MikroElektronika Forum

Is MikroElektronika on track for an end of November release of dsPIC PRO?

I'm having real problems with the standard version and I'm hoping that an upgrade will save the day.

Hi,
We are doing our best to keep those "deadlines". The first week in December might be the most probable beta release period, but I cannot make any hard promises yet.

Best regards,
Aleksandar

Hi guys,

please don't miss this inofficial deadline - I need something to do over Christmas, and finding bugs in the new compiler would certainly keep me busy :D

I just managed to squeeze out a few RAM bytes by abusing unused SFR registers to store some variables, but would much rather prefer the possibility to reduce the amount MikroC sets apart for dynamic allocation so I can use it for my variables - hope that more flexible allocation is still a feature of the Pro compiler?

Hope is the last to die.

Orcino

The fact is that the compiler is not a priority for the company, if it would not be so long without updates. I like the compiler, but for the DSPIc I'm thinking of buying another compiler and use the Mikroe only PIC 16 and 18F.

Orcino Borges

The policy of upgrades free for ever leads to this.
The compilers less used by hobbist have lesser commercial interest than the most used, in fact the bussines of mE is selling cards.
In any case the microchip C compiler is quite good even when losses the optimizations(the student version).
An if you spend a little more and buy it is quite perfect and quite affordable. The strong point in mE is the dsPic Pro3 & 4 development boards so it's easier to develop using the mE C compiler even if it is almost discontinued.
I bought the C compiler for dsPic in mE and I'm not sure I did ok, now I've got a lot of work done and changing is hard.
Lets wait a little more.....perhaps some day there will be a Pro for dsPic.
With malloc if possible.

Orcino Borges wrote:The fact is that the compiler is not a priority for the company, if it would not be so long without updates. I like the compiler, but for the DSPIc I'm thinking of buying another compiler and use the Mikroe only PIC 16 and 18F.

Orcino Borges

I pretty much agree with your comments, but I must still be young enough to hope everything will come good in the end. Let's hope the end is sooner than we expect.

Hi orcino,

missing product development deadlines is not unique to MikroE - although I can understand your frustration (can't wait myself for the new compiler to show up - and then it will be a few months before all the major bugs ar ironed out). Having worked in engineering for quite a few years now I'd tend to say it's the norm rather than the exception - I'm always surprised if one of my company's development projects finishes within a few weeks of the target date - and there aren't too many occasions to be surprised :-)

While a development delay to improve functions could be understandable,
i would tend to think that lack of support for new devices is less understandable.

I bought a dspic33fj128gp80 and dspic33fj12gp201 when they came out nearly a year ago, and still not supported.

I also am very anxious to see the new release ;)

Mig.

Hi,

please don't miss this inofficial deadline - I need something to do over Christmas

You will be programming on Christmas, I guarantee that! At least with beta version for sure!

With malloc if possible.

Malloc() will be implemented in new compiler.

I bought a dspic33fj128gp80 and dspic33fj12gp201 when they came out nearly a year ago, and still not supported.

dspic33fj12gp201 - Is supported in PRO compiler
dspic33fj128gp802 and dspic33fj128gp804 - Also suported.

Best regards,
Aleksandar

Aleksandar,
Thank you for keeping us updated!

I'm also very anxious to see the new release.
I have one question though.
Will the new release support PIC24FJ256GB110?
Will it have USB library?

Thanks
Mike.

Hi,
Q: Thank you for keeping us updated!
A: I'm glad to be able help :-)

Q: Will the new release support PIC24FJ256GB110?
A: Yes

Q: Will it have USB library?
A: Unfortunately not. This library will not be implemented for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24 compilers in this release. I cannot make any promises, but I assure you we are working on it.

Best regards,
Aleksandar

Q: Will it have USB library?
A: Unfortunately not. This library will not be implemented for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24 compilers in this release. I cannot make any promises, but I assure you we are working on it.

That's a real disappointment and I can't really understand it given that you have included support for the GB processors - I would have thought that USB functionality would have been right up near the top of the list.

[quote="aleksandar.nikolic"]
Malloc() will be implemented in new compiler.


Hello Alesandar,

I am using mikroC Pro for PIC.
I need to use malloc() function for pic16f877a project.
Is malloc() is supported by my MikroC version.

It seems my version doesnot support that.
I tried including standard C libraries stdlib.h but still having errors.

Is there a way to get malloc() work in Mikroc?

Hoping a soon reply.

Thank you.

Hello,

malloc() was not considered to be implemented for PIC architecture, and this is not a forum topic related to PIC compilers either. Non-linear, bank-based memory organization make it extremely complex to implement malloc() for PIC architecture.
Linear memory organization, found in dsPIC and AVR is much more convenient for dynamic memory allocation. All that needs to be done is to implement global heap data structure that will allow this kind of dynamic memory implementation.

For now, we focused on different priorities, SSA optimization and IDE polishing, but dsPIC compilers will soon support heap and malloc();

Best regards,
Aleksandar