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| Format | Suitable For | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Self Extracting | Windows O/S | A self extracting (.exe) archive compatible with Windows |
| Zipfile | Any (Windows) | A Zip archive (.zip) that will require a decompressor, such as WinZip |
| GZipped Tarfile | Any (Unix) | A GZipped Tar archive (.tgz) that can be expanded with the Unix tar command |
tar command. There are now GUI applications that can deal with
.tar files on a range of platforms. To use the tar command, copy the
archive into a new, empty directory and type 'tar -zxvf misimde200.tgz'
to extract the files into that directory.
To run the program as an application, you will need at least Sun's Java Runtime Environment (JRE), version 1.1 or higher. JRE 1.3 is recommended - it makes a significant improvement in the simulation speed, and as the software is largely developed using Java 1.3 SDK, it is the most thoroughly tested environment. You can download the JRE from Sun's Site: Sun's JRE 1.3 For Windows, or Sun's Java Homepage for other platforms and versions.
Once Java is installed and miSim DE has been
extracted to a new directory,
running it is simple. Two batch files are provided to simplfy starting the application
on Windows or Unix compatible machines. The Windows compatible batch file is called
misim.bat, and the Unix script is called start_misim. Both
of these are found in the main miSim directory.
misim.bat' batch file.
You need only double click on this file in Explorer
to invoke Java and start miSim DE.
Alternatively, you can start up a command prompt (Start -> Programs -> MS-DOS Prompt) and change to the directory that contains the release files. You can run the simulator under Windows 9x or NT simply by typing:
java StartMiSim
Remember that java is case sensitive - StartMiSim has two capital 'S's
and one capital 'M'. Note also that miSim does not need a classpath to be specified
(infact, the miSim .jar file must not be on the classpath for Web Update to work).
The StartMiSim class file handles these issues, including setting the
classpath.
. start_misim |
That is '<dot><space>start_misim', if you have a bash shell or |
source start_misim |
If you have a tcsh shell |
java StartMiSim
Remember that java is case sensitive - StartMiSim has two capital 'S's
and one capital 'M'. Note also that miSim does not need a classpath to be specified
(infact, the miSim .jar file must not be on the classpath for Web Update to work).
The StartMiSim class file handles these issues, including setting the
classpath.
Registering
When miSim DE is run for the first time, it will display
the following dialog:
When miSim DE was purchased, the serial number and associated user name will have been sent seperately to the user. They must be entered here. The serial number in particular must be entered exactly as supplied. The simplest way to achieve this is to copy and paste the relevant information into the dialog. If typing in the serial number, note that the serial number is case sensitive. To avoid commonly confused characters, the serial number contains no upper case 'o' characters, only the number '0'. It also contains no lower case 'L', only the number '1'.
The serial number is only valid to register miSim DE for thirty days after it is assigned. After that period, a new serial number can be assigned from the old one - the miSim website will have details of how to renew an expired serial number if necessary.
The serial number uniquely identifies the installation and the user - and should be carefully guarded. It is used for the Web Update facility and to control access to miSim DE and related services. If the serial number appears to have been copied by other users or fraudulently obtained, Feersum Technology reserves the right to suspend access to Web Update and other services for that serial number. This means that if you allow other people to use your registration details (even unintentionally), you may no longer be able to update miSim DE or download new components. You should treat your registration details as you would any other password.
Running a Program
Once miSim DE has loaded, click on 'File' then
select 'Open' to open an existing source file. The file dialog will open,
showing the directory where miSim DE was installed.
Click on the 'source' subdirectory, where you will find the source code
for various test programs. Select 'pong.asm' (not pong.hex, which is a binary
file) and click 'Open' to open it in the editor.
miSim DE will report:
Loaded 'pong.asm' OK. Click on File -> Assemble to assemble source
As the mesage says, you can now click on 'File' then 'Assemble' to assemble the source code.
The file should assemble correctly, reporting no errors (but one warning, which you can ignore). miSim DE automatically switches to the processor tab, and highlights the current instruction (in this case, the GOTO command at the start of the program). The simulation controls along the top of the screen also turn from grey to coloured, to show that you can now run the program. Before running it though, you should connect the television Plugin to the simulated chip - the pong program produces a video output signal, and expects joystick inputs which this plugin supplies.
To connect the television plugin, select the plugins tab. The currently selected circuit should be 'All Plugins', which shows all of the Plugins installed in miSim DE. Select the 'Television' plugin, which will show the relevant details on the right of the window. Click on the 'Show' button on the right hand frame (not 'Show All' on the left, which will open all of the plugins). The television Plugin should appear.
Clicking the green arrow at the top of the screen should now run the program. The round button (which turns red whilst the program is running) will stop it. To play Pong, click on the television screen, then use the keys 'Q', 'A', 'E', 'R' and 'X' for up, down, left, right and fire.
You should now have run your first program. To find out more about the assembler, editor, simulator and plugins like the Television Plugin, please read the rest of the manual, or check out the miSim website
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