Makin' a home-brewn dashboard program, and I need theory help!

[Ian W.]

and that just flew right over my head

i sort of understand the whole idea about the buffer, but the only thing that i know 100% is that when i plug something into the COM port on my computer, it makes a nice connection, and energy signals go back and forth and things happen . i want to learn more about this, but i haven't had a chance to yet.

anyways, the way i was trying to run it, it grabs a whole 2 bytes, then searches through. i seem to recall someone saying that you had less of a chance for error that way, but i'm not sure. i think i'm going to try and redesign my program though, because it doesn't work right now, and i think that the way your's is written is simpler.

thanks for the help.

[nwagers]

Does anyone program with VB? I've noticed a ton of C stuff floating around but nothing from any other languages. At one point I was working on a program that will create PBASIC from a simplified form designed around the structure of the Default Program. E.G. a line like "Filter P1_Y" would be translated into the code needed to run a low pass filter on that variable. I think this will create an environment that will allow rookie programmers to use many advanced features without consuming all their time.

[Ian W.]

i believe that someone was working on that. um, i forget who mention it, but i know it had some functionality. the only problem with something like that is that a rookie programmer could become dependent on it, so you would need to have the code created, then show why it works. then, the next year they can go and do it without the 'code-creator'.

[rbayer]

I actually wrote something a little more advanced. It is a fully graphical program generator that supports all kinds of advanced features such as deadzones, filters, tank drive, limits based on digital or analog sensors, etc, etc. It's written in one of my infamous mixtures of C and C++. Check it out at http://FIRSTprograms.tripod.com/ and tell me what you think.

As for the VB code, have you checked the Whitepapers section? I seem to remember a VB-based dashboard viewer there, but I could be mistaken.