The
File menu allows GPIF Designer projects to be loaded from and saved
to disk. It also provides a simple mechanism for starting
fresh, with a pristine, new project. Finally, some non-waveform-specific
project properties are also accessed from this menu.
The
File|New
menu
item erases all user-placed waveform
action points
and resets all block diagram settings to default values
for the selected chip.
Selection of File|New
will bring-up the Chip
Selection
dialog box. The selection of a chip is needed in order
to determine default values for the new block diagram.
The
File|New
item severs any attachment to a GPIF Designer project file.
So, the File|Save
operation is temporarily disabled until the new project has
been saved using the File|Save
As . . .
menu item.
File|Open
has the expected functionality of allowing the user to select
a previously saved GPIF Designer project file.
When the
program launches, the default directory for File|Open
is set to the directory in which GPIF Designer exectable file
is located. When a Designer project file (.gpf) has been
opened, the starting directory for File|Open
is set to the directory of the current project file.
One important side effect
of File|Open is that, if GPIF
Designer finds a file named "app_note.htm" in the
directory from which the project file is loaded, that file will
be accessible from the This
Project
item of the Help menu.
The name and path of the currently
open (i.e. active) project file is displayed in the caption
of the GPIF Designer main window.
File|Save
writes all the block diagram and waveform information to the
currently active GPIF Designer project file. The
waveforms of all enabled banks
are saved.
File|Save
As
prompts for a name and location of the new GPIF Designer project
file in which to save all the block diagram and waveform information.
After saving the data, the new file becomes the currently
open (i.e. active) project file.
GPIF Designer project
files should have the suffix .gpf.
The
File|Properties
menu item brings-up the Properties dialog box shown below.
The
Show
vertical grid on waveform diagrams
checkbox allows modification of the waveform appearance
to show or hide the vertical grid lines. Below is an example
of a waveform without the grid lines.
By
default, the vertical grid lines are turned-on when File|New
is invoked. This setting is saved along with all
other parameters to the GPIF Designer project files (*.gpf)
when the File|Save
or File|Save
As
operations are performed.
The
Enable
GPIF Debug Output on PE[2:0]
checkbox controls the value of the GSTATE bit (b2) of the IFCONFIG
register. Check this box in order to read the values of
GSTATE bits [2:0] on lines [2:0] of port E.
GPIF
Designer is able to manage up to 8 sets (i.e. banks) of waveform
descriptors. Each bank consists of 4 waveform descriptors,
which are displayed on the 4 waveform editor tab pages. At
any one time, only one bank of waveform descriptors is displayed.
However, the displayed bank of descriptors can be switched
via the Tools|Select
Waveform Bank
menu item.
The number of waveform banks available is
configured using the Waveform
Banks Enabled
field of the File|Properties
dialog box.
When the
Tools|Export
to GPIF.c
file menu item is invoked, waveform
descriptor data structures are exported for all enabled banks. If
more than 1 bank is enabled, the resulting "*.c" file will
be larger
and more complex.
It is more common to use the multiple
banks to store variations of similar waveforms, for training purposes,
than to actually generate multiple waveform descriptor data
structures in an exported .c file.
By default, only 1
waveform bank is enabled when File|New
is invoked.