CCS News

CCS is getting closer to completing the dsPIC® compiler. Be sure to check out our dsPIC® web page for more information.

E-mail can be a very effective way to get help from CCS. Here are a few helpful hints to to best utilize our e-mail program...

• Like other companies CCS gets a lot of SPAM, and we now use a SPAM filtering service to reject SPAM. If you have trouble getting through please call so we can exempt your address.
• 92% of the e-mail sent to CCS is answered within a day (81% within 4 business hours). If your e-mail is not answered within 6 business hours you will get a automatic response to let you know we got your e-mail. If you do not get this then either we did not get your e-mail or your return address is bad. We get e-mails every week from people who do not have a valid address set for the sender.
• To get an immediate (10 minutes) reply to your email include the 3 characters {?} on the subject line. Our system will then notify you as soon as it is assigned a tracking number.
• To get a list of all the e-mails you recently sent and the status include a {*} on the subject line. These e-mails should not also contain a problem report since they are discarded.
• The response will be much faster if you can point directly to the problem and/or include ready to compile code so we can recreate it here. Much of the 2% of e-mail we take over a week to answer is because we are not able to easily see the problem.
• If you have report a bug and a compiler fix is required we wait until the fix is made and tested before we send you a response e-mail. If the fix is not released until after your download rights expire, just let us know and they will be extended.
• If you are feeling ignored feel free to send us an e-mail asking for a more detailed status update. Including the tracking number will help to get you a fast response.

Why not check out CCS products at your favorite distributors? Both Digi-Key and Newark InOne carry the full line of CCS C Compiler software and a limited selection of our most popular development kits, in-circuit debugger/programmers, and prototyping boards. Over the next few months, more and more hardware will be stocked at Digi-Key and Newark InOne, making it easier than ever for our customers to access our products.

Of course, most items that are non-stock with distributors can be shipped out same-day from CCS, Inc. Domestic companies can set up an account simply by emailing or faxing a purchase order; we require no additional paperwork.

Look for Custom Computer Services, Inc. in the latest print catalogs from Digi-Key and Newark InOne, and discover more ways for you to buy the products you want.

CCS is always happy to receive positive feedback from customers, and this excerpt from the PIC List web forum is no exception:

"CCS is an outstanding company. Monday afternoon (10/10) I ordered their Mach X Programmer and today (12/10) it has been delivered to my door... Bear in mind that there is a time difference of 6-9 hours between the US and Sweden so in practice it was delivered in less than 2 days. Incredible.

I am a very satisfied customer having used their compilers for eight years. Last year I bought their USB evaluation kit and they had included a European power supply. Ready to run out of the box. Great!"

- A customer in Sweden

CCS aims to provide high-quality development tools at a very low cost allowing customers the ability to immediately begin their development projects. As observed by the customer, we provide all the items necessary to get started with your project the same day the items arrive at your door step.

What can we help you develop today?

Visit the PIC list at www.piclist.com.

Have a story you'd like to share? Email your thoughts to CCS.

CCS is leading the way in wireless development. Look for our new Wireless Development Kit – ZMD Edition later this year.

This kit allows for development of wireless devices that are IEEE 802.15.4 compliant. The heart of the ZMD Wireless prototyping board contains the ZMD44102 transceiver, which is 900 Mhz and can transmit up to 100 meters.

Source code is provided to customize wireless applications such as energy management, remote metering and control, home and building control, industrial networks, two-way remote keyless entry, and health monitoring networking.

Standard protocol stacks will be available and ready to compile with the CCS C Compiler in December. Visit our news page over the next few months for updates on the release date of our ZMD Wireless Development Kit.

The CCS Real Time Operating System (RTOS) allows a PIC® microcontroller to define and run regularly scheduled tasks. This is accomplished by a dispatcher built at compile time through the preprocessor directives to define tasks. This provides a cooperative multi-tasking RTOS. However, due to the practical limitations of the PIC, it does not offer preemptive scheduling.

In the manual/help file, see the preprocessor directives #USE RTOS and #TASK as well as the RTOS built-in functions.

Note: RTOS was released in version 3.20 of PCW or PCWH. If you want to update your compiler please call 262-522-3500 x35 to purchase maintenance or access your account and purchase online.

DLP Designs has developed USB Data Acquisition Boards that teach a user how to interface to FTDI's FT232BM USB-UART IC using small microcontrollers and simple RS232-like commands.

CCS has made this easy for the C programmer by offering a special limited PCW compiler to accompany the board at a great low price. This package is sold exclusively at Mouser Electronics (Mouser Part # 626-DLP2232PB-CCS).

Parallax, known for the BASIC Stamp, is now the exclusive supplier of the SX chip. CCS has partnered with Parallax to provide an optimized and robust SX C compiler. Parallax will offer development boards and debugging tools that will work in conjunction with the CCS SX compiler. For additional information and ordering options, please visit the Parallax website. The compiler will be available in December 2005.

Starting the week of December 5, 2005, Microchip will be hosting a workshop series about power supply design. Engineers may attend and learn how to incorporate microcontrollers in their designs. They will learn about interfacing traditional analog power supply designs with microcontrollers and the advantages of digital monitoring and control within a design.

Microchip chose the CCS C Compiler "due to its ease of use and convenient built-in functions." Also, because Microchip feels it is less complicated and confusing than other C Compilers, attendees will be able to "concentrate on the concepts and less on the syntax of C."

CCS is delighted to grow our relationship with Microchip by supplying the compilers for the entire series of workshops.

CCS offers several mailing lists to keep you up to date on CCS news and software.

Receive an email notification when:

1. A new version of the CCS C Compiler has been released
2. The News page is updated
3. dsPIC^® news is available
4. dsPIC^® support is available
5. Your current maintenance contract is nearing expiration

To subscribe or unsubscribe from Email List options #1-4 please click here.

To receive notification when your maintenance is about to expiring, please send an email. Please provide your customer number or reference number if you have it. We will be happy to add you.