Programming Editor Interfaces

[pkf]

Hi, I refer to page 4 of the AXE027 manual where a programming editor interface was shown.
The instructions were to click a 'Refresh' Button, select a port and click ok.

When I started Picaxe Editor 6, the interface was different. The main menu was the one I saw in the following picture :


Once the refresh button was clicked, the port showed up as COM3 (highlighted in the red box of the picture). However, there was no 'ok' button. This seemed to leave me with 2 choices :
(a) to close the PICAXE Editor application since I have already activated 'Refresh' earlier.
(b) to click 'Configure And Test' in which I came to the next window in the following picture :


Does it matter if choice (a) or (b) was adopted, or should there have been a different approach ?

The area circled in brown allowed the download cable to be tested. This would be an appropriate stage for the cable to be tested right ? If yes, what I should do is :
(1) connect the download cable to both the PC and the Microbot
(2) put in the batteries for the Microbot and
(3) switch on the Microbot and see if any connectivity is registered right ? If yes, approximately how long should the waiting time for the connectivity to be picked up be ?

One more aspect, in the window the of the main Picaxe menu, my Picaxe type of indicated as Picaxe-08M2. Can I assume this as the default for bot120 ?

 

[nick12ab]

Hi, I refer to page 4 of the AXE027 manual where a programming editor interface was shown.
The instructions were to click a 'Refresh' Button, select a port and click ok.

When I started Picaxe Editor 6, the interface was different. The main menu was the one I saw in the following picture :
View attachment 20084

Once the refresh button was clicked, the port showed up as COM3 (highlighted in the red box of the picture). However, there was no 'ok' button. This seemed to leave me with 2 choices :
(a) to close the PICAXE Editor application since I have already activated 'Refresh' earlier.
(b) to click 'Configure And Test' in which I came to the next window in the following picture :

View attachment 20085
Does it matter if choice (a) or (b) was adopted, or should there have been a different approach ?

That information in the AXE027 PDF is for PICAXE Editor 5. There is no need to press any OK button, just select the port in the list and that's it.

The area circled in brown allowed the download cable to be tested. This would be an appropriate stage for the cable to be tested right ? If yes, what I should do is :
(1) connect the download cable to both the PC and the Microbot
(2) put in the batteries for the Microbot and
(3) switch on the Microbot and see if any connectivity is registered right ? If yes, approximately how long should the waiting time for the connectivity to be picked up be ?

Insert batteries, connect the cable, switch on the microbot then click the Test Download Cable link.

One more aspect, in the window the of the main Picaxe menu, my Picaxe type of indicated as Picaxe-08M2. Can I assume this as the default for bot120 ?

No, it needs to be changed to PICAXE-20X2.

 

[pkf]

>>>>Thanks<<<<
I have some questions which need advice :
(a) When I put in the batteries, connected the cable and switched the Microbot on, the LEDs blinked for a long time (not briefly as described on page 21 of the bot120 manual). Is this (still) normal or am I supposed to expect the LED lights become lit stably/ shutdown after a while ?
(b) I tried to test the cable and 2 options were presented in one of the screens. I have attached them in the drop down box of the picture as follows :

Which option should I select ? Should the option that is not selected be left alone (i.e. no further tests needed) ?
(c) On the main menu of the PICAXE Editor 6, there are 4 submenus (File, Home, Simulate, PICAXE). What is the difference between the submenus for Simulate and PICAXE ? Does Simulate mean once I have a code as a new document.bas and the microbot is connected to the PC via the download cable, I can move to Simiulate and click Run to observe how the Microbot responds ?

 

[hippy]

(a) I am not sure what the MicroBot response should be but, even if the MicroBot is not behaving exactly how documented, the initial flashing of LED's is to indicate the MicroBot is working and that would seem to be confirmed.

(b) If you are using the AXE027 cable; select the AXE027 option. Any other options not being used can be ignored and do not need testing.

(c) The Simulation menus allow software simulation of the program within the PICAXE Editor. The PICAXE menus provide for Syntax Checking the program, downloading a program into a PICAXE, and a variety of other programming related options.

At present it is only possible to simulate the program within PE6 or download the program to a PICAXE. It is not possible to simulate the program and control the PICAXE while simulating; that is a feature which is to be added in the future.

The PICAXE PE6 briefing notes provide some additional information on the functionality of PE6 -

www.picaxe.com/docs/pe6.pdf

It may also be worth reading through the "getting started" introduction for PICAXE if you have not already -

www.picaxe.com/Getting-Started