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BASIC to PIC converter? — Parallax Forums

BASIC to PIC converter?

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2004-03-06 14:59 in General Discussion
Well, i've got a program running how i want it on my Basic stamp 2,
and now i want to do a more production-run of it, and need a way to
burn Microchips with this program. They don't accept Basic
programs, they need .asm files. So my question, is is there any
sort of .exe out there where you just open a Basic program, tell it
to convert to a Pic .asm file, and BOOM it does it? I have tried
reverse-engineering a similar Pic program in Microchip's programming
tool, but it is all such different terminology and formats for
making stuff work, that i don't think i can do it. HOWEVER, if
somebody out there happens to have a good ability to convert Basic
to Pic by hand and could convert my program, I definitely would be
willing to consider paying them once it works.

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-05 15:17
    If your program runs satisfactorily as-is, why go through another
    engineering stage with the conversion to assembly? Parallax sells OEM
    chips at very reasonable prices. I know, because prior to working for
    Parallax I went through this process. I had "prototyped" a product
    using a BS2 with the intent of porting it to a PIC. But it worked so
    well that the Marketing/Sales department wanted it right away -- so that
    product uses OEM BASIC Stamp parts. It went to market more quickly and
    without the worries of a program porting process. We also decided to
    put the EEPROM into a socket so we could do upgrades, and that came in
    handy after users worked with the product for a while.

    -- Jon Williams
    -- Applications Engineer, Parallax
    -- Dallas Office

    PS: If you do decide to move to assembly you should get ready to pay for
    professional services.


    Original Message
    From: Neal Muzzy [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=v8aaR_VpLyzHYHYKo2Ekyj7aeiMSsBJIYoMeLPuJqIxwgHjxEwh7eO84uyQNV_MCrAmFQAZeK9XFe-HjZYY]neal_muzzy@y...[/url
    Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 9:11 AM
    To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] BASIC to PIC converter?


    Well, i've got a program running how i want it on my Basic stamp 2,
    and now i want to do a more production-run of it, and need a way to
    burn Microchips with this program. They don't accept Basic
    programs, they need .asm files. So my question, is is there any
    sort of .exe out there where you just open a Basic program, tell it
    to convert to a Pic .asm file, and BOOM it does it? I have tried
    reverse-engineering a similar Pic program in Microchip's programming
    tool, but it is all such different terminology and formats for
    making stuff work, that i don't think i can do it. HOWEVER, if
    somebody out there happens to have a good ability to convert Basic
    to Pic by hand and could convert my program, I definitely would be
    willing to consider paying them once it works.
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-05 15:19
    In a message dated 3/5/2004 10:13:20 AM Eastern Standard Time,
    neal_muzzy@y... writes:


    > Well, i've got a program running how i want it on my Basic stamp 2,
    > and now i want to do a more production-run of it, and need a way to
    > burn Microchips with this program. They don't accept Basic
    > programs, they need .asm files. So my question, is is there any
    > sort of .exe out there where you just open a Basic program, tell it
    > to convert to a Pic .asm file, and BOOM it does it? I have tried
    > reverse-engineering a similar Pic program in Microchip's programming
    > tool, but it is all such different terminology and formats for
    > making stuff work, that i don't think i can do it. HOWEVER, if
    > somebody out there happens to have a good ability to convert Basic
    > to Pic by hand and could convert my program, I definitely would be
    > willing to consider paying them once it works.
    >

    Go to www.rentron.com and download their Micro Code Studio. This is an
    editor similar to the Basic Stamp Editor that lets you write the program, then
    compile it. I have been using MC Studio for a long time, along with my WARP13
    PIC
    programmer.


    Sid Weaver
    W4EKQ
    Port Richey, FL


    [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-05 18:11
    1. You can use the OEM version of the BS2.
    From an earlier post you can swap eeproms --
    so all you'll need to do is copy the eeproms to
    get your program ported.

    2. You can use Pic-Basic or MBasic to compile
    the basic program, and download it into a PIC.

    3. You can convert your lovely code to PIC assy,
    and download that into a PIC.

    Option 1 is recommended as being the least risk,
    Option 2 can take some more work, and the purchase
    of some more hardware.
    Option 3 would be the highest performance, but
    take the most work. If you really want to go this
    way, Parallax has their very nice 'SX' platform.
    This is a blazingly fast (50 MIPS!) "Super-PIC"
    processor, which you program in assembly.


    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Neal Muzzy" <neal_muzzy@y...>
    wrote:
    > Well, i've got a program running how i want it on my Basic stamp 2,
    > and now i want to do a more production-run of it, and need a way to
    > burn Microchips with this program. They don't accept Basic
    > programs, they need .asm files. So my question, is is there any
    > sort of .exe out there where you just open a Basic program, tell it
    > to convert to a Pic .asm file, and BOOM it does it? I have tried
    > reverse-engineering a similar Pic program in Microchip's
    programming
    > tool, but it is all such different terminology and formats for
    > making stuff work, that i don't think i can do it. HOWEVER, if
    > somebody out there happens to have a good ability to convert Basic
    > to Pic by hand and could convert my program, I definitely would be
    > willing to consider paying them once it works.
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-05 18:34
    That's the function of a compiler. It won't compile pic basic, but it
    will be close. You'll probably have to tweak it.

    Look at http://www.melabs.com ; they have a full suite of PIC compiler
    software / hardware.


    On Fri, 5 Mar 2004, Neal Muzzy wrote:

    > Well, i've got a program running how i want it on my Basic stamp 2,
    > and now i want to do a more production-run of it, and need a way to
    > burn Microchips with this program. They don't accept Basic
    > programs, they need .asm files. So my question, is is there any
    > sort of .exe out there where you just open a Basic program, tell it
    > to convert to a Pic .asm file, and BOOM it does it? I have tried
    > reverse-engineering a similar Pic program in Microchip's programming
    > tool, but it is all such different terminology and formats for
    > making stuff work, that i don't think i can do it. HOWEVER, if
    > somebody out there happens to have a good ability to convert Basic
    > to Pic by hand and could convert my program, I definitely would be
    > willing to consider paying them once it works.
    >
    >
    >
    > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    > from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and Body
    of the message will be ignored.
    >
    > Yahoo! Groups Links
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >

    Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
    Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
    email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
    "Do not fear mistakes, There Are None" - Miles Davis
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-05 22:30
    Greetings,
    If you can convert your BS2 code into BS1 code, then use the MELABS.com
    "PICbasic Compiler" ($100) to convert it into both an .ASM (specifically
    targeted for your flavor of PIC chip) and an Intel Hex .HEX image that can
    be flashed into your PIC chip using any number of PIC Programmers such as
    the MELABS "EPIC Programmer" ($100), "El Cheapo" (around $20), and a
    number of others.

    So the tools *are* there, you just have to get your BS2 code converted
    into BS1 code. Anything that doesn't convert, you then rewrite as
    callable PIC assembly code. So it *will* involve *some* tweaking.

    Okay, enough herasy out of me. I'll now duck back into the shadows and
    watch the flame wars.... My appologies... ;-)

    --- Jay

    On Fri, 5 Mar 2004, Sean T. Lamont .lost. wrote:

    > That's the function of a compiler. It won't compile pic basic, but it
    > will be close. You'll probably have to tweak it.
    >
    > Look at http://www.melabs.com ; they have a full suite of PIC compiler
    > software / hardware.
    >
    >
    > On Fri, 5 Mar 2004, Neal Muzzy wrote:
    >
    > > Well, i've got a program running how i want it on my Basic stamp 2,
    > > and now i want to do a more production-run of it, and need a way to
    > > burn Microchips with this program. They don't accept Basic
    > > programs, they need .asm files. So my question, is is there any
    > > sort of .exe out there where you just open a Basic program, tell it
    > > to convert to a Pic .asm file, and BOOM it does it? I have tried
    > > reverse-engineering a similar Pic program in Microchip's programming
    > > tool, but it is all such different terminology and formats for
    > > making stuff work, that i don't think i can do it. HOWEVER, if
    > > somebody out there happens to have a good ability to convert Basic
    > > to Pic by hand and could convert my program, I definitely would be
    > > willing to consider paying them once it works.
    > >
    >
    > Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
    > Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
    > email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
    > "Do not fear mistakes, There Are None" - Miles Davis


    "Those that sacrifice essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
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  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-06 12:09
    Doesn't the MicroCode Studio additionally require the PICBasic
    compiler? A seperate program?

    Seems like it for me, the IDE keeps barking it needs a compiler.

    (While a Basic compiler seems like a great idea, I don't see it there
    for a free download).
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2004-03-06 14:59
    Yes, it does. Microcode studio is an editor only, you still need a compiler.

    Jonathan

    www.madlabs.info

    Original Message
    From: "erniem1957" <ernie@c...>
    To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
    Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 4:09 AM
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: BASIC to PIC converter?


    > Doesn't the MicroCode Studio additionally require the PICBasic
    > compiler? A seperate program?
    >
    > Seems like it for me, the IDE keeps barking it needs a compiler.
    >
    > (While a Basic compiler seems like a great idea, I don't see it there
    > for a free download).
    >
    >
    >
    > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    > from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
    Body of the message will be ignored.
    >
    > Yahoo! Groups Links
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
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