Welcome to PicStart, Microchips Device Programmer. The PicStart menu is accessed by pressing Alt-Space. All the other menus are accessed by pressing Alt-Z, where Z is the first letter of the menu. For example, the "File" menu is pulled down by Alt-F.
Any greyed-out menu items are available on Microchips Pro Master, which is a full featured device programmer. Contact your local Rep, Distributer, or Mircochip Sales office more more details on Pro Master. )
Press ESC to put this help screen away.
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ASCII Table
The ASCII table displays the entire IBM PC character set. The current character is marked by a blinking block cursor, and the hexadecimal and decimal ASCII values of the character are displayed below the chart. A new character is selected by pressing it on the keyboard, by clicking the mouse on it in the chart, or by moving the cursor using the cursor keys.
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PicStart menu
(Alt-Spacebar)
The PicStart menu appears on the far left of the menu bar. I
When you pull down the PicStart menu, you can choose the About command.
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PicStart
About
When you choose the About command from the PicStart menu, a dialog box appears, showing copyright and version information. G
To close the box, press Esc, Space, or Enter, or click the OK button.
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ASCII table
The ASCII menu items opens an ASCII
Table that displays the IBM PC character set.
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File (Alt-F)
The File menu offers choices for opening files, changing directories, and exiting the program. $
Open Change
Dir FExit
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File
Open (F3)
The Open command displays the Open a File dialog box. In this dialog box you select the HEX file you want load in the buffer. &
The Open
File dialog box contains:
an input
box with a history list
a list
box to browse the directory
the standard Cancel button
Open action button
an information panel that describes the
selected file
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File
Change Dir...
Change Dir brings up the Change
Directory dialog box, in which you can change the current directory.
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File
DOS Shell
With the DOS Shell command, you can leave the program temporarily to perform a DOS command or run another program. 9
To return to this program, type EXIT at the DOS prompt.
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File
Exit
(Alt-X)
The Exit command terminates this program.
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Window
(Alt-W)
The Window menu contains commands to close, move and perform other window-management commands.
Most of the windows in this program have all the standard window elements, including scroll bars, a close box, and zoom icons. >
For more about windows and their elements, refer to windows. :
Window-management commands
Size/Move Zoom
Tile Cascade
Next Previous
Close
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Window
Size/Move
(Ctrl-F5)
Choose this command to change the size or position of the active window.
Size
If you press Shift while you use the arrow keys, you can change the size of the active window. Once you've adjusted its size or position, press Enter. Q
If a window has a Resize corner, you can drag that corner to resize the window.
Move
When you choose Window
Size/Move, the active window moves in response to the arrow keys. Once you've moved the window to where you want it, press Enter. F
You can also move a window by dragging its title bar with the mouse.
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Window
Zoom
(F5)
Choose Zoom to resize the active window to the maximum size. If the window is already zoomed, you can choose this command to restore it to its previous size. {
You can also double-click anywhere on the window's title bar (except where an icon appears) to zoom or unzoom the window.
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Window
Tile
Choose Window
Tile to tile all file viewers on the desktop. 1
Tiled Windows
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Window
Cascade
Choose Window
Cascade to stack all file viewers on the desktop. A
Cascaded Windows
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Window
Next
Choose Next to cycle forwards through the windows on the desktop.
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Window
Previous
Choose Previous to cycle backwards through the windows on the desktop.
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Window
Close
(Alt-F3)
Choose Close to close the active window. O
You can also click the Close box in the upper right corner to close a window.
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Options (Alt-O)
The Options menu contains commands that let you change Com
Ports and Establish
Communication with the programmer.
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Options
Mouse...
The Mouse command brings up the Mouse
Options dialog box, where you can set various options that control how your mouse works, including: R
how fast a double-click is
which mouse button (right or left) is
active
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Options
Colors...
The Colors item brings up the Colors
dialog box, where you can customize the colors of the display.
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Help on Open a File Dialog Box
The Open a File dialog box contains an input box, a file
list, a file information panel, the standard button Cancel, one other action button (Open), plus a history list that's attached to the Name
inputbox.
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Name
The Name input box is where you enter the name of the file to load, or the file-name mask to use as a filter for the Files list box (for example, *.*).
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Files
FILENM01.HEX
FILENM09.HEX
FILENM02.HEX
FILENM10.HEX
FILENM03.HEX
FILENM11.HEX
FILENM04.HEX
FILENM12.HEX
FILENM05.HEX
..
FILENM06.HEX
\MOREXAMP
FILENM07.HEX
\TOURS
FILENM08.HEX
\ANSWERS.DIR
The Files list box lists the names of files in the current directory that match the file-name mask in the Name input box, plus the parent directory and all subdirectories.
C:\MPSTART\PIC_CODE\*.HEX
VOLTMTR.HEX 52 Jul 14,1990 12:00pm
The File information panel shows the path name, file name, date, time, and size of the selected file. =
None of the items on this information panel are selectable.
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[ Open ]
The Open button opens a new Viewer window and places the selected file in that window.
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[ Cancel ]
If you choose Cancel, nothing changes and no action occurs, and the dialog box is put away. M
(Esc always cancels a dialog box, even if a Cancel button does not appear.)
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[ Open ]
In the Open a File dialog box, if you choose the Open button a new Program File is oened and placed into the buffer.
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Help on the Change Directory dialog box
The Change Directory dialog box consists of an input box, a list box, the standard OK and Help buttons, and two other buttons (Chdir and Revert). |
Directory Name
The Directory Name input box is where you type in the path of the new directory.
Directory Tree
Drives
C:\
PROMASTR
PIC_CODE
The Directory Tree list box enables you to navigate directories by using the selecting bar and pressing Enter.
If you're using the keyboard, press Enter to make the selected directory be the current directory, then choose OK or press Esc to exit the dialog box. +
[Chdir ]
The Chdir button changes the current directory once you've selected or typed in a directory name. +
[Revert]
The Revert button goes back to the previous directory, as long as you haven't yet exited the dialog box.
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Help on the Mouse Options dialog box
This dialog box consists of one check box, one slider bar, and the standard buttons OK and Cancel.
Mouse Double Click
Slow Medium Fast
The Mouse Double Click slider bar adjusts the double-click speed of your mouse. ^
[X] Reverse Mouse Buttons
Reverse Mouse Buttons makes the right mouse button take on the normal functions of the left--and vice versa. 6
See also:
Options
Mouse...
command
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Help on the Colors dialog box
The Colors dialog box consists of two list boxes, a text display area, the standard OK, Cancel, and Help buttons, and one of the following:
On color and black-and-white systems, it
also contains two color palettes.
On monochrome systems, it contains a set
of radio buttons instead of the palettes.
This dialog box is where you can change the colors of different parts of this program.
Group
Desktop
Menus
Dialogs
Ascii table
The Group list box contains the names of the different regions of the program that you can customize. L
Item
Color
When you select a group from the Group list, the Item list box displays the names of the different views in that region.
Foreground
Background
On color and black-and-white systems, you use the Foreground and Background palettes to modify colors.
Colors
) Mono low
( ) Mono high
( ) Mono underscore
( ) Mono inverse
On monochrome systems, you use the Colors set of radio buttons systems to modify the character attributes. Q
Text Text Text
Text Text Text
On all systems, the display text (above the Help button) shows the current color or attribute settings. a
Changes do not take effect on the desktop until you close the Colors dialog box by choosing OK.
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Display Buffer
The Buffer is the contents of the EPROM memory that the microcontorller contains. This buffer shows the contents of the micro and will be updated during a read, or after an EDIT of FILL command has been executed.
Edit Fill Clear
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Edit Buffer
The Edit Buffer Dialog box first asks for the starting address. Then a second dialog box appears to get address (defaut is starting) and data. TAB to get between address and data. Press ENTER or OK to make the change and go to the next address. Press ESC or CANCEL to quit.
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Fill Buffer
The Fill Buffer Dialog box asks for the start address (defaut is 0), end address and data. Press TAB to get between address and data. Press ENTER or OK to make the change.
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Clear Buffer
Clears the main memory buffer to the default (erased) state.
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Error Display Buffer
The Error Display Buffer is the contents of the EPROM memory that did not verify correctly with the screen buffer contents. There are 3 different error windows, main memory error, ID location error, and Fuse error. These windows are present after a program or verify if there are any errors. To Close the window press ESC or F9... To go to the next window click with the mouse on that window or press TAB.
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File
Save As
The Save As command displays the Save a File dialog box. In this dialog box you select a different HEX file name to save the buffer. &
The Save
File dialog box contains:
an input
box with a history list
a list
box to browse the directory
the standard Cancel button
the standard Ok
an information panel that describes the
selected file
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File
Save
The Save command saves the buffer to a file. If no name has been selected, then the Save
AsSave As Dialog box will be displayed. displays the Save a File dialog box. In this dialog box you select a different HEX file name to save the buffer. &
The Save
File dialog box contains:
an input
box with a history list
a list
box to browse the directory
the standard Cancel button
the standard Ok button
an information panel that describes the
selected file
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Establish Communication
The Establish Communication will try to regain commucation connection with the PC and the programmer. If an error occurs, check to see if the correct COM
port is being used. Or cycle power to the programmer to insure proper operation.
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Comm Ports
Allows you to select a different COM port than the default (COM 1). Valid ports are COM 1 through COM 4.
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Device
Microcontrollers
Selects which Microcontroller the user wishes to program. The default is PIC16C54. R
This must be selected prior to any operation on the device or damage may result.
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Transfer
Program Fuses
Programs the Fuses of the selected Device with the contents of the current Fuse window.
Programs no other locations.
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Display Fuses
The Fuses window shows current state of the configuration fuses that the microcontorller contains. In this window there are two buttons, one is Fuse
Edit this is used to edit the fuses, the other is ID
Edit and is used to set the Id locations.
Clear
Fuses
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Clear Fuses
Clears the current fuses and ID locations to the default (erased) state.
Display
Fuses Fuse
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Config
Fuses
Brings up the Fuse Edit Dialog Box which allows the selection of the various fuses used in the microcontrollers. This same dialog box is used when the 'Edit Fuses' button is pressed in the Display Fuses Dialog Box.
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Help on Save a File Dialog Box
The Save a File dialog box contains an input box, a file
list, a file information panel, the standard button Cancel, one other action button (Ok), plus a history list that's attached to the Name
inputbox.
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Name
The Name input box is where you enter the name of the file to save.
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Config
ID Locations
Brings up the ID Edit Dialog Box which allows the selection of the ID Locations used in the microcontrollers. This same dialog box is used when the 'Edit ID' button is pressed in the Display Fuses Dialog Box.
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