CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

BUTTONS

OSCAL

CODE PROTECT WARNING

COM FILE


INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Pocket Programmer.

This is companion software for The Pocket Programmer and allows you to easily program a wide variety of PIC chips at the press of a button.


Buttons

PROGRAM

VERIFY

ERASE

SAVE

READ

LOAD

CANCEL

DISPLAY


PROGRAM

This button begins programming the PIC.

If the selected PIC is a PROM type, then a blank test IS PERFORMED before programming commences.

If the blank test fails then a message will appear and programming will cease unless you choose to continue.

The blank test is not used for EEPROM types of chips.

The indicator under the chip selector will show the programming progress.

If a verify problem occurs then programming will cease.

This button is inactive if you have not selected a chip to program.


VERIFY

This button verifies the HEX code in the data list with that in the chip.

This button is inactive if you have not selected a chip to program.


ERASE

This button tests whether the selected chip is blank.

This button is inactive if you have not selected a chip to program.


SAVE

This button save the contents of the data list including the Fuse data and any Eeprom data.


READ

This button reads the contents of the selected chip.

This button is inactive if you have not selected a chip to program.

If the selected chip has an OSCAL value, and the OSCAL check box is selected, then only the OSCAL value will be read and displayed.


LOAD

This button loads in a HEX file to supply data for programming.

You can select HEX files OBJ files or EEP files.

EEP files are Eeprom data files generated from the data generator program DT, which is supplied with the software package.

If the HEX or OBJ files have Eeprom data or Fuse data embedded, then this data will be incorporated into the program list.

If there is data already listed then a dialog box will appear asking if you want to insert this data into the existing file. Choose ‘Yes’ if you want to, or ‘No’ if you only want the data from the new file.


CANCEL

This button stops any active function.


DISPLAY

The display button changes the data list so that it shows ROM data or EEPROM data.

This button is inactive if the selected PICmicro chip has no EEPROM.


OSCAL

Some PIC chips have an internal oscillator which can be enabled and thus eliminate external clock components.

If the selected chip has this function, then an OSCAL check box will appear in the fuse settings panel. If this item is checked, and you press the READ button, only the OSCAL value will be read and displayed.

The CHANGE button allows you to change the OSCAL value if it is displayed in the listing file.


Code protect

CODE PROTECT WARNING

On some JW PIC chips, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to take off the Code Protection once the fuse has been programmed.

If this happens, you may not be able to reprogram the chip.

A warning will be issued if the selected chip has this problem.


COM FILE

When the Pocket Programmer starts up, it loads in a file called ‘pocket.dat’ which is located in the directory that the software was installed. This file is a small text file that tells the program which Com Port to use.

You can change this parameter by typing over the value and saving the file. You must restart the software for the change to have any effect.