I got the "Pickit2 Debug Express" yesterday. It consists of:

    * Pickit2 device that looks like a small black hockey puck
    * A small little prototype board that has an 887 in the middle of 
it, plus a few LED's and a variable resistor

The 887 came shipped with a program on it that lights the LED's in a 
sequence.

I've used the device with MPLAB and I'm happy with it, I can program it 
and debug it. I can halt the program and single-step through the 
instructions. It's great.

Given that I'm so happy with this setup, I want to mimic it on my actual 
project board. Therefore I've been analysing the connections from the 
Pickit2 to the prototype board. There's 6 pins going from the Pickit2 to 
the small board. These 6 pins are unmarked on the Pickit2 (no name or 
symbol on them).

On my project board, I'm going to have a 6-pin header for hooking up the 
Pickit2 to it.

Using the continuity tester on my multimeter, I've determined, from left 
to right, that the Pickit2 pins go to the following on the 887:

    1: ?? (Doesn't seem to be connected to anything)
    2: RB6   /   ICSPCLK
    3: RB7   /   ICSPDATA
    4: GND
    5 Vdd 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

    6: MCLR   /   Vpp

Here's my first questions:
    Q1) On my project board, is it OK to hard-wire Vdd and GND to 5 V 
and 0 V respectively? Or does the Pickit 2 need to control them?

    Q2) Can I just hardwire the MCLR pin straight to my 6-pin header, or 
do I need this pin to have a specific value for normal operation? (i.e. 
is it OK to have it floating when the Pickit2 isn't connected)?

Regarding RB6 and RB7, well I was planning on using all the pins on port 
B for push buttons. One side of a pushbutton would go to the PIC pin, 
and the other would go straight to GND. I would then use the internal 
pull-up's so that I don't need a resistor on each of the pushbuttons.

    Q3) Will I not be able to use RB6 and RB7 for pushbuttons when I'm 
in debug mode? Or will I not be able to use them at all because of the 
voltages applied to them by the Pickit2? (It's no big deal if I can't, 
it's just that the internal pull-up's are handy because they negate the 
need for extra resistors so that the pin is floating)

It doesn't appear as if the Pickit2's leftmost pin is connected to 
anything, but if anyone knows better then please advise!

Also if there's any caveats please let me know! Am I on the right track 
with this?

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