Short help for the DIY Calculator Loader application:

1) You need the GTK runtime >= 2.6.4; you can get it from:
   http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

2) For building you need a C compiler with linker, etc. I built with MinGW.
   You can get this from:
   http://www.mingw.org

3) I use a simple IDE, which is called "MinGWStudio" from Parinyasoft
   (http://www.parinyasoft.com). Project files for Windows and Linux are
   provided.
   If you want or feel more comfortable you can build with make
   - "Makefile" is for Linux
   - "Makefile.w32" is for Windows

4) Run the program:
   The application accepts the following cmdline parameters:

   -d --debug .......... displays debug information
   -h --help ........... short online help
   -o --offline ........ offline mode (no DIY Calculator connected)
   -p --port=portname .. communications port name (e.g. com3 or /dev/ttyS0)
           be sure to have write acces to the comm. port. it defaults to the
           first comm. port in the system
   -t --terminal ....... start a terminal instead of the background image
   -v --version ........ display version information and exit

   The is not (yet) an online help, but usage should be straightforfward.
   Be careful with the CPU clock selection. At settings below 1MHz the CPU is
   too slow for the RS-232 communication. You only can restart with HW reset
   button on the real hardware.


Short help for the simulator application:

1) This is a simple text mode application, so nothing special is required.

2) As the source code consists of only one source file, compiling/building
   should be straightforward.

3) Run the program:
   The simulator application accepts the following cmdline parameters:
   communications port name ... this must be provided, be sure to have write
     access to the selected comm. port
   debuglevel ..... this optional numeric parameter can have a value from
     1 .. 3, giving different amount of debug information:
     1 .. simulator program debug information
     2 .. 1 plus everything received from the loader app
     3 .. 1 + 2 + everything sent to the loader app


Typical use:

1) Connect the two communications ports of your PC via null modem. Only data
   lines are used, no handshake.

2) Start an xterm or a different terminal window (WIndows users: "DOS box")
   and start the simulator:
      diy_sim com2  <ENTER>

3) Start the DIY Calculator Loader application (from another terminal window
   or from a file manager window). Note the you don't have to provide cmdline
   parameters if you want to run it on the first communications port (COM1 or
   /dev/ttyS0) in the system.
   The status line at the bottom of the window, above the buttons, should say
   "connected".


That's it! If anything should not work as expected there are several ways out
of this:
1) You check the web site http://diycalculator.pcl.at for updates

2) You send an email to diycalculator@pcl.at with problem description

3) You look into the source code and try to fix it. If you do this, please
   inform me about your changes.


Have fun!

Johannes Hausensteiner                                              1.Nov.2006