Creating Project

Old Versions

This page is current for Flowcode v11 and later. Earlier versions can be found below:

Flowcode v10

Flowcode v9

Flowcode v8

Create the Project

Create a new project by either selecting 'New Project' from the 'File' menu (File > New Project), pressing Ctrl+N on the keyboard or clicking on the NEW PROJECT button on the Start Page.

This will initiate a step-by-step process to guide you through creating a new project.

Project Types

The first screen allows selection of the project type

• Embedded projects are designed to be downloaded and run on a microcontroller
• Web Developer creates a project that runs in a web browser
• PC Developer creates a project that run on a Windows PC

Three other options exist:

• Quickstart - choose the same chip type as the last embedded project
• Autodetect - connected E-Blocks 3 boards will be autodetected, including attached downstream boards
• Example/Template - examples and templates can be loaded using this option

Choosing a new Embedded project will initiate a step-by-step process to select the chip device and ensure it is configured correctly, as described below.

Choosing to open an example or template will open the example/template screen.

Any other option will open the final screen in the process when a project name and description can be entered before finishing the process and creating a new project.

Embedded Family

Flowcode supports many embedded devices and to make chip selection easier, the step-by-step process begins by selecting an embedded family.

Recently chosen or Free targets can be selected, rather than selecting an actual family.

The "Search..." button can be used to quickly find a device.

Target Device

The next stage of the process allows the actual chip to be selected. Sub-families in the list can be expanded or collapsed if necessary by right-clicking in the list.

The "Search..." button can be used to find a specific device, or the columns can be clicked to arrange the list of targets by various features such as the number of ADC pins or the Flash memory size.

Project Options

Several project options can be changes in this screen.

Clock Speed

Flowcode needs to know how fast you are clocking your chip so that it can implement the delay function with the correct delay time.

You can alter the chip clock speed at any time by selecting Build > Project Options and entering the correct value of your clock circuit by entering the value within the Clock Speed at the middle right of the project Options window (blue rectangle).

It should be noted that the clock speed affects things like delays, it does not control the hardware speed.

If using an external oscillator, the hardware speed is controlled by a crystal or a resonator

If using an internal oscillator, in a lot of cases, depending on the target, a C code block with an OSCCON or OSCFRQ value will be required - See Internal Oscillator and IntOsc Helper component

Supplementary Code

There are several ways to incorporate C code into a Flowcode project. One way is to use the Code icon and another is to add supplementary code, which can be added here.

Other Options

• Auto clear watchdog

Some devices have a watchdog timer that resets the chip unless it is periodically reset. This setting allows Delay icons to reset the watchdog timer.

• Use #ifdef in constant decisions

This is an advanced setting that can make the code smaller when decisions in the code that resolve to a constant.

• Programmer Port

Some devices, such as Arduino and ESP boards, are reprogrammed via a serial connection (often via USB). The serial port used to reprogram these devices is set here.

Chip Configuration

Many embedded devices can be configured in different ways - e.g. with a different type of oscillator setup. This screen allows these configurations to be selected.

Please note that it is important to check the configuration before downloading to a chip.

Please ensure that the chip type and oscillator type are correct for your program as these are the main source of user problems.

Some of the more popular devices will have a default configuration which assumes a few of the more popular settings.

As a rule of thumb any feature you are not specifically using should be disabled.

Leaving any of the following enabled will likely cause issues for your application: low voltage programming, watchdog timer, extended CPU.

Configuring the chip for PICmicros

Clicking on the Configure tab from within the Project Options calls up the Configuration page, which allows you to customize settings for your current chip.

The configuration page can be used to:

Set the oscillator type required

Enable/disable advanced features such as brown out, watchdog timers, low voltage programming, read protection etc.

If you are using Flowcode for the very first time, or have changed development boards, you may need to check the options to set which board you are using.

Manually configuring the chip for PICmicros

See Selecting Compiler Options (PICmicro) for help with switching off the default configuration options that use PPP.

Once you have disabled the default configuration options you can enter your own configuration data. For the PICmicro this data will be sent to the chip every time you perform a compile to chip operation.

An example configuration word for the PIC16 series is

0x2007, 0x3FFC

The 0x2007 is the location in memory of the configuration word and the 0x3FFC is the configuration word itself.

An example set of configuration words for the PIC18 series is

0x300000, 0x00

0x300001, 0x22

0x300002, 0x0D

0x300003, 0x0E

0x300004, 0x00

0x300005, 0x00

0x300006, 0x80

0x300007, 0x00

0x300008, 0x0F

0x300009, 0xC0

0x30000A, 0x0F

0x30000B, 0xE0

0x30000C, 0x0F

0x30000D, 0x40

Configuring the Chip for AVRs

The chip can be configured from the Configure option in the chip menu.

Please note that it is important to check the configuration before downloading to a chip.

Configuration settings for individual devices may be represented by 1, 2 or 3 bytes

The function of many of the individual configuration bits are also device dependent.

The data sheet for the relevant target device should be consulted before sending configuration data.

The default setting is configured to send the hex value 0xdf (223 decimal) to parameter location 0

The parameter locations are:

0 = Fuse High Byte (hfuse)

1 = Fuse Low byte (lfuse)

2 = Extended fuse Byte (efuse)

An example of 3 bytes of configuration data is shown below

OK and Send

Save the configuration data and send to the target device

OK

Confirm the configuration data but do not send to the target device

Note: Configuration memory might have a lower endurance than program memory. Only send configuration data when changes are required.

AVR's can also become locked if incorrect configuration settings are loaded so take care when transferring the settings to a device.

Project Info

The final screen when starting a new project allows the project to be given a title and a detailed description. Once done, click the 'Finish' button to create an empty new project with the settings from the previous screens.

Examples and Templates

This screen is shown when choosing to start an Example or Template.

Templates are used to aid the user to work more efficiently and allow the user to expand programs much easier and create a common base to work from.

A Template will open as a new project, but with the settings and code in that template. Crucially, saving a new project that is started from a template will not overwrite the template.

An existing project can be opened as if it were a template. This is useful if you want to begin a new project with settings (like chip configuration), macros, code and/or components rather than starting from scratch.

Selecting device type from within Flowcode

You can change devices at any time by selecting Build > Project Options. Simply select the chip type from the 'Choose a Target' section, or right-click on any target and select 'Search' then enter partial characters, e.g. 18877.

Click the 'Modify' button to change to a new target.

If you are changing from one microcontroller to another, Flowcode will check that all the commands and components in your flowchart are supported by the new microcontroller. Flowcode will advise you of any potential problems.