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CCS/TM4C123GH6PM: TM4C Pimux Tool

Dennis Quill
Prodigy 180 points
Part Number: TM4C123GH6PM

Tool/software: Code Composer Studio

Is there any way to get the cloud pinmux tool, or the newer versions of the downloadable pinmux tool to show an output like the Tiva Pinmux Tool v1?  V1 of the tool had that spreadsheet like way to show all the pins with all their possible mux modes. It was perfect for planning out a project on the TM4C, as you had all the information you needed right there. The new display format for the pinmux tool is probably better for doing board layouts. The older format was better for planning a project, or even determining if that particular package was going to work for a particular project. It would be nice to be able to have either view. 

  • 0
    Guru 13040 points
    Dennis,

    A couple of years ago a famous poster here told me they used a spreadsheet for mapping their MCU project pins, instead of a vendor specific pinmux tool. It tasted sour back then.

    Well, it turns out that we also "migrated" to spreadsheets. It proved much faster to keep the datasheet pin map open in one screen, the spreadsheet will ALL the pins on the other screen, and manage it there. When happy, simple spreadsheet functions already creates the macros we need, and even most of the configuration commands in TivaWare or in our own library syntax.

    Since we use cloud based spreadsheets, these can be quickly viewed later, copied, pasted, they are independent of "being in our own workstation", parts of them can be copied pasted to colleagues doing other stuff, etc... with far more flexibility than any vanilla-topped mux tool.

    Bruno
  • 0 in reply to Bruno Saraiva
    Prodigy 180 points

    Bruno,

    Thanks for the reply. Yeah, that does taste a bit sour at the moment. It is a good idea though, and as I think about it more it's probably better. I'm in academia, so for the most part we don't want the students auto-generating code anyways. A spreadsheet will be really quick to set up and easy to distribute to the students. 

  • 0 in reply to Dennis Quill
    Guru 13040 points
    Dennis, thanks for the feedback!
    I'd say that's even MORE reason to share that concept with the students.
    It is certainly mandatory that they learn to configure two output pins as leds and one input pin from a push button - really really mandatory (and while we are at it, no need for direct register management, just good reliable Tivaware will teach them what they need...)
    But further on, isn't it also a good progress to have these folks learn that, once the concept is mastered, they can create/use other tools for repetitive tasks? Writing code to configure 28 output pins and 16 inputs won't make them better developers - and to make things worse, they will start copying/pasting, and forget to replace some conspicuous GPIO_X among all those similar lines, and won't find out the problem until much later (or sometimes, only when the finished product engages the nuclear bomb command...)
    For such things, a block of code generated from the spreadsheet is way safer than pasting even few as 3 or 4 pin configs...
    Looking forward to hearing your progress with these mcu's.
    Cheers
    Bruno
  • 0 in reply to Bruno Saraiva
    Prodigy 180 points
    Bruno,

    I agree. It is critical that they learn how to write the code to set up the hardware themselves so that they have an understanding of what needs to be done. I also agree that DRM is not actually necessary. I really like the way TivaWare, especially driverlib, is laid out. It is abstracted just enough so that it's fast and easy to set up the peripherals, but low level enough that you can know/learn everything you need to know about what peripherals are being used for what, and how they are configured. I also think there is some value in the students getting used to working with libraries and reading API documentation. You are right that automatic code generation is good later on to prevent silly errors from making their way into code with possible catastrophic results.

    Currently we are using a discontinued platform from a different vendor for our actual uP applications course. We are thinking about switching platforms, and the 123G launchpad is one of the options. We have used it in some student projects, such as in senior design, with good results. Students were able to go through the online workshop to get started and mostly press on from there. They have all so far said that they prefer the 123G launchpad over the platform that is currently used in our uP applications course.
  • 0 in reply to Dennis Quill
    Guru 27665 points

    I need the like again Dennis. Well laid out.

    Dennis Quill said:
    It is abstracted just enough so that it's fast and easy to set up the peripherals, but low level enough that you can know/learn everything you need to know about what peripherals are being used for what, and how they are configured.

    It's also allows the peripherals to be (nearly) completely used. It's not locked into a particular solution method or problem set so that it prevents dealing with problems outside a narrow domain.

    That was a problem with many early libraries.

    Robert