Matrix user forums

This week, my plan is to finish off and test the new string and 16-bit math functionality. As part of this testing I will give it a whirl on a win98 machine here to make sure, but I can't see any reason for it not to work on win98. I'll keep you posted about this.

Hi Andrew / Cruzxia,

The underlying compiler supports the 16F689 (and similar) PICs, so it should be quite simple for FlowCode to.

Our PPPv3 downloading software does not currently support that device, but we should be able to get that to work on it as well.

Jim,

Sorry for the late reply - I've been out of the office for a week.

I think FlowCode v3 will have pretty much the same system requirements as v2, so no need to upgrade your hardware(!)

Here are a few suggestions that might put you in the right direction: The RS232 given out by the FlowCode component is 8 data bits with one start bit and one stop bit. The CTS and RTS lines are also controlled if you select "hardware flow control", otherwise you would need to manipulate these signal...

I've now got the latest drivers. Send me an email and I'll reply with the new version - hopefully this will provide a fix.

I'm stumped as well. Have you tried to start the zntport process manually? I have contacted the manufacturers of ntport to see if they have any ideas. They do have a more recent version (v2.7), but I've been unable to install this myself because I've lost things that are needed for the upgrade. You ...

Ok, we can rule out admin rights issues. From what you've said, I guess it's all down to the ZNTPORT process not running. I'd suggest you uninstall PPPv3 and then reinstall the latest version from our website. When you do this, make sure you select the "parallel port driver" option (i.e. the zntport...

It sounds like it could be a user-rights issue. The installation of PPPv3 needs to occur under full admin rights, but a restricted user should be able to run it fine after that.

I'll leave this one to Ian, as he has more experience with this kind of thing...

Hi, Sorry to hear of the problem. Have you ever had it working on this PC or has it never worked? One thing I'd suggest is going into the options screen of PPPv3 and either "autodetecting" the board or specifying it as a v2 dev board. Once you have done this, try autodetecting the PIC from the confi...

I know you're very eager, Jim, but I'm going to have to urge paitence! I've been diverted from FlowCode v3 for a couple of weeks to catch up on some other work commitments.

I'll have a better idea for a release date in a week or so's time, once I get back to it.

You're right - the datasheet does not seem to be up on our website. I'll nudge the appropriate people...

Yes - we will support this device in v3. In fact, v2 should be able to support the 16F684 and 16f688 devices - the only thing lacking is an FCD file for these chips. Creating FCD (FlowCode Definition) files should be relatively easy - just take an existing one as a template and alter the contents ap...

Hi Martin, PIC to PC comms via USB did prove quite tricky for us and took quite a few man-months to complete (perhaps we're not that clever...). Instead of natively writing code for a USB-enabled PIC, I would instead suggest using a dedicated interface chip (e.g. one from FTDI). We have produced an ...

In FlowCode v2, the underlying 'C' compiler does not support pointers in this way, so what you are trying to achieve is not possible. If you do not want to change the "chaine" variable within your function, you can declare it as a "const char*" (which would allow you to pass an array to the function...

Hi Alan, I have just sent you an FCD file which may or may not do the trick. I'm not too sure how much more support I can provide with this chip because I am not familiar with it at all. Please let me know via this forum how you get on. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask - although...

Clicking "pause" actually pauses the program's execution, so the delay is not actually running at this time. Clicking the play button will resume program execution directly after the delay icon.

Hi Alan, I've just posted a reply to your question about v3 in another topic, but I will expand on the reasons here. Device support within FlowCode depends on 2 things: 1) There needs to be an accurate "FCD" file, which describes the device. 2) The underlying 'C' compiler must be able to produce cod...

Sorry, we do not intend to support the 12c5xx range of devices.

Thanks for all your replies on this subject. I have a plan that should satisfy all of you...

Great post, Pheelius. Yes, FlowCode's own variables are only 8-bit, but the underlying 'C' compiler can handle 16-bit arithmetic and so using 'C' icons to do 16-bit mathematics can make the calculations easier. We're currently working on v3 of FlowCode, which will be able to do 16-bit arithmetic wit...

Hi Jim, I'm not sure how easy it would be - it depends on exactly what you require. One thing you can do now is use our multiprogrammer (or dev board) without a target chip in as a kind of in-circuit programmer without the need fro any bootloader code. You would basically need to isolate power, grou...

It is currently not possible to send and receive RS232 data using 9 data bits. One way around this is to look at the code produced by the RS232 component and replicate this within your own 'C' icons with the modifications to make it use 9 data bits (you will need to consult the PICmicro datasheet to...

The other thing you could try is to use a 'C' code icon with a line of code similar to the following: delay_us(10); This should give a delay of approx 10 microseconds. You can use variables here as well, but make sure you prefix any FlowCode variable name with "FCV_" (e.g. if you have a variable "VA...

Hi Chet, FlowCode v2 does not allow you to embed configuration data into the generated HEX file (although you could use the "#defines" component to do this). There may be a way of defining and sending the configuration data using the PICP command line, but I am not familiar with it. I'd suggest usin...

Chet, I had a quick search about this and found the following: http://home.pacbell.net/theposts/picmicro/PICPmanual.html It allows a command-line interface to PICstart Plus (and clones), which should work with FlowCode v2. If you have any success on this front, please let the forum know as it could ...