Version Control

[mytekcontrols]

Hello Picnaut, Darrel, Brian, and Sougata!

On my lunch hour I whipped up a little application that is able to extract the name and file path of the .BAS (or .PBP) file that is passed to the compiler by Microcode Studio.

Sigh... If only my lunch hours proved as fruitfull <img src="http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif">

If Picnaut is willing to do it. Then I'll certainly give it a whirl. I like keeping things backed-up in multiple ways, so having Picnaut's application running along side the version control system works for me. Like Brian, I've used Version Control systems at places I've worked for, so I'm rather used to using them. And by having to make it a habit, I have no problem keeping things up-to-date. However, I also run an automatic back-up app in the background, which insures that I always have a copy of my work that is no older then about 10 minutes. It doesn't do version control, but it only backs-up something that has actually changed, thereby not consuming much processing power or time.

Each method has its own benefits or strong points. It would be nice to have everything in one package, but then look what we do with PicBasic. We add some assembly code snippets, and some macros, all in an effort to make the best of all worlds.

Hey Picnaut, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of work do you do for a living? It sounds like you are very well versed in the programming world.

Oh and before I forget. Thank you Sougata for your kind words. It is appreciatted. It was rather interesting to figure out how to post the info, so that I could get the layout that was as presented (I'm sure Darrel can appreciate this aspect).

[Darrel Taylor]

Yes I can. And I must say, that's the best looking post I've seen around here. The images offset to either side, and the way the text flowed around them, very nice. You have definately "raised the bar". Which of course means, I'll have to jump over it.
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[picnaut]

Hey Picnaut, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of work do you do for a living? It sounds like you are very well versed in the programming world.

Hi,

In regards to your question, I'm a hardware engineer.
I'm actually just about to jump feet first into PCB layout. I'm taking a course in Philly in November.

As for programming, from October 2001 to November 2004 I wrote automated test apps. That was a lot of fun! I got to write PC software that interfaced to a lot of other equipment (including PICs). I was able to do some embedded with that as well.

Eventually I want to work for myself full-time, but that's a little way off yet. I need to get my skill set stronger. Currently, I'm reasonably good at several things, but, unfortunately, not great at any one thing.

I see you're in California. I'm just north of the US border in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Anyway, take it easy and keep on Pic'n!

[mytekcontrols]

Yes I can. And I must say, that's the best looking post I've seen around here. The images offset to either side, and the way the text flowed around them, very nice. You have definately "raised the bar". Which of course means, I'll have to jump over it.

Darrel,
I think you already jumped over it with some of your posts, like the LCD character generator for instance. But you did give me an idea. The only problem will be finding time to do it. Wouldn't it be cool to have a WYSIWG offline program tailored to this forum that would make creating better layouts an easy job, and not an exercise in embedding html and css via the text only editor provided. Something to think about <img src="http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif">.

[picnaut]

Hello,

If you haven't done so already, could you please participate in the following poll: http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2694

I've got the compile-detect and source-filepath-extraction portion of my program running well now. However, it only works when the compiler uses MPASM as its assembler. Also, if I hadn't mentioned before, it requires Microcode Studio to be running (you can't just compile from the command line).

Anyway, I'm getting closer.

Cheers!

[picnaut]

OK.
I'm almost there.
I have a functional program that's working great.
Unfortunately, you must be using MPASM as your assembler to use my auto updating program. Also, you need to be using MicroCode Studio Plus as your IDE (I may add support for other IDE's later).

I'm calling it "Basic Backup" and I should have a beta version out later tonight or tomorrow.

The only thing that you need to do before you use it, is check the box beside "Display full filename path in application title bar" in MicroCode Studio Plus. See: View > Editor Options... > General (tab)

Then, if all goes well, you will only need to launch the "Basic Backup" executable once and it will launch each time you start Windows.

Wish me luck!

[picnaut]

Hello,

Try this out and tell me what you think.

It's got some minor bugs and needs work still, but it is functional.
Simply start it up when you want to start coding.
You can put a shortcut to it in your Windows Startup folder then you don't have to worry about it.
I'll keep giving each executable the same filename so you can simply swap it out.
You shouldn't need an install package.
Simply unzip it and run the executable inside.
It will run in the background and backup all your PBP files each time they're compiled.

Make sure that you set your IDE to display the full filename in the application title bar (editor options).

Also, it will ONLY work if you are using MPASM as your assembler.

If you see any bugs, let me know and include any pertinent information (i.e. your operating system, memory, CPU speed, MCSP version, etc.).

You may need to get the latest VB6 Runtime files.
They can be downloaded from:
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...vbrun60sp5.exe

However, don't download and install them if you've already tried the "Basic Backup" program and confirmed that it works. It would be handy to know if the runtime files are required or not.

Cheers!

[btaylor]

Thanks Picnaut.

The concept sounds great. I downloaded, unzipped and installed. It all ran with no drama on a Toshiba TECRA laptop with WinXP pro on it. I don't know if it has the latest VB nonsense on it.

I was not using MPASM and so I had to download it, unzip it and tell MicroCode Studio Plus to use MPASM - a few clicks.

Now the hard part. Programs which previously compiled and ran fine crash at compile time with a heap of MPASM error messages.

@ DEVICE PIC16F876A, HS_OSC, etc gives me an 'unknown processor' (16F876A) message.

Cannot find PIC16F876.inc , trisc not previously defined, etc, etc. The error list takes pages and pages.

A previously working PBP program that generates code of 2512 words using the PBP default assembler fails to compile and generates 3444 errors when using MPASM as the assembler.

I checked the program directory and there is a new subdirectory. In it is a file with _051103_094849 appended. Your program certainly seems to work as advertised and might eventually solve my backup problems.

Unfortunately I am up against a deadline so I'm going back to the tried and true (PBP assembler) to finish this job. I hope to get back on this early next week.

If you could make your program compatible with the PBP default assembler that would be fabulous. In the meantime I have to find the time to learn how to drive MPASM.


Thanks again

Brian

[picnaut]

Hello Everyone,

Well, I've finally done it, thanks to some help from Nuno.

I've created a backup program that works with both PBP (running MCSP) and with Crownhill's PDS. I will try to add additional IDE support in the future.

It will backup source code whether it's compiled with MPASM or the PBP assembler.

You must have PBP installed in the default filepath though (c:\pbp\).

Unfortunately, it doesn't backup include files at this time.

However, I've been told that if you try and compile an include file on it's own, it will get backed up, even though the compile operation fails. I'm not sure if that's a bug or a feature.



In any case, unless you're using include files that you plan on changing, this should work just fine.

I will add a parser in the new year that will look for all of the includes in your "main" .BAS file and back them up when they've changed.

Until then though, I'm off to the sunny Caribbean for 3 weeks of relaxation. So, no tech support until January 10th, ok.

Have a great holiday everyone!

Regards,

[boroko]

Hi all,
Along the lines of this thread, I wondered how you folks deal with deleting the many unneeded previous versions ( and specifically all of the compiler and extra files) after you have a set of workable ones?

I usually have a few revs that I want to save and go back to, but all of these previous development files become burdensome after a while. You can delete the .PBP files pretty easily, but to get rid of the trash, I have to open the whole folder pick and choose.

I wonder if there is a way to accomplish dumping the whole set of files associated with a certain rev without doing it in such a tedious manner?
Say an option in MCS that allows you to delete the main file and it automatically grabs the support files and dumps those too. If I delete the .PBP files, I leave a bunch of orphans (.asm, .cod, .hex, .lst, .mac).
Doing it manually takes quite a bit of concentration and time.

I suppose one way would be to delete ALL of the support files and then remove the .PBP files that you don't want. You would then have to re-compile the ones that you have left when needed.

Just looking for thoughts
Bo