Hi

As you may have seen in the following announcement post Hi-Tech have made some questionable changes to their compiler (for both the 12F and 18F PICs) which has broken code-compatibility with previous versions:

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=852

I am currently trying to work out what they changed and how it affects the code already on this site. You can follow the conversation over on the Hi-Tech forums here:

http://forum.htsoft.com/all/showflat.ph ... page//vc/1

It seems that there is now a push from Hi-Tech to move their compiler over to be compatible with the Microchip C18 compiler (both from an SFR perspective and also code compatibility (which is currently beta)).

So if you are running version 9.80 or above and you see a stream of warnings when compiling code from this site, you are seeing the fact that Hi-Tech have depreciated their own libraries. Officially (for now) these are just warnings and the code should still work. However this seems not to be the case (for example my Atari Joystick Adaptor project no longer compiles).

Other than the projects which I regularly maintain (such as the USB HID libraries) I do not have the time (nor the inclination) to set up every project I've done and rewrite the code. So if you get issues please use the 9.6x version of the compiler.

Since Hi-Tech are forcing its users over to a Microchip C18 syntax the 'smart' thing to do seems to be just simply dropping the Hi-Tech software and using C18 instead (why wait for Hi-Tech to painfully move to something which can already be had?). Furthermore, the simple layout and syntax of the Hi-Tech compiler was one of the primary reasons I liked it - especially since all the fancy OCG code optimisation was only available in the non-free versions so I never got any advantage from it.

It's not often that I decide to swap out such a primary part of my development tool chain, however I don't think I will be publishing any more Hi-Tech based projects. You can expect to see Microchip C18 code on this site for all future projects.

Regards
/Simon

P.S. I moved this to the open forums so you can comment and add your own thoughts to this. Please feel free, I'm interested in your feedback.

This is the problem with using other peoples compilers.

I had serious problems in the 1980's with buggy assemblers so wrote my own suite of assemblers that were very carefully tested.

I am using 9.66 HI Tech C at the moment with the simple LED/push button projectand it is fine.

Hi

Actually I am now in the process of dropping Microchip's PIC as the primary focus of my projects and moving over to an AVR based tool-chain.

Whilst AVR vs PIC is always a fiery subject, the fact is that there is very little difference between the silicon of a PIC18F4550 and Atmel chips such as the ATmega16U2 from a functional perspective.

However, with the AVR I can use gcc and free myself from the bonds of Microchip's restrictive licensing schemes. Even the PIC32MX tool-chain (which is also gcc based) requires proprietary close-license libraries to function.

It's a shame, because I really like PICs (and this whole site is a testament to that fact), but I think the only way to shift Microchip's views is to not buy their products if I don't agree with their policies.

/Simon

I have always felt Microchip should provide compilers fully optimised free of charge.

I worked for a PIC consultancy for 13 years and Microchip often gave us gear free of charge due to the volume of PICs we bought.
The assembler is free so why not a C compiler ?

I think it's a shame Microchip are continuing to treat loyal users in such a way. Considering they make their money from silicon, restrictive compilers are just a poor-show imho.

My complaints with Microchip have been that they don't fix mistakes in their datasheets, and searching for documents on their website is awful.

Oh, and silicon bugs.

Hello!

Oh~~~
Because HI-TECH cramping.
Your comments are all in agreement.
They are wondering what the hell people any age.
Without a great many of the tools are getting a lot of Wed.
That they are distributed free of charge and that it is not a fool will find out soon enough.
PIC is ready to give up, but I'll think about it.

Thanks for the help here… I was trying to find resolve some errors, and this thread gave me the clues I needed.

Also, to get the older C Compliers…

ftp://Compilers-RO:C0mP!0511@ftp.microchip.com

-vern-