Getting started guide

FLOW CODE4

NO CODING, NO LIMITS...

For AVR
microcontrollers

Minimum system requirements

Personal computer Pentium processor or greater Windows XP + CD ROM drive 256MB RAM 100MB hard disk space An internet connection is recommended for product activation.

Flowcode 4 installation
Installation can be started by running the program FlowcodeV4(AVR).exe in the root directory of the CD ROM. To do this select START...RUN from the main Windows menu and enter D:\FlowcodeV4(AVR).exe, where D represents the letter corresponding to your CD ROM drive. The Flowcode installation routine will guide you through the installation process including the installation of any subsidiary programs or tools required by the software. Before starting the installation process please refer to the README.TXT file on your CD ROM drive which contains additional information about the installation process.

Network installation
If you have bought a network version of this product then you have two options for installation: 1: You can install this program on each of the machines on which it will be used and for which you have a license. The number of machines this can be installed on is limited to the license number: for example if you have a 10 user license you can install it on 10 machines 2: If you have a network management system then you can use the MSI script provided in the SETUP directory of the CD ROM to automate the installation process. There is a document in the docs directory of the CD ROM that explains the network installation process in more detail.

Licenses and activation

For anti-piracy reasons all copies of Flowcode must be activated. Once installed Flowcode will be fully functional for 30 days until it is activated. To activate Flowcode click on the Visit Website button, which appears when you start Flowcode, to send in the activation data and receive a registered license key. If you do not have an internet connection please call us. Note: You may need to run Flowcode with administrator privileged when activating the license. Once activated, you should not need to re-activate Flowcode again.

Driver installation
Driver files for various Matrix products can be found on the Flowcode CD ROM. To find the driver installation files by selecting START...RUN from the main Windows menu and enter D:\etc\, where D represents the letter corresponding to your CD ROM drive. The Matrix USB driver installation routine is detailed in the following pages below the Flowcode installation details.

Example installation
A set of 100+ example files demonstrating Flowcodes operation and components are available on the main Flowcode page on the MatrixMultimedia website. We also provide several tutorial example files which are available on the CD ROM. To find the example files select STARTRUN from the main Windows menu and enter D:\ where D represents the letter corresponding to your CD ROM drive.

Technical support
Technical support for this product is available on our web site: www.matrixmultimedia.com.

This is the first installation screen. Please read the instructions and press NEXT when you are ready to continue.

Here you can select whether Flowcode is made available for all people who use your PC, or just for you. Press NEXT to continue.

If you are happy with the installation choices you have made click NEXT, or click BACK to make changes.

Please wait while the Flowcode AVR files are installed onto your computer.

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This is the first driver installation screen. Please read the instructions and press NEXT when you are ready to continue.

This shows you the driver End User License Agreement (EULA). Please read this and, if you agree, check the I accept radio button, then select NEXT.

Read the license agreement and, if you agree, check the I accept radio button, then select NEXT.

This screen allows you to choose where to install Flowcode. Use the BROWSE button to choose the installation directory, when finished click NEXT.

Once installed Flowcode will ask you for a License key, which can be found inside the CD case. If you do not have a license key contact your dealer. Selecting Do not enter key will enable you to use a feature limited demo version of Flowcode.

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Please wait for a few seconds for the driver files to be installed. On some computers this may take several minutes to complete.

This is the last screen of the driver installation. When you click FINISH the driver is installed and when you plug in your Matrix Multimedia hardware it will be automatically recognized by your PC. 5

Making your first program

When you first load Flowcode you will be given a choice of creating a new flowchart or opening an existing chart. Click on the first option and you will be asked to choose a target microcontroller device. 1

You will see a Begin and End icon in the window marked Main. This is your main program. 2

Menu Toolbar Icon toolbox Component toolbox Chip Properties Pane Simulation Panel

This graphic shows the functions of icons on the Toolbar. To find our what an icons function is simply hold the mouse pointer over the icon and a small tool tip will give you a clue.

From the Icon toolbox drag an Output icon onto the space between the Begin and End icons. Then click twice on the icon to bring up the properties window. Set the properties as shown. (Variable = 1, Port = PORTA, single bit) 3

Click on the Step Into icon or select RUN...STEP INTO on the menu. You can use this to step through your program. Notice A0 on the chip goes red to indicate logic 1 output. 4

This is your first program. You can use the help file (click on HELP in the Menu) to understand how all the icons and the components work. On the Flowcode CD ROM you will find a number of example files, of varying degrees of sophistication, which will help you to understand how to construct more functional programs. To use the example files you must first copy them from the CD ROM onto your local hard drive. Please refer to the forum at www.matrixmultimedia.com for any technical support issues.

Preparing to download
Before downloading to your AVR microcontroller you need to make sure the hardware programmer is set up correctly. Open the CHIP...COMPILER OPTIONS window and put the appropriate information into the Programmer Parameters section. 1 You should change the avrispmkii and usb entries to suit your own hardware programmer, but leave every other entry as it is. See the help file for AVR_DUDE for more information.

You then need to make sure the chips configuration options are correct. To do this, open the CHIP...CONFIGURE window. 2 The entry in the picture sets the first fuse entry to 0xDF. Please consult yout AVR datasheet for appropriate fuse settings. Click OK and Send to send the fuse data to the AVR. But be aware that sending inappropriate fuse data could prevent the chip from being reprogrammed.

To send the program to the microcontroller, you should first save the program and then select CHIP...COMPILE TO CHIP. 3 This will first create the C code for your flowchart, then compile it, and finally transfer it to the microcontroller. The compiler messages window will be displayed during this process. Congratulations! You have now created your first program and sent it to your microcontroller. You are now ready for some more challenges. Please refer to the AVR-DUDE help file for more assistance in downloading programs, or post a message on our support forum.
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Getting further information

Once you have got your first program running inside your AVR microcontroller you are ready to start to develop more sophisticated programs than the one we have just seen. To help you learn more there are several places where you can go for further information: Help file: contains help on Flowcode software itself Component Help Files: contains help on specific Flowcode components Example files: On the Flowcode for AVR CD ROM you will find around 30 example files demonstrating principles of Flowcode operation. There are also example files available from the main Flowcode product page on the Matrix Multimedia website. Learning Centre: on the Matrix Multimedia web site you will find a number of articles, learning resources and manuals on how to use Flowcode. This includes a range of videos that explain how programs are constructed with Flowcode. Forum: if you get stuck in installing Flowcode or in using Flowcode for a particular application then please refer to the Forum at: www.matrixmultimedia.com Here you can search for those who have had similar problems and find fixes. You can also post your questions to our engineers who answer Forum queries as a priority over other technical support enquiries.

Licensing and versions

The features that you have in your version of Flowcode will depend on which version you have bought. There are several versions of Flowcode 4 that you can see in the table on the right. The differences in functionality are also shown in the table. The terms used in the table are explained below: Limited components: Some versions do not have all components. Limited component versions include LED, Switch, ADC, LCD, 7-segment display, Keypad, Quad 7-segment display, Burglar alarm and Buggy. These versions can not have more components added to them as free downloads. Advanced components include: SPI bus. I2C bus, Internet, Webserver, CAN bus, LIN bus, EEPROM, IrDA, Bluetooth, and RS232. Other components may be added to this list. Multi-user education: The software license for multi-user versions is for educational use only. Industrial users who need more than one license will need to purchase each license separately. Only 10 and 50 multi-user versions are available. Those requiring between 10 and 20 users will need to purchase 2 off 10 user versions. Upgrading licenses: If you want to upgrade your version from one type of license to another, then you simply pay the price difference between the two versions. Limited devices: Some versions do not have all devices. Limited device versions only include a preset number of the more popular devices as well as the Matrix custom devices. In circuit debug: Some versions of Flowcode do not have the ICD functionality. These versions will still work with the Matrix ICD hardware but the ICD operation will be disabled. Virtual networks: Some versions of Flowcode do not have the Virtual network simulation functionality. These versions will not be able to host or join the virtual network. Code customization: Some versions of Flowcode do not have the code customization feature. These versions will not be able to view or modify the component code. Commercial use: Some versions of Flowcode do not allow commercial use of the product. to develop programs for commercial applications a valid commercial licence of Flowcode must be purchased.

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Version summary
Annual student rental for site licence holders Y Y Y Y Y Y N N

Flowcode 10 concurrent users Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y

Unlimited icons All devices All components In circuit debug Virtual netw orks Code customization Licence for commercial use Multi-user license for education

N N N N N N N N

Y Y N N N N N N

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N

PIC and PICmicro are registered trademarks of Arizona Microchip inc. AVR and ARM are registered trademarks of Atmel inc.

Flowcode 50 concurrent users Y Y Y Y Y Y N Y

Home version

Flowcode Pro

Free version

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www.matrixmultimedia.com.

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