Matrix user forums

That would make a good addition to the existing SPI component. I'll put it on the list, but it's too late to make the initial release of Flowcode v3.

I've done a search for this and I found this post of the Basic Micros Forum: Well, ain't that interestin'?! I just tried going to this site tonight (8/28/06) to see if anything was available in English... and got blocked by my Zone Alarm Pro! Seems this is a 'known spy site', so is unavailable to me...

Hi Alan, We're still working on the I2C component and we've not totally decided its capabilities - hopefully it will allow both Master and Slave modes of operation, but at the moment I do not want to commit... A better approach would be to use the UART (i.e. the RS232 component within Flowcode) if i...

Hi goldwingers, Your apology is graciously accepted, but I can see where you're coming from. Flowcode is a tool that is primarily used by novice programmers with little or no experience of C or assembly - both as a teaching tool for learning C and as a tool for creating programs in its own right. Bu...

goldwingers: I feel your last comment is a bit unfair, at least in the context of this thread. The SPI component was only ever designed to work in a "master" mode, and this is the first ever request we have had to allow it to work in "slave" mode. I have tried my best to offer a workaround to this. ...

Hi alan, I have no experience with using SPI in slave mode, so hopefully others may be able to offer help on this. Also, it could be a hardware problem rather that a software one, which makes it doubly tricky to solve. One quick thing to try is to turn the SPI unit off before your C code using this:...

I have 3 solutions for you: 1) Upgrade to Flowcode v3 - this lets you rename macros which will give you a relatively simple way to replicate the macro. 2) Use a "hex" editor to edit the file and change *all* occurances of the macro name (a decent hex editor should allow you to do a global search-and...

You originally had "_IntRC_OSC" in the list, but I don't think this is right. Try "_INTRC_OSC_NOCLKOUT" or "_INTRC_OSC_NOCLK" instead.

As for slowing down the compile time, there is a fix:

http://www.matrixmultimedia.com/mmforum ... c.php?t=36

Hi Iain, Good news that you've got the compiler time down. I've also made some inroads into that today and the final release of Flowcode will have an additional compilation-time improvement over the current demo version (on my PC, I've cut the time from 8 secs to 4 secs for a simple program). Onto y...

I've received the files and they compile very quickly (8 secs) on my PC and produce near-identical C and ASM files.

I suspect there is something hogging resources on your PC.

The C compiler has changed and it is slower than the old one - but it is a much more fully-featured compiler that allows us (and you) to do much more. The makers of this compiler have told me they are working to get the compilation time down. Having said that, the time you say seems extremely long. ...

For each chip in Flowcode there is an "FCD" file ("Flowcode Chip Definition", I think). Each one should contain the appropriate code to turn off the a/d or comparitor modules as standard. For example, the 12F675.FCD file has the following: Initialise="ansel = 0x20;\ncmcon = 0x07;\n" So basically, Fl...

Hello Iain, This used to work, but it doesn't seem to anymore (or at least I've forgotten how to do it). But luckily, there is a very simple workaround. In your program, put the appropriate config data into a C icon within your program - this can be anywhere in your program, but I suppose it makes m...

Ok, here's a fix that seems to work here... You need to set the "ExePath" registry entries in *both* of these locations to the location of your "ide.exe" file: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MatrixMM\C4PICs3 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\MatrixMM\C4PICs3 ExePath=c:\Program Files\SourceBoost\ide.exe Or cre...

Hello Dave, Create an array (e.g. DATA[24]) within Flowcode (how big it is depends on the size of your expected input). Also create a variable (e.g. IDX) to keep track of the index and another (e.g. IN) to read rs232 data. Here's a suggested procedure: 1) IDX = 0 2) IN = read_rs232() 3) if data exis...

Hi Andy, What might be happening is that some process within Windows is taking over the LPT output once the programming of the chip has finished, and this is seting the LPT pins in such a way that prevents the PICmicro from running. Changing the operating system may make a difference, but I wouldn't...

Alan:

Info should be up on our website in the next few days about upgrading policy.


rvogel:

We are keeping track of all those who recently purchased v2 and who qualify for a free upgrade - so you should receive it automatically when it is available.

To add to Ben's reply - it is probably just the "init" function you need to replicate within your C code icon. The init function currently contains code similar to the following: //GetSPI_InitCode //SPI COMPONENT DEFINES #define SPI_DAC_EN 7 #define SPI_FRM_EN 6 #define SPI_SSPM 0 #define SPI_CKP 0 ...

I've asked some of my colleagues to update the info on the website, so that should happen sometime today. We're still not completely ready for a proper launch, but the demo that is on the website is essentially the product you will receive. This demo is cut-down, but we can supply a 30-day full tria...

Hi Andy, That seems an odd problem - has it always behaved like this, or is it a recent problem? Also, does it work ok if the parallel port cable is removed? And what about different chips (if you have access to any)? We've not manufactured the v2 dev board for a few years now and I'm now more famil...

Hello Alan, Thnaks for your kind words about v3 - it's been a long time coming, but we're happy with the results. I think the SPI component only works as a master, so it will probably not work as planned. However, you may be able to "fudge" it. The SPI_Init macro essentially sets the mode of the SPI...

To get a shorter delay, you could use a 'C' icon with one of the following lines in it: delay_us(10); //Use this for Flowcode v2 delay_10us(1); //Use this for Flowcode v3 As for the second part, maintain a variable that is increased for each 10us delay. When this variable has reached 140, this shoul...

Samdel: This sounds like a similar problem to Goldwingers, but I think I know immediately what is going on. If you change the "include" directory entry in the "compiler options" window to the old "8.3" style of naming it should fix the problem - i.e. use "C:\Progra~1\Microc~1\MPASMS~1". Alternativel...

Goldwingers: V1 of Flowcode is quite long in the tooth now, so I can't offer an immediate fix - but I think it's something to do with the compiler settings within Flowcode. For example, if you installed a new version of MPLAB, you may need to "point" Flowcode to it. I also think Ben's idea of trying...

I suggest looking at the frequencies of crystals available. Many years ago, we opted for a 3.2768MHz crystal because this would divide down into milliseconds. We currently use the 19.6608MHz crystal as standard because this is ok at dividing to milliseconds, but also divides down well to provide com...