This thread is a continuation of C18 related off topic posts in Junebug Help.

In JPUG#1 Multiplexing Charlieplexed Displays masking was discussed in the context of charlieplexing. The text regarding masking is discussed in the section: setLatA(), setTrisA() on page 5.

Although the article is specific to manipulating the Junebug's charlieplexed leds it should provide a good general explaination of how masking is used in relation to IO ports.

I am open to suggestions.

3v0

EDIT: Added link to JPUG#1 as suggested by Pommie. See his (the next) post for the link to the JPUG index.

I would suggest that a link to the JPUG newsletters would be useful.

Mike.

Atom did a real good tip and tricks pdf for the C18 it here
http://atomsofttech.no-ip.info/tempd...TechC18_v8.pdf

This would be a good one for MrDeb http://www.blueroomelectronics.com/J...2_June2008.pdf and if he reads this down load it and read page 6

Moved this from the junebug thread:

The use of the suffix bits just allows you to set/clear or test an individual bit of a variable.

Thats what I thought "bits" did. In the example on multiplexing in JPUG1 masking is used to change some bits without chaning others, is it done that way because they are changing several bits at once and want to avoid changing the non targeted ones?

and to make sure Im generalizing this properly from your example

Code:

TRISBbits.TRISB1=0; or TRISB&=0b11111101

if I wanted to set port A pin 0 to input, I would type:

Code:

TRISAbits.TRISA0 = 1;

and if I wanted to set port B pin 0 high, assuming its an output according to TRISB, i guess it would be:

Code:

PORTBbits.PORTB0 = 1;

Im totally guessing on the PORTB0 part, but thats the kind of thing I could find in one of these microchip PDFs isnt it?

(I'm just explaining this to see if i have it right)
TRISB&=0b11111101 will only shut off pin 1 or anywhere you insert a 0. and if you wanted to set some high without effecting the others you would OR it with a line of 0's where you wanted no change, and a 1 where you wanted it to definitely come out high.

so for setting port A pins 1 and 3 high would I type:

Code:

 PORTA|=0b00001010;

(corrected due to input from pommie in other thread)

[end of moved post]

In JPUG#1 Multiplexing Charlieplexed Displays masking was discussed in the context of charlieplexing. The text regarding masking is discussed in the section: setLatA(), setTrisA() on page 5.

Yeah, i remember it demonstrated a method of using those commands to turn bits on or off in a single command without effecting the ones you don't intend to change. I can use it by copying it. But i'm not sure yet what LatA refers to.

Originally Posted by Triode

Thats what I thought "bits" did. In the example on multiplexing in JPUG1 masking is used to change some bits without chaning others, is it done that way because they are changing several bits at once and want to avoid changing the non targeted ones?

Yes that and one other reason. To change which bits control the LEDs ony need to change the line.

Code:

#define LED_MASK 0xC1

You would also have to change the arrays to reflect the needed values

Code:

// LEDs on A0,A6,A7
// LED index 0 1 2 3 4 5
const byte valA[]={0x01,0x40,0x40,0x80,0x80,0x01};
const byte dirA[]={0x80,0x80,0x01,0x01,0x40,0x40};

Originally Posted by Triode

Yeah, i remember it demonstrated a method of using those commands to turn bits on or off in a single command without effecting the ones you don't intend to change. I can use it by copying it. But i'm not sure yet what LatA refers to.

latA is an array of bytes. The 0th element is the value you must write to LATA to get the 0th (first) charlieplexed LED to light. dirA is an array of TRISA values. The 0th element of dirA is needed to get the first charlieplexed LED to light.

Because we are only interested in PORTA bits 0,6 and 7 we use the masking to not change the other bits (1,2,3,4,5).

3v0

LATAbit.LATA0 sort of thing is good to use if you only need to change one bit.

To make your code more portable you might do

Code:

#define STATUS_LED  LATAbits.LATA0
#define STATUS_LED_TRIS TRISAbits.TRISA0

Then in your code write

STATUS_LED_TRIS = 0;  // for output
and
STATUS_LED = 1;          // to source a LED

Thanks. I think I have enough about swithing ports high and low to get my going now.

Any good C18 tutorials on how to capture a PWM signal?

Also, at some point I'm going to have to learn about having a pic generate multiple PWM signals for motor control, I know it can be done, but all the tutorials I see on generating PWM use wait commands in a single loop that would seem to get in the way of generating other pwm signals, or doing anything else for that matter. I know a few ways of timing several loops simultaniously on PC but they dont seem to apply on a PIC.

We have talked about generating multiple PWM signals here several times.

To do it in software I use a timer interrupt, 100 interrupts per period. On the 0th interrupt it turns on all outputs with a duty cycle greater than zero. For the next 99 it checks to see which if any it should turn off. On the next it turns them all back on and starts over.

100 is handy because you can express the PWM duty cycle as percents. Choose whatever number of interrupts works for you application.

That's funny looks like C18 would set it right when changing just a bit
with just the

Code:

          #define STATUS_LED PORTAbits.RA.0

But you have to do it this way

Code:

          #define STATUS_LED  LATAbits.LATA0

Here you go have at the whole story in a nutshell

Depending on the device selected, there are either five
ports or three ports available. Some pins of the I/O
ports are multiplexed with an alternate function from
the peripheral features on the device. In general, when
a peripheral is enabled, that pin may not be used as a
general purpose I/O pin.
Each port has three registers for its operation. These
registers are:
• TRIS register (data direction register)
• PORT register (reads the levels on the pins of the
device)
• LAT register (output latch)
The data latch (LAT register) is useful for read-modifywrite
operations on the value that the I/O pins are
driving

PORTA is a 7-bit wide, bi-directional port. The corresponding
Data Direction register is TRISA. Setting a
TRISA bit (= 1) will make the corresponding PORTA pin
an input (i.e., put the corresponding output driver in a
Hi-Impedance mode). Clearing a TRISA bit (= 0) will
make the corresponding PORTA pin an output (i.e., put
the contents of the output latch on the selected pin).
Reading the PORTA register reads the status of the
pins, whereas writing to it will write to the port latch.
The Data Latch register (LATA) is also memory
mapped. Read-modify-write operations on the LATA
register reads and writes the latched output value for
PORTA.

Now that Burt has brought it up maybe we should say a word about port bit field names.

In C18 some ports use names like
PORTXbits.RX0
while others will have names like
PORTXbits.PORTX0

If in doubt check the processor .h (ie: p18f1320.h) file to see what names are used or allowed. It helps if you understand what a union is. You can even add to or modify the definitions it you like. But I would not recommend it in most cases.