Submitted by drew on

 

 
When you create a project in MPLABX, none of the files that it creates can be used to open MPLABX. Instead, you have to open MPLABX and then open your project by navigating to it (or leave it open in MPLABX when you close the IDE). I have devised a means to open a project in MPLABX by double clicking on a file.
 
(MPLABX is based on Netbeans version 6, so I imagine something similar could be done to open Netbeans projects. I'm not familiar with the native Netbeans or other types of Netbeans projects, so I'm just guessing here.)
 
Basically, it works by saving a script that opens MPLABX with a command line, sending it the project's folder path. I rename the script file with extension ".mplabx" and then set up an association that calls the scripting engine for that type of file. I chose to use VBScript as the language for this.
  1. Create a VBScript file. See attachment for source code. It looks for a folder that ends with ".X", in the same directory as the script file. If more than one is found, it looks for a folder with a similar name as the script file, e.g. MyProject.mplabx will open the project in the folder named MyProject.X.
  2. Rename the script file to ".mplabx".
  3. Add an association to the Windows registry for opening .mplabx as a file that can be run by the Windows scripting host. The most important part here is the HKCR\MPLABXFile\ScriptEngine\(Default Value) needs to be set to "VBScript". The attached registry file sets up this association and sets the icon for the new file type. This reg file is based on the built-in .vbs and VBSFile keys.
  4. Add an environment variable named "MPLABX" which points to the installation location of MPLABX. The command sent by the script uses that variable to determine the location, like this: "%MPLABX%\mplab_ide\bin\mplab_ide.exe"
 

 

Tags
Software
Windows

Installing GBridge on Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

Submitted by drew on

 

Just because I don't want to have to look this up again. Windows 8's driver signing enforcement prevents installing GBridge's network drivers. I posted how to work around that on gbridge.net forums when I was testing the Windows 8 preview, but their forum is offline now.

Windows 8

This method works for Professional or Home versions.

Grape Harvest

Submitted by drew on

 

I finally got a full harvest off of this vine (before birds, etc.) These grapes are pretty sour, if you just pick and eat. And seedy. However, I always thought they might make good jelly or something. So this year, I have lots of grapes to try something.

Basically, the process is:

Raspberry-Vanilla Pudding

Submitted by drew on

We have a picnic on July 4 where we are supposed to bring a dish. An hour before the picnic... what should we bring? We have lots of fresh-picked raspberries and that vanilla pudding I got last week. After a few minutes of Google-searching for things that use those two ingredients (no results, except for baked items and stuff of the wrong kind), I am going to make my own recipe for this.

Five Crunch Mix

Submitted by drew on
 
Five different textures of crunch for a delightful and versatile snack that doesn't leave your taste buds feeling like you drank an ocean of saltwater.
 
Shake together in a container (or snack bag) in the desired proportions....
  • honey nut cheerios
  • pretzels (thin style, broken in pieces)
  • unsalted peanuts
  • Spanish peanuts
  • banana chips
  • raisins
 
I usually go heavy on the cheerios.