Q. What I can do with this software HelloDevice IDE?
A. HelloDevice IDE is a complete Java applet and Java application development tool for HelloDevice products family including any other
serial-Ethernet devices. (HelloDevice 13xx and serial-Ethernet devices are supported from
Version. 2.0)
HelloDevice IDE is built by Java language so that it can run on any platform (win32, Mac, Linux and Unix.. and more)
Just by dragging and dropping visual components and specifying their properties through extremely user friendly interface, user can make applet or application for his/her device on the fly.
Q. What are the recommended environments for running HelloDevice IDE?
A. We have tested HelloDevice IDE under the following operating systems Win95/98/ME/NT4.0/2000.
Pentium class CPU, Minimum 128MB of physical memory and at least 100 MB of disk cache area.
JRE(Java Runtime Environment) 1.3.0_02 or higher : JRE 1.3.0_02 is bundled to run
HelloDevice IDE.
Q. Tell me the improvements and changes in HelloDevice IDE 2.1
A.New features : (compared to the previous version 2.0)
- Flexible serial protocol configuration
- Bit-level configuration of serial
protocol is now possible.
- Receives continuous stream data by
intelligent buffer management.
(Application, server mode)
- Accepts multiple protocols and the
protocol-check priority is adjustable.
(Application, server mode)
- 2-byte and 4-byte integer value types
have been added in the serial protocol
composition.
- 4-byte and 8-byte IEEE 754 real value
types have been added in the serial protocol
composition.
- Integer and real values that are
represented by an ASCII text (Variable size data
category) can be mapped to a
component.
- Hexadecimal data input is possible in 'SerialTextField'
component with prefix "0x".
- Every toggle/tip switch can be grouped into a radio button group so that the
only one
button in a group can be turned on at once.
- ImageSpinSwitch component has been added to control the value of swiches or
gauges
by pressing this switch.
- NetStatusImageDisplay component has been added to notify the network status
visually..
- Applet (or application) user authentication by custom user ID and password.
- Log file generation for history record is now possible (application only).
- You can make the background of Image (Led) toggle/tip switch transparent.
- Accepts arrow key inputs in the design panel so that the precise adjustment
of
components' location is possible.
- SerialGateButton can display images on itself.
- Plenty of additional text fonts are added for various components rendering.
- "File send" menu has been added in the deployed application so that
the binary file
sending through the network is possible.
- Able to set the initial value of every gauge and switch at the design time.
- An easy-to-read component value display option has been added.
- Many additional tutorial samples are provided.
Bug fixes :
- In serial protocol composition, now you can send a Flag or Delimiter data
greater than
0x7F which was impossible in previous version.
- The problem that a real value contained in a FX(byte array type) category data
will not
be sent properly in the previous build has been fixed.
- The error in showing the boundary check results in gauges has been fixed.
- The adjustment of RotarySwitch value has became continuous which was stepwise
by 5
before.
- The resizing of Seven segment type ValueDisplay has became continuous which
was
stepwise by the times of an integer number of the original size before.
- The error in setting the maximum display value of PGraph2D component has been
fixed.
- The bug that when there exists any switch-category components whose Write
destination
is not specified, the sending data was imperfect has been fixed.
Changes :
- Byte type fixed size data became unsigned hence a byte value ranges from 0 to
255.
a byte value was signed previously ranges from -128 to 127.
- According to the above change, the behavior of the Hex-Dec-ASCII converter in
the serial
protocol configuration dialog has been modified.
Q. What are the main enhancements in HelloDevice IDE 2.0
A. The main enhancement from 1.0 beta is
- Supports HelloDevice 13xx
- Supports custom, multiple serial protocol
- Protocols can be exported or imported separately
- Powerful protocol editor and protocol verifier
- Covers various industrial serial protocol
- Compatible with any other
serial-Ethernet devices not HelloDevice1300 or 1320
- New graphical components have been added for serial communication
- Deploys Java application
- The java application can work as a client and server both (supports HelloDevice 1320)
- Device status notification by audio sound interface
- User can choose Java virtual machine for Java applet
- Light weight applet files compared to the previous version of IDE
- Reliable networking structure
Q. Is HelloDevice IDE Version. 2.x compatible with Version 1.0b?
A. Yes. However, an "ide" file created by Version. 2.x will not be opened in
Version. 1.0b.
Q. Does HelloDevice IDE support HelloDevice 13xx?
A. Yes. It is supported from Version. 2.0 or higher
Q. Is serial device support only for HelloDevice 1300 and 1320?
A. No. Any Ethernet devices that use serial protocols for device communication can be a communication server or client to the Java application
that is created by HelloDevice IDE.
Q. Can I execute HelloDevice IDE in non-win32 platform?
A. Only win32 platform installer is available at this time (as of July 2001). It is possible to run HD IDE on other platforms such as various flavors
of Unix, but, we haven't tested it. For your specific requirement, please
contact us at support@sena.com.
Q. I want to play my own sound. How can I change the audio alarm sound clip?
A. You can change the audio clip by replacing an audio clip file (*.au) in the directory "HelloDeviceIDE_directory\support".
To be playable in Java applet, the audio clip file must be encoded as Sun's audio file
type (8-bit, 8kHz mono and u-law), which is the simplest and probably the most compact.
Remember that the larger size of audio clip file will slow down the applet downloading speed.
Q. How can I change "*.wav" file to Sun's "*.au" file format?
A. There are many tools for audio file format converting such as CoolEdit or GoldWave and they will be found easily on the
Internet.
Q. What is the recommended internet browser for running Java applet?
A. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 (5.5 sometimes does not work well as we tested.) or Netscape Navigator 6.0 (4.7x is not fully supported as we tested) is recommended.
Be sure to install Java when you install the browser to your system. In some browsers, Java supporting is left as
an optional install packages.
If you are using Sun's Java plug-in, almost kind of browsers will work well with applet. Using Sun's Java plug-in is most recommended.
Q. How does the applet work?
A. Applet is a small byte code downloaded from the server (HelloDevice) and run on local machine. Applet executes platform independently by the dedicated logic called Java Virtual Machine.
Java virtual machine is provided by internet browser vendors such as Microsoft or Netscape thus the performance of the applet is supposed to be different by the browser.
Java core runtime class libraries are provided by Sun Microsystems Inc.
Q. Do I have to use internet browser's default Java virtual machine?
A. No. You can ignore the browser's default virtual machine and replace it with Sun's Java plug-in.
Q. What is Sun's Java plug-in?
A. Sun's Java plug-in is a set of Java virtual machine and core java class libraries. The plug-in is usually bundled with JRE(Java runtime environment)
By Sun's OJI(Open jvm interface) technology, Java plug-in replaces internet browser's default Java virtual machine.
Find out more at http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.3/plugin.faq.html
Q. How can I use Sun's Java plug-in as my internet browser's Virtual machine?
A. Change the context of "index.html" file to special format using <OBJECT> or <EMBED> tag instead of using <APPLET> tag. Please read the
User Manual for more information.
Visit http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.3/docs/tags.html for details.
If you are using HelloDevice IDE 2.0 or higher, this task will be done automatically by choosing an option at the moment of
deploying applet.
Q. Where can I find the latest version of Java plug-in?
A. Visit http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/jre/download-windows.html
The latest version of Sun's Java plug-in is 1.3.1 as of July 2001.
Please don't forget to download an international version if your operating system's language is not
English
In case your system doesn't have Java plug-in, you will be prompted to download
and install Java plug-in when you browsing the applet page written with <OBJECT> or <EMBED> tag.
Q. Tell me how to install Java plug-in.
A. There exists two way of downloading and installing the plug-in.
1. In case your system doesn't have Java plug-in, you will be prompted to download
and install Java plug-in when you browsing the applet page written with <OBJECT> or <EMBED> tag. Just click ok.
Then the installation will be finalized through. If you are not prompted to
download Java plug-in, download it manually from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/jre/download-windows.html
2. Download Java plug-in installer separately and just run the downloaded file. It is very important to delete any previous versions of
Java plug-in and/or JRE before you install the new one, to avoid getting them mixed.
For example, in Windows 98 you can do this by opening the Start menu and choosing Settings->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs, then selecting from the list the items you want to uninstall.
After the installation is complete, you may need to close and restart your browser to make it recognize the new plug-in, or even reboot your computer.
Q. Between US English version and International version, which do I have to download?
A. If your operating system's language is English, download US English version. Else, download international version.
Q. Sun's Java plug-in works with Netscape?
A. Yes. Netscape 4.7x, 6 works as well as Internet Explorer.
Q. I'm already using Internet Explorer 5 as my internet browser. However the applets will not work correctly. What is the problem?
A. Check your browser browsers java virtual machine by opening Java console. Microsoft's the latest build of Java virtual machine is build 3802
as of July 2001.
It is also a good idea to use Sun's Java plug-in instead of using browser's default Java virtual machine.
Q. While downloading and executing an applet, there is no action but a gray rectangle box appears in the browser. What's going on?
A. There was some errors while trying to execute the applet. Open Java Console and examine the error message.
Most of problems will be the "ClassDefNotFoundException" and if so, the problems will be solved by using Sun's Java plug-in.
Q. While downloading and executing an applet, there appears broken character which seems odd compared to usual. What is wrong?
A. Your applet files may be corrupted during uploading ".hd" file using HelloDevice Utility. Rebuild
".hd" files and
upload it again.
Q. The font and size of Text labels are not same with those I expected. How can I fix it?
A. It happens when you are using Microsoft's IE and using browser's default
Java virtual machine. Use Sun's Java plug-in to fix the problem.
Q. It takes way too long to download and initialize a Java applet. Is there any way to enhance the speed?
A. If the "index.html" is scribed to use Java plug-in and the version of Java plug-in you are using is 1.3.0 or below, upgrade your Java plug-in to version
1.3.0_02 or higher to enhance the speed.
Q. Why the audio alarm does not play when the device status is in the conditional state that I have defined?
A. Check if your machine is equipped with sound card. HelloDevice IDE audio alarm features requires sound card to play the alarm.
Also, if the "index.html" is scribed not to use Java plug-in and your browser is Netscape 6 (full installation including Java plug-in), the audio alarm will not play.
It would be better to use Internet Explorer 5 as your internet browser
Q. Where can I download the latest version of Java virtual machine for Microsoft Internet Explorer?
A. Visit http://www.microsoft.com/java/vm/dl_vm40.htm
The latest build of Microsoft Java virtual machine is build 3802 as of July
2001.
Q. How can I enable Java Console menu from Internet Explorer 5?
A. Enable "Java console" from "Tools->Internet options->Advanced" menu.
You can examine the console by selecting "View->Java console" menu.
If the applet uses Sun's Java plug-in, you can turn on the Java console by right clicking on the Duke cartoon icon in the system tray.
Q. How can I enable Java Console menu from Netscape?
A. If you are using Netscape 4.x, you can examine the console by selecting "Communicator->Tools->Java console" menu.
If you are using Netscape 6, you can examine the console by selecting "Tasks->Tools->Java console" menu.
If the applet uses Sun's Java plug-in, you can turn on the Java console by right clicking on the Duke cartoon icon in the system tray.
Q. How can I open the Java Plug-in Control Panel on Microsoft Windows98?
A. On the Start menu, choose Start->Settings->Control Panel, then double click on the Duke icon labeled "Java Plug-in".
Q. There appears multiple Java Plug-ins in Microsoft Windows98' control panel. What am I supposed to do to remove one?
A. On the Start menu, choose Start->Settings->Control Panel->Add/Remove programs, then select from the list the items you want to uninstall.
Q. Does Java applet support HelloDevice1320? (Does Java applet work as a server?)
A. No. You have to create a Java application.
Q. What is the running environments for Java applications built from HelloDevice IDE?
A. To run a Java application, there must be installed JRE(Java runtime environment) of JDK(Java development kit, JRE is included) in the machine.
JRE provides runtime executables and Java core class libraries which are required for running the Java applications.
The version of JRE must be 1.2 or higher. The latest version is 1.3.1 as of
July 2001.
Q. How can I get JRE or JDK?
A. The latest version of JRE or JDK is freely downloadable at http://java.sun.com/j2se.
Q. What is the difference between Java applet and Java application?
A. Java applications are executed stand alone in local machine. The difference from applet is it is not downloaded from the internet and is not executed in a web browser.
Not like Java applet, Java application can access local file system and run network server itself.
Q. How can I launch the Java application?
A. Double click on "MyApplication.bat" in the Windows Explorer.
If you are using non-win32 platform, type the command "java MyApplication.class [-application title]
[-port number to connect to] [-application default host address]