Microchip demonstrates MPLAB X

Microchip's Vice President of Development Systems talks about the MPLAB X IDE at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose.

Electronic Design talks MPLAB IDE

Technology Editor Bill Wong and Microchip's Joe Drzewiecki discuss Microchip's IDE, MPLAB IDE, including related HI TECH and MPLAB C compilers and monitoring facilities.

Watch the video here: http://bit.ly/9Exta0

Videos: MPLAB ICD 3 In-Circuit Debugger

MPLAB® ICD 3 In-Circuit Debugger System is Microchip's most cost effective high-speed hardware debugger/programmer for Microchip Flash Digital Signal Controller (DSC) and microcontroller (MCU) devices. It debugs and programs PIC® Flash microcontrollers and dsPIC® DSCs with the powerful, yet easy-to-use graphical user interface of MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

The MPLAB ICD 3 In-Circuit Debugger probe is connected to the design engineer's PC using a high-speed USB 2.0 interface and is connected to the target with a connector compatible with the MPLAB ICD 2 or MPLAB REAL ICE systems (RJ-11). MPLAB ICD 3 supports all MPLAB ICD 2 headers.

Video: MPLAB IDE Pre- and Post-Build Options

This tip, from one of Microchip's Field Applications Engineers, shows MPLAB IDE users how to set up pre- and post-build batch files for execution as part of the project build process.

Beta testers wanted for COD removal from MPASM Assembler

For our next MPASM release in late January, one of the new features is the removal of the COD file format.

This feature will affect only those who build and debug with absolute assembly files (not using the MPLINK object linker). Removing the COD file output eliminates the limitations of requiring the project files to be within a 64-character path length and not being able to debug above 0xFFFF locations. This change should be transparent to everyone.

We would like some users of MPASM who are not using the linker to try out this new feature and provide feedback.

If you are willing to try this out, send an e-mail to devtools ‘at’ microchip.com.

Using C32's Multilib when building a project from MPLAB IDE

Hopefully, most MPLAB C Compiler for PIC32 MCUs users know that the toolchain supports multilibs, target libraries built under a permutated set of options. To take advantage of these libraries when building a project under MPLAB IDE, be sure to set the library-selection options under the linker's build options as shown in the MPLAB IDE 8.10 screenshot below.


If you don't set these options, you will get the default unoptimized libraries. In many (if not most) cases, you'll want an optimized version of these libraries.

You can read more about multilibs in the MPLAB C32 User's Guide.

Some notable changes in MPLAB IDE 8.00

I put together a short list of notable changes in 8.00. Note that there were many more changes than what I've listed here (mostly device- or tool-specific changes). This list shows only the changes that I thought would of interest to most users.

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Editor

• Improved autocomplete feature to skip the compiler-generated fake name for anonymous structures.
• Improved Find-in-Files to remember previously used settings.
• Improved match (Ctrl+M) to movesbetween conditional compilation directives (e.g. #if, #else, #endif)
• Added a close button to the tabbed editor.
• Improved autocomplete list to scroll the auto selected item to the top of the list rather than the bottom.
  
• Prevent editor from scrolling back to cursor position when changing window focus.
• Fixed refresh of displayed text when scrolling vertically after scrolling right.
• Fixed Hard-tab outdent feature (Shift+tab) to remove only one tab instead of two.

Watch Window

• Fixed 7.62 bug displaying ASM30-defined file-scope variables with the COFF object-file format.
• Added support for viewing ASM30 variables with the ELF/DWARF object-file format
• Improved the SFR-bitfield mouseover tooltip to constrain itself to the visible desktop area.

MPLAB SIM

• Improved the status bar to display specified oscillator frequency.

MPLAB IDE 8.00 High-Level Debugger does not reset target after a project build

You may have noticed that there was a change introduced in MPLAB IDE 8.00's high-level debugger that affects all debug tools. Your debug tool will not reset the target after building a project or importing a ELF/COFF/COD/HEX file. The green program counter indicator stays put. What gives?

The change was intended to address two issues: 1) The source editor jumped back to the reset vector following a project build or file import and 2) Debug-tool communications errors if the target had not yet been programmed. This was a critical problem when the user had the "Reset to Main" feature enabled because the reset would cause the debug tool to attempt to run an unprogrammed target. It was an even bigger issue if the target device was not connected.

We think this change will help avoid some pretty nasty problems that users could run into under certain conditions. Just remember to hit your debugger reset hotkey or press the reset toolbar button if you are expecting your target to run from the reset vector.

MPLAB C30 16-bit projects no longer require linker scripts

Well sort of. All MPLAB C30 projects require a device-specific linker script. However, starting with MPLAB IDE 8.00, you no longer need to explicitly add a .gld file to your project. If you don't specify a .gld file in your project, the project manager will use a default name based on your selected device. When the project manager calls the linker, it passes the default linker-script name to the compilation shell via the -T option. The tools will know where to find the default linker script for the device.

This new feature in MPLAB IDE 8.00 makes creating and sharing projects much simpler. It also simplifies changing devices. Go ahead... try it. Remove your .gld file from your project tree and do a Project Build All.

PIC32 Out of the Bag

EE Times has the scoop on Microchip's new PIC32 microcontroller line.

Boasting better than 60,000 customers, Microchip claims to be the king of the 8-bit microcontroller hill. But it's the 32-bit mountain that Microchip sees in its future. To that end, the company has developed its first 32-bit microcontroller unit, dubbed the PIC32. The device incorporates a MIPS32 M4K processor core, surrounded by all the peripherals you would expect in a PIC-based microcontroller.

Read all of the juicy details at eetimes.com

Unable to watch ASM30 symbols in MPLAB IDE 7.62

MPLAB IDE Version - v7.62 Interim Release
Tools affected - ASM30 (16-bit assembly code)

We have recently identified a problem with MPLAB IDE 7.62 that can prevent the watch window from showing ASM30 file-scope symbols. These assembly-code symbols will not appear in the watch window's symbol drop-down list, and the watch window will display "Symbol not found" for manually entered symbols.

A user experiencing this problem can download and install a corrected MPProgram.dll by following the instructions below.

1. Close MPLAB IDE.
2. Navigate to your [C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLAB IDE\Core] or the corresponding folder on your system.
3. Rename the existing MPProgram.dll to MPProgram762.dll.
4. Rename the existing MPProgram.sig to MPProgram762.sig.
5. Extract the new MPProgram.dll and MPProgram.sig to your
   [C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLAB IDE\Core] folder.
6. Restart MPLAB IDE.
   

Install this patch if and only if you are experiencing this problem with MPLAB IDE 7.62.

MPLAB822fix.zip

Preview of MPLAB IDE's Editor Autocomplete feature

Here's a short video that I played at the Worldwide MASTERs 07 "Ask The Experts" booth during the day (when the booth was closed). It shows the upcoming autocomplete feature in action.

Fold ASM code in MPLAB IDE 7.61

Did you know that you can 'fold' ASM code in the editor packaged with MPLAB IDE 7.61? Right click on an ASM file and select Properties to get the editor properties page for ASM file types. Enable the code-folding option.

Once the option is enabled, you can use ;{ and ;} to mark your ASM blocks as shown in the screenshot below.

You can then use the little icon in the upper left corner of the block to collapse the block.

Video Introduction to Docking Windows in MPLAB IDE 7.61

I made short video to introduce users to the new docking-window system in Microchip's MPLAB IDE 7.61. Before playing with docking windows, be sure to create a Window Set with windows undocked so that you can quickly get back to the undocked state.


Video: Intro to Docking Windows in MPLAB IDE 7.61

Backup your MPLAB IDE workspace files now

Just wanted to remind MPLAB IDE users to make a backup copy of each of your workspace (*.mcw) files whenever you upgrade MPLAB IDE versions. The workspace file format is likely to change again in MPLAB IDE 7.61. When you open a workspace in 7.61, it will be automatically upgraded to the new format so once you open a workspace in 7.61, you won't be able to open it again in an older version.

Microchip Community Search powered by Google

I created a custom Google search to help us find past Microchip forum posts quickly. This custom search also searches Hi-Tech's PICC forum and CCS's Compiler forum.

Using MPLAB SIM's realtime watch with DMCI in MPLAB IDE 7.52

I created a new video showing how to use MPLAB SIM's realtime watch feature. You can combine this simulator feature with the Data Monitor and Control Interface (DMCI). The video also shows a few features that were new to MPLAB IDE 7.52, such as the editor's open include file function and DMCI's Interactive Hot Tracking. Be sure to have the project/workspace that you created with the first video readily available.

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C30 Source Code:

#include <p33fxxxx.h>
#include <math.h>

#define SCALE 100.0
#define INTERVAL 0.001

volatile int result;
long double __attribute__((persistent)) t;
int __attribute__((persistent)) Amp;
int __attribute__((persistent)) Freq;

int
main (void)
{
 t = 0;
 while (1)
 {
   result = ((long double)Amp)
            * (sinl (((long double)Freq/SCALE) * t));

   t += INTERVAL;
 }
 return 0;
}

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How to create a C30 project in MPLAB IDE 7.52

I put together a very quick video showing new users how to create a simple MPLAB C30 project in MPLAB IDE 7.52. I'm hoping that this video will help new users get up and running. I have to cruise along at a snappy pace due to filesize restrictions, but I hope you can follow along.

Full Size

Problem with Intermediate Directory when building ASM30 project in MPLAB IDE 7.52

I thought I'd let everyone know that there is a problem with the project manager in MPLAB IDE 7.52 when building ASM30 projects configured to use an Intermediate Directory. The problem happens when you have your project set to build with the C30 preprocessor and you specify an Intermediate Directory in the project's Build Options. Basically, what you see is a link failure due to symbols in the ASM30 file being undefined. This occurs because the project manager passes the intermediate directory incorrectly to the assembler through the C30 compilation shell (pic30-gcc). The intermediate object files are not correctly placed in the specified directory, but the linker tries to find them in that directory. We are working on a fix for the problem, but you can work around the problem by removing the Intermediate Directory from your project's Build Options.

ASM30 files passed through C Preprocessor

There is a big change in MPLAB IDE 7.52 that directly affects users programming in ASM30 (assembly code for 16-bit devices). If you have C30 installed and select to build with the C30 Toolsuite rather than the ASM30 toolsuite, the project manager will now pass your assembly source file to the pic30-gcc.exe compilation shell. Files ending in a .S (capitalized S) will be passed through the C preprocessor. This means that you can now use C preprocessor directives, such as #define, in .S files.

The image blow shows a simple example, but I'm sure that there are better uses for this highly requested feature.



Edit: 1 March 2007
I created a short video showing a project using ASM30 files with the C30 preprocessor. The video is low rez, I hope you can see what is going on. Remember 1) Use the Microchip C30 Toolsuite, 2) Add the file to your project with the .S (capitalized) extension.

Video: Preprocessing an ASM30 file with MPLAB IDE 7.52