"Jamil J. Weatherbee" wrote:
>
> Actually, I am wanting to set up a web-page for such a cooperative
> mulitasking via semi-virtual code compiler.  Cooperative multitasking is
> very-powerful in an embedded environment where dynamic prioritys and all
> the other crap you have under general purpose os is unnecessary.  A
> properly constructed piece of software can handle many tasks very quickly,
> and remember that on the PIC the interrupt flags are still set regardless
> of whether the interrupts for peripherals etc. are enabled, so it is not a
> total loss.
>
> My proposed tool would:
>
> 1) Be Free, GNU copyleft or the like
> 2) Start with a simple "compiler" written with GCC, running under
> dos/windows/unix, but developed under linux/bsd
> 3) Expand with a graphical interface, maybe tcl/tk maybe java to describe
> the tasks
>
> 4) implement both procedural type code, and state machines
> 5) the user would simply define the processor type and speed, although I
> would probably start with the x14 instruction set pic, like 12c671 etc.
> because that would keep the cost of trying it out/testing very inexpensive
>
> 6) The user would specify the frequency that tasks run and timing etc.
> just in seconds/microseconds and the compiler deals with different
> clockrates.
>
> 7) ideally i see a software where all this could be easily described
> graphically, but in a very powerful fashion, almost "like" and HDL for
> PICs.

Jamil,

This is a big project. I'd suggest re-posting this to the gnupic mailing
list and perhaps elaborate in a little more detail on the points you
mention above. For example, what do you mean by a "simple compiler"?
What purposes do the gui really serve? etc.

Regards,
Scott