On Tue, Feb 17, 2004 at 06:34:17PM -0500, Victor Faria wrote:
> So when will your NCPI be out ???

Brad and I have a incomplete/unstable pre beta. It really needs some regression
testing done as I've added quite a bit of code for handling integers. But
we're both swamped right now so no real progress. Brad has the latest copy and
he just sent me an E-mail indicating that he'll be posting it soon. Once that
happens, I'll post a message to both the PICLIST and GNUPIC mailing lists
so that folks can have at it.

The other cirital component is a high level bytecode interpreter/simulator
so that one can do software/regression testing on the host without having
to load a real target. I started the project but didn't get it completely
stable yet. I'm current trying to be hands off while Brad takes a spin. Once
we've posted something, then I'll probably take a weekend and finish up
the simulator.

> and your right about wouter's ZPL
> I have been waiting to see if someone is going to offer a kit or ???

Wouter's Dwarf boards are a kit that utilizes ZPL.

But the real point is that it's so simple that you really don't need a
prepackaged system to get going. The cable is little more than a NPN transistor
with the collector connected to MCLR, base to the serial port TX via a 1K
resistor, and emitter grounded. MCLR has its normal pullup (Wouter suggests
1K). Takes 5 minutes to wire up on a breadboard. A permanant cable may take
10 minutes with a handful of Radio Shack (or similar electronic parts store)
parts.

The ZPL loader is written in Python. It's already cross platform and runs
under Windows, Linux, or anything else that runs python and has a serial port.
Wouter did it right and I'm both very thankful and very grateful for it.

> with a windows interface
> also does anyone know if there is a windows version  of the xwisp???

I think that Wouter addressed these issues in another message. If not you can
check the XWisp page here:

http://www.voti.nl/xwisp/index_1.html

But your questions raise another issue. Wouter is clearly a student of the
Art of Unix Programming, a boot written by Eric S. Raymond. One of the
Rules is the Rule of Separation: separate policy from mechanism, interface
from functionality. Wouter has done this. Xwisp runs under Windows and it
has a perfectly functional command line interface for doing the simple
task that it exist for: load a hex file into a PIC. Wouter has even added
a scriptable GUI interface for adding buttons and the like. But by having
a decoupled interface, one can write or use a different interface for
using Xwisp, or can script Xwisp as required.

You can read more about Eric's point here:

http://library.n0i.net/linux-unix/art-unix-programming/ch01s06.html#id2877777

BAJ

[Original snipped]

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList
mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu