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Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:48 am
by KeithSloan
So far I have always used assembler to develop PIC applications.

I am interested in the possibility of developing my own components and then using Flowcode to act as the glue.
i.e. tie various components together. I am aware that I can call on C and Assembler code, but I am looking for
a more sophisticated and neater solution with user created components

A while back people promised some articles about creating your own components. Where any articles created?
Does flowcode come with documentation that would let you know how to create your own components?

Could I start with the hobby version or do I need the full version to create my own components.

Thanks

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 2:55 pm
by Benj
Hello,

There is a guide to creating your own components in V3 available from here.

http://www.matrixmultimedia.com/Flowcode_Components.php

If you are using v4 then a) please post in the V4 section of the forum. You can gain access by using the contact page on our main website. b) Have a look at the v4 custom code file before you begin so you can see the differences between a v3 custom component c file and a v4 file.

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:08 pm
by KeithSloan
Sorry I tried to ask in the Flowcode V4 forum, but do not yet have a license so could not get access.

Can I create customer components with the Hobby version? As a full version is more than I want to pay at this stage.
If I have some success with my own components then I am happy to upgrade to the full version.

Thanks Keith

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:12 pm
by KeithSloan
Had a look at the V3 documentation you referred to.

Seems like one can only have one custom component. Is it not possible to have several different ones.

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:47 pm
by Benj
Hello Keith,

Flowcode allows up to 2 custom components at the moment. We do have a plan in place to allow more if not unlimited numbers of custom components in a single program but this probably won't be until v5. Therefore if you require more then 2 custom components in a single Flowcode file then you may have to start merging your code files together into a single component code file that contains all the functionality you require.

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:59 pm
by KeithSloan
Thanks Ben

Sounds like I will be better off waiting till V5 comes out. Will users be able to produce their own graphics design, rather
than the one you supply called User Component.

Still have the question about user components and the hobby version. For example would it be worth my while getting the
hobby version now and start developing or are there a lot of changes in V5 that would effect me.

Keith

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 8:55 am
by Benj
Hello Keith,

Were still open to suggestions so I cant really say what functionality we will be providing at the moment. Needless to say we will have a good trawl of the forums for ideas to keep everyone happy and improve Flowcode as much as possible.

I would have a go with the demo version and see if you can get custom code to come through into your output C file. If this is working then the custom components will also work in the home / student version. Steve would know this for sure but he's on holiday at the moment.

Work on v5 has not yet begun so its hard to say what will and won't be happening for it at the moment. Either way we will try and allow for an easy as possible transition between v4 and v5.

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:07 am
by KeithSloan
Thanks I will give the demo version a go.

Is it possible to include assembler code? Some of the functions I need have specific timing requirements which
are more controllable in Assembler. i.e. I can just use picloops to give me code for an exact delay.

I am not sure how I would do the same in C

Keith

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:49 pm
by Benj
Hi Keith,

Yes you can use ASM code in the C code icons or in the custom code.

In BoostC I think this is done like this.

Code: Select all

asm nop
or for multiple lines of code

Code: Select all

asm 
{
nop
nop
nop
}

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V5.

Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:11 pm
by KeithSloan
So did more that two user components make it into Flowcode V5?

Re: Creating your own components in FlowCode V4.

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:21 am
by Steve
In Flowcode V5, components work as they do in V4. And there are still just 2 "user" components.

However, we have a plan to overhaul the way components are created in Flowcode and we hope to have this new system available sometime this year. This new system will make it easy for anyone to create their own components, including ones with graphical simulation.