µC/Probe is a unique tool that enhances your ability to interact with embedded systems. With µC/Probe, nearly any Windows PC can become your embedded system´s custom user interface, from which you can read and write the variables that comprise your application code. Unlike conventional debuggers, which must halt program execution in order to facilitate this type of service, µC/Probe provides run-time access to your embedded application´s variables. Accordingly, µC/Probe´s benefits extend beyond the development process. In fact, you can continue to leverage this tool even after your product has been deployed.
A simulator that facilitates the evaluation of custom displays in the absence of hardware Environment
µC/Probe allows you to build custom displays that you can then use to monitor your embedded system. This invaluable tool´s environment incorporates two views that support this functionality. Design view affords you the tools needed to create a visually appealing user interface, while Run-Time view is a means for you to leverage the displays that you develop.
Within µC/Probe´s Design view, you use data screens to create your custom displays. Each such data screen is associated with a project, and, in turn, each project is part of a workspace. µC/Probe´s Workspace Explorer, as its name implies, gives you control over these workspaces. Via the Workspace Explorer, you can easily manage complex workspaces that incorporate numerous data screens.
Of course, if the data screens managed from the Workspace Explorer are to be of any use, they must be populated with components. Components, in the parlance of µC/Probe, are simply graphical elements, such as gauges or charts. When constructing a display, you can choose from a wide selection of components, most of which are highly configurable. Conveniently, µC/Probe´s grid feature allows you to accurately position these components on your data screens, while the software´s support for custom bitmaps gives you the ability to place unique graphics alongside your components.
Once you have configured a component and are satisfied with its location on your screen, you must associate it with one or more of your embedded application´s variables. You can fulfill this requirement by using µC/Probe´s Symbol Browser. The Symbol Browser´s list of variables, which is created from the contents of your application´s executable file, allows you to easily associate components with your embedded system´s data.
In order for you to monitor the variable(s) associated with a given component, you must employ µC/Probe´s Run-Time view. After you have enabled this view, µC/Probe will begin querying your embedded target, via one of several supported communication protocols, such as RS232, USB, or TCP/IP. The data that µC/Probe gathers will then be displayed on any components that are associated with variables.
If you don´t have access to embedded hardware but would still like to observe how your display would react to changing variable values, µC/Probe´s simulator should prove useful to you. Via the simulator, you can associate hypothetical variables with your components, and you can then monitor these variables in run-time view, just as if your PC were actually connected to an embedded system. Essentially, the simulator allows you to use any PC to quickly evaluate µC/Probe.
Plug-Ins
Although it can be used with nearly any embedded application, including those that do not incorporate an RTOS, µC/Probe offers unique benefits to applications that encompass Micriµm´s software. With a plug-in for µC/OS-II, as well as one corresponding to µC/TCP-IP, µC/Probe affords a convenient means of monitoring these modules´ variables. Each of the plug-ins is composed of a well-organized workspace in which all of the associated module´s key variables are represented. The useful information that these workspaces provide make µC/Probe a time-saving complement to Micriµm´s other products.
