A PICAXE preprocessor to implement most preprocessor directives found in Picaxe Programming Editor 6 for use with axepad, blockly, and other non-PE6 editors.
This tool can also be used as a starting point for include/macro implementations in other software tools.
If you don't already have it, install python3.
Copy picaxepreprocess.py (and optionally the Makefile for advanced usage) to the directory your .bas files are in or to a known location. For ease of use this location may be in the system path such as /usr/local/bin so that the script can be accessible from anywhere on the system by entering picaxepreprocess.py in the terminal without needing to know the actual location.
You might also want to edit the compile_path variable to point to the Picaxe compilers. If
you don't already have them, they can be downloaded from here. Alternatively, the compiler path can be specified with the -P option.
That's it!
Run ./picaxepreprocess.py.
If your starting file is named "main.bas", and you're ok with outputing to "compiled.bas", that's it!
You can also specify an input file with -i filename.bas or without the -i if it is the last option, such as picaxepreprocess.py input.bas
Output files can be specified similarly with -o outputfilename.bas
The preprocessor will automatically look for included files in the working directory, and in a subdirectory called /include if it exists. (note: for optimal compatibility with PE6 includes, using this include directory on shared projects with PE6 users is not reccomended.) You can also specifiy absolute file paths.
In general usage, the script should be called and any required options and flags given after it on the same line as follows:
picaxepreprocess.py [OPTIONS] [INPUTFILE]| Short | Extended | Value expected | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
-i | --file= | yes | Input file (default main.bas). Flag not required if it is the last argument given. |
-o | --ofile= | yes | Output file (default compiled.bas) |
-u | --upload | no | Send the file to the compiler if this option is included. |
-s | --syntax | no | Send the file to the compiler for a syntax check only (no download) |
--nocolor | no | Disable terminal colour for systems that do not support it (Windows). | |
--noifs | no | Disable evaluation of #if and #ifdef - this will be left to the compiler if this flag is present. | |
--tablesertxd | no | Enable a non standard extension that will evaluate a ;#sertxd directive. See the Table Sertxd Extension section below for more details. | |
--tableserout | no | Enable a non standard extension that will evaluate a ;#serout directive. Also automatically enables --tablesertxd. See the Table Sertxd Extension section below for more details. | |
--verbose | no | Print preproccessor debugging info | |
-h | --help | no | Display a text version of this help message |
| Short | Extended | Value expected | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
-v | --variant= | yes | Variant (default 08m2) (alternatively use #PICAXE directive within the program. This option will be ignored if #PICAXE is used) |
-s | --syntax | no | Syntax check only (no download) |
-f | --firmware | no | Firmware check only (no download) |
-c | --comport= | yes | Assign COM/USB port device (default /dev/ttyUSB0). Alternately use #COM directive within program. This option will be ignored if #COM is used. There should be a space between the -c and the port on unix based systems, unlike the compilers. |
-d | --debug | no | Leave port open for debug display (b0-13) |
--debughex | no | Leave port open for debug display (hex mode) | |
-e | --edebug | no | Leave port open for debug display (b14-b27) |
--edebughex | no | Leave port open for debug display (hex mode) | |
-t | --term | no | Leave port open for sertxd display |
--termhex | no | Leave port open for sertxd display (hex mode) | |
--termint | no | Leave port open for sertxd display (int mode) | |
-p | --pass | no | Add pass message to error report file |
--tidy | no | Remove the output file on completion if in upload mode. | |
-P | --compilepath= | yes | Specify the path to the compilers directory (defaults to /usr/local/lib/picaxe/) |
--online-compile | no | Use the online compiler and output a compiled .axe file (instead of the local compiler) | |
--online-syntax | no | Use the online compiler for a syntax check only (no download) |
Enable a non standard extension that will evaluate a ;#sertxd or ;#serout directive to automatically save, load and print a string from table memory on supported chips.
For example:
;#sertxd("Hello world", cr, lf)Syntax is the same as the sertxd command, although dynamic content such as printing variables is not supported and may cause cryptic errors if attempted.
Two word and one byte variables are required for storing addresses and processing, as set by the defines outlined below. These variables can be modified between calls to ;#sertxd, although any call to ;#sertxd will modify them unless variable backup and restore to storage ram is enabled.
The folowing definitions can be used to change the default behaviour (and apply to both tablesertxd and tableserout:
| Definition | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
TABLE_SERTXD_ADDRESS_VAR | w0 | Changes the word used. If not backing up, the value in it will be lost when ;#sertxd is called. |
TABLE_SERTXD_ADDRESS_END_VAR | w1 | Changes the word used. |
TABLE_SERTXD_TMP_BYTE | b4 | Changes the byte used. |
TABLE_SERTXD_BACKUP_VARS | Do not backup | Enable saving & restoring the variables used to storage ram. This is slower as it uses peek & poke, but allows the variables to keep their value accross ;#sertxd calls. |
TABLE_SERTXD_USE_EEPROM | Use table memory | If defined, uses eeprom to store strings instead of table memory, allowing this extension to be used on chips without table memory. |
TABLE_SERTXD_MEM_OFFSET | 0 | Offset the start of the first string in case the first part of the memory is needed for something else. |
| Definition | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
TABLE_SERTXD_BACKUP_LOC | 121 | The location in storage ram to save the existing values of the general purpose variables. 5 bytes are required. |
TABLE_SERTXD_ADDRESS_VAR_L | b0 | The lower byte (I haven't had much success in using peek and poke with words, so need the individual bytes) |
TABLE_SERTXD_ADDRESS_VAR_H | b1 | The upper byte |
TABLE_SERTXD_ADDRESS_END_VAR_L | b2 | The lower byte |
TABLE_SERTXD_ADDRESS_END_VAR_H | b3 | The upper byte |
This flag also enables the non standard ;#sertxdnl directive that prints a new line. When called many times, this uses less program space than sertxd(cr, lf)
| Definition | Default Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
TABLE_SEROUT_PIN | none(required) | The output pin to send the serial message on (eg C.0). |
TABLE_SEROUT_BAUD | N4800 | The baud rate to output the serial signal (see the PICAXE Command Reference for list of valid baud rates) |
Click to expand
As an example of what it does, a cutdown version of the simple.bas example:
#picaxe 14m2
main:
;#sertxd("Hello World", cr, lf)
;#sertxd("That's a really annoying line!", cr,lf,"(because of all the characters that have to be ignored when in a string;",cr, lf, "such as ',', ''', ';', ')', '(', ']', '[', ':', '#', ...")
;#sertxd("This line contains dynamic content that cannot be printed", #w0)
pause 5000goto mainis preprocessed (on Ubuntu) using:
cd Examples/SertxdTableExtension
# picaxepreprocess.py is copied into a folder on the path, so I can just call it as follows:
picaxepreprocess.py -s --tablesertxd simple.bas # Syntax check and enable tablesertxd extension.'-----PREPROCESSED BY picaxepreprocess.py-----'----UPDATED AT 12:05PM, March 13, 2021----'----SAVING AS compiled.bas ----'---BEGIN simple.bas ---
#picaxe 14m2 'CHIP VERSION PARSED
main:
;#sertxd("Hello World", cr, lf) 'Evaluated below
w0 =0
w1 =12gosub print_table_sertxd
;#sertxd("That's a really annoying line!", cr,lf,"(because of all the characters that have to be ignored when in a string;",cr, lf, "such as ',', ''', ';', ')', '(', ']', '[', ':', '#', ...") 'Evaluated below
w0 =13
w1 =174gosub print_table_sertxd
;#sertxd("This line contains dynamic content that cannot be printed", #w0) 'Evaluated below
w0 =175
w1 =232gosub print_table_sertxd
pause 5000goto main
'---Extras added by the preprocessor---
print_table_sertxd:
for w0 = w0 to w1
readtable w0, b4
sertxd(b4)
next w0
return
table 0, ("Hello World",cr,lf) ;#sertxd
table 13, ("That's a really annoying line!",cr,lf,"(because of all the characters that have to be ignored when in a string;",cr,lf,"such as ',', ''', ';', ')', '(', ']', '[', ':', '#', ...") ;#sertxd
table 175, ("This line contains dynamic content that cannot be printed","?") ;#sertxdAnd should print something like:
Hello World
That's a really annoying line!
(because of all the characters that have to be ignored when in a string;
such as ',', ''', ';', ')', '(', ']', '[', ':', '#', ... This line contains dynamic content that cannot be printed ?
See the Makefile for an example of advanced usage. When properly configured, the makefile can automatically handle preprocessing the code, compiling it, and uploading to a picaxe chip by simply invoking make compile and run a syntax check with make syntax. The makefile also demonstrates usage with multiple picaxe chips with separate programs in the same project directory.
The online compiler feature is experimental and uses an undocumented API that may be changed and break at any time, but has been largely stable for the last several years. This allows programming even without any native compilers available for your operating system (such as on MacOS with Apple Silicon and without Rosetta 2).
If using the online compile functionality to produce a .axe file, you'll need the PICAXE programmer app or the online PICAXE programmer tool to upload it to the PICAXE chip.
As an additional experimental project, haxepad.html can be used to integrate with the online compiler as a functional yet very primitive graphical programming interface.
If you're interested in this project, you may also like this similar PICAXE Preprocessor implementation, or this similar C-style preprocessor from ParksProjets.