Simulation newbie, any pointers?

Hi, can anyone give me a jumpstart primer on doing simulation for PBP3 ?
i downloaded the OshOnSoft PIC16 IDE eval and gave it a very quick spin, modified a real program to run to a certain early point and set some pins to HIGH and then END
then i loaded the HEX file, ran the sim ultimate speed and saw the pins set at the END, pretty awesome and useful

but of course what i want is to (in simulation) run to a break point and inspect values of variables, i.e. i higher level sim

will either the Osh or Proteus do that with PBP3 source ? it does not seem like it
if not i guess the ASM could be a step in that direction ?
the OshOnSoft pricing is quite reasonable but the single computer license is a killer for my workflow, the Proteus is quite a bit more money but could well pay for itself if i could do some of above, haven't looked at their licensing scheme yet

any tips or guidance much appreciated

http://support.melabs.com/DT/Proteus...oteusDemo.html

thanks bogdan, i did not know about that but now i see the section over there, do you use it ?
there seems to be a range of Proteus products, which one do i need to purchase ?
the sch side simulation is interesting but i already have the real schematic tools covered (in Altium) i am more interesting in running a simulation on the source code and breaking / stopping at various points to examine the values of variables, will it do that ?

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i am more interesting in running a simulation on the source code and breaking / stopping at various points to examine the values of variables, will it do that ?

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It certainly will and more beside. For instance you can also trigger breakpoints on hardware events (either digital or analogue).

The downside for you is that there is no way - somebody correct me if I'm wrong - of moving a schematic from Altium to Proteus. Proteus does of course have the ability to duplicate most of Altiums functions - maybe enough for you needs?

BTW one problem I found with Proteus/PBP is include files. Proteus just doesn't like to single step into them - easy work round tho.

The procedures to link PBP to both Proteus7 and 8 are available.

George