Flowcode V5 Overview

Watch the Video Tutorial

Starting a new Flowcode Project

To start a new Flowcode project, depending on your operating systems,

• Start —–> All Program ——> Flowcode V5 ——-> PICmicro ——-> Flowcode V5 for PICmicros or
• Double click on Flowcode V5 icon on the desktop.

Figure 1: Select/Create a Project

• Tick on Create a new Flowcode flowchart then OK to start a new project or
• Tick on Open an existing Flowcode flowchart the OK to open an existing project.

Figure 2: Select a Microcontroller

• Select the PIC microcontroller you are going to use for this project. Click on 10/12 to select in PIC10 or PIC12 family, 16 family or 18 family.
• Click the Project description Tab to give your project a title and a short description (Optional).
• General Options Tab: here you can select the clock speed of your project in Hz. Type in 4000000 (4MHz) and select simulation speed of  “As fast as possible”. Click Ok to proceed.

Figure 3: Flowcode Overview

(1) represents the main flowchart window, all the flowchart icons are displayed in this window.

When you open a new project, The BEGIN and END icons are inserted by default.
To insert an icon, just drag and drop an icon from the Icons toolbar (2) onto the main flowchart window.
Hover your mouse over the icons to see the name and a short description of that icon.

Figure 4: Inserting Code Icons

The toolbar (3) displays the external components that can be connected to a microcontroller and panel drawing commands. The components are grouped in different categories that appear as drop down menus.
Click on a component and it will be added to the microcontroller and appear on the panel.
The pin connections and properties of the component can then be edited in the properties pane (5).

Figure 5: Flowcode Toolbar

All selected components appear on the panel below the main flowchart.

Figure 6: Flowcode Simulation Panel

Here are the components available in Flowcode V5:

Figure 7: Flowcode V5 Components

The current microcontroller chip is displayed in the microcontroller window (4). When you start simulating the program, the state of the microcontroller I/O ports are shown on the microcontroller as red for high output and blue for low output.

If the Chip is not visible, go to The View menu and select Chip.

Figure 8: PIC Microcontroller Diagram

To save your project ;

• Click on File menu —–> save As… ——> Choose a directory——-> Project Name——-> Save.
• If you want to save the Image of the flowchart, Click on File menu —–> save Image——> Choose to save as BMP or as JPEG——-> Image Name——-> Save.

Figure 9: Saving the Project