PICAXE Editor 6 beta

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
PE6 is now available as a preview beta for those who would like to try it out.

Please see www.picaxe.com/PE6 for more details.

If you find any issues please do email them to us (rather than clog up the forum) at support @ picaxe . com so that we can then raise a proper ticket - thanks!
 

Paix

Senior Member
@Technical, I guess that I will have to type fast to be the first to congratulate you and the team.

Regards.
Ian
 

westaust55

Moderator
Well done Technical and the Rev Ed team.
There are/will be a few aspects for the new user to get to grasp with but a welcome improvement.
 

Bill.b

Senior Member
Great Work Rev Ed Team.

One observation.

The directive #picaxe??? generates a fault message if the correct picaxe chip is not selected.

In ver 5.xxx the directive will auto change the picaxe type in setup when you select syntax check or download.

Bill
 

Paix

Senior Member
If you find any issues please do email them to us (rather than clog up the forum) at
support @ picaxe . com
so that we can then raise a proper ticket - thanks![/QUOTE]

I guess that Technical will feed us a summary of the issues reported and cleared from time to time.

@Bill,b,
#PICAXE Define the Picaxe type, This must match the Workplace Explorer setting.
So the behaviour is changed, but explained and not an illogical expectation. Page 18 Picaxe.com/docs/pe6.pdf
 

SAborn

Senior Member
Yes well done by the Rev-ed Team. ++++++

A quick play with PE6 and it all looks to work well, im sure there is far more to find and discover in functions, only time will allow that.

I did get some anti virus messages blocking some of the wizard applications when PE6 loads.
Also agree with Bill.b comment, easy enough to change, but its a bug to be fixed, you might say bugger#1.

It is so great to be able to enlarge the text on the screen, my aging eyes thank you greatly for that function.
 

Hemi345

Senior Member
Can't wait to try it but still trying to find the .NET framework 3.5 that works with Windows 8.1.

Opps, forgot it was a Feature that needs to be installed from the Programs and Features section of the Control Panel.

Wow, this looks excellent. I really like hover feature to get more information. Like over a variable to see what byte or word it's mapped to and what the value is in ascii, hex, and binary. And the tool tips for commands to see the arguments and parameters. Well done!

Oh and you mispelled Color in the Options. haha j/k
 
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srnet

Senior Member
Yep, well done.

My favorite feature is the ability to have an #include file. One of my programs has 270 lines of symbols and definitions, another 470. It really clutters the programs up, and as the programs are multi slot, its a pain to keep the symbols and definitions in sync.

And being able to print a startup message (to terminal) which contains the date, time or file name, is a very handy way of keeping track of what program file is actually loaded in the PICAXE.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
The directive #picaxe??? generates a fault message if the correct picaxe chip is not selected.
In PE5 the picaxe type was a global setting and so the #picaxe directive swapped the global setting as and when required for each individual file.
In PE6 the picaxe type is saved in the Workspace instead, and so is saved individually for each project separately.

Therefore this is one of the new features to get used to - use a workspace for each project, not just a single file.
Save the picaxe type in the workspace once, and it will then always be automatically setup correctly for that project every time you open it.
 

Buzby

Senior Member
What's that coming over the hill, is it a String Function ?

I got an interesting error.

PE6_StringError.png


( Don't ask me to replicate the error, I can't remember what I did to get it !. )

The error won't go away, clicked it quite a few times.
 

Buzby

Senior Member
The new serial terminal is lots better than the old one.

Just one question, how do I open two or more terminals ?
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Just one question, how do I open two or more terminals ?
You can't at present, but we could consider adding that.

But you can alreday open two instances of PE6 and hence effectively have two available Terminals that way.
 
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bfgstew

Senior Member
First impressions are pretty good, loads of clever features so hats off to the team for delivering the long awaited v6, albeit beta ++++
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
That looks fantastic, all that work certainly shows.

I will start with the negative then move on to the positive.

Unfortunately the simulated serial LCD is still rubbish - maybe more time should have been spent on making that better instead of putting a border around it.

serial lcd simulation.PNG

The attempted simulation of my bargraph display has shown that it does not support custom characters. Additionally there is still no parallel LCD simulation.

> Technical answers: These two requests have been noted already in the past. As the LCD is a real 'font' it does not have custom characters embedded at present. It does already support more commands than PE5 e.g. shift left etc. However it is not our intention to add generic components likes normal LCDs at present. Use PICAXE VSM if you want a full circuit/component simulator.

The other glaring problem is that of the #picaxe directive. PICAXE Editor 6 will not change the PICAXE type to that specified by the directive automatically which just further reduces the chance of not knowing what PICAXE chip a newbie is using when they post their thread on the PICAXE Forum.

> See the post 9 above. You need to get used to working with workspaces, not f
iles, in PE6. There are deliberate reasons, mainly to do with '#include files, why this has changed. It is not a mistake.

Why does 'Please wait while Windows configures PICAXE Editor' show up for a few seconds when the PICAXE Editor is started?

> It shouldn't - it implies a .Net or DLL issue on your machine. We'll look into why you see that, it doesn't occur on our machines.


The microcontroller shown in the Simulation pane is a bitmap image. This makes it blurry and unpleasant to look at if you make the Simulation pane bigger.

> We'll look into that, but you must be making it very big!


In Logicator, it is a shame that it cut off half of the flowchart and that the cells aren't vector graphics when the flowsheet is printed. The 'legacy' flowchart in Programming Editor 5 had the facility to export the flowchart as an EMF image which is a vector format. The text that describes use of the 'Comment' cell is not very clear and suggests that you're supposed to enter your text into the big textbox.If you create a blank Logicator flowsheet, the Code Explorer reports variable clashes.

> Variable clashes are the result of the last syntax check/download (as is everything else in Code Explorer). Simply hit 'Refresh'.

The Logicator integration is generally really nice and the user-selectable colour schemes only make it better. The 'Connectors' solve the issue of not being able to cross flowchart lines in Logicator, plus the addition of simulation for the BASIC cell is an excellent one. I will also praise the Microsoft Access Navigation Pane-style Flowchart Commands area which works much better than the auto-hiding flowchart cell feature in Logicator does. The non-vector flowchart cells are stored as .png images in some folders so it should be easy to create your own colour scheme and even have the cells exactly the shape you want. It could be possible to use EMF images there instead.

Copy to forum has nearly been perfected with your addition of colour syntax which seems to be working properly except for not colouring the user-defined variable and constant names.

> Do a syntax check first to activate the colour coding on your custom names.


Code:
      [COLOR=Black]lcddata [/COLOR][COLOR=DarkCyan]= [/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]%00000001 [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]: [/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]pulsout [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]enable,[/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]100
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]lcddata [/COLOR][COLOR=DarkCyan]= [/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]%00000010 [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]: [/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]pulsout [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]enable,[/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]100
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]lcddata [/COLOR][COLOR=DarkCyan]= [/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]%00001100 [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]: [/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]pulsout [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]enable,[/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]100
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]lcddata [/COLOR][COLOR=DarkCyan]= [/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]%00111000 [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]: [/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]pulsout [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]enable,[/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]100
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]lcddata [/COLOR][COLOR=DarkCyan]= [/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]64 [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]: [/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]pulsout [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]enable,[/COLOR][COLOR=Navy]1
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Red]"some text"
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Purple]b0
      [/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]high [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]rs[/COLOR]
 
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Buzby

Senior Member
Lockup when changing Sim Speed slider.

I know I RevEd want the faults emailing to them, but I think it's important that willing beta-testers have some way of sharing our discoveries.
For instance, the problem I've just found, is it replicable on other machines ?.

PE6_SimFastLockup.png

In this case, PE6 locked up when I tried to move the SimSpeed slider down.

How about a dedicated thread in the 'Programming Editor Software' forum ?.

Cheers,

Buzby
 

Buzby

Senior Member
Why does 'Please wait while Windows configures PICAXE Editor' show up for a few seconds when the PICAXE Editor is started?

> It shouldn't - it implies a .Net issue on your machine. We'll look into why you see that, it doesn't occur on our machines.
It does on mine !.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
The microcontroller shown in the Simulation pane is a bitmap image. This makes it blurry and unpleasant to look at if you make the Simulation pane bigger.

> We'll look into that, but you must be making it very big!
I used the 'Auto-Hide' feature on the various panes and this causes each pane to be shown individually when their names on the left are moused over instead of multiple panes in a column like before they were set to auto-hide. This was enough to make it big enough to be pixellated on a 1280x1024 screen.

Copy to forum has nearly been perfected with your addition of colour syntax which seems to be working properly except for not colouring the user-defined variable and constant names.

> Do a syntax check first to activate the colour coding on your custom names.
I did. The custom names show up with the correct colour in PICAXE Editor 6 but when the 'Copy to Forum' feature is used the custom names are still black.
 

Hemi345

Senior Member
It does on mine !.
I got that as well on both computers I've installed PE6 on. I recreated the shortcut from the PicaxeEditor.exe and the "please wait while windows configures..." msg is no longer displayed.

The microcontroller shown in the Simulation pane is a bitmap image. This makes it blurry and unpleasant to look at if you make the Simulation pane bigger.

> We'll look into that, but you must be making it very big!
I notice the blurriness as well at the default size and it only gets worse when you resize it. It was pretty distracting. This was on my little 13" laptop at 1366 x 768 resolution with PE6 at the default windows size (~95% of full screen) or maximized. I installed PE6 on my Win8.0 desktop at 2560x1600 and it looks much better if left at the default window size. If I resize the PE6 app (not the simulation pane) to about the same size as my laptop resolution and then it starts to get blurry again. I'll take a screenshot of it from my laptop and post it unless Nick beats me to it.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
I got that as well on both computers I've installed PE6 on. I recreated the shortcut from the PicaxeEditor.exe and the "please wait while windows configures..." msg is no longer displayed.
Yes the Installshield installer is defaulting to using "PICAXE Editor" rather than '"C:\Program Files (x86)\Revolution Education\PICAXE Editor\PicaxeEditor.exe" as the target on the shortcut link it installs on some systems. We'll see if we can tweak that setting. In the short term you can live with it or build your own new shortcut link.
 

bfgstew

Senior Member
Submitted report but just to show you the 'fault' and if anybody else has the same issue?

OLED-PE6.JPG

Code:
[color=Black]START:                     [/color][color=Green]; MAIN MENU, USE KEYPAD TO SELECT DESIRED FUNCTION
            [/color][color=Blue]serout B.7[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]N2400[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]([/color][color=Navy]254[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Navy]1[/color][color=Blue])      [/color][color=Green];initialize OLED
            [/color][color=Blue]pause [/color][color=Navy]1000
                  [/color][color=Blue]serout B.7[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]N2400[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]([/color][color=Navy]254[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Navy]128[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Red]"HIT KEY FOR FUNCTION"[/color][color=Blue])     [/color][color=Green];1st screen display
                  [/color][color=Blue]serout B.7[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]N2400[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]([/color][color=Navy]254[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Navy]192[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Red]"1 = DROPS 2 = P/GATE"[/color][color=Blue])
                  serout B.7[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]N2400[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]([/color][color=Navy]254[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Navy]148[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Red]"3 = SOUND 4 = LIGHT"[/color][color=Blue])
                  serout B.7[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]N2400[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Blue]([/color][color=Navy]254[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Navy]212[/color][color=Black],[/color][color=Red]"5 = TIMER 6 = MACRO"[/color][color=Blue])
            pause [/color][color=Navy]30[/color]
Code for further info.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Please, please don't clutter up the forum with simple bug reports as requested in post 1!
In this case it simulates an LCD, and these can sometimes have line 3 at 160 whilst other have it at 148.
We'll look at adding another option to cover both options as behaviour can be slightly different between OLEDs/LCDs.

To resolve this in the short term you can use the new automatic 'simulating' define as follows:

#ifdef simulating
symbol line3 = 160
#else
symbol line3 = 148
#endif
 
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srnet

Senior Member
Lock it and make it a sticky ... then
Indeed, its very unlikely that the request to not "clog up the forum" will be followed.

And how many people dont read the first post in a thread but jump in and post regardless ?
 

Phil bee

Member
WOW! I thought PE5 was good but things have just a whole lot better.
Thank you to all involved for the hard work.

And it's still free, you can't get much better than that.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
Therefore this is one of the new features to get used to - use a workspace for each project, not just a single file.
Technical, even you're speaking about the removal of the #picaxe directive as if it is some kind of austerity measure.

So the behaviour is changed, but explained and not an illogical expectation. Page 18 Picaxe.com/docs/pe6.pdf
Where is it explained? All that says is "This must match the Workspace Explorer setting".

In PE5 the picaxe type was a global setting and so the #picaxe directive swapped the global setting as and when required for each individual file.
In PE6 the picaxe type is saved in the Workspace instead, and so is saved individually for each project separately.
What do you mean by 'project'? Are you referring to some code plus some include files for a single PICAXE chip? If that is the case then the software should be able to act upon the #picaxe directive in the main file and ignore the ones in the include files, not that there would be any anyway.

If you're referring to an actual project that would contain more than one PICAXE chip then it is likely that such a project would contain different types of PICAXE chip so the #picaxe directive makes it more convenient to switch between PICAXE chips.

I see you've also removed functionality of the #com directive, however due to the lack of an error message for this the less observant won't notice until it has reprogrammed the PICAXE of the same type that happens to be on COM1.

So far I haven't seen any proper justification for the removal of the #picaxe directive so for me PE6 will simply be a tool for adding colour syntax to code copied to the forum with PE5 used for everything else.
 

srnet

Senior Member
One feature I would really like to see is the compilation of a PICAXE program into a native PIC HEX file so that raw PICs could be used.

Any news on when that feature will be available ?
 

srnet

Senior Member
So far I haven't seen any proper justification for the removal of the #picaxe directive so for me PE6 will simply be a tool for adding colour syntax to code copied to the forum with PE5 used for everything else.
So without the previous implementation of the #picaxe directive, you would not use PE6 ?

Why ?

I can see it might cause a problem for beginners, but the issue is reported.
 

Hemi345

Senior Member
So without the previous implementation of the #picaxe directive, you would not use PE6 ?

Why ?

I can see it might cause a problem for beginners, but the issue is reported.
I think I understand where Nick is coming from. I just opened two programs I use for my RF serial link pair. One program uses a 14M2 (for the RX) and the other uses a 20M2 (for the TX). If I try to work on both at the same time, I have to keep toggling the workspace PICAXE type to 14M2 to syntax check the RX program and then switch it back to the 20M2 to syntax check the TX program. I would prefer the simulator/syntax checker just looked at the #picaxe directive of the focused program and applied the correct PICAXE type automatically.
 

tony_g

Senior Member
i have just had a bug a moment ago and HAVE submitted the report via PE6 but just a heads up to any one else

if you have just spent a fair bit of time writing some new code and have not yet saved it and then decide you want to cut a line/section to place somewhere else in the program DO NOT use cut, copy and paste instead and then delete it from where you were moving from, i did this and as soon as i selected cut on the highlighted section i was putting somewhere else it gives you an error and then loses any work you had.

i was working on a saved file so it was not too bad and after a few minutes i was back to where i was before the crash.

as i said this is not a moan to technical about this bug just a heads up so no one else potentially does this and loses anything they have not yet saved.

other than that im loving the new refreshed look of the editor though have yet to really get stuck in and find all the new features but it looks good so far :D:D:D
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Technical, even you're speaking about the removal of the #picaxe directive as if it is some kind of austerity measure.
Your view, not ours. In a workspace environment, where PICAXE type is set per workspace instead of globally, the PICAXE type is set for the workspace, not for individual files. It's a different way of working, set the PICAXE type for the workspace, not change it globally per each individual PICAXE file. Because a workspace can have multiple files that are all part of the same program.

I see you've also removed functionality of the #com directive, however due to the lack of an error message for this the less observant won't notice until it has reprogrammed the PICAXE of the same type that happens to be on COM1.
Wrong. Look again at the compiler output tab e.g. on the workspace explorer.

.... so for me PE6 will simply be a tool for adding colour syntax to code copied to the forum with PE5 used for everything else.


[smile]
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
I think I understand where Nick is coming from. I just opened two programs I use for my RF serial link pair. One program uses a 14M2 (for the RX) and the other uses a 20M2 (for the TX). If I try to work on both at the same time, I have to keep toggling the workspace PICAXE type to 14M2 to syntax check the RX program and then switch it back to the 20M2 to syntax check the TX program. I would prefer the simulator/syntax checker just looked at the #picaxe directive of the focused program and applied the correct PICAXE type automatically.
Set up two workspaces. Then toggle workspaces, not files within a workspace.
You can have both (or more) workspaces open at the same time. Simply run as many instances of PE6 as you require and <Alt><Tab> between them.

PE5 didn't have workspaces, so it is a completely new method and a different way of working to get used to. But once you are used to it, it becomes second nature and has several advantages, e.g. in this case you could have a serial terminal open on two different ports monitoring each half of the serial link, or even simply just two debug sessions to test data being/sent received.
 
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Hemi345

Senior Member
In a workspace environment, where PICAXE type is set per workspace instead of globally, the PICAXE type is set for the workspace, not for individual files. It's a different way of working, set the PICAXE type for the workspace, not change it globally per each individual PICAXE file. Because a workspace can have multiple files that are all part of the same program.
So the intention of a workspace was for a single PICAXE type that has images, flowcharts, and program(s) for one chip, rather than a workspace being thought of as the collection of programs/flowcharts/images for an entire project that might incorporate >1 different PICAXE chip. Is that correct?

But I don't quite get what you're saying above... if I can't have multiple workspaces open in a single instance of PE6, I think the PICAXE type would be considered a global setting to that instance.

If that's correct, it'll be something to get used to but definitely not a show stopper because I can easily open another instance of PE6 to work on a different program that is part of an overall project (like my TX and RX example above).

EDIT: I didn't see your reply above... that answers my question. Thanks.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
In PE5 you could only have one instance running, and only single file programs within that 1 instance. Only 1 PICAXE type could be selected at any one time.

In PE6 you can have multiple instances, each running a different workspace set to a different PICAXE chip - and that workspace can contain multiple files that are all part of the same program (via #include). As well as diagrams, flowcharts etc. as well.

It does take a while to get used to!
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
Your view, not ours. In a workspace environment, where PICAXE type is set per workspace instead of globally, the PICAXE type is set for the workspace, not for individual files. It's a different way of working, set the PICAXE type for the workspace, not change it globally per each individual PICAXE file. Because a workspace can have multiple files that are all part of the same program.
Yes it is my view and it sounded like a politician talking about spending cuts to me.

Wrong. Look again at the compiler output tab e.g. on the workspace explorer.
Oh yes, you're right. But it doesn't update the workspace setting. So why does the #com directive still work but the #picaxe directive no longer has a place? They're both Workspace Explorer settings.

In PE5 you could only have one instance running, and only single file programs within that 1 instance. Only 1 PICAXE type could be selected at any one time.
You could still use the multiple document interface and have #picaxe directives in the programs to change between PICAXE chips.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
So why does the #com directive still work but the #picaxe directive no longer has a place? They're both Workspace Explorer settings.
Please take a read through the PE6 briefing (page 19 explains about #com). You will see #com is a compiler (actually 'downloader') directive and hence totally irrelevant to both pre-processing and compilation. Whereas the picaxe type needs to be known before pre-processing can even take place. However the COM port setting is also obviously important and so the setting is deliberately also placed where most people would expect it to be, in the settings.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
Please take a read through the PE6 briefing (page 19 explains about #com). You will see #com is a compiler (actually 'downloader') directive and hence totally irrelevant to both pre-processing and compilation. Whereas the picaxe type needs to be known before pre-processing can even take place. However the COM port setting is also obviously important and so the setting is deliberately also placed where most people would expect it to be, in the settings.
Thanks, that explains the behaviour of the #com directive.
 
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