Has anyone had success getting simulated USART interrupts to work
in MPLAB simulator (4.12.12)? The Microchip help file says
"
The MPLAB-SIM simulator supports all interrupts of 14-Bit
Core                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ {REALLY??}
devices.  (Peripherals are only available as described in the data sheet
of the particular device.)

7       Timer0 overflow
7       Timer1 overflow
7       Timer2
7       CCP1
7       CCP2
7       SSP (in SPI mode ONLY)
7       Change on Port RB <7:4>
7       External interrupt from RB0/INT pin
7       Parallel Slave Port
7       Comparators
7       A/D complete
7       EEPROM write complete
"
For the F87x series that would be 14 interrupts, but I only
count 12 in the cited list. Am I missing something blindingly obvious?

You will note the absence of mention of the USART, a KEY component IMO.
Is this a documentation error, or a blatant oversight/neglect of USART
interrupt handling? An what about I2C mode of the SSP? Another complex
protocol where the simulator has no support.
Surely it's not that hard to run a simulated baud rate generator
(just like the timers) and process data streams (with an output capture
file to make debugging a bit easier). I tried using stimulation files
for the RCREG, but since no IRQ is simulated my testing fails.

Makes writing a interrupt driven serial I/O * I2C routines rather hard
to debug, don't you think?

It would sure be nice if the 'Special function register' window
showed -addresses- instead of line numbers.
And the 'About' screen says that the copywrong is 1997.

MPLAB is a nice IDE, but do the guys who wrote it ever USE it
for real debugging sessions? Things like having the "File register'
window resize itself to initial values when changing display modes
is REALLY annoying, as is most windows failure to remember their
setting on closure. Saving an open project doesn't seem to save
the register & memory window settings.

I have lots of other suggestions and a few found bugs, but what's the
point of raising them if no one at Microchip is listening?

Suggestions for inexpensive alternatives for debugging USART code
appreciated.

Robert.Rolf@UALberta.ca