Simulator for Arduino
Simulator for Arduino
Table of contents
Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4
What's new .................................................................................................... 4
Free Version Differences ................................................................................. 5
Simulator or Arduino ...................................................................................... 5
Help ............................................................................................................ 6
Getting Started .................................................................................................. 6
System requirements ...................................................................................... 6
Getting help .................................................................................................. 6
Unlocking the Simulator .................................................................................. 7
Using the IDE .................................................................................................... 7
Program Window ........................................................................................... 8
Legend .................................................................................................... 10
Program Popup Menu ............................................................................... 10
BreakPoint ............................................................................................... 11
Loading a Sketch ...................................................................................... 12
Running a Sketch ..................................................................................... 12
Hidden code ............................................................................................ 12
Stimulus File ............................................................................................ 13
<Graphics.h> virtual Library ..................................................................... 13
Variables Area ............................................................................................. 14
Variables Popup Menu .............................................................................. 16
Arduino Area ............................................................................................... 16
Arduino Popup Menu ................................................................................ 17
Menu System ............................................................................................... 18
File Menu ................................................................................................ 18
Run Menu ................................................................................................ 19
View Menu .............................................................................................. 19
Analog ................................................................................................ 20
BreakPoints ......................................................................................... 21
Call Stack ............................................................................................ 21
Class Explorer ...................................................................................... 22
Digital ................................................................................................. 23
EEPROM .............................................................................................. 23
Object Explorer .................................................................................... 24
Ports ................................................................................................... 24
Subroutines ......................................................................................... 25
Watch ................................................................................................. 26
Hardware ................................................................................................ 26
Arduino Uno ........................................................................................ 27
Arduino Due ........................................................................................ 28
Arduino Mega ...................................................................................... 29
Arduino Mega 75% .............................................................................. 30
ESP01 ................................................................................................. 31
ESP32 ................................................................................................. 32
Teensy 4.0 .......................................................................................... 32
Teensy 4.1 .......................................................................................... 33
Papilio ................................................................................................ 34
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Introduction
The Arduino development system is a powerful tool but has no debugging or emulation capabilities for many
platforms. The Simulator for Arduino is the best debugging tool available and is ranked #1 on many review
sites.
Simulator for Arduino is an Arduino Simulator which may be downloaded or purchased from
www.virtronics.com.au. The Free version has a 30 minute trial, a thirty day trial period (or 300 seconds until
unlocked) or 100 sketches then a 30 second incrementing delay on opening sketches and is code limited to
200 lines. The Pro Version has no limitations, and is supplied with updates until the end of the calendar
year. A subscription option with >50% discount is then available to renew the Pro licence for another year.
The SIMFORARDUINO Pro Version license is licenced to one user only for use on only two computers, with
a condition that any other user can use the Simulator for up to three hours for educational use only.
SiteWide licences with generous discounts are available to Educational institutions for 25 or more seats.
Email Virtronics for more info ([email protected])
What's new
Version 1.15 Mar 2024
- added Menu View>Breakpoints window
- fix up if else issue
- add variadic arguments
- add ESP32, ESP01(8266) Teensy 4.0 and 41 hardware
- move retired hardware platforms to a retired submenu
- add View() and Tool() hidden comment commands
- improve Logic Analyser to automatically pickup pins
- improve Subroutine Call Stack view
- move many windows into View and Tools windows
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Click the Get Unlock key to receive a free 30 day trial with no timer but with the 200 line limit and 100
sketches. After Unlocking, the Simulator will appear with the time and sketch loads left on the Status bar as
shown here. After 30 days the timer will be reset to 30 seconds for each new sketch loaded or edited.
Enter a valid email address to receive emails about updates, or else click the noEmails CheckButton.
Simulator or Arduino
Simulator or Arduino is a good question and Simulator and Arduino or even Arduino and then Simulator is a
good answer. The Simulator was not designed as a replacement for Arduino but an add-on product to the
Arduino development kit and has been designed as a training/demo/debugging tool. It has not been
designed as a development or compiling tool. We fully support the Arduino project and encourage new users
to buy and try a real Arduino kit first and then purchase the Simulator as needed. For first time users,
please refer to the book "Getting Started with Arduino" by Massimo Banzi.
To develop code for Arduino, a good starting point is to use the Arduino Uno together with the Arduino IDE.
For larger projects, the Arduino Mega or Due may be more suitable. This Simulator has not been designed
to check for syntax errors, and we recommend only using the Simulator for debugging only after the Arduino
sketch compiles in the Arduino IDE but there is still some issue preventing correct operation.
Official Arduino kits are recommended since these are well designed and support for the Arduino project
leads to more great new development boards and IDE upgrades. Please note that the official arduino website
is www.arduino.cc.
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Help
The Simulator for Arduino is designed to be as easy to use as possible and bug-free. However, this depends
on the level of complexity of the Arduino sketch being simulated and from time to time, the Simulator may
not work as expected. In these rare and very infrequent cases, please email [email protected] or
else post on the forum at forum.virtronics.com.au and someone at Virtronics will try to reply as soon as
possible - usually within a few days.
Getting Started
Getting Started.
Download the setup.exe file and run to install the Simulator for Arduino program and click yes to accept the
EULA (End User Licence Agreement). For the Free Version, there is a 30 minute trial period then an unlock
process. To Unlock the Simulator, enter the email address, the serial number will be automatically read from
the computer, and then click on the Get Unlock Key button. Copy the Unlock Key back to the Simulator
and clicking Unlock. Please email us if there are any issues with this process.
After purchasing a Pro Version Licence, an email will be sent with instructions on how to download the
separate Pro Version. This is done by a third party partner and the email should be sent out within a few
hours. If the email is not received within a reasonable time, please check in Junk or SPAM mail. Otherwise,
email us at [email protected] and we will try to reply as soon as possible with download and
installation instructions.
System requirements
The System Requirements are a PC Pentium II or later.
The Simulator for Arduino program will run on the following systems:
WINDOWS
· Windows 2000
· Windows ME
· Windows XP
· Windows Vista
· Windows 7
· Windows 8 and 8.1
· Windows 10
MAC
· Windows using Parallels
· Windows using VMWare Fusion
LINUX
· Wine on Linux (windows emulator) for version 16.04
Getting help
For help, please email [email protected] and please attach the sketch, or click the email button
inside any Error Message. Replies will be sent as soon as possible.
Also, please make use of the forum (http://forum.virtronics.com.au/) . Subscribe to the thread at the lower
left of the webpage to be emailed about any replies. There are already many questions and answers on the
forum and threads can be subscribed to in order to be emailed about new replies. Click the little box in the
lower part of the screen to subscribe to a thread.
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Before emailing, please check that the sketch compiles in the Arduino IDE first.
With the Unlock, the email address and serial number are required. If the serial number is empty, please
restart the Simulator. The serial number is read from the computer hard drive and should be automatically
read by the Simulator on startup. Another option is to select the menu option Help > Unlock key. When
these fields are filled, click the Get Unlock button. A webpage will then open with the Unlock key - this may
take a few seconds for the web browser to open and load the webpage. Copy and paste this back into the
Simulator and press Unlock. The same process is required for the Free and Pro versions. Please watch the
video below for a real-world Unlocking of the Free version
https://youtu.be/z3tUEiG3Ts4?list=PLvqNIsdvRBNTDAZkUYAwc3cWYRo5wPvLK
The Simulator for Arduino IDE has several sections. These are:
· The Menu system which contains options and settings
· The Shortcut Toolbar provides single click action for commonly used operations
· The Program or Sketch window
· The Variables area
· The Arduino Area
The order of the Program window, Variables are and Arduino picture may be swapped by Selecting View|
Arduino on Left. The preferred method is to have the Program Window on the left so that the work flow is
input,data and output. The Arduino picture and/or Variables area may be hidden by selecting Options >
Show Arduino and/or Show Variables and clicking on it to uncheck these options.
When the Simulator for Arduino IDE is resized, the Variables window will disappear first since this is seen
as the least important window. If the main screen is made smaller, the Program window will then disappear
and the Arduino Screen will always be on top. This allows for sketches to be simulated as they would
appear for real. There is also a Minimize button designed for this purpose.
Note that the Variables Area and the Arduino picture can be undocked by using the Allow Dock/Undock in
the Variables Area right click popup menu.
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Program Window
The Program window area shows the program listing, and the cursor will always try be in the vertical centre
of the screen for sketches longer than the window height. The Program Window allows for the program to be
stepped through. When selected, the following keys may used to run the program:
· F2 may be used to force a reset
· F3 may be used to open the Find window to search for text
· F6 may be used to edit the sketch
· F7 key may be used to step through the program and
· F8 can be used to step over subroutines while still executing all the code inside the subroutine.
· Shift F8 may be used to step out of a routine
· F9 may be used to run the program
· See the Shortcut Toolbar for more info on the step and run icons
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A new line may be selected by right clicking anywhere in the Program or Sketch window and selecting Set
Next Statement.
If the AutoStep time is set to less than 2ms, the Status-Bar will not update until Run or AutoStep is
stopped.
Special Simulator hidden code may be used to setup a particular hardware configuration, and this allows the
setup configuration to be saved inside the comments of the sketch. See Hidden code for more detail.
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Legend
The Legend may be turned on by selecting View | Legend or right clicking on the Arduino picture and
selecting Legend.
The Legend shows the colours and states of the Digital output. The AnalogWrite value of a digital pin will be
displayed to the left of the digital pin when the analogWrite() routine is used.
· Find - open the Find window to find text inside the sketch
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· Show Arduino - uncheck to hide the Arduino picture and allow more screen area for your super sketch
· Errors Enabled - turn off to prevent any annoying errors, and hope for the best. Please note this must be
manually turned on again to show any sketch errors.
BreakPoint
A breakpoint can be set by right clicking anywhere in the program window and selecting Breakpoint from the
Popup menu.
The pop-up menu has an option which can be clicked to add or clear the breakpoint. Please note that a
breakpoint condition can be added in the Edit Window to only break at the red line on a certain condition
such as when a variable is above a certain level such as i>=17.
If a BreakPoint is added, the breakpoint line will be shown in red. This is commonly used with the AutoStep
or F9 command. The breakpoint can also be saved inside a comment using Hidden Code
the syntax
// breakpoint(20)
will set a breakpoint on line 20. If a breakpoint is set on a new line, the previous breakpoint will be cleared.
To turn off a breakpoint, select the same line and select Breakpoint.
Left click on a set Breakpoint to find out which number it is. Right click and select BreakPoint to clear it.
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Loading a Sketch
To load a sketch, select File|Load Sketch, press the Load Sketch button at the top left or press F4.
Navigate to the correct folder and select the *.ino file (or *.pde for previous Arduino versions). C files can
now be simulated since the C and Arduino syntax is compatible.
Running a Sketch
After a sketch has been loaded, the first executable line of code will be highlighted. Now press the Step Into
button or the down arrow. Alternately, the F7 single step or F8 button may be pressed. The F9 button allows
the program to be autorun with a 5ms interval (adjustable -see AutoStep in Edit Window) between steps.
The interval can be set to 500ms to demonstrate in slow motion the operation of a sketch, or 1ms to run as
fast as possible with minimal refresh.
The middle section of the screen displays the variables grid, and these are organised into Bytes, Chars, Ints
(Integers), Long, Strings and Defines. Any value in the grid can be changed by selecting it and typing in a
new number.
Hidden code
Hidden code is code which is hidden inside comments. In this way, the Arduino IDE will skip these
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comments, but the Simulator will pick up the commands and perform special actions such as setting the
Serial input data with a special character string. Hidden code may be used to setup a particular hardware
configuration.
Stimulus File
The Stimulus file is a text file which allows for digital pins to be set or cleared and predetermined times.
Since the Stimulus file accepts any Arduino code, any combination of actions can be set to happen at
specific microsecond run-times.
The Stimulus file consists of one record per line, with a microsecond time setting, and an expression
separated by a comma
Note that there is also a virtual library <Graphics.h> which allows for colour screen rendering. See the
Graphics.ino demo sketch under _Sim Test\v0.98 checks
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graphics library makes this much easier. Simply define the Graphics library to have the left,top,width, and
height and then the brush and pen colours.
//UTFT myGLCD(SSD1289,11,13,10,8,9);
Graphics myGLCD(10,10,320,240,0xffffff,0xffffff);
brushColor(col)
circle(x,y,r) // draw a filled circle
clear() or clrScr()
drawCircle(x,y,r) // draw an outline of a circle
drawPixel(x,y,col)
drawRect(x,y,w,h)
drawRoundRect
fillCircle(x,y,r)// draw a filled circle
fillRect(x,y,w,h)
fillRoundRect(x,y,w,h,r)
fillScr(R,G,B)
InitLCD() // dummy routine (does nothing at this stage)
line or drawLine(x,y,x2,y2)
penWidth(width)
penColor(col)
pixel or drawPixel(x,y,col)
print(x,y,s) // print a line of text
printNumI(x,y,i)
rectangle(x,y,w,h)
roundRect(x,y,w,h,r)
setBackColor(R,G,B)
setColor(R,G,B)
setFont(size)
text(x,y,s) // print a line of text
textSize(size)
//textWidth
textColor(col) // set the pen colour to col
Variables Area
The Variables area shows the status of all the variables used in program and their current value. The Value
may be changed by clicking in the relevant cell and changing the value. Please note that having a lot of
variables shown can slow the program execution. Either select Watch or Select Options> Show Variables
and turn this off to hide the variables to make program execution faster.
Double click in the first four columns to auto-resize the variable area.
Right Click and select Binary, Dec, Hex, or Char to change the way the Value is displayed. For Char mode,
arrays can be minimized by clicking in the W column and the value shown will be string for the char array.
Click once in the Qualifier column or right click and select Watch to turn on Watch mode. This allows only
selected variables to be watched.
The Qualifier column typically shows if the value is a const, unsigned, static, volatile or pointer type (Note
that Pointers are not fully supported). The qualifier number in a heading row (shown by the gray shading)
shows how many variables of that type have been defined.
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When returning from a subroutine, the stack will be returned the the original state, and any variables defined
in the subroutine or passed as arguments will be cleaned or removed.
The second column is the watch column, and clicking in this column will show a w. The right click Pop-up
menu can then be selected to show only Watched variables. This is useful when only a few variables are
relevant amongst several hundred. The gray area in the W column may be clicked to show or hide all the
variables for that type. The last variable changed will always be shown for the last program step.
Arrays can be folded by clicking in the second or Watch column and a + sign will show that the Array has
been folded. When folded, only the first element of each array will be shown and for character arrays, the
string value of the whole array can be easily viewed. Alternately, the array may be folded at any element of
the array and in this case, the elements above will be shown, but the elements below will be hidden. Click
the + again to unfold the array
Clicking in the Qualifier column will enable or disable the watch, and the W in the second column indicates
if the Watch is on (W) or off (blank). The last variable changed will always be shown.
Please note there is a new View>Watch window which allows selected variables to be watched in real-time.
These variables are automatically saved when the Simulator program is closed.
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· Find - open the Find window to find text inside the variables area
· Clear All Variables - useful for header files which have a #ifdef FILE_H at the beginning. Clearing the
variables, then allows the header file to be stepped through. NOTE: doing this in the middle of stepping
through a sketch will cause errors since the Simulator will no longer be able to find or set variables.
· Allow Undock/Dock - select this to undock or re-dock the Variables area from the main SImulator
window. If unchecked, the columns may be resized.
· Minimize Column Widths - reduce Column Widths to sensible values to see all Variable Areas
Arduino Area
The Arduino picture area allows for the digital inputs and outputs to be displayed along with the Analog input
and output values. The digital pins are defined up to D53 for the Mega and D13 for the Uno.
The Analog Pins are defined as A0 to A5 for the Uno with A0 equal to 14. Other boards are setup according
to the Arduino configuration.
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· Load Sketch - load a sketch into the program window - useful in minimize mode
· Show All Pins - display all pins on selected Arduino hardware - useful for seeing which pins are where
· Hid all Pins - hides all pins and shows the Arduino in the reset state - note that doing this in the middle
of a sketch running may reset pins to default state
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Menu System
The Menu system has eight sub-menus. These menus allow the Simulator to be customised.
Note that right clicking the toolbar underneath the menu bar will bring up a Language popup menu.
File Menu
· Open Sketch in Notepad - this opens the sketch in Notepad for quick viewing and editing of the sketch
· Open Sketch in Arduino - this opens the sketch in the Arduino IDE if Arduino is the default program to
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open sketches. If this does not happen, right click a .ino sketch, select Open With and then Choose
Default Program and set to Arduino.exe
· Log Errors - all errors will be logged to the ErrorLog + date.txt file Note that Errors here mean program
and simulator errors
Run Menu
View Menu
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· Open the Class Explorer - view class objects with their values
The Call Stack Window is very important in debugging since it shows the origin of the current loop which
may be a subroutine, while loop or any other condition. The loop level is show at the right in the Status bar.
The middle area is the standard Arduino library objects, while the right area is for user defined C++ objects.
Analog
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BreakPoints
Call Stack
The Call Stack displays the different levels of sketch loops in the left grid
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Class Explorer
The Class Explorer allows for all the class variables to be viewed and inspected. These may only be
modified in the Variable Area at present.
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Digital
EEPROM
The EEPROM window allows for viewing and modifying of the EEPROM memory.
The EEPROM Window also has the added function of being able to view a full hex file contents, the ability to
view the contents in different formats (e.g. Decimal, Hex or Char) and being able to change and save the file.
there are many hex-file editors available on the internet and this feature is just a small part of the Simulator
Right click to bring up the popup menu which has several options:
· Clear EEPROM - set all EEPROM memory to FF
· Set All to 0 - all EEPROM memory to 00
· Decimal - display Variables value in decimal
· Hex - display Variables value in hexadecimal
· Char - display Variables value in Character format and hexadecimal
· Save to Hex File - save the EEPROM memory to a hex file
· Load from Hex File - load the EEPROM memory from a hex file
·
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Object Explorer
Ports
The Ports window wil lshow the output of any Serial or Stream output. The top line can be used for input.
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The Popup window is display when right clicking in the main data area.
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Watch
Hardware
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· LCD - Show the Virtronics custom LCD board with a 16x2 LCD fitted
· LCD 8x2 - - Show the Virtronics custom LCD board with a 8x2 LCD fitted
· Save Hardware Settings - save hardware settings to a .txt file which can be edited later
· Load Hardware Settings - load hardware settings from a .txt file
· Show All - Show all the pins, pin names and analog values for the Arduino board
· Hide All - Hide all the pins, pin names and analog values for the Arduino board
The hardware settings are saved to a text file with the format shown below. Clicking anywhere on Arduino
picture will show the X,Y co-ordinates in the Status Bar and also save them to the clipboard.
Picture(Uno,350,506) // pix,width,height
resetSw(345,105) // Reset Switch x,y
onLed(273,454) // power led x,y
txLed(276,256)// transmit led x,y
rxLed(260,256)// receive led x,y
d13Led(309,256)// d13 led x,y
crystal(192,160)// crystal x,y
usb(250,32) // usb x,y
maxPin(13,5,19)// maxDigitalPin,maxAnalogPin,maxAllPins
externalInterrupts(2,3) // External Interrupts int0pin int1pin ...
LCD_Enabled(-29,-16,200,200,0,0,0,0,0)// x,y,w,h,pixel w, p-p,backlit colour, on colour, off colour width=6*
LcdX *p-p height=10*LcdY*p-p - for graphic screen
digitalPin0(367,490,340,490,396,490) // pin x,y pin label x,y analogValue x,y
...
analogPin0(45,406,71,406,2,406) // analog label x,y pin x,y analogValue x,y
...
Arduino Uno
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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Arduino Due
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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Arduino Mega
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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ESP01
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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ESP32
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
Teensy 4.0
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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Papilio
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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Arduino Nano
The image below shows the location of all pins on this hardware setting:
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Tools
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option
· Serial Logger - show Serial data graphically from the real World or from the Simulator
· Serial Monitor - an improved Serial monitor with a classic BlueGiga toolbar
· Automated Testing - the ability to automatically test series of sketched or commands. Very useful.
In all these Tools (except Automated Testing), the keyboard commands such as F7 to single step and F8 to
step one line at a time will work.
ASCII Table
This table is provided as a quick reference to all ASCII symbols and their values across several bases.
Barcode
A quick barcode drawing function for Code-128 and EAN-113 barcodes.
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Calculator
Connectors
This page shows some commonly used serial, USB and Ethernet connectors.
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Logic Analyzer
The Logic Analyser can show the pin states in a graphical format using the trace data.
At the right are the digital pins as checkboxes. These are automatically selected by the Simulator.
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Up to ten waveforms may be displayed at any time and the data may be in integer (full number) or floating
point format. The y-axis willl autosize.
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Serial Monitor
The Serial Monitor is provided to be able to view real Serial Data.
The Serial Data will be transmitted from the Simulator out the designated Serial Port and incoming real-word
Serial data is display in the lower panel.
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In the COM Menu item, select AutoDetect to view only the available Com ports. Other settings may be
adjusted using the menu options for DataBits, Parity and StopBits.
Unit Test
Automated testing is an extensive page setup to automatically test sketches against set outputs. This
helps with testing the Simulator, and while it takes a lot longer to setup a test script, in the long term, this
will save much time.
Please note that running some tests such as All may lock up the Simulator for 5 or ten minutes.
At the bottom are 4 buttons labelled T1 to T4 and new. These are for routine tests which are all text files
found in the _Sim_Test folder:
· T1 is for the Examples from 1.Basic up to and including ArduinoISP
· T2 is for the rest of the Official Arduino examples using the standard libraries such as SPI, Wire and
Ethernet
· T3 is for bug fixes and known previous issues
· T4 is for a Simulator-oriented test script test each function as it is listed inside the Simulator source
code
· New shows the latest test scripts added
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The analog(x,VAL,NA,NA) can only be used once at the start of the script
Examples(Int,Float,STR,Output)
analog(0,123,NA,NA)
Trace
· Trace On - save all program steps to a text file with the filename based on the current date. the digital
pins state is also saved for the Logic Analyser
· Serial.Write - trace into all the output bits of each serial.write instruction and add time to the millis
function depending on the baud rate
· SPI.transfer - trace into the output bits of each 8 bit transfer and add 24us for each transfer (3us for
each bit)
· Wire.send - trace the output bits of each I2C output byte
The middle three options are specially designed for the Tool > Logic Analyser and allow the digitalPin
changes to be view in real time similar to the way an oscilloscope would display the voltage levels. When
Trace On is selected or deselected, the lower 3 options are also selected or deselected.
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Options
Please note that having any of the options turned on such as the include and library code options can cause
many errors since these files use high level C++ syntax structures so these options should be used with
care.
On the positive side, these libraries allows for library code to be easily inspected. This can be very useful
when adding a colour display from an online store such as Adafruit and then being able to open the
Adafruit_GFX and Adafruit_SSD1206 library to see how the SPI port drives the colour display.
Help
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· Show Help F1 - show this help - Note: this can also be activated by pressing F1
· Buy a real Arduino - open the Buy Arduino page
· Buy a Shield for Arduino - open the Shields for Arduino page
· Training Videos - watch all the YouTube videos related to the Simulator and Shields
· Arduino Reference - display the Arduino language reference page
· Arduino Uno - display the Arduino Uno Page
· Arduino Due - display the Arduino Due Page
· Unlock Key - view the Unlock Key and licence info - please note the Pro Version now requires an
Unlock
The F (for Free version) after the version number indicates the Simulator is identical to the Pro Version but .
The Free version has been provided as demo version to allow the Simulator for Arduino program to be
evaluated prior to purchase. It is anticipated that after a month of use, it will be more economically viable to
purchase the Pro Version than continue to run the Free Version.
Dialog Windows
The Simulator has several dialog windows which can display more information when activated. These are:
· Edit Sketch
· Error Message
· Find Variable
· Licence Key
· Reload Confirmation
· Save if Changed confirmation
· Tool
· View
Edit Window
The Edit Sketch Window allows for sketches to be edited and updated or reloaded into the Program window
· Close - closes this window and resumes simulating the program
· Update Sketch - save this edited sketch back to the program window
· Save File As - save this sketch to a new .ino file
· SaveUpdate - save the sketch under the same name and update the sketch in the program window
· Bare Minimum - load the bare minimum code skeleton - see here for more info
· Sketch Font type - changes the font type of the main program window
· Sketch Font size - changes the font size of the main program window
· Skin - this will change and save the skin for the whole Simulator program. The default skin is Windows.
Click Invert to show text against a dark background
· Library Directory - set for using custom libraries or click Reset to set the Library directory to the default
value
· Language - change between English, French, Italian and Other for titles only - also Input and output the
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language text
· BreakPoint condition - set to break on a certain condition at the red line. The condition can be any
expression and can even be a formula - such as i+=10.
· Serial InData - provides the ability to Change the Default Serial - Also available as a hidden code
command - Reset to set default value of 123456ABCDEF\n
· Simulate Delays - when checked a delay(1000) function will make the Simulator pause for one second
when auto-running
· AutoStep - the delay between single steps in the run mode - set this to 1 or 0 to run without any refresh
· Syntax Colours - allows the user to adjust and save the syntax colours - Default will reset all colours
Bare Minimum
Bare Minimum will load the bare minimum needed for a new sketch. Select Run|Edit Sketch and the press
the rightmost button to load the Bare Minimum to start writing a sketch. The text will appear as shown
below. Modify and then click the button Save File As to save the sketch to a new filename.
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
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Error Message
The Error message screen displays any code which the Simulator cannot process or which the Simulator
decides if an illegal operation such as:
· the above operation, outside the setup() and loop() routines
· setting a digital pin which is set to input
· changing a const(ant) value
· setting a variable to a value outside its limits
· addressing an array element before the start or past the end of the array
The File|Log Errors option allows these errors to be logged to an ErrorLog +date.txt file.
The Log button will only be shown if the Error could be related to internal Simulator logic. If the Error
message starts with Sketch Error, the Simulator has guessed that it is more likely the error is in the
Sketch. If this is not the case, please email the sketch to [email protected]
To quickly enable and disable the Errors, press the E letter to the left of the Load button.
When errors are enabled, the StatusBar will show (ErrEn) to indicate errors are enabled.
Shortcut Toolbar
The Shortcut Toolbar provides single click actions for commonly used operations. Right Click on this toolbar
to show the Language popup menu which allows easy switching between English, French, and Italian( and
other languages when requested) - see picture at the end of this page.
Button Functions:
· Load - loads a sketch from the last used folder into the Simulator
· Edit - Edit a sketch
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· Millis - the run time in milliseconds (NOTE: ms not seconds). This value can be changed at any time.
Each program step takes around 1us
· Run - F9 AutoStep the program one instruction every xx ms The ms value can be edited. This time is
the delay between line execution and is not the actual speed of the program since each line may take
1-100ms to execute. If the AutoStep time period is set to 1ms, the variables, blue program trace line
and StatusBar will not update to increase speed.
· Abort - abort if the program is stuck in any loop
· SubRoutines - contains a list of subroutines and shows the current subroutine- select a subroutine from
the list to jump and highlight in colour that subroutine first line without affecting the program counter
The millis milliseconds variable is displayed in a text box. This value can be adjusted by typing in a new
value. Each line of program execution takes 1us or 0.001. The commands Delay and delayMicroseconds
will add the accurate number of milliseconds or microseconds to the Millis Text box.
Shortcut keys
Several keyboard shortcuts have been added. These are
· F2 for Reset
· F3 for Find
· F4 for Load a sketch
· F5 to open the Simulation Window
· F6 - Edit a sketch in the Edit Window
· F7 to Step Into
· F8 to Step Over
· Shift F8 to Step out of a subroutine
· F9 to Run or AutoStep
· Ctrl-F for Find (same as F3)
· F11 for Soft Reset
Example Sketches
Several sketches have been included for testing the Simulator. These are the Official Arduino examples in
the folders 01 Basics to 19 Wire.
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_Sim_Test - test sketches and sketches sent in for error checking and fixing
_SIM_Extra - sketches with some new try out features and sketches from the Videos
Libraries - this folder has some test Library sketches and various header files
Test Sketches
The test sketches are made up of issues with the Simulator and are used to do quick checks on patch
versions of the Simulator. The major releases of the Simulator are fully tested against most of the sample
sketches.
Language Processing
Keywords
The following words are defined as keywords and should not be redefined in a sketch:
defined(ARDUINO) 1
defined(__AVR__) 1
defined(__AVR_ATMEGA168__) 1 for Uno or 0 for Mega
defined(NUM_ANALOG_INPUTS) 6 for Uno or 16 for Mega
FALSE 0
TRUE 1
LOW 0
HIGH 1
ARDUINO 100
TOTAL_ANALOG_PINSX // unused - default return value of 1
TOTAL_PORTS 14
INPUT 0
OUTPUT 1
INPUT_PULLUP 2
TOTAL_PINSX 20
SD_CARD_TYPE_SD1 1
SD_CARD_TYPE_SD2 2
SD_CARD_TYPE_SD3 3
PI 3.1415926535897932384626433832795
HALF_PI 1.570796326794896619231321691639
TWO_PI 6.283185307179586476925286766559
DEG_TO_RAD 0.017453292519943295769236907684886
RAD_TO_DEG 57.295779513082320876798154814105
NUM_ANALOG_INPUTS 6 for Uno or 16 for Mega
TCC 0
NULL 0
DAC0 66
DAC1 67
ARDUINO 100
__AVR__ 1
__AVR_ATmega328P__ 1 or 0
__AVR_ATMEGA168__ 0
NUM_ANALOG_INPUTS 6 or 16
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__AVR_ARCH__ 100
__AVR_ENHANCED__ 0
false 0
true 1
__GNUC__ 4
__GNUC_MINOR__ 3
__INT_MAX__ 6
RASPBERRY_PI 0
WL_IDLE_STATUS 0
WL_CONNECTED 1
WL_NO_SHIELD -1
MAX_SOCK_NUM 4
Custom Libraries
The Simulator now has the ability to load custom libraries and single step through the code. Please note
that pointers are not supported and this is the typical reason for a library not to run.
To use a custom library, there are two methods. The first is to copy the header file and cpp file to the same
directory as the sketch, and then the Simulator will find these and load them in separate tabs.
The second method which is the preferred method is to use the library directory (.\Libraries) and then the
Simulator will automatically find the library header and source file and load them in separate tabs in the
Program Window. This method is better since the Simulator will find the files in the same place as the
Arduino IDE, and will save the effort of copying the files. The Library Directory can be setup by pressing F6
to load the Edit Sketch page and at the right hand side is an Edit Box which allows the Library directory to
be Set or Reset.
Millis
The Millis functions returns the number of milliseconds the program has been running for. In the Shortcut
toolbar, the Millis edit box shows the value of milliseconds as a floating point number. The micro function will
output this value * 1000.
Please note that the Simulator is not a real-time Simulator and runs around 1000 to 10000 times slower
than a real Arduino.
Troubleshooting
· Menu has disappeared => resize the screen or right click on the Arduino picture and uncheck Minimize
· The Language is wrong => Click Edit (second from left top button) and select language and change
back to the selected language
· I have too many errors and just want to run my sketch => right click in the Sketch Window and uncheck
Errors Enabled
· No Errors are appearing when they should => right click in the Sketch Window and check Errors
Enabled
· An error has come up => click the Log button to log the error to Quality Central or Email to email the
error with the sketch
· The Simulator doesn't work as expected => check the forum or email [email protected]
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Registry Settings
Disclaimer: Do not use a registry editor to edit the registry directly unless you have no alternative. The
registry editors bypass the standard safeguards provided by administrative tools. These safeguards prevent
you from entering conflicting settings or settings that are likely to degrade performance or damage your
system. Editing the registry directly can have serious, unexpected consequences that can prevent the
system from starting and require that you reinstall Windows .
All the Simulator settings are saved in the registry under the key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SimForArduino x.xx where x.xx is the version number
The Registry settings can be viewed by running the RegEdit program or a similar utility.
Version Info
Version 1.09 - skipped - no-one else does 9 releases - what happened to Windows 9?
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- fixup all .h and .c files loading including .html - now only .h,.hpp,.c,,cpp
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Credits
Credit and thanks must go to these people for all their help: Adrian Wells, Marco Stuurman, Zeljko
Frankovic, Pete Lunt, Mark Grass Sr, Serge Desjardins, Peter Brouggy, Halam Rose, Larry Vatland,
Raimondas Butauskas, Jason Snow, J-Pierre Romanogli, Hamilton Elliott, Graeme Caie, Michael Moore,
Filipe Oliveira, Leon Rozengarten, Robert Lopez,Mauro Abbattista,Todd Radack, Alain Herben, George
Vrynios, Neko San, Mauro Abbattista, Alain Herben, Victor Aguilar, David Williams, Janis Gkatzaras,
Rodrigo Amaya, Ed Ross, David Cox, Shane Stenton, Freddie Snijman, Andres j. Ogayar, Anxionnaz
Yannick, Jeandaniel Planterose, Donald Dempsey, Enrique Condes, Peter Brown, Mladen Bruck, Jesse
Carneiro, Nigel Woodford, Ken Jensen, Koen Victor,Damir Kudeljan,Maxwell Yun, Douglas Hendricks,
Marco Baitelli, Howard Bassen, David Griffey, Patrick Beier, Fokko Dusseljee and few thousand more we
will add when there is some spare time.
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