GCBASIC Files

GCB@Syn                        readme.txt                       2014-05-24

GCB@Syn is an IDE for Great Cow Basic  created and maintained by
Frank Steinberg, see www.FrankSteinberg.de for more information on the
author. The IDE is for Great Cow Basic. Great Cow Basic is an open source
basic compiler for AVR and PIC microcontrollers.

GCB@Syn is a set of free software and config-files, configured for the use
with Great Cow Basic and programmer software.

See https://sourceforge.net/projects/gcbasic/files/IDE/GCB%40Syn/
for the IDE download.

GCB@Syn features:

 - No installation, intended to work OUT OF THE BOX. Just start the
   IDE.exe in the root folder
 - complete GreatCowBasic compiler
 - compiler calls configurable via batchfiles
 - SynWrite editor
 - syntax highlighting
 - code folding
 - sub/function list
 - autocomplete
 - context sensitive help (F1)
 - multifile tabs
 - bookmarks
 - doubleclick on compilererrors leads to sourcecode-line
 - oneclick assemble/compile/flash microcontroller (F5, F6, F7, F8)
 - Terminal by Br@y++
 - PICpgm & WinPicPgm programmming software. Support for PicPgms
   configuration (pgmifcfg.xml) for additional programmers, see
   http://www.franksteinberg.de/#Mikrocontroller
 - simple PicKit2 support by adding pk2cmd from Microchip
 - Microchip IPE automation tool (...\GCB@Syn\PicKit3\IPE-Pusher.exe)
 - programmer-software configurable via batchfiles
 - AVRdude and Avrdude-GUI

Installation:

 1. Decompress the complete GCB@Syn folder inside the zip to your hard
    disk. It is recommended to use *NOT* the "Program Files" folder
    because of Windows restrictions for this folder.
 2. Run IDE.exe.
 3. Review the files displayed when initially starting the IDE.

Operation:

 - Remember, always start with IDE.exe in the root folder. IDE.exe sets an
   environment variable with the actual path of GCB@Syn named G@SDir, so
   all program locations can be handled as relative.
 - When a GreatCowBasic sourcefile is opened, check out the Tools-menu.
   Through this menu you can access the oneclick commands. Try right
   mousebutton also.
 - The Tools... commands (F5 - F8) starts a little tool G@Stool.exe which
   calls the batchfiles for compiling sourcecode and programming
   ("flashing") the target microcontroller.  By default the batchfiles are
   named flashAVR.bat (when the chipmodel is an AVR) and flashPIC.bat (when
   the chipmodel is a PIC). The chipmodel is autodetected by G@Stool.exe!
 - By editing the batchfiles you can configure the programmer software for
   your own needs. They are located in the G@Stools subfolder.
 - If there is a batchfile "FlashThis.bat" present in the same folder as
   the sourcefile, this batchfile is used for flashing. This may be useful
   for project-specific flashing.
 - Included programmer-software is avrdude for AVR and PICPgm for PIC. You
   can add PicKit2; see hints in the PicKit2 subfolder. PicKit3 may work
   similar, but its not tested.

Backup-Function:

 - After closing CGB@Syn-IDE, modified user configurable files are backed
   up to folder ...\GCB@Syn\CfgBackup
 - At every start IDE.exe checks the timestamp of syn.ini. If it differs
   from the backup, it asks the user to restore settings. If we click YES,
   ALL files will be overwritten with the backup. This is useful for
   keeping configuration after copying a GCB@Syn update over an existing
   one.
 - The backup files are:
   ...\SynWrite\:  Syn.ini, SynHide.ini, SynHistory.ini, 
                   SynHistoryStatesini, SynSpell.ini,  SynState.ini,
                   SynStyles.ini, SynToolbars.ini
   ...\G@Stools\:  flashAVR.bat, flashPIC.bat, makeASM.bat, makeHEX.bat

Software components:

 - folder  GCB@Syn\GreatCowBasic
    The compilerfiles itself. The folder contains the complete download
    with actual updates.
 - folder  GCB@Syn\SynWrite
    The main item for the IDE is the open source editor SynWrite. Here
    comes a downstripped version, configured for GCBasic. The original is
    here:  http://www.uvviewsoft.com/synwrite
 - folder  GCB@Syn\G@Stools
    Some little tools created by Frank. We can edit the containing batch-
    files to customize the compiler-calls and to adapt our prefered
    programming ("flashing") software.
 - folder  GCB@Syn\AVRdude
    Famous programming software for AVR microcontrollers.
    http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/avrdude
 - GCB@Syn\AVRdude\avrdude-GUI.exe
    Simple GUI for AVRdude.
    http://yuki-lab.jp/hw/avrdude-GUI
 - folder  GCB@Syn\PICPgm
    Programming software for PIC microcontrollers.
    http://picpgm.picprojects.net/
 - folder  GCB@Syn\PicKit3
    IPE-Pusher.exe - automation tool for Microchips IPE created by Frank.
    See IPE-Pusher_readme for further information.
 - GCB@Syn\Terminal\Terminal.exe
    Terminal programm by Br@y++.
    http://sites.google.com/site/terminalbpp