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Special Feature

USING TK3 WINDOWS AND2000 MARK JONES

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In answer to readers' queries - how to get EPE Toolkit TK3 operating under these other systems.

FOLLOWING a number of posts on the EPE Chat Zone and some further correspondence with John Becker,

this article documents the process of run- ning John's EPE Toolkit TKJ (Oct/Nov '01) PIC programming application under Windows XP and Windows 2000 (2K).

Windows NT, 2K and XP are often crit- icised for not allowing applications direct access to the I/0 functionality. This is due to them running the processor in Protected Mode, unlike Windows 95, 98 and ME. which do not. and for which TK3 was written.

It is worth noting that the process described here should hold true for any soft- ware application that requires access to the computer's input/output (TIO) architecture.

XPBASICS With Windows XP, to enable easier

usability and command access to directo- ries within the operating system's architec- ture. the first step is to obtain the Open Command Window Here functionality.

This allows the user 10 utilise Windows Explorer to locate directories on the com- puter and then open a command window (similar to the old DOS prompt) at a cho- sen location. see Fig. I. This functionality is available within Windows 2000 without modification.

For Windows XP users this functionali- ty is available within the Microsoft Windows XP Powerroys, which are avail- able for download at:

www.microsoft.com/WINDOWSXP/ home/downloads/powertoys.asp

Install the Powertoys as per Microsoft's instructions. Readers may be interested in any sub-set of the offered functionality. but the item we are interested in here is Open Command Window Here, so ensure that this item of functionality is selected for download as a minimum. Note that Powertoys are not available for Windows 2000.

The first step in the installation process is to install the basic program itself. For the

purposes of this article the installation illustrated will be from the TKJ CD-ROM. Readers should be able 10 modify the step- by-step instructions below to suit their par- ticular circumstances (e.g. installing from an EPE ftp site download).

Following the instructions contained in the ReadMe file on the TKJ CD. the first step is to create a directory for installation. The easiest way to undertake this is to use Windows Explorer, which is available from the PC's Start menu.

Within Windows XP it is found by fol- lowing the path:

Start ·> All Programs -> Accessories - > Windows Explorer

Under Windows 2000 it is found bv fol- lowing the path: ·

Start -> Programs -> Accessories ·> Windows Explorer

The default folder shown on opening Windows Explorer is your personal My Documents folder. For the purposes of this

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758 Everyday Practical Electronics, October 2002

TIDYING UP To enable easy running of TK3PROG,

a little tidying up is necessary: First you need to create a file to issue

the necessary command to the AllowlO executable. From Windows Explorer, browse to the installation directory and in the right band side of the Explorer screen right click with the mouse and select New -> Text Document and call it TK3PROG (which will automatically be given a .TXT extension). see Fig.8 for Windows XP. Within Windows 2000 the graphics may differ but the process is exactly the same.

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Fig.8. Creating a new text document.

Now open the new text document by double clicking on it and insert the follow- ing text:

Allowio t.k3prog.exe /a Save the file and exit your text editor

(Notepad by default). Next open a Command window in the installation directory, as previously explained (depending on your operating system), and issue the following command:

Rename tk3prog.txt tk3prog.bat Next right click with the mouse in some

clear space on the Desktop and select New ·> Shortcut.

Once the Create Shortcut wizard starts, the first thing to do is to browse to the now renamed tk3prog.bat file as the target. Once the wizard has completed, right click on the new shoncur and select Properties.

Then click on Change Icon, click OK to accept the message staling that the cur- rent target contains no icon information, and in the Change Icon window click the browse button. Now browse to the installa- tion directory and select the tk3prog.exe file as the icon source, then select the only graphic offered within that file and click OK.

You should now have a correct-looking icon on your Desktop that will successful- ly run TKJ. D

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open the window at the directory selected within Windows Explorer. see Fig.7.

To open the command window follow the path Start ·> Run and then type CMD into the run line and press .

Once the CMD window has opened you need to execute the following instruction from the CMD line:

Allowio tk3prog.exe /a Following the execution of this com-

mand you will have TK3PROG running on your Windows 2000 machine, It is again suggested that the Check PCB func- tionality within TK3 is used to ensure that all communications from the PC to the PIC programming hardware are working OK.

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