Does anyone know on how to use MPLAB SIM ?

[bianchi77]

Hello guys,
Does anyone know on how to use MPLAB SIM ?

Any links / reference will be appreciated,

Thanks

 

[FvM]

I think the MPLAB help files are quite detailed.

What I do is:
- select MPALAB SIM as a debugger
- load the *.cof file (for compilers not integrated with MPLAB)
- or perform a debug build in MPLAB (for integrated compilers)
- start debugging

 

[bianchi77]

For example I have a code below,
How can I see PORTB and PORTD on the debugger ?

;LCD-P.asm
;
;This program is to display an 20x4 LCD module
;by Truly (HD44780 compatible)
;
;8-bit interfacing
;
;Pin Connection from LCD to 16F877
;LCD (pin#) 16F877 (pin#)

;DB7 (14) -----RD7(40)
;DB6 (13) ----RD6(39)
;DB5 (12) ----RD5(38)
;DB4 (11) ----RD4(37)
;DB3 (10) ----RD3(36)
;DB2 (9)---- RD2(35)
;DB1 (8) ----RD1(34)
;DB0 (7) ----RD0(33)
;E (6) ------RB0(28)
;RW (5) -----RB1(29)
;RS (4) -----RB2(27)
;Vo (3) -----+5V
;Vdd (2) ----+5V
;Vss (1) -----GND
;
;Example code to display:
; PIC
; AND
; LCD
; DISPLAY
;
list P = 16F877a, R=DEC; 
   #include <P16f877a.INC>
   errorlevel -302
 ;*****
         __CONFIG   h'3F31'
 ;Config register bits
 ; CP1 CP0 DBG NIL WRT CPD LVP BOR CP1 CP0 POR WDT OS1 OS0
 ;  1   1   1   1   1   1   0   0   1   1   0   0   0   1

		STATUS EQU 0x03
        PORTD EQU 0x08
		TRISD EQU 0x88
		PORTB EQU 0x06
		TRISB EQU 0x86
		RS EQU 0x00 ;RB0
		E  EQU 0x01 ;RB1	
		RW EQU 0x02 ;RB2
		;RAM arEA
		CBLOCK 0x20
		Kount120us ;Delay count (number of instr cycles for delay)
		Kount100us
		Kount1ms
		Kount10ms
		Kount1s
		Kount10s
		Kount1m
      ENDC
	org 0x0000 ;line 1
;The following lines accommodate bootloader
	goto START ;line 1 ($0000)
	org 0x0005

START
		BANKSEL TRISD; 1 for input, 0 for output
		movlw 0x00
		movwf TRISD
		movwf TRISB ;RB<7:0> are all outputs
		banksel PORTB
		clrf PORTB

		clrf PORTB ;Here RW is pulled down to ground
		;LCD routine starts
		call delay10ms
		call delay10ms
		;give LCD module to reset automatically
		;Fundtion for 8-bit, 2-line display, and 5x8 dot matrix
		movlw 0x38
		call instw
		;Display On, CUrsor On, No blinking
		movlw 0x0E ;0F would blink
		call instw
		;DDRAM address increment by one & cursor shift to right
		movlw 0x06
		call instw
		;DISPLAY CLEAR
		movlw 0x01
		call instw
		;Set DDRAM ADDRES
		movlw 0x80 ;00
		call instw
		;WRITE DATA in the 1st position of line 1
		movlw 0x50 ;P
		call dataw
		movlw 0x49 ;I
		call dataw
		movlw 0x43 ;C
		call dataw
		;Set DDRAM address for the 1st position of line 2 (40h)
		movlw 0xC0 ;B'11000000'
		call instw ;RS=0
		;Write A, N, D
		movlw 0x41 ;A
		call dataw
		movlw 0x4E
		call dataw ;N
		movlw 0x44
		call dataw
		;Now let's move the cursor to the home position (position 1 of line #1)
		;and set the DDRAM address to 0. This is done by the "return home"
		instruction.
		movlw 0x02
		call instw
		IDLE nop
		goto IDLE

;====SUBROUTINES =====
;subroutine instw (instruction write)
;instruction to be written is stored in W before the call
instw   movwf PORTD
		call delay1ms ;delay may not be needed
		bcf PORTB, RS
		call delay1ms
		bsf PORTB, E
		call delay1ms
		bcf PORTB,E
		call delay10ms
		return
;subroutine dataw (data write)
dataw   movwf PORTD
		call delay1ms ;delay may not be needed
		bsf PORTB, RS
		call delay1ms
		bsf PORTB, E
		call delay1ms
		bcf PORTB, E ;Transitional E signal
		call delay10ms
		return
		;
;==========================================================
;DELAY SUBROUTINES
Delay120us
banksel Kount120us
		movlw H'C5' ;D'197'
		movwf Kount120us
R120us
		decfsz Kount120us
		goto R120us
		return
;
delay100us
		banksel Kount100us
		movlw H'A4'
		movwf Kount100us
R100us
		decfsz Kount100us
		goto R100us
		return
		;
;1ms delay
delay1ms
		banksel Kount1ms
		movlw 0x0A ;10
		movwf Kount1ms
R1ms call delay100us
		decfsz Kount1ms
		goto R1ms
		return
;
;10ms delay
; call 100 times of 100 us delay (with some time discrepancy)
delay10ms
		banksel Kount10ms
		movlw H'64' ;100
		movwf Kount10ms
R10ms call delay100us
		decfsz Kount10ms
		goto R10ms
		return
;;
;1 sec delay
;call 100 times of 10ms delay
Delay1s
		banksel Kount1s
		movlw H'64'
		movwf Kount1s
R1s 	call delay10ms
		decfsz Kount1s
		goto R1s
		return
;;
;10 s delay
;call 10 tiems of 1 s delay
Delay10s
		banksel Kount10s
		movlw H'0A' ;10
		movwf Kount10s
		R10s call Delay1s
		decfsz Kount10s
		goto R10s
		return
;
;1 min delay
;call 60 times of 1 sec delay
Delay1m
		banksel Kount1m
END

 

[betwixt]

From the menu bar; View/Watch then select PORTB from the drop down menu beside "Add SFR" then click the "Add SFR" button. Do the same for PORTD. You can click the colum headers to select the radix you want to use if it isn't already shown.

The "Add SFR" is for PIC internal registers and the "Add Symbol" beside it works the same way for variables in your program.

Brian.

 

[FvM]

Or open the SFR window.

 

[bianchi77]

Then when I run debugger, how can I see them ? PORT B and PORT D in watch, how can I see them when running ?
thanks

 

[FvM]

Check simulator settings menu, Update/realtime watch tab.

 

[bianchi77]

it's running but I can't see PORTD and PORTB changing, please see the screen shot :


I want to see the simulator changing dynamically.....
Because I'm sure PORTA and PORTD are changing all the time.....
What do I miss here ?

thanks

 

[betwixt]

The honest answer is - you reading the manual!

The watch window updates when the prgram stops, eiher because you did it manually or because a breakpoint is reached. If you want to see it dynamically updating, use the 'Animate' button. It obeys the timing you set in the window in your last message. You will find some useful tools if you right click your mouse over the code, including the ability to start running the program from that position which may help if you are debugging a single routine.

Brian.