Atmel megaAVR, Getting Started

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megaAVR™ Starter Kit Manual 6-1
Section 6
How to Use the Software
The software is fully context sensitive. This means that pressing F1 at any time will bring
up help information about the current option that you have selected.
Please note that the toolbar icons referred to in the text have ToolTip’s, so if you want to
know the function of any particular button, hold your mouse pointer over the button in
question and its function will be displayed.
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Starting a Project
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In-System Programming (ISP)
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Hardware Requirements
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Projects
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Data Files
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Editing Data
6.1 Projects
If you have used a high-end professional development system, you will be familiar with
the project concept. Essentially, this is a collection of details and data which are man-
aged by the program on your behalf. In the AVR, you have both Program Memory and
non volatile Data Memory (EEPROM), with various security and device options. The
project manager keeps this information together for you so you don't have to remember
and reload all the various files every time you use the programmer.
The project manager will allow you to store information like the project name and the
project identifier. It also has a small notepad for you to store comments about the
project.
Before you can start a programming session, you must either open an existing project or
start a new project. You can open a project, or create a new one, by either going to the
Project menu and selecting “New” or “Open”, or by using the “New Project” or “Open
Project” buttons on the toolbar.
6.2 Files
Once a project is open, you can load the files that you need to program into the device.
Files may be loaded by either using the “Load” command in the File menu or by using
the “Open” icon on the toolbar.
The program will automatically decode your files whether they are in Intel Hex format,
Atmel Generic, Binary or Motorola S record. The file you choose will be loaded into the
window, then it is displayed on the top of the desktop. Therefore, if you have the
EEPROM Data Memory window on top, it will load the data into that window.