Post by thread:MPSIM message

>What does the message "Caution - file register read before written" that >MPSIM attaches to certain instructions signify? Is it telling me anything I >should pay attention to, ie "the simulator behavior is different from >silicon at this point" or what? The documentation does not seem to cover >this message. The message is telling you that you are reading a file register before it has been originally written to and if you are depending on this value, it's probably in error. The power up values of file registers are indeterminant (an individual value *may* seem to be always a certain value, but if you were to record the power up values everytime you powered up, you'd find that they change). Actually, I did this experiment (I can give you the code - just requires a few LEDs and a switch). Because of this, it is extremely important that all variables are initialized at the start of a program; even if it is just to clear them, it is better than trying to debug what is going on. I spent six weeks in the Summer of '96 looking for an improperly initialized variable (many people on the list will probably remember it). Unfortunately, the variable wasn't hit until about 100,000 cycles (or 100 msec) into the program (which takes an inordinate amount of time for the simulator to get to) and I was just to lazy to wait for it (it would have taken about a half hour and I would have had to write a pretty complex stimulus file for it) - but if I had, I would have found the problem pretty quickly because of the "Register Read before Written" Message. myke "There are only three kinds of economists in the world. Those who can count and those who can't." - Eddy George, governor of the Bank of England

Bob Blick <spam_OUTbblickTakeThisOuTTELIS.ORG> wrote: >What does the message "Caution - file register read before written" that It means that you are using the contents of a register that may contain random data because it was never initialized. Good programming practice is to initialize the RAM area, generally to 0. -- Bob Fehrenbach Wauwatosa, WI .....bfehrenbKILLspam@spam@execpc.com

In message <ijRzyYi8aM4f089ynKILLspamexecpc.com>, Bob Fehrenbach writes: >It means that you are using the contents of a register that may contain >random data because it was never initialized. Good programming practice >is to initialize the RAM area, generally to 0. Absolutely true. This warning is a double caution. You can get in trouble by either not initializing it to some known value or by not knowing that the old value may have some bearing upon what status flags get set or cleared after one of these instructions is executed so it really means to _know_ what you are doing unless one wants random weirdness. I could do without that most of the time. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK 36.7N97.4W OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group

>>What does the message "Caution - file register read before written" that > >It means that you are using the contents of a register that may contain >random data because it was never initialized. Good programming practice >is to initialize the RAM area, generally to 0. OK, seems reasonable. I get it when reading the ports, and of course since they are being used as inputs, I'm not going to write to them, but MPSIM doesn't seem to distinguish between a port and a file register. -Bob

part 0 1066 bytes ---------- De: Bob Blick[SMTP:.....bblickKILLspam.....TELIS.ORG] Enviado: s‡bado 4 de enero de 1997 2:57 Para: Multiple recipients of list PICLIST Asunto: Re: MPSIM message >>What does the message "Caution - file register read before written" that > >It means that you are using the contents of a register that may contain >random data because it was never initialized. Good programming practice >is to initialize the RAM area, generally to 0. OK, seems reasonable. I get it when reading the ports, and of course since they are being used as inputs, I'm not going to write to them, but MPSIM doesn't seem to distinguish between a port and a file register. -Bob ---------------------------- Thanks for all - Mil gracias ---------------------------- Eduardo Jorge Mart’nez VŽlez a Asesoria & & s Sistematizacion INET: EraseMEejmvspam_OUTTakeThisOuTsatlink.com 73070.3653spam_OUTcompuserve.com CServe: 73070,3653 2000-Rosario-SF-Argentina TelFax: (54)(41)254561 Tel: (54)(41)8804 ----------------------------