Serial Device Tester

The Serial Device Test Utility is designed to assist in analyzing the communicationbetween a PC and a device connected over the serial port. The application has a number of features to make this process relatively easy. Some of the features that are included are a fully configurable COM port interface, the ability to program constant wrappers (header/footer) around the serial port data, the ability to send data using either ASCII text, decimal values for each byt, or hexadecimal values for each byte, inbound data is decoded into both standard ASCII text and hexadecimal byte values, and the ability to log the data to a file in either HTML or plain text format.


The ASCII window for the inbound data has modified the data slightly -- when there is a carriage return or line feed in the data string, those values have been replaced with a "." in order to keep the ASCII window in sync with the Hex window. This utility has been very useful in debugging communications between remote devices and the computer when for whatever reason the actual data being sent does not agree with the documentation or the documentationis unclear on the exact byte sequence being sent or received. One of the most common areas of confusion that this will clear up immediately is what the end of a line truly is -- whether or not it is a carraige return, a line feed, or both (and if both what order they are actually sent).

Features that are currently under development for the next couple of releases include: The ability to pre-program a variety of commonly used commands that will be sent upoun selection, the ability to code automatic responses which wil be useful in situations where Acks or an equivalent response are required, inclusion of CRC and checksum capabilities, file transfer capabilites, and others still to be determined.

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The LabVIEW Style Book (National Instruments Virtual Instrumentation Series)

Drawing on the experiences of a world-class LabVIEW development organization, The LabVIEW Style Book is the definitive guide to best practices in LabVIEW development.

Leading LabVIEW development manager Peter A. Blume presents practical guidelines or "rules" for optimizing every facet of your applications: ease of use, efficiency, readability, simplicity, performance, maintainability, and robustness. Blume explains each style rule thoroughly, presenting realistic examples and illustrations. He even presents "nonconforming" examples that show what not to do-and why not.


Coverage includes

* Significance of style: How good style improves quality and actually saves time over the full project life cycle
* Before you code: Configuring your LabVIEW environment, and organizing your files on disk and in the LabVIEW project
* LabVIEW project specifications: A specialized standard for specifying LabVIEW application requirements
* Efficient VI layout and development: front panel, block diagram, icons, and connectors
* Data structures: Choosing data types, efficient use of arrays and clusters, and special considerations with nested data structures
* Error handling strategies: Trapping and reporting errors for robust and reliable applications
* Design patterns: Standard VI architectures and application frameworks that promote good style
* Documentation: Essential rules for source code documentation and streamlining the process
* Code reviews: Enforcing a style convention using a checklist, the LabVIEW VI Analyzer Toolkit, and peer reviews
* Appendixes: Convenient glossary and style rules summary

This book will be indispensable to anyone who wants to develop or maintain quality LabVIEW applications: developers, managers, and end users alike. Additionally, it will also be valuable to those preparing for NI's Certified LabVIEW Developer or Certified LabVIEW Architect exams, which contain significant content on development style.

Foreword by Darren Nattinger
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1 The Significance of Style
Chapter 2 Prepare for Good Style
Chapter 3 Front Panel Style
Chapter 4 Block Diagram
Chapter 5 Icon and Connector
Chapter 6 Data Structures
Chapter 7 Error Handling
Chapter 8 Design Patterns
Chapter 9 Documentation
Chapter 10 Code Reviews
Appendix A Glossary
Appendix B Style Rules Summary
Index

About the Author

Peter Blume is the founder and president of Bloomy Controls, Inc., a National Instruments Select Integration Partner that specializes in LabVIEW-based systems development. Since LabVIEW Version 2.5, Blume and his staff of engineers have solved more than a thousand industrial applications for customers throughout the northeastern United States. To promote consistent quality among multiple developers in multiple offices, Blume established and evolved the company's LabVIEW development practices.

Blume has written and presented multiple LabVIEW style-related presentations, including Bloomy Controls' Professional LabVIEW Development Guidelines at NIWeek 2002 and Five Techniques for Better LabVIEW Code at NIWeek 2003. He also has published technical articles in various trade publications, including Test & Measurement World, Evaluation Engineering, Electronic Design, and Desktop Engineering.

Blume holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut. He is a National Instruments Certified LabVIEW Developer and Certified Professional Instructor. The company has offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. For more information, visit www.bloomy.com.

Readers who want to contact Blume regarding style-related suggestions, questions, or comments may do so at the following email address: lvstyle@bloomy.com . Readers interested in contracting Bloomy Controls for a LabVIEW development project should call us directly or contact us through our website at www.bloomy.com/quote.

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AVR Blips

Thanks to: stevech@san.rr.com childressS@gmail.com

BLIPS is a graphical user interface and command line MS Windows program that loads programs and data into an Atmel AVR microprocessor’s flash and EEPROM memories. BLIPS transfers this data from a PC via either a serial port or a LAN/WAN connection (IP) to an Ethernet/WiFi to serial bridge – such as the Lantronix Xport or WiPort, or equivalent device. The AVR-side bootloader can be the sample provided in source code form with BLIPS or any that meets the Atmel AVR- 109 protocol.

Version 3 of BLIPS adds an optional command line interface to the graphical user interface in prior versions. This permits BLIPS to be called from scripts and batch files, with file and action parameters, and return a success status. The batch mode support for commercial for-profit endusers is controlled by a usage key. A sample command line batch file is:

blips progf -d atmega8 -p com1 -b 57600 "Flash file1.hex"
echo blips exit status = %errorlevel%

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