

There are no specific tools requirements. Images built with RealView tools typically run if they are built to use semihosting. This means that an image built using the tool kit defaults can be loaded onto the baseboard and run.