BlackCat -- a GUI source code debugger for Catalina C
Bob Anderson
Posts: 122
BlackCat is a Windows based source code debugger for use with Catalina C 2.4 and above (available here) and is particulary easy to use with ViewPort 4.3.2 and above (available here).·
FYI: ViewPort now includes a nice·C code editor and automatically·calls Catalina and BlackCat as required, making it an effective·IDE for C programmers.· Code::Blocks can also be used as an IDE.
BlackCat·allows you to step through your code in a variety of ways, place breakpoints, examine and modify variables while at a breakpoint, trace calling path, etc, and supports XMM LARGE and XMM SMALL as well as LMM on a variety of commonly available hardware platforms such as MORPHEUS, TRIBLADEPROP, HYDRA, HYBRID, DEMO, etc.
If you haven't installed Catalina C 2.4 yet, I have included a demo that was compiled using Catalina 2.4 (I used ViewPort 4.3.2 as the IDE)·that you can use right now to get a little "stick time" on BlackCat.
Unfortunately, though we tried hard, BlackCat will not run under Linux.· To serve that community, as well as those that prefer to use command line utilities, there is a command line version of BlackCat (called BlackBox) that Ross Higson built and·has been·released with Catalina 2.4.· It strongly parallels BlackCat, so running BlackCat will give you a good feel for what BlackBox will provide.
The necessary files are available on the Object Exchange (here).· The text below refers to version 1.32.· This is bound to change, but the Obex will always contain the most recent version.
The BlackCat1.32.zip file should be downloaded and the extension changed to zip.· If you already have a Catalina installation, unzip BlackCat1.32.zip into the bin sub-directory found there.· That is where ViewPort will look for it.· If you don't have a Catalina installation, unzip it in any convenient location.
The BlackCatDemo.zip file should also be downloaded·from the·auxilliary files.· Unzip this in any convenient location, including its sub-directories.
To run the demo, you will need a serial connection to a propeller chip.
In the BlackCatDemo directory, navigate to bin/Debug.· There you should find three files named DemoProject with .binary, .dbg, and .lst extensions.· Use the Propeller Tool to load DemoProject.binary to your propeller.
Go to wherever you unzipped BlackCat1.32 and open blackcat.exe.
On the Propeller Communications panel that opens up, select 115200 baud.· Then click the COM port drop down box.· It will be populated with available serial ports.· Select the one that is connected to the propeller.· Then click Open.· You can close this dialog now.· All settings are "sticky", and if you had been using ViewPort, all this would have been done for you.
On the BlackCat panel, click the menu item Open dbg file.· Navigate to DemoProject.dbg and select it.· You should be debugging now!· Use the Help menu item to bring up on-line help.· The on-line help is a manual organized around the kind of questions a new user will have.
Have fun.
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FYI: ViewPort now includes a nice·C code editor and automatically·calls Catalina and BlackCat as required, making it an effective·IDE for C programmers.· Code::Blocks can also be used as an IDE.
BlackCat·allows you to step through your code in a variety of ways, place breakpoints, examine and modify variables while at a breakpoint, trace calling path, etc, and supports XMM LARGE and XMM SMALL as well as LMM on a variety of commonly available hardware platforms such as MORPHEUS, TRIBLADEPROP, HYDRA, HYBRID, DEMO, etc.
If you haven't installed Catalina C 2.4 yet, I have included a demo that was compiled using Catalina 2.4 (I used ViewPort 4.3.2 as the IDE)·that you can use right now to get a little "stick time" on BlackCat.
Unfortunately, though we tried hard, BlackCat will not run under Linux.· To serve that community, as well as those that prefer to use command line utilities, there is a command line version of BlackCat (called BlackBox) that Ross Higson built and·has been·released with Catalina 2.4.· It strongly parallels BlackCat, so running BlackCat will give you a good feel for what BlackBox will provide.
The necessary files are available on the Object Exchange (here).· The text below refers to version 1.32.· This is bound to change, but the Obex will always contain the most recent version.
The BlackCat1.32.zip file should be downloaded and the extension changed to zip.· If you already have a Catalina installation, unzip BlackCat1.32.zip into the bin sub-directory found there.· That is where ViewPort will look for it.· If you don't have a Catalina installation, unzip it in any convenient location.
The BlackCatDemo.zip file should also be downloaded·from the·auxilliary files.· Unzip this in any convenient location, including its sub-directories.
To run the demo, you will need a serial connection to a propeller chip.
In the BlackCatDemo directory, navigate to bin/Debug.· There you should find three files named DemoProject with .binary, .dbg, and .lst extensions.· Use the Propeller Tool to load DemoProject.binary to your propeller.
Go to wherever you unzipped BlackCat1.32 and open blackcat.exe.
On the Propeller Communications panel that opens up, select 115200 baud.· Then click the COM port drop down box.· It will be populated with available serial ports.· Select the one that is connected to the propeller.· Then click Open.· You can close this dialog now.· All settings are "sticky", and if you had been using ViewPort, all this would have been done for you.
On the BlackCat panel, click the menu item Open dbg file.· Navigate to DemoProject.dbg and select it.· You should be debugging now!· Use the Help menu item to bring up on-line help.· The on-line help is a manual organized around the kind of questions a new user will have.
Have fun.
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