ANN: ImageCraft V7.00 for Propeller Released
ImageCraft
Posts: 348
All known bug have been fixed, I even added a "Pulse DTR" button to the terminal window since people seem to welcome it in the Propeller Serial Terminal thread. Anyway, the web page is being worked on, but you can jumpstart by
- downloading the demo here: http://www.imagecraft.com/pub/iccv7prop_demo.exe
- the readme file is here: http://www.imagecraft.com/pub/readmeProp.txt
- the online HTML doc is here: http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/help/iccprop/wwhelp.htm
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me.
// richard
- downloading the demo here: http://www.imagecraft.com/pub/iccv7prop_demo.exe
- the readme file is here: http://www.imagecraft.com/pub/readmeProp.txt
- the online HTML doc is here: http://www.dragonsgate.net/pub/help/iccprop/wwhelp.htm
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me.
// richard
Comments
Any word on when floating-point will be added?
Well, we need to take a short break
// richard
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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer
Parallax, Inc.
One question: Is there a maintanence period or some other guarantee that updates will be free for some period of time?
I looked on the website, but didn't see anything about a free update period...
Sorry to say, some years ago we purchased your C compiler for the HC11 and the license disk that came with it was corrupted every way to sunset and no amount of emails or faxes to get this disk replaced was ever replied.
Just a thought.
[noparse][[/noparse] //EDITED: I hope I don't sound like "passing the buck." I know we have an unsatisfied customer now and then, but really we would not ignore requests like this. Most of the HC11 compiler sales were before 2000. The company address changed in 1998 and we have our share of moving our email server and ISP, so may be you were just hitting one of those periods. If you email me with your name and company name, I will look it up in our records. ]
One thing I know full well is that it takes at least 10, 20, or 100 good customer experience to counteract the bad image that a single bad customer experience may generate, so we always try to respond to customer's questions as soon as possible. To this date, while I have other people doing most of the development, I still do all the customer support. Some times it backfires a little as we developers may get too close to the products, but generally speaking, engineers love it when they speak to someone who knows the products, and not some call center technicians.
The policy is that license purchase comes with 6 months of support, after that, it's $50 a year. However, it's voluntary and a honor system. I have never refused just because of lack of up to date maintenance.
I invite people with doubts visit, say, our icc-avr mailing list. AVR is our biggest seller and just ask "How has ImageCraft support been?" and I am sure you will find lots of positive responses.
And to update - you download the latest demo and install. Simple as that. We have not so far tie the maintenance to upgrades - heck, just the other day, I gave a upgrade key to someone who was still using his 2000 version of the AVR compiler! This policy may change later but rest assure that even if we implement some kind of policy, the initial 6 months or initial 12 month will be free upgrades.
// richard
Post Edited (ImageCraft) : 6/17/2008 9:26:25 PM GMT
I can't recall the year but the company was Ceanet Advanced Technologies.
Azlan
P.S. Sorry for off topic.
After clicking "OK" nothing appears, no limited version!
Email me at richard at imagecraft.com and I will sort it out. You may have installed a previous beta that may be affecting this.
True, it did ask where I wanted to install to ( having re-installed ) but I didn't even look, just clicked Next because every other installation I've ever done has got it right.
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When I asked our customers a couple years ago, most people said stick with c:\iccv7XXX\ but I do notice that some customers do change it to \program files\iccv7XXX already by themselves. My personal opinion is that "\program files" is a horrid default. People who use command lines hate the space, and we have a good number of customers who are using command lines. It's a little bit like deciding who to penalize and what images we want to project.
I still cannot get the IDE to run under 98 ( hangs the system while launching, needs reset-button re-boot ) and the command line compiler no longer works.
Our philosophy is to allow customers to upgrade to the latest by downloading the latest demo. With that decision, it drives some of the code protection methods we need to use to have that work, and simply, having the command line compilers to work without registering is just a bigger security hole.
I suspect your problems with W98 may have to do with the Propellent DLL. Our IDE itself should run fine. I know we have W98 customers... I suppose what I can do is to check the OS, and if it's "lower" than W2K, I would not load the Propellent library. Can you send me an email? I don't have W98 and won't be able to test.
Thanks.
Anyway, may be to answer your questions more directly instead of going off to a tangent, the compiler demo is fully functional for 45 days, so really the best way to try it is to try it. It has a simple to use IDE. Try it, you may like it.
Gutted - and I have only just bought the full price version, and doubt I will ever release anything...
What a bummer!
Richard seems like a decent chap, why not ask for a partial refund?
@Richard
I applaud you for your efforts with this compiler, I myself do not know the C language but it is one of those things that I have been meaning to do for some time now.
I may just take the plunge now and learn it on my favourite micro.
What is your policy regarding upgrades, I notice on your web shop that you have an annual maintennace price, is this the only way to keep up to date?
Regards,
Coley
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PropGFX Forums - The home of the Hybrid Development System and PropGFX Lite
On the Imagecraft.com website the non-commercial product says:
NOTE: We are providing the non-commercial use license as an incentive for hobbyists and students to try our tools. On purchasing a non-commercial license, you agree that you will not use the product for any commercial uses, including but not limited to product development and prototyping for potential products. Please do not abuse our trust.
***No mention of size limit
But on Parallax website the non-commercial product says:
Non-Commerical: ANSI C compiler for Propeller LMM code generation. IDE with editor, project manager and code browser. Supports programs as large as 16K.
Does this mean there is a limit to the maximum size programs one can create using the Non-Commercial version to only half of what the propeller is really capable of (32K)?
Thanks to anyone that can help me understand this.....I'm very much new to Propeller, but am intrigued about the potential of using C also.....
Sam
Inline asm is available within the constraints of the LMM kernal.
FP may not be made available in the Non-commercial version.
Ron
No FLOATING POINT - ever!!!!! that could be a deal breaker....
Thanks Ron.
Post Edited (ST) : 6/26/2008 2:24:27 AM GMT
I will pull the NC version off the website for now, and review the decision .
The 16K limit is not as odious as it seems, particularly if you use VGA text and other I/O drivers that need good sized buffers since the VGA buffer and other I/O buffers would come out of "the other 16K". You could even do dynamic memory allocation and devote the 16K to the memory pool.
As for the 16K limit - speaking about my own poor coding skills (I'm a hobbyist) - my programs tend to be a lot larger than that of a professional Software Engineer would probably write.
I'm still very much interested in the C-compiler, but it looks as if I would have to spring for the more costly Standard version primarily because of my own sloppy coding style.
( Updated to reflect later posts )
Demo Version
Free
Unrestricted for 45 days, commercial use allowed for 45 days
Code limited to 4KB after 45 days, non-commercial use only after 45 days
Floating point supported ( when implemented )
No command line compiler
Printed manual plus CD not available for purchase
Upgrades by downloading latest demo version
Annual Maintenance Contract not available
Non-Commercial Version
$99
Non-commercial use only
Code limited to 16KB
No Floating point support
No command line compiler
Printed manual plus CD available at $26
Upgrades free for 6 months
Annual Maintenance Contract available at $50
Upgrade to Standard Compiler at $150
Hardware 'license dongle' not available
Standard Version
$249
Unrestricted, commercial use allowed
No code limits, up to Propeller Ram size
Floating point supported ( when implemented )
Command line compiler
Printed manual plus CD available at $26
Upgrades free for 6 months
Annual Maintenance Contract available at $50
Hardware 'license dongle' at $60
Post Edited (hippy) : 6/26/2008 12:39:54 PM GMT
As for maintenance, it's free for the first 6 months, but so far we have not restricted upgrades or support for anyone. At some point, we may institute an upgrade policy that limits the latest upgrade if a customer has a current maintenance agreement, but that's in the future.