SnapDev 1.6.0 Beta

[Rod Montrose[AVIDwireless]]

We are testing a new version of SnapDev and want to share it with
users to get feedback.

We have numbered this release 1.6.0 and it provides:

- Cut and paste within SnapDev. This allows pasting often used
commands directly into the Ish command line. Additionally this
supports the Windows standard Control-C for cut and Control-V for
paste.

- Separate Reset(F4) and Bootloader(F5) buttons and hotkeys.
Previously the Reset(F5) button would reset the Snap/AVIDdirector and
proceed to load the Boot Loader file (snap_loader3_avid.gpx or
snap_loader3.gpx), and provide the user the Bootloader command ("$").
Now Reset(F4) will just toggle the Reset line via the DTR and
Bootloader(F5) will perform the same function as the earlier Reset.
Many users thought that "Reset" was just resetting the device and not
loading the Bootloader and it lead to great confusion. We hope this
will make it clear.

- Logging functions. Users can now enable active logging to a file
where all console I/O is stored to a file during operation. So even if
the data scrolls off the 10,000 line display it will still be saved.
This also provides a "Save Current Session" that saves the current
screen contents to a file.

- Timestamping. When enabled each new line has a timestamp before to
it. The timestamp is of the form [MMDDhhmmss]. The SnapDev display
will look like:

[0806141341] D:Configuration.getItem%s-Read TTL1.M2MXML_ADDRESS =
VoltMain
[0806141341] D:AVIDirectorApp.start-Loading M2M_IODevice #1 Port=TTL1
M2MXMLaddress=VoltMain[deviceName=VOLTMAIN]
[0806141341] D:Configuration.getItem%s-Read TTL1.IOTYPE = AIN

- Friendly Serial Port Names are displayed. Previous versions of
SnapDev would only list the COM ports ("COM1, COM3, COM5"). This now
shows the friendly names which are displayed in Device Manager ("COM1
- Serial Port, COM3 - USB Serial Port, COM5 - Bluetooth Serial Port").

Items which are left to do are:

- Loading the Bootloader has the board and PC exchange a series of
"magic" bytes during reset. This doesn't always get recognized and we
are working to improve this. This leads to SnapDev showing a progress
bar with "Ready" on the status line. We working to improve the
recovery when this occurs.

- Automatic interrupt of /system/startup.ini. During boot up if you
press the "i" key this prevents automatic execution of the /system/
startup.ini file. We are providing a toolbar button when pressed will
reset the device and automatically enter the "i". Users have had
difficulty with timing the "i" correctly.

- Progress bar on 'recv' Ish upload of file. This will display a
progress bar similar to what is seen when the Bootloader is loaded
onto the device to indicate progress of the file upload.

- Macros for often used commands. We would like to have the ability to
store up to 4 often used command strings and allow them to be easily
pasted into the Ish command line.

SnapDev 1.6.0 can be downloaded at
http://groups.google.com/group/aviddirector-m2m/web/snapdev_1.6.0Beta.zip