Jory:

I'm glad you sent your message via the Internet, the local connection to the 
PIC BBS is no longer working (I don't know why), so I haven't been logging on 
there.

Anyway, it appears that you might be at the same juncture I was a few months 
ago. I am a long way from really knowing Assembly code or the PIC. However, by 
charting a certain goal, I have managed to "pick" up a few things that'd 
gotten me started in the right direction. Just as you have noted, I too had
hardware ready and waiting for a PIC to be "plugged in". So, here's what I 
did:

1. Sent out as many "help" requests as I could (looks like you have already 
started). 
2. Sorted out the "help" responses and used the "best qualified" advice.
3. Sought (and got) a lot of help building the application code (Assembly) 
that met the needs of my hardware (cuz' I understand the hardware already).
4. Plugged in my PIC programmer to a computer and examined the code with a
simulator (PICSIM), to better understand what was going on in the PIC. This 
was probably my biggest learning experience yet.
5. Assembled the code (from ASCII text to the various formats (ASM, BIN, 
etc.), and studied what each looks like/is used for, etc.
6. Programmed a PIC (OTP type).
7. Put my hardware on a Proto-Board and plugged in the PIC to simply 
"discover" what happens (it worked, mostly).
8. Fooled with the (ASCII) code and re-assembled it until the end result met
my desires (several times through this step).

So that's what I have done. I am not yet comfortable with the 
code/programming, but I have learned that pure persistence will make up for a 
lot of the programming knowledge I don't already have. As you know, most of 
the PIC manuals, etc., look like they're written in some cryptic code. Well, 
they are. My initial stumbling blocks were almost too simple for others to 
grasp. Things like ....what format is the code supposed to be in when I type
out my program in ASCII text before assembling it, should I used the PIC
code or somebody else's (like Parallax's set of instructions), how do I know 
how much code fits into the finite memory space, and so forth. I got answers 
to these questions by doing the things noted here.

My "trial and error" has helped me complete my first PIC project. But as I've 
said, I had an individual help me put together a relatively complex assembly 
program. My next big step (which I'm working on) is to apply what I've learned 
to put together another program from ground zero. 

Since I'm mostly into hardware, I was a little uncomfortable in using the best 
advice I received about programming PICS, "just go for it" (software generally 
doesn't make any smoke). Any fatal errors will show up using PICSIM or at the 
window of a Volt meter.

Don't hesitate to scratch me back a note whenever you want, we'll both likely 
learn something.

Regards,

Shawn Dienhart
SJD2@PGE.COM

805-545-4481