>
> > > > Hopefully, we'll produce a top-notch development environment for the
> > > > PIC16C84 which can be compiled for just about any platform.
> > >
> > > Sounds great but I see no mention of a programmer.
> > > This is fairly key in the development environment isn't it?
> > Not in this instance. Since the initialize target is the 16C84 and there
> > are several designeds out for programming it. The COM84 programmer is
> > quite effective.
>
>
> Absolutely! It's the only thing I use but it's certainly not cross
> platform.

Why can't it be. Doesn't Unix and MAC platforms have the ability to
fiddle twiddle the bits so that it can program?

>
> > I plan to use a separate serial based loader to load up the EEPROM
> > thus removing the need for the board to have to load it.
>
> You're going to go to a different machine to load up? I don't follow.

Call it an intelligent cable. RS-232 serial that attaches to a machine
and a PIC on the other. The PIC talks standard ASCII to the serial port
and has an interface to program the serial EEPROM. The programmer board
contains a MAX-232 type device and a UART. Once the "cable" is detached
from the board, the on-board PIC is free to load the program from the
serial EEPROM and execute it. This provides more of the 1K space
for the interpreter for the on-board PIC and relieves it from the duty
of having to communicate serially to the programming system. When you're
talking about a 18 pin part, 2 pins is important.

Of course this is a chicken and egg problem because you need two
programmed PICS to do the job. I have a PICSTART so that isn't a
real big deal to me. And if you have 16C84's then the COM84 can do the
job the first time then you can use whatever you like to do your development.

But once you have those programmed PICS downloading programs are simple.
Also as long as you have the same interface to the serial EEPROM you can use
whatever PIC you like as the on-board one. Just program the interpreter
into the PIC and load the program into the serial EEPROM just like the
stamp.

See I'm trying to get this system for my students so that they can
load their programs to the system dozens, hundreds, or thousands of times.
And I need it to run from a Linux box.

>
>
> > It's just in the thought phase right now...
> >
> > But the bottom line is that we have programmers but very little in the
> > way of programming tools that are cross platform.
>
> We don't have cross platform programmers. COM84 is completely tied to
> DOS - it won't even work in Windows.

Well then my interpreter can resolve this by making the COM84 used once
and then you can directly connect it to whatever you like from then on.

How much would one spend on a 3 chip circuit with a preprogrammed PIC that
simply reads a serial port and flips bits and allows for precise timing on
the flipping of those bits? This is the real piece of technology that is
needed to bridge the gap. David Tait attempted this with his MIPI stuff
and it is the right idea. It tried to eliminate the need for something
to be programmed. But it's tough to do simply. Maybe we need to revisit
that idea...

BAJ