SimpleIDE Version 0-6-11 and Propeller-GCC pre-beta test packages.

jazzed · 2012-05-14 10:16

Hi all.

This is the big pre-Beta test software download and test plunge.

Please help to identify any issues that need to be fixed before Beta start.
We will be posting some updated demos for using the board.cfg pins feature later.

Please download and test your O/S SimpleIDE version 0-6-11 + Propeller GCC v0-3-1

Windows Users Setup Package
MacOSX Users .ZIP Package
Linux i686 32 bit .tar.bz2 SimpleIDE Only Package
Linux i686 32 bit .tar.bz2 Propeller GCC Package
Other linux versions are being added
Windows .zip packages will also be added

For more installation and usage see:

Packages have fixes and enhancements listed below.

SimpleIDE Version 0-6-11:

Adds UTF-8 file handling.
Adds UTF-8 serial terminal decode - thanks peward
Updated QextSerial libraries.
Added intermediate work for translations.

SimpleIDE Version 0-6-10:

Propeller-GCC package allows using __stack_end. Thanks ctwardell
Propeller-GCC XMM heap now lives in XMM.
Propeller-load can stuff .cfg parameters into the C program.
Fix space problem in -I and -L includes for Add Inc/Lib Path.
Added help popup at startup. Can be canceled.
Fixed propeller-gcc help landing page.
Make new project tab order work more naturally.
Moved board type selector to Project Options.
Added Project Manager tab hoping to make clear it is just not a list of files.

Propeller-GCC Version 0-3-1:

Adds PropellGCC Version information to propeller-elf-gcc --version command
Allows user to read variables from board type .cfg files.
Allows auto-mounting SD Card based on board type .cfg variables.

The next SimpleIDE release will be version 0-7-0 which will probably be used for beta.
It should contain a fullly translated Simplified Chinese IDE.
If you live in Singapore, you will get a partially translated IDE now.

Additionally, the next package will contain a SimpleIDE.ts file that can be used with
QtLinguist to create a translation in any language locale and country.
When ready, we will invite translators to help make the GUI work in your language.

There will be no functional changes to SimpleIDE version 0-7-0 unless bugs are found.

Now, off to full court press documentation and more demo land.

Thanks,
--Steve

pedward · 2012-05-14 13:29

I'll work on making an RPM SPEC file so the whole kit can be properly managed with YUM/RPM.

FWIW, I got Eclipse working, but only if I check out individual project branches, not the whole repo. Eclipse will properly build SIDE and run it, as long as qmake-qt4 is run prior. I understand there is some mechanism to tell Eclipse that the Makefile needs to be regenerated.

I'm on Fedora 15 x86_64 and have VMWare installed, so I can build for other architectures or distros too.

It's amazing that no matter how much faster the machine, GCC still takes more time to build stuff!

jazzed · 2012-05-14 14:46

Hi Perry.

Did you try the instructions I posted on the wiki for installing QtCreator tools for building SimpleIDE?
http://code.google.com/p/propside/wiki/BuildingSimpleIDE

It may not be obvious - the project file to open is propside/propside.pro
The distribution package is compiled with Inno IDE project file propside.iss

pedward · 2012-05-14 16:20

I haven't read those instructions yet, I've got it building fine inside Eclipse. All I had to do was check out the SimpleIDE branch, "New Project" --> Makefile project, point to the directory that was checked out (you can't use the new HG project), create a working set pointing to the SIDE directory, then add a Make target of "SimpleIDE" to specify the target binary to build/run.

I also ignored all of the moc_*.cpp and various other dynamically created files.

I'm interested in trying to build SIDE on windows using only OSS tools. What compiler are you using on Windows?

jazzed · 2012-05-14 18:52

pedward wrote: »

I'm interested in trying to build SIDE on windows using only OSS tools. What compiler are you using on Windows?

QtCreator and Libraries are fully Open-Source Software.

I use MinGW available by itself, as part of the
Qt libraries 4.8.1 for Windows (minGW 4.4, 319 MB),
or as http://get.qt.nokia.com/misc/MinGW-gcc440_1.zip

SimpleIDE will not build with VisualStudio.

MacTuxLin · 2012-05-16 06:23

Hello Jazzed & SIDE Team,

I was given an opportunity by Jazzed to help localizing SIDE to Simplified Chinese. I have completed except for some minor wordings that needs correction. To ensure authenticity of the Chinese characters used, I've cross reference with other Simplified Chinese development tools, just to be extra sure. However, I'm still prone to error. Please let me know if anyone discovers any. Thanks!

jazzed · 2012-05-16 09:28

Those are beautiful pictures

Thanks for all your hard work!
--Steve

pedward · 2012-05-16 12:03

Steve, the icons on the toolbar confuse me a bit. I'm hoping some better icons can be used to differentiate file operations from Project operations. Like the 2 floppy disks next to each other don't make sense to me.

I'd be happy to look through the GNOME and other icons to find some examples. I understand the design language of the Aha icons is consistent and it makes sense to maintain, I just want it to be less cluttered and more intuitive.

pedward · 2012-05-16 12:22

Steve,

I guess why I'm thinking about these icon and project MM issues is because I want to see SIDe a great competitor to the Arduino, and I think it's a great start (too many greats?). The easier it is for people to conceptualize the Propeller, the easier it will be for them to get started. Outside of the explicit COG allocation, the only other chips resources are counters, so it isn't a complex chip to understand, just different than what people are accustomed to.

Once we get a pulldown menu for "Libraries" that people can plop into their project (under a "Libraries" tree item of course!) it will pave the way for the cohesive one-stop-shop for all of the interface modules that we've all been clamoring for.

Imagine a time when "Generic I2C", or "Generic SPI", or "Hitachi HD44780", or "MCP3208" appears in a "Drivers" sub-menu for a person to use!?
Oh, and the driver's config variables can be enumerated and edited right there too (interface pins, etc)!

Then it has an easily documented interface that is accessed by hitting a "+" next to the library in the Project pane, expanding the tree below with relevant documents for the API, or even a method/function list with the prototype displayed.

Mind you, I'm *not* trying to be Eclipse, merely trying to eclipse the Arduino development environment!

pedward · 2012-05-16 12:30

Oh, to simplify things, perhaps only 1 project at a time can be open? That way there is no "set project" function? I don't see the purpose in having multiple projects open, because you can only navigate 1 project at a time.

Also, the "Save and close" project should be changed to "Close project" and auto prompt for save if it isn't saved, this is how everything else works and it removes an unfamiliar interface concept, not to mention icon.

I'd also ditch the Save As icon on the toolbar, it duplicates the file menu too much and most software I've seen only has the universal "Save" icon for quick functions.

I would use an X or X over Folder to "Close Project" toolbar icon.

jazzed · 2012-05-16 13:07

pedward wrote: »

Oh, to simplify things, perhaps only 1 project at a time can be open? That way there is no "set project" function? I don't see the purpose in having multiple projects open, because you can only navigate 1 project at a time.

Only one project is active at any given time. You can have many files open though.

pedward wrote: »

Also, the "Save and close" project should be changed to "Close project" and auto prompt for save if it isn't saved, this is how everything else works and it removes an unfamiliar interface concept, not to mention icon.

That's a pretty good idea. I'll look into it.

I'll never get Propeller-GCC beta out fulfilling requests.

jazzed · 2012-05-16 13:10

pedward wrote: »

Imagine a time when "Generic I2C", or "Generic SPI", or "Hitachi HD44780", or "MCP3208" appears in a "Drivers" sub-menu for a person to use!? Oh, and the driver's config variables can be enumerated and edited right there too (interface pins, etc)!

I have a plan for this. Maybe I can enlist your help on it?

pedward · 2012-05-16 13:18

Just trying to help work some of the quirks out!

I can help on the Library, I did something similar in my project. I had a sensor library that was dynamic at runtime.

mindrobots · 2012-05-16 18:34

OK, so I'm sitting here playing with SimpleIDE and while I'm marveling at how poor a C programmer I am, I right click on one of my .c files and see the "Show Assembly" option. Clicking it open up a tab with the assembly code for your .c file proudly displayed.

Very nice!!!

I haven't found any problems that haven't been explained away by my pilot error.

mindrobots · 2012-05-23 18:08

Nit pick - when you have "free" time:

Could you please put the file name at the bottom of the printed page, opposite the line #? Those of us from the paper generation would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

average joe · 2012-05-23 19:38

I must say, I'm very happy with SimpleIDE. I have only worked with it for a few weeks now, but it's a great tool. Keep up the good work!

sevs · 2012-05-27 07:29

Has anyone had any luck with this on ubuntu 12.04?

I can extract the .tar.bz2, i can run ./setup.sh but when i run ./simpleide i get the response './simpleide: 1: ./simpleide: /home/*****/SimpleIDE-0-6-11/bin//SimpleIDE: not found'

If i edit the simpleide file and remove the '/' after the bin i get the same error with out the '//' between bin and SimpleIDE

Thanks for any help.

jazzed · 2012-05-27 07:49

sevs wrote: »

Has anyone had any luck with this on ubuntu 12.04?

I can extract the .tar.bz2, i can run ./setup.sh but when i run ./simpleide i get the response './simpleide: 1: ./simpleide: /home/*****/SimpleIDE-0-6-11/bin//SimpleIDE: not found'

If i edit the simpleide file and remove the '/' after the bin i get the same error with out the '//' between bin and SimpleIDE

Thanks for any help.

Hi sevs.

What package are you using? One of the debian packages should work.
Is your CPU 64 bit or 32 bit? The i686 package is 32 bit. The x86_64 package is 64 bit.

Can you add -x to the simpleide script on the first line like below, run, and dump output here?

#!/bin/sh -x
appname=SimpleIDE
dirname=$PWD/bin/


LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$dirname
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH


`$dirname/$appname "$@"` &

sevs · 2012-05-27 08:03

Hi Steve,

I cant see the 64 bit version to download from the top?

Just reading your post reminded me that i may not have ia32-libs installed. That is installing now.

The output with the additon of the -x is:

god@god-laptop:~/SimpleIDE-0-6-11$ ./simpleide 
+ appname=SimpleIDE
+ dirname=/home/god/SimpleIDE-0-6-11/bin
+ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/god/SimpleIDE-0-6-11/bin
+ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
god@god-laptop:~/SimpleIDE-0-6-11$ + /home/god/SimpleIDE-0-6-11/bin/SimpleIDE
./simpleide: 1: ./simpleide: /home/god/SimpleIDE-0-6-11/bin/SimpleIDE: not found
+

As usual, thanks for your time mate.

PS i dont think i am god, i just saw someone else had it once and it made me laugh when you have to log on as god :P

sevs · 2012-05-27 08:31

It was indeed the lack of ia32-libs.

Everything seems to be running ok now. I thought it came default, but it must just get resolved as a dependency when installing .deb files and i havnt had anything that needed it as yet.

jazzed · 2012-05-27 08:41

sevs wrote: »

It was indeed the lack of ia32-libs.

Everything seems to be running ok now. I thought it came default, but it must just get resolved as a dependency when installing .deb files and i havnt had anything that needed it as yet.

Glad you have it working.

I'm on Google+ this morning. Can we chat about your setup?
Thanks.
--Steve

sevs · 2012-05-29 10:56

Just a couple of minor things that i have noticed with this build.

When you are programming the eeprom the final line on the build status doesnt have some spaces that sould be there, something like:

Verifying RAM ... OKProgramming EEPROM ... OKVerifying EEPROM ... OK

Personally i would find it easier if each of those was on a separate line. That might just be me though.

Also i always seem to hit the Reset Port button before i am able to program the prop.

This is on the linux build.

SimpleIDE Version 0-6-11 and Propeller-GCC pre-beta test packages.

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