LCD Watch

Post by **Henry** » Wed Nov 28, 2001 12:28 pm

Here is talk for the program called LCDWatch (which is in development).

What is is is a program to display the time on a LCD, and you will be able to set alarms to start a program (ex. Winamp) or a GPO(s) for buzzers, radio or light.

http://www.matrixorbital.com/download/l ... watch4.exe

Issues, Suggestions and uses are welcome here.

Post by **linear** » Wed Nov 28, 2001 10:49 pm

Oooh, a new toy....

/me puts on crash test dummy suit....

OK, I clicked on the .exe thinking it was an installer, and I was still running another LCD app, and all hell broke loose! I got error popups filling my screen at about one per second until I gave it the three-finger salute. So a) tell people that's not the installer :rolleyes:, and b) clean up the error handling please.

Seems you've hardcoded a baud rate

, so I didn't get too far since I'm running at 9600 in order to use LCDCenter.

Tell you what, though, since I have GPOs (albeit the wimpy ones) I'll be happy to kick the tires some more if you can address the baud thing, I'm committed to staying at 9600 absent a compelling reason to do otherwise.

How'd you get such a small executable that doesn't depend on the libraries? Or does it and it just works because I have them installed?

Post by **Henry** » Wed Nov 28, 2001 11:38 pm

Well, I didn't write it. relix is doing it, and in Delphi, so he will know best (I'm sure he will pop up here soon

)

Why are you running at 9600? LCDCenter runs at 19.2K deault?!?!?!!?!?!?! But a good bug to know about... I have a couple as well...

1. Auto detect crashes the program
2. When switching from 12 to 24 hour clock, the clock will move over one to the right and leave the first number on the left side, when you switch back, it fixes it self.
3. Scrolling is not working properly...

For the record though, relix is writing the software with NO LCD, so good work so far!!!

linear, you talked about writing software for BSD at one time, you still doing it?

Have you tried these two?

http://www.bebits.com/app/1959
http://www.bebits.com/app/642

Post by **linear** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 10:48 am

Hrm, those look like they're for BeOS. But if you meant leeching off their source code, no I hadn't seen them.

I was working on a Perl project to control my webserver, kinda shelved for the moment.

I'd like to make the thing run under Perl in Win32, that would be a giant leap forward for everyone, not just a few *NIX gearheads like me. The existing Perl module (by Anders) uses the POSIX module, which you ain't got on Win32. I haven't dusted off the gecko book long enough to figure out if it can be done or not.

Plus I'm having too much fun hacking up hardware right now.

Post by **linear** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 10:49 am

Oh, I guess I meant LCDriver not LCDcenter. The real reason is I'm too lazy to change my baud rate, you caught me out.

Post by **Henry** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 10:53 am

LOL, busted...

Post by **linear** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 10:55 am

OK, you made me look. It seems Win32::SerialPort is the secret sauce, so I'll probably hack Anders' module to work under 'doze, then I can imagine a wonderful new world of LCD madness powered by Perl.

relix · Post by **relix** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 10:59 am

On 2001-11-28 22:49, linear wrote:
Oooh, a new toy....

/me puts on crash test dummy suit....

OK, I clicked on the .exe thinking it was an installer, and I was still running another LCD app, and all hell broke loose! I got error popups filling my screen at about one per second until I gave it the three-finger salute. So a) tell people that's not the installer :rolleyes:, and b) clean up the error handling please.

Seems you've hardcoded a baud rate , so I didn't get too far since I'm running at 9600 in order to use LCDCenter.

Tell you what, though, since I have GPOs (albeit the wimpy ones) I'll be happy to kick the tires some more if you can address the baud thing, I'm committed to staying at 9600 absent a compelling reason to do otherwise.

How'd you get such a small executable that doesn't depend on the libraries? Or does it and it just works because I have them installed?

As henry said: the porgram is still under construction. I'm first trying to code the software for the LCD itself, and I can't be bothered right now with baud rate options or com port options. When I have finished the LCD features (like scrolling, displaying text, etc.) I'll make sure everything is editable and saveable, so don't worry

Post by **Henry** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 11:02 am

On 2001-11-29 10:55, linear wrote:
OK, you made me look. It seems Win32::SerialPort is the secret sauce, so I'll probably hack Anders' module to work under 'doze, then I can imagine a wonderful new world of LCD madness powered by Perl.

Interesting...

Post by **linear** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 11:35 am

On 2001-11-29 10:59, relix wrote:
As henry said: the porgram is still under construction. I'm first trying to code the software for the LCD itself, and I can't be bothered right now with baud rate options or com port options. When I have finished the LCD features (like scrolling, displaying text, etc.) I'll make sure everything is editable and saveable, so don't worry

Cool. A readme might be a nice thing to have, even at this stage. I take it it wants 19200?

Post by **Henry** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 11:37 am

19.2K and COM 2 I belive...

relix · Post by **relix** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 1:42 pm

yup, because henry had to test the program (since I don't have an lcd), I had to hard code the buad rate and com port to his wishes

Post by **linear** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 3:18 pm

I'll take another stab at it tonight.

Post by **linear** » Thu Nov 29, 2001 9:22 pm

~crash test dummy suit on~

OK, I got a lot fatrher this time, hope some of these comments help.

* I found the settings, and the .ini file (woo!)
* when I toggle the alarm, there's no feedback that it gets set
* right-click on the tray icon doesn't reflect the alarm status or allow it to be cleared
* checking "Alarm is Active" prints some crud to my LCD, but it goes away
* toggling between 12/24 hour time should cause a screen clear so that the older characters aren't left over
* launching a prog didn't seem to work
* don't have my GPOs hooked to anything so I can't really test that
* I wish I could just left-click the tray icon, but I'm a lazy SOB

* screen updates seem to be real nice and smooth

That's about all I remember, let me know when the next release hits. I'll pound on it some more.

relix · Post by **relix** » Fri Nov 30, 2001 10:40 am

alrighty! after a minor downtime of 3 days (my f*cking _licensed_ delphi didn't wanted to start up again) I can finally work on the program some more. I'm glad linear took the time to test my app, because it's always better to test it on 2 computers then on 1. I have some small surprises for the program coming up, so stay tuned!

re|ix