BricxCC HTML Help problems

[mattallen37]

I will look into adding the ability to check how much RAM is available in a running program to the enhanced NBC/NXC firmware. I'll also look into exposing the "compact memory" option that the firmware has so that it can be executed manually by a running program. It is supposed to do that automatically whenever you try to allocate more memory for an array but it might be worth having the ability to do it on demand.

As the help files state, FreeMemory returns the number of bytes of flash memory that are free.

John Hansen

What do you mean by "compact memory"?

The help file? You mean what comes up when you click on the "?" in BCC? That doesn't work, at least not on this computer. Ok, thanks.

Edited for accuracy.

[afanofosc]

The help file? You mean what comes up when you click on the "?" in BCC? That doesn't work, at least not on this computer. Ok, thanks.

I mean either the HTML pages online or the compiled help file which is installed with the full release of BricxCC version 3.3.8.8. You may want to uninstall BricxCC, delete whatever bits are left in c:\program files\bricxcc\ (if anything) and then reinstall version 3.3.8.8. You may also need to reset the registry settings to their default values or run this .reg file:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BricxCC\3.3\General]
"UseHTMLHelp"=dword:00000001

Save this as a .reg file and double click it. It will turn on HTML help, in case it happens to be disabled on your computer. Help files extracted from a zip downloaded over the internet may be marked as "unsafe" which may cause them to not work correctly in BricxCC. What OS are you running?

I encourage you to report problems like search not working or help not working rather than just living with the situation. Almost always a solution can be found to fix the problems people have with BricxCC.

If help is working correctly in BricxCC then pressing F1 in an editor window when the cursor is on a keyword, command, or constant should result in the help system showing you information about that keyword, command, or constant.

John Hansen

[mattallen37]

The help file? You mean what comes up when you click on the "?" in BCC? That doesn't work, at least not on this computer. Ok, thanks.

I mean either the HTML pages online or the compiled help file which is installed with the full release of BricxCC version 3.3.8.8. You may want to uninstall BricxCC, delete whatever bits are left in c:\program files\bricxcc\ (if anything) and then reinstall version 3.3.8.8. You may also need to reset the registry settings to their default values or run this .reg file:

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\BricxCC\3.3\General]
"UseHTMLHelp"=dword:00000001

Save this as a .reg file and double click it. It will turn on HTML help, in case it happens to be disabled on your computer. Help files extracted from a zip downloaded over the internet may be marked as "unsafe" which may cause them to not work correctly in BricxCC. What OS are you running?

I encourage you to report problems like search not working or help not working rather than just living with the situation. Almost always a solution can be found to fix the problems people have with BricxCC.

If help is working correctly in BricxCC then pressing F1 in an editor window when the cursor is on a keyword, command, or constant should result in the help system showing you information about that keyword, command, or constant.

John Hansen

Okay, I'll probably reinstall soon.

I am running Windows 7 home premium 64bit.

Pressing the F1 while the cursor is on a command (or other piece of code) brings up the same thing as pressing the "?". It brings up a windows page that says "Why can't I get Help from this program?...".

I'll try your suggestions, and see if it helps matters.

[mattallen37]

I'll try your suggestions, and see if it helps matters.

I totally reinstalled BCC to the latest version (3388), so now I have the best one, but that didn't make the help stuff work. I got it to work though, by installing a Windows 7 plugin/update. Now all seems to be good. Thanks for the suggestions.

[afanofosc]

I totally reinstalled BCC to the latest version (3388), so now I have the best one, but that didn't make the help stuff work. I got it to work though, by installing a Windows 7 plugin/update. Now all seems to be good. Thanks for the suggestions.

That you had to install some kind of plugin/update makes it sound to me like you are not using HTML help. If you are not using HTML help then you don't have the latest help information since the old Win32 help files are no longer being updated. Have you run the .reg file I posted above? Alternatively, you can reset the registry entirely back to default values by using the Start|Run option and typing "c:\program files\bricxcc\bricxcc.exe" /reset.

Also installed on your computer should be the new NBC and NXC Guide PDF files which can be launched from the BricxCC Help menu.

John Hansen

[mattallen37]

No I hadn't run the .reg, but I just did.

I am not sure what you mean by all the "HTML help" and all that.

Also, what do you mean by "Alternatively, you can reset the registry entirely back to default values by using the Start|Run option and typing "c:\program files\bricxcc\bricxcc.exe" /reset"?

One more thing, the GetBrickDataAddress(); doesn't work since I updated to 3388. It gives an error saying there are two arguments, and only one is expected. The code is identical to the way it was before.

[afanofosc]

I mentioned in your other thread that the GetBrickDataAddress function is not working right in the latest compiler build. I will put up a new version soon. In the mean time you can work around this problem by writing your own function that calls the underlying NBC routine. Like this:

Code: Select all

inline void getBrickDataAddress(byte & data[])
{
  GetCommModuleBytes(CommOffsetBrickDataBdAddr, 7, data);
}

I can't tell whether running the .reg file made it so that BricxCC's help is now HTML or Win32.

HTML help:

html.jpg

(111.94 KiB) Downloaded 63 times

Win32 help:

win32.jpg (28.41 KiB) Viewed 13385 times

John Hansen

[afanofosc]

The help box(es) looks like the second picture "Win32 help".

You need to enable HTML help if your help content looks like the Win32 help image I posted. What happened when you double clicked on the .reg file with the content I posted above? It should have said something about merging the contents into the registry or words to that effect and asked if you really wanted to do that.

reg.jpg (14.1 KiB) Viewed 13380 times

Try opening a Command Prompt window and then type this:

Code: Select all

cd c:\program files\bricxcc
bricxcc /reset

This will launch BricxCC after deleting the registry key. It will reload all its default values that you can configure via the Preferences dialog. The UseHTMLHelp option is no longer modifiable via the Preferences dialog but it now has a default value of True or 1 in the registry. The default used to be False or 0 in the registry so until you delete that registry information or change it to 1 instead of 0 (which is what that .reg file I posted above does) then BricxCC will use Win32 help.

John Hansen

[mattallen37]

It did as you said, it asked if I was sure..., and I told it to, then it said something to the effect of "done" (with more words than that).

What is a command prompt window (where do I put that code)?

Is the registry something I can just go into an change a value in? I know that some programs have a text type file that keep track of different stuff, sometimes high scores, sometimes volume settings, and there are many other things that they are used for. Often I open them and change values to say that I did something, even though I didn't, or I change high scores and stuff. Is it something like that?

[afanofosc]

Once you have run that .reg file and it says that it added the information into the registry then any subsequent running of BricxCC and asking for help should display the HTML help contents rather than the Win32 help contents. Please run BricxCC and post a snapshot of what you see when you press F1 on the word "task" or "GetBrickDataAddress" in an editor window.

John Hansen