PEBBLE - Picaxe Electronic Bread Board Layout Emulator

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John West

Senior Member
westaust55:
A possible web page glitch.
I went to the on-line Pebble page and selected the second of the "Select Breadboard below" choices. After the small window popped up with a couple of lines of code in it I hit "Cancel", but nothing happened, so I hit "Load Circuit" and nothing happened.

The window was still open when I left the page (I hope it's not still open. I try to leave places cleaner than when I arrived.) It might have been a comm quirk as I've been having such troubles, but I'm guessing it's a problem with the page.
 
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F

fritz42_male

Senior Member
Hi all,

Re Pebble can you:

Orientate a 2 pin header vertically

Extend the wires on a resistor

Angle patch wires at 45 degrees?

Thanks

Mike
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
fritz42_male said:
Re Pebble can you:

Orientate a 2 pin header vertically
Click to expand...
No, but under the Miscellaneos group (LCD in menu) there is a 1 pin test point so you can place two vertically for a similar visual effect.
Something that can be thought about for next revision

Extend the wires on a resistor
Click to expand...
Not by selection/editing.
I have done this sometimes by using a grey wire colour overlapping the resistor lead.
Something that can be thought about for next revision

Angle patch wires at 45 degrees?
Click to expand...
No. Will think about it but it does not fit in well with the vertical/horizontal schemes and the fact that wires are drawing on the fly.
Maybe as a short stub of wire where you need to add segments for the desired length could work but the resolution may give jagged edges.
[/QUOTE]

Started recently to look into how to select multiple items at once (as also requested on the forum) but although some added tags created to handle such selection needs a lot of work and restructure of some routine and needs a good period of time in one session to make a real impact time rather than a bit here and there.
 
F

fritz42_male

Senior Member
Thanks for the help.

1. Excellent. Sorted

2. Perhaps have a Span option as for the wires

3. Stub wires with no 'end' would be acceptable. Just overlay as many as you want and then flip the last one by 180 degrees to finish it.
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
SinyaWeo said:
Hi gentlemen,

what should I have to do to host PEBBLE on my site?

Milan
Click to expand...
The easiest way for now, since I am heading for the door and limited access for a while, will be to copy the latest available zip file from one of the site listed in post 1 of this thread.

Then link folks back to this thread so they can look for any incremental update.
Post 634 of this thread has the last incremental update as at 12 July 2011.
 
M

mistera

New Member
fritz42_male said:
Hi all,

Re Pebble can you:
Orientate a 2 pin header vertically
Extend the wires on a resistor
Angle patch wires at 45 degrees?
Thanks
Mike
Click to expand...
Take a look at "LochMaster" from Abacom
While designed as an aid to laying out perf boards, you can create your own board layout to match the format of the solderless breadboards and it answers all your above questions.
Of course, Pebble is a better price.
Alex
 
S

SinyaWeo

New Member
Thank you. Got it working. Now what about internationalization? I have tried something and it works. Just rewrite PEBBLE html by means of JavaScript. Simple functions. Translation included by config file. Translations stored in JavaScript array.

Are you interested?

Milan
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
Yes, certainly of interest.
PM me with some further details. I am away from home from the next week with limited forum access and forum display has just changed - cannot see a list of pages for each thread in main active forum view.
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Based upon the recent suggestion of forum member SinyaWeo I have commenced modifying some of the PEBBLE program to permit "internationalisation" whereby the program can detect the users PC language/locale setting and then present most of the text in that language. I sugegst most as while I have this feature working for general text, drop down lists, etc the method used does not work for selection buttons (see top right in atatched image).

The next release will also have the latest M2 parts and a few other chip included when the next updata is ready.

Have started to look at the concept of selection and dragging of multiple parts but time has been more limited to get this working of recent times.

In the meantime while working on the "internationalisation" feature I am putting out the request seeking volunteers who are fluent in a language (other than English/Anglais) to help provide a text file in the format for use as part of the "internationalisation". I have been workin on a file for Frnech/Francais but event that could undergo review by a fluent French speaking/writing forum member.

Once I have the majority of the PEBBLE program arranged and a file of the text ready I can post an example file as a template for volunteers to create files for other languages.
That will be in approx 1 weeks time.

The file for each language will likely have around 120 to 150 words/phrases/short sentences for translation into the volunteers chosen language.

Maybe if volunteers initally post here indicating the language they are able to help with that will alert others when a language has already been chosen by a volunteer.

Thanks in anticipation
 

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SinyaWeo

New Member
westaust55 said:
The file for each language will likely have around 120 to 150 words/phrases/short sentences for translation into the volunteers chosen language.

Maybe if volunteers initally post here indicating the language they are able to help with that will alert others when a language has already been chosen by a volunteer.

Thanks in anticipation
Click to expand...
Count on me with Czech language :) And thank you.
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
Thanks SinyaWeo.

Are there any other volunteers for say German, Spanish, scandanavian languages, etc.
Also looking for someone to proof read my French translations soon.
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Attached is a text file which is the content of a javascript file where the lines are in the format:
"english_text":"alternate_language",​
The attached file has the alternate_language words/phrases in French.


SinyaWeo has volunteered to create a Czech language version which can be done using the atatched file by replacing the french equivalents with Czech translations.

PieM, fuse and zebulon have volunteered to check and improve my French translations.

Any volunteers to other languages?

The last 2 letters of the file name are also changed to match country code used by PC software.
Eg cz = Czech, fr = French, de = German, etc.
If you do not know what the code is then just let me know the language and I will rename the submitted file to suit.

To edit the file, please use a simple/plain text editor that does not introduce hidden or formatting characters.
The Notepad in Windows is one program for this purposes.

Thanks in advance for those who assist.
 

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westaust55

Moderator
Thanks SinyaWeo.

Will be away for the next couple of days so I will await the delivery of the checked/corrected French language version.
Also need to create the new M2 parts before posting a new complete updated package.
 
I

IronJungle

Senior Member
I just d/l'ed this program and all I can say is 'wow'. What a simple and easy way to neatly layout and document your BB. Thanks for all the effort.

I can't get print to work (no problem, I just screen capture and paste into gimp) and often I click "Okay" only to find my edits didn't take (entering again seems to work). Minor considerations to have such a useful program.

Thanks again. I look forward to more enhancements!
 
W

westaust55

Moderator
I now have an updated version of PEBBLE working (V3.1).
This includes the newest M2 parts a couple of other chips (74HC138 + 74HC238) and the major feature being
inclusion of language localisation through the use of a translation file for each language.
To date I have Czech (courtesy of member SinyaWeo) and French (translation corrections courtesy of PieM).

If there are others who wish to volunteer to undertake the creation of a language translation file of other languages please let me know.
The file now has additional text strings to cover the various "Buttons" so let me know if you are will to help rather than use the earlier example file at Post 653.

I will very soon create a new zip file with the latest PEBBLE package and forward this to those members and other sites who host PEBBLE.
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Thanks to assitance from forum member Sedeap, I now have available language translation files in Spanish.
The cs_es.js file for Spain and the cs_ar.js file for Argentina.

Download the attached file and change the extension from .dsn to .zip
Extract the two files and copy them into the folder C:\PEBBLE\javascript\localise

As mentioned previously,
With the IE browser, setting your location details through
Start / Control Panel / Regional and Language Options
The tlanguge file will automatically be selected on starting PEBBLE

But for other Browsers such as Firefox, one must use the Firefox version for the region/language involved.
FF does not take the location details from the Windows settings.

Depending on whether many see this as a problem I may (after seeing what feedback is given) need to consider a drop down Language selection menu to manually override the current "automatic" language selection.
 

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westaust55

Moderator
Just a bump to advise that Sedeap (Argentina) is also now hosting V3.1 as an online version.
This information is also added to the links in Post 1 for all to reference in future.
 
J

Jamster

Senior Member
Just downloaded the latest version and it seems that the components go behind the breadboard so you can't see them. Also would like to say that the first attachment on post 1 seems to be a cutdown version/update?
Other than that, brilliant!

EDIT: I think the layering is IE7, happens on other websites (facebook) must upgrade...
 
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westaust55

Moderator
@Jamster,
The problem with components going behind the board occurs if you use the Firefox version in Internet Explorer.

The file at post 1 is a part of history - the very first version when PEBBLE came into being. Cut down compared to current version since a lot more has been done in the past 2 years.
 
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J

Jamster

Senior Member
Ok...
Address: "F:\Jamster\Documents\pebble 2\PEBBLE\P_for_IE.html"
still goes behind board.

Sorry, me assuming that the first attachment was the latest version (or I downloaded the wrong one)
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Certainly you must use the links within the body of the Post 1 to download the current version (currently V3.1).

Sorry but unsure why when you are using IE7 and the P_for_IE file that you are having components going behind the board.
I have used PEBBLE over time with IE6, IE7 and now IE8 and the latest Version of PEBBLE did not alter the code for component handling, mainly added the ability to use alternate languages.

Certainly, as already mentioned, the P_for_FF version when run under IE drops the components behind the board – the problems of browser incompatibilities.
It will be around 2 weeks before I get home with hopefully time to look further and try and replicate the situation you mention.
Maybe if others can advise in the meantime whether they are seeing this same problem it may be a guide as to how widespread and how to approach a solution.
 
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120ThingsIn20Years

120ThingsIn20Years

Senior Member
Firstly, to everyone involved, thanks for this product. It's exactly what I needed for my first DIY layout.

SABorn showed me a neat little trick with a drill bit to cut the stripboard conductors.

Is that what the component "stripboard track cut" does?

And if so how do I use it?

All I see is the label.

using VER 3.1

on Chrome 14.0.835.202 under linux (ubuntu)



also - I tried searching this thread for "stripboard track cuts" and could only get the first 4 hits. It reported 3 pages of hits but there were no "next page" selection links.
 
P

pilko

Senior Member
It enables you to place an X on the track at a location where you are planning to cut the track.

pilko
 
N

NoSmoke

Member
Have downloaded the zip file but cannot figure out what to do next (the folders seem to contain no setup.exe or other exe for that matter). There are some html files, one being P-for_IE.html which produces a few blank panels and little else when executed. I have Win 7 and IE9.0. Am I doing something wrong?
 
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westaust55

Moderator
NoSmoke said:
Have downloaded the zip file but cannot figure out what to do next (the folders seem to contain no setup.exe or other exe for that matter). There are some html files, one being P-for_IE.html which produces a few blank panels and little else when executed. I have Win 7 and IE9.0. Am I doing something wrong?
Click to expand...
All you need to do is set Winzip or whatever other archiving program you use to extract including sub folders and files then extract the entire .zip archive to your selected destination such as C: drive.
Then double click on the PEBBLE.html file which will ascertain if you have IE or another browser and start the correct front end for PEBBLE.

There are some instructions included to set up a shortcut link on your desktop with a choice of two icons to select from.
 
lbenson

lbenson

Senior Member
P

pilko

Senior Member
You can use the the test point one hole under misc. for the single pin header.There is also a pushbutton (span of 2) --- maybe you need span of 1.

pilko
 
lbenson

lbenson

Senior Member
Thank you, pilko--those will do fine. I hadn't realized that so many parts were hidden under the LDR.
 
K

kollinsb

Member
Is there a chance of getting the list grouped together? Specifically, all the breadboards under a breadboard header and the solderable boards under another heading in the same drop-down. They appear to be organized alphabetically at the moment.

Also, not to be a pain, but does anyone else think it's a good idea to add the boards that Radio Shack sells? I seems to use a lot of them just because it's easier. Here are some pictures. The first is a screen shot of the portion of pebble to which I'm referring, the later are Radio Shack boards I have used recently that I do not see in Pebble. I would appreciate them being added.

Thank you!
Multi with 417 Holes.jpg
 

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westaust55

Moderator
The boards are currently arranged based primarily upon the number of rows of holes. Not likely that there will ever be consensus on a particular order structure. If you wish to alter your own copy then you could go into the html file “P_for_FF” and/or “P_for_IE” and change the order of the boards. They start under the code line:
onchange="changeBreadboard(this);">indent]
Move entire program lines and ensure you keep the BBxx numbers aligned with the description or it will all become a jumble with incorrect boards relative to selection or worse.

I can certainly add some of the Radio Shack proto-typing boards. Seems those are cat Nos: 276-148, 276-150, 276- 159 and 276-168.
If you have some of your own clear straight-on photos to use as the basis of the PEBBLE “artwork” would be greatly appreciated.

Are there any other relatively commonly used boards that others may wish to suggest so I can tackle some extra boards in a group as one update?

There are still a few outstanding ideas which I may get to one day. For Example multiple component selection and moving as a group.
Had started on this but other bigger projects for the past year have taken some precedence.​
 
K

kollinsb

Member
Here are the best pictures I could get of the Radio Shack boards I have. It may take several posts for me to attach all the pictures. I think I can only attach 2 at a time.


These are actually the front and the back of the same board...
 

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