Bricx Command Center 3.3

Bricx Command Center (BricxCC) is a Windows (95, 98, ME, NT, W2K, XP, Vista) program commonly known as an integrated development environment (IDE) for programming the RCX (all versions), Scout, Cybermaster, and Spybot programmable bricks using Dave Baum's Not Quite C (NQC) language. And it supports programming the Scout, RCX2, and Spybot using The LEGO Company's MindScript(tm) and LASM(tm) languages via the Mindstorms 2.5 SDK. It supports programming RCX bricks in C, C++, Pascal, Forth, and Java using the brickOS, pbForth, and leJOS alternate firmwares. BricxCC now also supports programming the new LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick using Not eXactly C (NXC), Next Byte Codes (NBC), and a simple on-brick programming language called NPG.

Version 3.3 of BricxCC is an enhanced revision to Mark Overmars' original program. See his web page for an overview of the basic functionality upon which this release was built.

NXT News

NXT Power Programming 2nd Edition is available now!

Check the Utilities page for a link to the new Mac OS X and Linux NeXT Tools application and other NXT utilities.

Download a recent test release of BricxCC with full support for the new NXT brick! And download a release of a command line compiler for the Next Byte Codes (NBC) programming language which lets you write programs for the NXT brick in a text-based assembly language.

Check out Not eXactly C! Not eXactly C (NXC) is a high-level C-like programming language for the NXT programmable brick which is built on top of NBC. If you get the latest release of NBC then you can also program the NXT using NXC. NXC is designed to be very similar to NQC so that learning to use this new language should be easy if you already know NQC. Version 3.3.7.16 of BricxCC or greater is required if you want to program using NXC. You can also find help for the NXC API functions on the NBC page. A compiled help is also available from the NXC Docs page. There are viewers available for the compiled help format for linux and Mac OS X.

To take advantage of multi-dimensional array support and native shift and wait operations be sure to download the enhanced NBC/NXC firmware and install it on your NXT using the Download Firmware tool in BricxCC. You can also download the enhanced NBC/NXC firmware source code if you want.

If you are using NBC you need to check out the NBC Debugger from Tamas Sorosy. Download it from www.sorosy.com. You will be amazed at how easy it makes debugging your NBC programs.

Communication with the NXT requires that the Mindstorms NXT Driver v1.02 or newer is installed. The zip can be found on the MINDSTORMS Update page. If you have any difficulties communicating with your NXT you may not have the Fantom drivers installed properly. See the NXT Fantom Driver Help document for assistance.

Downloading

The most recent version of BricxCC is version 3.3 which uses NQC 2.3r1 or later. NQC version 2.4r1 or later is required for full USB tower support - downloading programs will not work with earlier versions of NQC. NQC version 2.5a1 or later is required for NQC Spybot support. NQC 3.1r5 is now included in the BricxCC distribution so you do not have to download it separately from the new NQC website.

BricxCC latest version.

Donations

Installation

To install Bricx Command Center, perform the following simple steps:

• Run the Bricxcc setup executable. Follow the setup wizard instructions. If you choose a custom install you can select whether to install the NQC Tutorial (written by Mark Overmars with a few minor revisions by John Hansen). You can also choose whether to install the NQC Compiler. If you already have NQC installed you may wish to deselect this option. To enable full support for MindScript and LASM you should choose to install the LCC32 command-line compiler (this is installed by default).
• (Optional but recommended) To get the very latest features and support for the newest LEGO programmable bricks you should download and extract the test release of BricxCC. Make sure the directory structure in the zip is maintained when you extract the files.
• (Optional) To enable WinHelp support under Vista you will need to download and install the Microsoft WinHelp viewer.
• (Optional) Download and extract the latest version of NQC. The NQC executable (nqc.exe) must be in a directory on your PATH or in the same directory as BricxCC.exe. The LCC executable (lcc32.exe) must be similarly located.
• (Optional) Download and install the LEGO Mindstorms SDK 2.5 to enable MindScript and LASM compile and download support for RCX2, Scout, and Spybot bricks.
• (Optional) To enable RCX brickOS C/C++/Pascal support and leJOS Java support you can now download an all-in-one setup executable which installs a small subset of cygwin along with pre-built H8 tools. NOTE: If you get an error when you try to run the installer that it is missing BricxCCSetupCygwin.002 that means the download did not complete successfully. Please try to download it again during off-peak hours or using a download manager utility of some sort. Once you have successfully downloaded and installed the cygwin configuration and H8 compiler tools then install the minimal brickOS and leJOS for BricxCC and you are ready to go (except for leJOS, which still needs to have a separately installed Java Developers Kit).

Enhancements (in reverse chronological order)

• Version 3.3.7.20 adds a simple hex viewer for files on the NXT. Adds AVI video capture to the NXT Screen tool. Adds support for \" or \' in NXC and NBC strings to the NBC and NXC syntax highlighters. Fixes an access violation when closing the main window while unsaved changes exist in open editor windows and you choose "cancel" when prompted to save your changes. Fixes NXTDeviceInfo function in TSpirit class for the bluetooth address value. Fixes broken defragment operation in the NXT Explorer. Fixes SendMessage boolean NXT message bug (inverted logic). Adds support for custom NXC API syntax highlighting. Adds support for a new NBC command-line switch limiting errors to max error count. Adds support for new NBC -v=version command line switch for setting NXT firmware version (1.0x vs 1.2x) compatibility. Adds duplicate error reduction code to error list. Fixs NXT Explorer defragment operation. Adds code completion and syntax highlighter support for new NBC/NXC API functions. Improves the error list tool at the bottom of the editor window to open other files if the error/warning occurs in an included file and show a hint window as you mouse over the errors/warnings. Adds support for adjusting line numbers if the Gutter is configured to start numbering lines at zero instead of 1 and line numbers are showing. Adds a /UserPath command line switch for BricxCC that controls where the nxt.dat file and other user files are stored (e.g., bricxcc /UserPath=d:\) Adds pause/single step, NBC/NXC variable watching. Adds support for drag-and-drop from NXT Explorer PC list view to BricxCC main window to open files. Code completion can be made case sensitive or not for NQC, NBC, and NXC. User-defined functions are added to code completion list Fixes for NBC compiler error reporting. Adds internal NBC compiler status update messages. Launch Guide and Tutorial PDFs from BricxCC help menu. Launch NBC API listing windows from Preferences dialog. Fixes bug causing unsaved changes to be lost if you click Cancel when prompted to save changes. Adds visual indication of progress while initializing nxt.dat file Adds Search option to list of Ports on Find Brick dialog - only applies to NXT brick type Adds grep search feature from GExperts (Shift+Alt+S and Ctrl+Alt+R) Adds editor experts: block comment/uncomment (Ctrl+Alt+Period/Comma), align lines (Ctrl+Alt+End), previous/next identifier (Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down), and Reverse statements (Ctrl+Alt+Home). (2009-10-05)
• Version 3.3.7.19 fixes some several things that I can't remember any more. Sorry about that. It also fixes syntax highlighting for a few NBC and NXC API functions. (2008-10-19)
• Version 3.3.7.18 fixes some typo bugs in the NBC/NXC math API functions that were accidentally introduced in the previous version. (2007-11-26)
• Version 3.3.7.17 has added more support for the new NXT programmable brick. BricxCC now includes full help for NBC and NXC built into the IDE. It also now has a built-in version of the beta 33 NBC compiler which makes downloading via Bluetooth many times faster than using the external compiler. It supports RICScript which is a programming language for writing NXT pictures (.ric files). (2007-11-05)
• Version 3.3.7.16 has added a huge amount of support for the new NXT programmable brick. BricxCC now supports programming the NXT using the new Not eXactly C programming language and it includes the latest NBC/NXC compiler in the installer. The editor supports syntax highlighting and code completion for the NXC language. Templates have been added for the NXC and NBC languages. The template window is now a dockable treeview. Templates may be entered in the editor window via single click, double click, or drag-and-drop as the user prefers. The new NXT Explorer window provides drag-and-drop copying of files to and from the NXT. BricxCC now integrates with the NBC Debugger via the Compile menu. Download the NBC Debugger from www.sorosy.com. (2007-02-08)
• Version 3.3.7.15 has a revised Find Brick dialog as well as a new menu and toolbar look and feel. It adds preliminary support for the new NXT programmable brick. The Diagnostic tool, the Brick Piano tool, and the MIDI Conversion tool all work with the NXT but the remaining tools have yet to be converted. BricxCC supports programming the NXT using the new NeXT Byte Codes language and it includes the latest NBC compiler in the installer. The editor supports syntax highlighting and code completion for the NBC language. This version also fixes a bug in the serial port communication routines which was introduced in the previous release. Standard NXT executables can be decompiled in BricxCC by dragging and dropping them on the BricxCC window or by opening the files using the Open dialog. (2006-08-17)
• Version 3.3.7.10 has a revised help system (not complete). It adds support for the new Swan firmware (not complete). It now supports tabbed windows in addition to the old MDI mode for editor windows. The customizable Tools menu has been enhanced to allow waiting for the executing program to finish and closing/reopening the communication port. It now supports XP themes. The data analysis dialog lets you add series to the graph which are calculated as a function of other series. It has additional preference settings for tweaking the firmware download process. (2005-10-05)

See the History page for additional enhancements found in earlier revisions.

FAQ

See the FAQ page for answers to frequently asked BricxCC questions.

Source Code

I firmly believe in the power of the Open Source movement. Because Mark generously made his source code available I've been able to make the enhancements that are in BricxCC 3.3. So I'm similarly sharing my revised BricxCC source code for all to benefit thereby. BricxCC is written in Delphi. It is a rather extensive program so don't start working on it unless you are an experienced Delphi programmer. The source code is distributed under the Mozilla Public Licence. Since I am actively enhancing BricxCC I'd like to receive a copy of any bug fixes or enhancements.

Latest source code release of BricxCC.

Links

Dave Baum's NQC

Next Byte Codes

Not eXactly C

Programmable Brick Utilities

Comment to: