Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!
From: lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: How do you develop applic
Message-ID: <1294@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca>
Date: 24 Mar 90 22:21:04 GMT
Lines: 65
Return-Path: <lpami!lphillips>
To: van-bc!rnews

In <90032513573825@masnet.uucp>, jonathan.forbes@canremote.uucp (JONATHAN FORBES) writes:
> 
>For debugging, I use the old fashioned method of using printf()'s at key
>points.  Or, if I really don't know what's causing the bug:
> 
>.. line1 ..
>puts("--A--");
>.. line2 ..
>puts("--B--");
>.. line 3..
>puts("--C--");
> 
>Yes, very very messy, but it's always worked for me (not that I have 
>that many GURU-type bugs in my programs.)

I just picked up a really nifty little piece of hardware from Black Belt
Systems.  It's called the 'SoftPanel', and consists of an array of 4 rows of 8
LEDs, just right for four bytes, two words, or one longword of debugging data,
or for use as 32 bits of status flags.

Setting an LED on or off is a simple matter of writing to the apropriate
address, and requires only a single line of code in your program for each
operation to the LEDs. Similarly, one line of code is sufficient to write a
byte, word, or longword to the LEDs.

It is available for use as son as the machine comes up, even before autoconfig
has taken place, so it is quite useful for debugging such things as ROM-based
device driver intitialization. It is hardwired into the 'cartridge' area at
$f00000 or $f00100.

The unit is supplied with an ARexx host program that allows you to maniipulate
the LEDs in a number of ways, directly from an ARexx script. Provided are LED
ON/OFF, BLINK (at specified rate), SET BYTE, WORD, or LONG value, VERTICAL or
HORIZONTAL BAR GRAPH, and Supra internal modem monitor LEDs, as well as a SENSE
to return the status of any LED. Additionally, it has a pair of commands that
will set an intercept (via Setunction), on any library call, turn an LED on or
off when the routine is called.

A few other nifty programs are included.

sysload - gives a 'bargraph' indication of system activity in the bottom row of
          LEDs

panelled - Allows you to use a vertical column of three LEDs (user specified)
           to monitor any device by driver or volume name. The three LEDs are
           indicative of READ/WRITE/VERIFY, the latter being turned on with any
           write, and turned off when the 'update' is sent, providing an
           indication of when it is safe to reset after a wrote to disk.

I find it to be invaluable for showing information abouta program in
development, especially programs that cannot easily send debugging output to
the screen.

I am not affiliated in any way with Black Belt Systems, other than as a
customer and friend.

-larry

--
Entomology bugs me.
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|   //   Larry Phillips                                                 |
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