Can I first start by saying how excellent GCB and GCGB are and very many thanks to those who have put in so many hours to make a superb package.
I come from the position of trying to get students to use the system to generate control (sub)systems for use in data acquisitions systems/robots etc. All the students have had a course in PIC assembler but often find the thought of coding in assembler or C daunting, but when introduced to GCGB almost universally progress well. The ability to take a bare sample program and generate a simple flow diagram and then easily produce hex code is very empowering. In addition, the ability to see the annotated assembler code generated on the way is a very powerful teaching aid. However a couple of things would make it even more useful and I am not sure if it would be possible to add them easily. (Many apologies if I have missed recent comments about the topics or methods to do something similar)
1) The lack of icons for all available functions. I have read that this is deliberate, but I think in some cases it can cause confusion. It is often that students wish to build a simple processing/control unit, e.g. reading an ADC and then setting some digital o/p(s) depending on a value. The lack of a standard ADC icon, and therefore no direct help, normally causes confusion (e.g. trying to use the pot command) and a scrabble for a demo program rather than giving them the confidence to find their way through the available commands e.g. ReadAD and ReadAD10.
Would it be possible to automatically generate icons for all commands, even if they are hidden in an advanced tab?
2) The zoomable icon display is a improvement, but can be limiting on a small screen and a reasonable sized program. Is there any possibility of arranging
a) For the diagram to be shown in multiple columns? (I believe I have seen a similar request but no definitive answer)
b) The ability to o/p a vector graphics format (svg?) file of a gcgb program for documentation. [I have an start of a system that parses the .gcb file and generates a file via TikZ, but it would be much more sensible if it was direct]
Thank you for your thoughts on the above
Regards
Last edit: Anobium 2016-06-02
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Can I first start by saying how excellent GCB and GCGB are and very many thanks to those who have put in so many hours to make a superb package.
I come from the position of trying to get students to use the system to generate control (sub)systems for use in data acquisitions systems/robots etc. All the students have had a course in PIC assembler but often find the thought of coding in assembler or C daunting, but when introduced to GCGB almost universally progress well. The ability to take a bare sample program and generate a simple flow diagram and then easily produce hex code is very empowering. In addition, the ability to see the annotated assembler code generated on the way is a very powerful teaching aid. However a couple of things would make it even more useful and I am not sure if it would be possible to add them easily. (Many apologies if I have missed recent comments about the topics or methods to do something similar)
1) The lack of icons for all available functions. I have read that this is deliberate, but I think in some cases it can cause confusion. It is often that students wish to build a simple processing/control unit, e.g. reading an ADC and then setting some digital o/p(s) depending on a value. The lack of a standard ADC icon, and therefore no direct help, normally causes confusion (e.g. trying to use the pot command) and a scrabble for a demo program rather than giving them the confidence to find their way through the available commands e.g. ReadAD and ReadAD10.
Would it be possible to automatically generate icons for all commands, even if they are hidden in an advanced tab?
2) The zoomable icon display is a improvement, but can be limiting on a small screen and a reasonable sized program. Is there any possibility of arranging
a) For the diagram to be shown in multiple columns? (I believe I have seen a similar request but no definitive answer)
b) The ability to o/p a vector graphics format (svg?) file of a gcgb program for documentation. [I have an start of a system that parses the .gcb file and generates a file via TikZ, but it would be much more sensible if it was direct]
Thank you for your thoughts on the above
Regards
Last edit: Anobium 2016-06-02