Annoying little IDE problems
Jasper_M
Posts: 222
I'm using Propeller IDE 1.0 with Hydra (not the one that came on the Hydra CD) and have some annoying (but not really big) problems.
Windows XP SP2, with latest updates.
1. I'm using a Finnish keyboard. You input $-sign by pressing Alt Gr (ie. right Alt)+4. When I do this, I get a yen sign (¥) followed by the dollar sign. When I switch to English layout, Shift+4 works fine - no ¥.
2. Pretty often the serial port stops working: "Unable to open COM3". Restarting the IDE fixes the problem. The serial port is using the USB serial port driver that came on the Hydra CD:
Driver details:
USB Serial port: FTDI, 2.0.0.0, 19.5.2006 (D.M.YYYY) (Seems to be the latest one)
USB Serial Converter: FTDI, 1.0.2176.0, 12.12.2005 (Couldn't find details on this one on FTDI website)
3. Sometimes the whole thing crashes. First File menu contents appear in the status bar (Open from) etc. in BLUE background color. The status bar contents change if I move the caret up/down a line in the IDE. After some time, it displays an error message (something about illegal memory access or access violation or something if I remember correctly) and crashes. Again, everything is fine when I start Propeller Tool again, so this is not a big problem (as long as you save often). But this problem hasn't been occurring lately, not for 2 whole days...
Thanks in advance.
- Jasper
EDIT: Correction... background color was blue, like it normally is, not red.
Post Edited (Jasper_M) : 1/1/2007 9:26:13 PM GMT
Windows XP SP2, with latest updates.
1. I'm using a Finnish keyboard. You input $-sign by pressing Alt Gr (ie. right Alt)+4. When I do this, I get a yen sign (¥) followed by the dollar sign. When I switch to English layout, Shift+4 works fine - no ¥.
2. Pretty often the serial port stops working: "Unable to open COM3". Restarting the IDE fixes the problem. The serial port is using the USB serial port driver that came on the Hydra CD:
Driver details:
USB Serial port: FTDI, 2.0.0.0, 19.5.2006 (D.M.YYYY) (Seems to be the latest one)
USB Serial Converter: FTDI, 1.0.2176.0, 12.12.2005 (Couldn't find details on this one on FTDI website)
3. Sometimes the whole thing crashes. First File menu contents appear in the status bar (Open from) etc. in BLUE background color. The status bar contents change if I move the caret up/down a line in the IDE. After some time, it displays an error message (something about illegal memory access or access violation or something if I remember correctly) and crashes. Again, everything is fine when I start Propeller Tool again, so this is not a big problem (as long as you save often). But this problem hasn't been occurring lately, not for 2 whole days...
Thanks in advance.
- Jasper
EDIT: Correction... background color was blue, like it normally is, not red.
Post Edited (Jasper_M) : 1/1/2007 9:26:13 PM GMT
Comments
I found out that if I start multi-tasking on my win2k machine when loading a program to the Propeller's RAM it will lockup for a second and give me an error. (Then the prop chip resets and loads what ever junk is in the EEPROM)
Basically when I press F10, I don't click around until the program is done loading and that seems to be a 100% fool proof work around.
IDE Version 1.00 doesn't work on my machine anymore ever since I tried out version 1.02 packaged with one of the objects I downloaded here on the forum.
So I just overwrite the directories .exe file with 1.02 and it works fine.
Not so important but I want to mention,·copy/paste by ctrl+insert and shift+insert does not work.
I know I can use ctrl+c, right click·etc,·but I automatically use the insert version all the time
on many other edit software
Another useful·thing would be a split screen·for simultaneous work on two sources.
Using tool v 1.2 on win xp pro. Othercase·this tool is very solid, so far no serial or usb problems
(maybe·serial/usb problems are power supply related?).
Gus
I have to minimize the Propeller Tool program and re-maximize the window to see the Object Tree.
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www.fd.com.my
www.mercedes.com.my
I agree with that one. From working with past editors, Ctrl+insert and Shift+insert are what my muscle memory reach for.
Also, why doesn't Alt-F4 quit the program? Isn't that a standard Windows key combo?
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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store
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--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
The Alt+F4 was unintentionally snubbed by some trapping code.· I will fix that also.
Thanks.
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--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
The downloading timing is sensitive to things that Windows does (like allocate CPU time to other processes and unpredictable times).· There may be a way I can minimize that situation, or eliminate it, however.· I will look into it as soon as possible.
Thanks.
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--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
all of the sudden my propeller is not doing what I told it to. I always F11 something *very* different from what I'm doing so I can distinguish
that case from a new bug in my program.
so totally overlooked all tool's·pages
That is cool. Learn how to assign the top object, so you can recompile a subobject, download it and test it all in one keystroke. Etc.
I find that I skip things, somehow (maybe lack of focus?) and I frequently benefit from a cover-to-cover rereading of the manual. I am always
amazed at how much is really in there, but I do not fully get it until the third or fourth reading.
After a little thought I think it's because I'm usually highlighting code with Shift and arrow keys, so it's much faster to keep Shift held down and press Delete then use the arrows to move to the insert point and press Shift+Insert. Yep. I just did a little test in Notepad and my years of editing in Borland Pascal for Windows came back in a flash! Thanks in advance for adding it. Don't forget Shift+Delete for Cut!
One other thing I'd love to see is a mode where pressing right-arrow at the end of a line moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line. That's how all the other (non-Parallax) editors I use work. I have a really hard time getting used to the different behavior.
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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store
Yes, the Ctrl+Insert and Shift+Insert are indeed holdovers. Virtually every windows application, and most text box type classes on dialog boxes, etc. support the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. These (Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V) are the "Windows Standard", same as Alt+F4. While I can understand a desire for the "Insert" variations, I sure wouldn't want to have the "C/V" versions not work, and have a different set of keystrokes to use than every other Windows application.
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John R.
8 + 8 = 10
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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
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--Jeff Martin
· Sr. Software Engineer
· Parallax, Inc.
Really I can't think of many other bugs other then that.
Adobe and Microsoft's tools gives me more problems day to day.
The propeller IDE is one of the less buggier tools I've used.
So I think you and your team have done a really good job with it.
--Andrew Arsenault.
Give us an inch and we'll take a mile, huh?
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OS-X: because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging Windows
links:
My band's website
Our album on the iTunes Music Store
If you do
pub start(a) | b[noparse][[/noparse]8000]
This works (well, it compiles; I can't guarantee it *works*)
but you do
pub start(a) | b[noparse][[/noparse]8193]
you get an error:
Limit of 4096 local variables exceeded.
So I'm not sure if the "8000" will fail at runtime in some odd way (that is, the limit is 4096 but it's not enforced there), or if
the error message is wrong (the real limit is all of memory), or what is going on.