Stumped with word variable

[Scampy]

Hi guys,

I have four variables in my code that are words as I need to store numbers between 0 and 1439. That part is fairly straight forward and I can manually enter "White_on_Time =840" and "White_off_Time = 1230" etc However I want to use some pre-sets in my code via the data statement. This works fine with byte variables but I can't for the life of me get correct value into the variable via the data / read statements.

I've tried "data word" and then the values but that fails, so consulting the manual I tried the READ (variable).byte

read 10,Blue_on_Time.0
read 11,Blue_on_Time.1

But that didn't work either.

The strange thing is I have a menu option to set these values thus

Lcdout $FE,2
LCDOUT $FE,$80,"Set On Time For "
    IF H_butt = 0 THEN GOSUB delHours
    IF M_butt = 0 THEN GOSUB delMinutes
    lightsetHR[fn]=Hours
    lightsetMN[fn]=Minutes
    if viv >=2 then viv =2
    if viv= 1 then LCDOUT $FE,$C0,"Blue Leds "
    if viv= 2 then LCDOUT $FE,$C0,"white Leds "   
    lcdout $FE,$94,#lightsetHR[fn] DIG 1,#lightsetHR[fn] DIG 0,":",#lightsetMN[fn] DIG 1,#lightsetMN[fn] DIG 0
    Blue_on_Time = (lightsetHR[0]*60)+lightsetMN[0]
    White_on_Time = (lightsetHR[1]*60)+lightsetMN[1]
/snip

If I left the read / write as normal (ie without the 1st byte / 2nd byte modifier) and set the time to 14:00 hrs (ie (14*60)+0 = 840)via the menu option it works. I have a test line on the LCD which shows the dec value for blue_on_time is 840.

Any pointers as to what I'm doing wrong ?

[richard]

read 10,Blue_on_Time.0 is bit 0 not the low byte
read 11,Blue_on_Time.1 is bit 1 not the high byte
you want
read 10,Blue_on_Time.lowbyte
read 11,Blue_on_Time.highbyte

[Scampy]

Cheers Richard, will give that a go.

Guess I need to use the same method to write the value to memory ie write 10,blue_on_time.lowbyte and write 11,blue_on_time.highbyte

[richard]

yes its hard to remember wether the data statement saves words as highbyte first or not
and then does the write word do the same ?, to read them back properly you must get it right.
but write 1 ,word wordvar and read 1, wordvar is the way to go if you can't be bothered understanding what happens

data @1 ,1,2 ; (wordvar.highbyte),( wordvar.lowbyte) $0102 =258 the question is ,is data @1,word 258 is it the same thing try it and see

the easy way out if your not sure about data is to :-
write 1, wordvar.highbyte, wordvar.lowbyte
read 1 , wordvar.highbyte,wordvar.lowbyte
its less efficient but it leaves no doubt.
you could always read the manual or just experiment to find out , the trick is though to be able to remember it
for next time

[Scampy]

you could always read the manual

I had referred to the manual, but just didn't comprehend how this worked...

[Scampy]

Uhmmm.

Just tried
write 10,Blue_on_Time.highbyte

and on compiling it complains of illegal character, with a code [108].

I've gone through the code and it compiles fine if I remove the .highbyte .... confused !!

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
I copy/pasted the above line into a blank program, added Blue_On_Time VAR WORD to the top and it compiled just fine for a 16F628.

Blue_On_Time VAR WORD

write 10,Blue_on_Time.highbyte

END

Try removing the complete line, then re-enter it or copy/paste it from your own post. Perhaps there's some strange hidden character or something lurking. Like I said, compiles just fine here.

/Henrik.

[richard]

I just tried it for a 12f683 and it won't compile for me,i sure I have been successful for other chips or else I could just be going mad
jumping between pic's and arduino's
are you using pbp3 ?
maybe just use write 10 ,word Blue_on_Time and read 10 ,word Blue_on_Time

[HenrikOlsson]

That's strange. Tried it again, compiled for a 12F683 and it worked, exactly as the same code as before. I'm on PBP3, don't know about Scampy.

/Henrik,

[Scampy]

Thanks guys for the additional input. I'm running 2.60 and MPLAB 8.87 which has never been a problem.

I've come across a previous bit of code that used the highbyte / lowbyte and that compiled fine so it must be to do with something in that statement. I'll try changing the variables (removing the underscore) and see if that has any affect, but as the example code I found also used underscores than I can't see that being the issue.

Malcolm

[Scampy]

Confused !

I loaded a version of the code that contained hard coded values for the light on times. EG 14:00 is 840 minutes after midnight. I commented out the hard coded values and enterd the data statements etc so this is what I had

Blue_on_Time var word            'stores the blue on time as a digit in minutes, eg 14:00hrs = 840

I then added the data statement

data @0
    data    00      'Blue fade IN duration hours
    data    30       'Blue fade IN duration minutes
    data    00      'Blues fade OUT duration hours
    data    30       'Blue fade OUT duration minutes
    data    00       'Whites fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Whites Fade IN duration MINS
    data    00       'Whites Fade OUT duration HOURS
    data    30       'Whites Fade OUT duration MINS
    data    255       'Blue MAX Intensity %
    data    255      'Whites MAX Intensity %
    data    840

I then added the read statement

read 10,Blue_on_time

I then added the line so I could see what values for Blue on time I was getting

lcdout $FE,$D4+11,dec Blue_on_Time

When that was complied and loaded, the program gave a value of 74 when first run, and obviously the condition was not matched and the blue LEDs remained off. If I then go into the menu option to set the on time to 14:00 the LCD correctly displays 840 as the LCD (simplified part of the code here)

Lighton:

Lcdout $FE,2
LCDOUT $FE,$80,"Set On Time For "
    IF H_butt = 0 THEN GOSUB delHours
    IF M_butt = 0 THEN GOSUB delMinutes
    lightsetHR[fn]=Hours
    lightsetMN[fn]=Minutes
    if viv >=2 then viv =2
    if viv= 1 then LCDOUT $FE,$C0,"Blue Leds "
    if viv= 2 then LCDOUT $FE,$C0,"white Leds "   
    lcdout $FE,$94,#lightsetHR[fn] DIG 1,#lightsetHR[fn] DIG 0,":",#lightsetMN[fn] DIG 1,#lightsetMN[fn] DIG 0
    Blue_on_Time = (lightsetHR[0]*60)+lightsetMN[0]
    White_on_Time = (lightsetHR[1]*60)+lightsetMN[1]
    
    write 10,Blue_on_Time

If then add the high / low byte to the option in the read and write statements I get the Illegal character error again.

The other thing that is now not happening is that if I remove the highbyte / lowbyte from the read / write commands program the chip and then manually set the on time the LCD displays 840 as the value, but when the counter value is reached (ie the clock turns to 14:00) there is no change in state of the LEDs. So its not matching the correct value for the word variable. Could this be due I'm comparing the decimal value for the variable, when in real terms it's still in hex decimal or something ?

My other option would be to use the lightsetHR[0] and lightsetMN[0] as the data values saved and then try and let the program do the conversion Blue_on_Time = (lightsetHR[0]*60)+lightsetMN[0].


Update: I've tried the above and I still can't get the case to change from off to on

data @0
    data    00      'Blue fade IN duration hours
    data    30       'Blue fade IN duration minutes
    data    00      'Blues fade OUT duration hours
    data    30       'Blue fade OUT duration minutes
    data    00       'Whites fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Whites Fade IN duration MINS
    data    00       'Whites Fade OUT duration HOURS
    data    30       'Whites Fade OUT duration MINS
    data    255       'Blue MAX Intensity %
    data    255      'Whites MAX Intensity %
    data    14
    data    00

And then have this in the read routine

Read 10,lightsetHR[0]
Read 11,lightsetMN[0]

This compiled Ok and when loaded the LCD correctly displayed 840 as the value of Blue_on_time, but when the clock turned over from 13:59 to 14:00 the case still remains the same and the LED failed to light.

If I comment out the read write and data lines, and code the value blue_on_time=840 it works !!!! - obviously I would like to be able to change the on and off times of the two channels (white and blue) rather than had coded.

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
You can't just say DATA 840 since that is larger than what fits in a byte.
Are you sure the LCD said 74 and not 72? 840 in binary is 1101001000, look at the 8 least significant bits (marked in red), that's what will actually fit within the byte in EEPROM. It says 72.

As been written previously you need to use the WORD modifier to store a WORD in EEPROM, and then use it again to read it. Or read the high and low byte "manually" after figuring out in which order the DATA statement stores them.

/Henrik.

[Scampy]

Henrik,

I still can't get this to compile. I've tried something different, here is my logic (illogical thinking !!)

Created eight new variables, as bytes as the values will be 0-12 for hours and 0-59 for minutes

Blue_On_Time_H var byte
Blue_on_Time_M var byte
Blue_Off_Time_H var byte
Blue_off_Time_M var byte

White_On_Time_H var byte
White_on_Time_M var byte
White_Off_Time_H var byte
White_off_Time_M var byte

Then add eight lines of data to match

    data    14      'Blue ON time hours
    Data    00      'Blue ON time minutes
    data    15      'Blue OFF time hours
    Data    00      'Blue OFF time minutes
    Data    14      'Whites ON time hours
    data    01      'Whites ON time minutes
    data    14      'Whites OFF time hours
    Data    20      'Whites OFF time minutes

Then added the read and write sections

write 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
write 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
write 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
write 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
write 14,blue_on_time_h             'Whites ON time hours
write 15,blue_on_time_m             'Whites ON time minutes
write 16,blue_off_time_h            'Whites OFF time hours
write 17,blue_off_time_m            'Whites OFF time minutes

Read 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
Read 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
read 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
read 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
read 14,blue_on_time_h             'blue ON time hours
read 15,blue_on_time_m             'blue ON time minutes
read 16,blue_off_time_h            'blue OFF time hours
read 17,blue_off_time_m            'blue OFF time minutes

I get the illegal character error when compiling. If I comment out the read / write lines for these variables it complies. I've even tried commenting all but just one line and it still fails !

OK I see I've transposed the data values - but the fact that it's not putting anything into the memory shouldn't matter

Now corrected:

data @0
    data    00      'Blue fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Blue fade IN duration minutes
    data    00      'Blues fade OUT duration hours
    data    30      'Blue fade OUT duration minutes
    data    00      'Whites fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Whites Fade IN duration MINS
    data    00      'Whites Fade OUT duration HOURS
    data    30      'Whites Fade OUT duration MINS
    data    255     'Blue MAX Intensity %
    data    255     'Whites MAX Intensity %
    data    14      'Whites ON time hours
    Data    00      'Whites ON time minutes
    data    15      'Whites OFF time hours
    Data    00      'blue OFF time minutes
    Data    14      'blue ON time hours
    data    01      'blue ON time minutes
    data    14      'blue OFF time hours
    Data    20      'blue OFF time minutes

[richard]

the highbyte,lowbyte works for ok me now (as it should) I must have too tired last nite , interesting when I used write 10, tst.highbyte before declaring tst as a word mcs5 crashed with no error message just died.
scampy
it looks like your reading from location 10 but your data @0 writes from location 0

[Scampy]

One more for tonight before I throw this poxy project out the window.

why does WRITE 10,lightsetHR[1] work when WRITE 10,white_on_time_h cause the illegal error ?

I've changed the code to the following:
Data statement:

data @0
    data    00      'Blue fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Blue fade IN duration minutes
    data    00      'Blues fade OUT duration hours
    data    30      'Blue fade OUT duration minutes
    data    00      'Whites fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Whites Fade IN duration MINS
    data    00      'Whites Fade OUT duration HOURS
    data    30      'Whites Fade OUT duration MINS
    data    255     'Blue MAX Intensity %
    data    255     'Whites MAX Intensity %
    data    14      'Whites ON time hours
    Data    00      'Whites ON time minutes
    data    15      'Whites OFF time hours
    Data    00      'blue OFF time minutes
    Data    14      'blue ON time hours
    data    01      'blue ON time minutes
    data    14      'blue OFF time hours
    Data    20      'blue OFF time minutes

Read statement:

Read 0,fadesetHR[0]    'Blue fade IN duration hours
Read 1,fadesetMN[0]    'Blue fade IN duration minutes
Read 2,fadeoutHR[0]    'Blue fade OUT duration hours
read 3,fadeoutMN[0]    'Blue fade OUT duration minutes

read 4,fadesetHR[1]    'Whites fade IN duration hours
read 5,fadesetMN[1]    'Whites fade IN duration minutes
read 6,fadeoutHR[1]    'Whites fade OUT duration hours
read 7,fadeoutMN[1]    'Whites fade OUT duration minutes

Read 8,B_max
Read 9,W_max

Read 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
Read 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
read 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
read 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
read 14,blue_on_time_h             'blue ON time hours
read 15,blue_on_time_m             'blue ON time minutes
read 16,blue_off_time_h            'blue OFF time hours
read 17,blue_off_time_m            'blue OFF time minutes

Write statements

write 0,fadesetHR[0]    'Blue fade IN duration hours
write 1,fadesetMN[0]    'Blue fade IN duration minutes
write 2,fadeoutHR[0]    'Blue fade IN duration hours
write 3,fadeoutMN[0]    'Blue fade IN duration minutes

write 4,fadesetHR[1]    'Whites fade IN duration hours
write 5,fadesetMN[1]    'Whites fade IN duration minutes
write 6,fadeoutHR[1]    'Whites fade IN duration hours
write 7,fadeoutMN[1]    'Whites fade IN duration minutes

write 8,B_max
write 9,W_max

write 10,lightsetHR[1]
write 11,lightsetMN[1]
write 12,lightoffHR[1]
Write 13,lightoffMN[1]

write 14,lightsetHR[0]
write 15,lightsetMN[0]
write 16,lightoffHR[0]
Write 17,lightoffMN[0]

I then have the following section as part of the initialization before the main program loop

lightsetHR[0] = Blue_On_Time_H
lightsetMN[0] = Blue_On_Time_M
lightsetHR[1] = White_On_Time_H
lightsetMN[1] = White_On_Time_M

lightoffHR[0] = Blue_Off_Time_H
lightoffMN[0] = Blue_Off_Time_M
lightoffHR[1] = White_Off_Time_H
lightoffMN[1] = White_Off_Time_M

And in the main program loop

Blue_on_Time =(lightsetHR[0]*60)+lightsetMN[0]
Blue_off_time = (lightoffHR[0]*60)+lightoffMN[0]
 
White_on_Time =(lightsetHR[1]*60)+lightsetMN[1]
White_off_time = (lightoffHR[1]*60)+lightoffMN[1]

This compiles fine, and when first run the case changes at the value set in the data statement, and the LCD displays the correct value for Blue on time (eg 842 for 14:02). But when I set the on time up via the menu, even though the LCD displays the new value for blue_on_time correctly (eg 845 for 14:05 as set via the menu) it still fails to trip the case statement at the new time.

Any ideas ?

[richard]

it might be easier to use a PCF8563 rtc chip with built in alarm and interrupt output
I use one of these on my wireless remote rain guage its a good thing. works at 3v too

i'd need to see the full code to see whats wrong with your project

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
I have NO idea what's going on with this Illegal Character error. The only thing I can think of is, as I've said before, some kind of hidden character that makes the compiler hick up. I copy/pasted all of the sections in the previous post into MCS, resulting in the following:

Blue_On_Time_H var byte
Blue_on_Time_M var byte
Blue_Off_Time_H var byte
Blue_off_Time_M var byte

White_On_Time_H var byte
White_on_Time_M var byte
White_Off_Time_H var byte
White_off_Time_M var byte

data    14      'Blue ON time hours
Data    00      'Blue ON time minutes
data    15      'Blue OFF time hours
Data    00      'Blue OFF time minutes
Data    14      'Whites ON time hours
data    01      'Whites ON time minutes
data    14      'Whites OFF time hours
Data    20      'Whites OFF time minutes
    
write 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
write 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
write 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
write 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
write 14,blue_on_time_h             'Whites ON time hours
write 15,blue_on_time_m             'Whites ON time minutes
write 16,blue_off_time_h            'Whites OFF time hours
write 17,blue_off_time_m            'Whites OFF time minutes

Read 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
Read 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
read 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
read 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
read 14,blue_on_time_h             'blue ON time hours
read 15,blue_on_time_m             'blue ON time minutes
read 16,blue_off_time_h            'blue OFF time hours
read 17,blue_off_time_m            'blue OFF time minutes

END

Needles to say it compiles just fine for the 12F683, 16F877, 18F8620 and any other device I try with onboard EEPROM. I've tried this with both PBP3.0.7.4 and with PBP2.60. My MPBLAB installation is v8.88 containing MPASM v5.47.

/Henrik.

[Scampy]

Richard, you have a PM

@Henrik - I too have no idea why the error occurs - I've cut and pasted lines, written them in fill - deleted sections and pasted sections - but still the same ! - Puzzling

[Scampy]

it might be easier to use a PCF8563 rtc chip with built in alarm and interrupt output
I use one of these on my wireless remote rain guage its a good thing. works at 3v too

i'd need to see the full code to see whats wrong with your project

I have a DS1307 RTC chip, but for some reason in the original project this gave me a lot of issues as the time would randomly revert to 10:10:10 and thus screw up the timings. I'll have a look at the 8563 chip, but really wanted to steer away from external chips in case the same issue happens again

[HenrikOlsson]

What if you start a new/blank project/file, then copy/paste the complete code from my latest post above into it, select the 12F683 (for example) and then try to compile it. Does it still give you the error?

If this STILL fails can you then please take the source file (the .pbp or .bas file) and attach it to a message here so I can try and compile it on my end. There's got to be something weird going on with your system, I can not make it fail here PBP3 with MPASM or PBP2.60 with MPASM or PM (for 12F and 16F parts) it all works fine with the above code.

Which chip are you compiling for?

/Henrik.

[Scampy]

Henrik, I'll try that suggestion later and let you know how I get on. The chip is an 18F4520

[HenrikOlsson]

OK, then PM is out of the question and the only difference between your setup and mine is MPLAB 8.87 vs 8.88 and whatever MPASM version that translates too - there might not even be a different version.

Just tried compiling for 18F4520 using PBP2.60 and there was no errors.

Looking forward to the results.

/Henrik,

[Scampy]

Hi,
I have NO idea what's going on with this Illegal Character error. The only thing I can think of is, as I've said before, some kind of hidden character that makes the compiler hick up. I copy/pasted all of the sections in the previous post into MCS, resulting in the following:

Blue_On_Time_H var byte
Blue_on_Time_M var byte
Blue_Off_Time_H var byte
Blue_off_Time_M var byte

White_On_Time_H var byte
White_on_Time_M var byte
White_Off_Time_H var byte
White_off_Time_M var byte

data    14      'Blue ON time hours
Data    00      'Blue ON time minutes
data    15      'Blue OFF time hours
Data    00      'Blue OFF time minutes
Data    14      'Whites ON time hours
data    01      'Whites ON time minutes
data    14      'Whites OFF time hours
Data    20      'Whites OFF time minutes
    
write 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
write 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
write 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
write 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
write 14,blue_on_time_h             'Whites ON time hours
write 15,blue_on_time_m             'Whites ON time minutes
write 16,blue_off_time_h            'Whites OFF time hours
write 17,blue_off_time_m            'Whites OFF time minutes

Read 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
Read 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
read 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
read 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
read 14,blue_on_time_h             'blue ON time hours
read 15,blue_on_time_m             'blue ON time minutes
read 16,blue_off_time_h            'blue OFF time hours
read 17,blue_off_time_m            'blue OFF time minutes

END

Needles to say it compiles just fine for the 12F683, 16F877, 18F8620 and any other device I try with onboard EEPROM. I've tried this with both PBP3.0.7.4 and with PBP2.60. My MPBLAB installation is v8.88 containing MPASM v5.47.

/Henrik.

Just created a new blank page in MCS and copied and pasted the above from post #17, added the config settings etc and tried compiling

'*******************************************************************************
'  18F4520 config settings - for use with MPSAM
'*******************************************************************************

ASM 
  __CONFIG    _CONFIG1H, _OSC_HS_1H
  __CONFIG    _CONFIG2L, _PWRT_ON_2L  
  __CONFIG    _CONFIG2H, _WDT_ON_2H & _WDTPS_512_2H
  __CONFIG    _CONFIG3H, _MCLRE_ON_3H & _LPT1OSC_OFF_3H & _PBADEN_OFF_3H  
  __CONFIG    _CONFIG4L, _LVP_OFF_4L & _XINST_OFF_4L
ENDASM

'*******************************************************************************
' Defines and LCD (20 x 4) set up
'*******************************************************************************

DEFINE  OSC 20  ; 48 was old config settings 18F4520, 20mhz crystal
ADCON1 = $0F
clear

DEFINE  WRITE_USED  1

DEFINE LCD_DREG  PORTB           ' LCD Data port
DEFINE LCD_DBIT  0               ' starting Data bit (0 or 4)
DEFINE LCD_EREG  PORTB           ' LCD Enable port
DEFINE LCD_EBIT  5               '     Enable bit  (on EasyPIC 5 LCD)
DEFINE LCD_RSREG PORTB           ' LCD Register Select port
DEFINE LCD_RSBIT 4               '     Register Select bit   (on EasyPIC 5 LCD)
DEFINE LCD_BITS  4               ' LCD bus size (4 or 8 bits)
DEFINE LCD_LINES 4               ' number of lines on LCD
DEFINE LCD_COMMANDUS 2000        ' Command delay time in us 
DEFINE LCD_DATAUS 50             ' Data delay time in us 

'*******************************************************************************
'DS18B20 setting
'*******************************************************************************

DQ              VAR     PORTA.5         ' One-wire data pin
temperature     VAR     WORD            ' Temperature storage
count_remain    VAR     BYTE            ' Count remaining
count_per_c     VAR     BYTE            ' Count per degree C

'*******************************************************************************
'analog and Comparator settings
'*******************************************************************************

ADCON0 = 0                      'Set ADCON0
ADCON1 = %00001111              'Set D i/o
CMCON = 7                       'Disable Comparators

'*******************************************************************************
'Port and Register settings
'*******************************************************************************

CCP1CON = %00001100             ' 
CCP2CON = %00001100             '     
TRISA  = %11101111              '
TRISB  = %00000011 
TRISD  = %00000011              '
T0CON  = %11000111

Blue_On_Time_H var byte
Blue_on_Time_M var byte
Blue_Off_Time_H var byte
Blue_off_Time_M var byte

White_On_Time_H var byte
White_on_Time_M var byte
White_Off_Time_H var byte
White_off_Time_M var byte

data    14      'Blue ON time hours
Data    00      'Blue ON time minutes
data    15      'Blue OFF time hours
Data    00      'Blue OFF time minutes
Data    14      'Whites ON time hours
data    01      'Whites ON time minutes
data    14      'Whites OFF time hours
Data    20      'Whites OFF time minutes
    
write 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
write 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
write 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
write 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
write 14,blue_on_time_h             'Whites ON time hours
write 15,blue_on_time_m             'Whites ON time minutes
write 16,blue_off_time_h            'Whites OFF time hours
write 17,blue_off_time_m            'Whites OFF time minutes

Read 10,white_on_time_h              'Whites ON time hours
Read 11,white_on_time_m              'Whites ON time minutes
read 12,white_off_time_h             'Whites OFF time hours
read 13,white_off_time_m             'Whites OFF time minutes
read 14,blue_on_time_h             'blue ON time hours
read 15,blue_on_time_m             'blue ON time minutes
read 16,blue_off_time_h            'blue OFF time hours
read 17,blue_off_time_m            'blue OFF time minutes

Guess what - I got the error

If I comment out the write statements it compiles....

[HenrikOlsson]

Hi,
OK, so there was a lot more to the code than you showed earlier....
The actual problem seems to be the DEFINE WRITE_USED 1. Comment that out and it compiles fine.ything. Where did you find that and what's the purpose of it?

/Henrik.

[Scampy]

I can confirm that when that is commented out it too compiles fine this end. I have no Idea where that came from, I guess that's the problem when using previous code from existing projects or porting examples from forums and websites. Chances are a previous project required this for some reason, but with out opening every file I can't say where it came from.

Thanks for identifying this problem. Could you explain to me what this define means or does, and when it might be used.

I'll now go back over this thread and see if using the highbyte and lowbyte resolves my other issue of the case statement not changing when the blue on time value matches that of the current clock counter.

Malcolm

[HenrikOlsson]

Could you explain to me what this define means or does, and when it might be used.

No, not really. That's why I asked where you found it and what the reason for adding it was.

A bit of forum search turned up a couple of leads, apparently there's a bug in 2.60 which affects WRITE with WORD variables. But now, you might be on a later version of PBP where that bug is not present making the DEFINE either not needed or actually causing problems. I can't really say for sure.

The issue is described here.

I strongly suggest you update to 2.60C (or even better to PBP3), you can download the PBP2.60C patch here, scroll down to find 2.60C:
http://support.melabs.com/content/29...ersion-History

Someone else might be able to shed some more light on it.

/Henrik.

[Scampy]

Thanks Henrik, I'll have a browse and look at my options to upgrade.

Malcolm

[HenrikOlsson]

When applying the patch it looks like it's replacing all the .inc files so if you've edited ANY of them they will have to be re-editied.

/Henrik.

[Scampy]

I've been re-reading the reference guide and this may explain it:

If interrupts are used in a program, they must be turned off (masked, not
DISABLEd) before executing a WRITE, and turned back on (if desired) after the
WRITE instruction is complete. An interrupt occurring during a WRITE may cause
it to fail. The following DEFINE turns interrupts off and then back on within a
WRITE command. Do not use this DEFINE if interrupts are not used in the
program.

DEFINE WRITE_INT 1

I'm not using interrupts in this code, so it's not needed - I must of added from one of the previous versions which does use interrupts

[Scampy]

Richard / Henrik

Code is now working. This is the data section

'*******************************************************************************
' Data presets
'*******************************************************************************
data @0
    data    00      'Blue fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Blue fade IN duration minutes
    data    00      'Blues fade OUT duration hours
    data    30      'Blue fade OUT duration minutes
    data    00      'Whites fade IN duration hours
    data    30      'Whites Fade IN duration MINS
    data    00      'Whites Fade OUT duration HOURS
    data    30      'Whites Fade OUT duration MINS
    data    255     'Blue MAX Intensity %
    data    255     'Whites MAX Intensity %
    data    word 842      'Blue ON time 
    Data    word 841      'Whites ON time 
    data    word 1200      'Blue OFF time 
    Data    word 1200      'White OFF time

Then the read statement

Read 0,fadesetHR[0]    'Blue fade IN duration hours
Read 1,fadesetMN[0]    'Blue fade IN duration minutes
Read 2,fadeoutHR[0]    'Blue fade OUT duration hours
read 3,fadeoutMN[0]    'Blue fade OUT duration minutes

read 4,fadesetHR[1]    'Whites fade IN duration hours
read 5,fadesetMN[1]    'Whites fade IN duration minutes
read 6,fadeoutHR[1]    'Whites fade OUT duration hours
read 7,fadeoutMN[1]    'Whites fade OUT duration minutes

Read 8,B_max
Read 9,W_max

read 10,Blue_on_Time.lowbyte
read 11,Blue_on_Time.highbyte
read 12,white_on_Time.lowbyte
read 13,white_on_Time.highbyte

read 14,Blue_off_Time.highbyte
read 15,Blue_off_Time.lowbyte
read 16,white_off_Time.lowbyte
read 17,white_off_Time.highbyte

Return

I then have a simple test line of

lcdout $FE,$D4+11,dec Counter1
lcdout $FE,$D4+16,dec Blue_on_Time

This shows the value for Blue_on_time as 842, and the counter starting at 840 as per the data statement. When the counter reaches 842 the case statement changes as required.

Thank you both, and I apologise for putting you guys to so much trouble having tested parts of the code on various chips. Your guidance and input on my posts have been much appreciated

Malcolm

[Art]

An alternative to using high/lowbyte for a word is to shift bits within the word

Some code might be pseudo

word var word
byte var byte

DATA at EEPROM location 0 = $FF // low byte of the word you want to read
DATA at EEPROM location 1 = $FF // high byte of the word you want to read

// program run time

READ EEPROM, 0, byte
word = byte
word = word << 8
READ EEPROM, 1,byte
word = word + byte

// now the word is in memory - word = $FFFF

byte = word
WRITE EEPROM 0,byte
word = word >> 8
byte = word
WRITE EEPROM 1,byte

// the value in word was not preserved here,
// it would have been needed to be saved first

This is helpful if you want to use variables larger than PBP supports
for some operations.
It would be simple to do a binary addition on two 64 bit integers this way,
and is more familiar outside of BASIC.