QuickStart Guide to the QCard Starter Kit

Thank you for purchasing a QCard Controller Starter Kit. This document:

     Lists the components shipped with your order;

     Tells you how to install and use the Mosaic IDE on your PC;

     Directs you to helpful documentation installed with the Mosaic IDE on your PC; and,

     Introduces Kernel Extension device drivers and explains how to use them.

Included with Your QCard Starter Kit

Included with your QCard Starter Kit are several components that assist you in developing on your controller.  You should have all of the components listed below; if any are missing, please contact us immediately:

    1. One QCard (Part No. QCC-RB) mounted on one wide version PowerDock (Part No. PDW).  Your QCard includes 512K Flash memory, 128K battery-backed RAM and a real-time clock.  A Lithium-Ion battery cell should be mounted on the QCard.

    2. One 8-volt, 1-amp wall-mount power supply;

    3. Four extra jumper shunts for configuring jumpers on the QCard;

    4. One 9-pin serial cable for connecting the PowerDock to your PC;

    5. One CD containing the Mosaic IDE software and documentation;

    6. This document; and,

    7. A packing list.

Installing and Using the Mosaic IDE

Your Mosaic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) provides all the tools you need to write, compile and download either Forth or C programs to your QCard. Through it you can also communicate with your embedded controller, examine or actuate any I/O, execute any portion of your code, and interactively debug code. If you have any questions or encounter any difficulty getting started please don't hesitate to contact us.

The Mosaic IDE is provided on an installation CD-ROM. To install it onto your PC, first insert the Installation CDROM into your CD Drive. If the installer does not launch automatically, browse to your computer's CD drive using the 'My Computer' icon and double click on 'Setup.exe' to manually launch the installer.  We recommend that you use the default installation directory ("C:\Mosaic\") and choose 'Typical Setup' when asked. If you wish to install into a different directory, you may type in any pathname provided that it does not contain any spaces. The 'Custom' setup option can be used if another version of either TextPad, the Mosaic Terminal, or an earlier version of the IDE had already been installed. However, the IDE requires all of its components to work properly so we recommend that you choose 'Typical Setup'. Please call us if you encounter any difficulties during the installation.

When the installation is complete, you will need to restart your computer unless you are installing onto a Windows 2000 machine. Be sure to choose 'Yes' when asked to restart — if you don't, the installation may not complete properly.  If you choose 'No' and restart later we recommend that to assure a full restart you fully shutdown your computer and restart it; lesser restarts don't always do the job. You are now ready to use the Mosaic IDE!

Using the Mosaic IDE

The Mosaic IDE has two main components, the TextPad editor and the Mosaic Terminal serial terminal program, both of which you'll find in the default directory "C:\Mosaic\":

     •  TextPad is a very powerful and highly configurable text and program editor. If you are programming in Forth, you can use it to write your code. If you are programming in C, all of the functions of the C compiler tools are available through the controls in TextPad. You can launch TextPad from the 'Mosaic IDE' group in the 'Programs' section of your Windows 'Start' menu. For convenience, you may want to place a shortcut to it on your desktop or on your Windows Taskbar.

     • The Mosaic Terminal is a serial communications terminal that allows you to interactively control your QCard Controller, or other QED-based microcontroller over its RS-232 interface. Forth programmers can use it to download their code to the controller where it is compiled directly into memory. C programmers can use it to download compiled C programs into the FLASH memory of the microcontroller. The terminal may be launched from the 'Mosaic IDE' group within 'Start→Programs', but it is also available from within TextPad, either from the 'Tools' dropdown menu or by clicking the terminal icon on TextPad's toolbar.  When you launch the terminal for the first time, check the communications settings (Settings→Comm) to verify that the serial port is set correctly for your computer.

To get started programming your QCard Controller please read the first two chapters of "The C Programmers Guide to the QCard Controller" ( or for Forth programmers, the corresponding document), which you can find on your CD or on your C: driver after installing the Mosaic IDE.

Documentation for the QCard

If you program in the C language you can find documentation in the directory

C:\Mosaic\Documentation\QCard Controller\For C Programmers

If you program in the Forth language you should consult "ReadMe - Summary of Forth Docs for QCard.pdf" found in the directory:

C:\Mosaic\Documentation\QCard Controller\For Forth Programmers

There are several documents you'll find particularly useful:

     •  The C(or Forth) Programmer's Guide to the QCard Controller provides comprehensive information about programming the QCard, configuring its options, using its I/O and more.  In particular, you can find,

             •  Detailed electrical specifications in its Appendix A,

             •  Pin-outs for all connectors on the QCard and PowerDock in Appendix B; and,

             •  You can consult the QCard and PowerDock Schematics to answer any detailed questions about the hardware and circuitry.  These schematics are found in Appendix C.

     •  The V4_4 Control-C Glossary.pdf provides a glossary list of all the QCard's built-in functions. 

Documentation for WildCards

WildCards are small, specialized I/O boards.  You can plug in up to eight WildCards in two stacks of four each on your QCard and PowerDock.  You can find individual manuals for each WildCard in the directory:

C:\Mosaic\Documentation\Wildcards

Each WildCard requires its own driver routine, called a Kernel Extension.

Using Kernel Extensions

A Kernel Extension is a modular pre-built runtime library that enhances the QCard's features and capabilities by providing device drivers or other useful functions.  Device drivers for Mosaic's WildCards, small I/O boards that directly plug-in to the QCard or PowerDock, are provided as kernel extensions.  These enhancements are accessible from either the C or Forth language.  To obtain Kernel Extensions for your Wildcard(s), you need to use our online tool, the Kernel Extension Manager.  The Kernel Extension Manager is available at:

      http://kxmanager.mosaic-industries.com/kem

This URL is somewhat difficult to remember, so we recommend that you bookmark it.

To build kernel extension libraries you don't need any special software on your PC aside from the Mosaic IDE that you use for all QCard software development.  Just go to the above URL to get started.

When you access the page, you will see a list of product configurations. Your selection tells the Kernel Extension Manager what kind of memory and kernel configuration reflects your hardware. If you are uncertain as to which one applies to you, feel free to call us for assistance. After you have chosen a hardware configuration, you will see a table listing the available kernel extensions for your chosen profile. To learn more about a particular kernel extension, click its name to see a short description appear above the table. When you have decided which kernel extensions you would like to use, check off your choices in the table and click the Build Packages button. The process may take up to a minute. If it is successful, you will see some reporting output and a link at the bottom of the page to "packages.zip". When you click this link, you should be presented with an option to download the zip file to your computer. Once you have downloaded the file, open it with a zip utility such as WinZip (available at www.winzip.com).

The packages.zip file contains five files:

    1. install.txt — The Flash install file.  You must download this file to QCard once to install the additional software in its Flash memory.  It is typically not necessary to reinstall the kernel extensions unless you have regenerated them with the Kernel Extension Manager.

    2. library.4th — This Forth library file is used only if you are programming in Forth. Download this file before your own application software. It must be downloaded again after a COLDSTART unless you recover using RESTORE. This file establishes a memory map and creates the Forth driver routine names needed by your application.

    3. library.h — The C Header file, used only for C programs. You must #include this file in your C application prior to #including library.c. Any additional source code files that use routines from the kernel extensions must #include the library.h file only. There must be exactly one instance of #include library.c.

    4. library.c — The C Library file, used only for C programs. This file contains function definitions that invoke the underlying code of the kernel extensions. You must #include it exactly once in your source tree, and then #include library.h in any source files that use the functions of the kernel extensions. Also, be sure to #include library.h prior to #including library.c.

    5. readme.txt — The readme file. Be sure to read this file carefully. It contains more detailed install instructions, and each kernel extension's readme text.

For Further Help

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.