Creating the First
Project with
Software for rapid additional software
development of graphical
user interfaces for various
types of TFT displays
GUI design made easy
To our valued customers,
I want to express my thanks to you for being interested in our
products and for having confidence in Mikroelektronika.
The primary aim of our company is to design and produce high
quality electronic products and to constantly improve the
performance thereof in order to better suit your needs.
Nebojša Matić
General Manager
Table of contents
Introduction 4
Creating a new project 5
Creating visual contents 8
Generating a code 12
What’s next? 16
mikroElektronika Visual TFT Additional Software 3
Introduction
Visual TFT is a software with intuitive graphic environment intended for design of visual
contents to be displayed on TFT displays. Due to a simple and user-friendly graphic interface on
your PC, you can easily place images, text, interactive contents, etc. When your visual contents
design is complete, one single click on the appropriate icon will make the Visual TFT program
to generate a code that will be opened later in the compiler...
Figure 1 - Start-up window
4 Visual TFT Additional Software mikroElektronika
Creating a new project
In order to make the process of creating a new
project in the Visual TFT program easy, we divided
it in a few simple steps. Just follow them and create
your visual contents in an easy and fast way.
When you click on the New Project icon, a new
window called Project Settings will appear on the
screen.
Figure 1 - New project
Figure 2 - Project name
Figure 3 - New project location
Name your project and specify location to save your project on in the New Project Location
window. Click on the Save button after that.
mikroElektronika Visual TFT Additional Software 5
Figure 4 - Project name confirmation
When the project name and location are specified, a window used to confirm your choices
appears on the screen. Click on the OK button.
Figure 5 - Setting project parameters options
Set necessary parameters for TFT display, microcontroller, compiler and window layout in the
Options window.
6 Visual TFT Additional Software mikroElektronika
We are going to use the mikroMMB for dsPIC33 development system in this guide and all the
parameters for TFT display will be set accordingly.
Figure 6 - Main options
Select the MikroMMB_for_dsPIC33 option from the Hardware Patterns drop-down menu in
the General Options section (tab General). From the Target Compiler drop-down menu, select
a compiler you want to use. You don’t need to set other parameters in this window as they will
be automatically set in accordance with the selected development system. Click on the OK
button.
mikroElektronika Visual TFT Additional Software 7
Creating visual contents
When the main options are set, the main window of the TFT display working environment will
appear on the screen. Here you can create your own visual contents.
Figure 1 - TFT display’s IDE
To create visual contents, use the tools on the right side of the main window. When you
decide which of the available tools you want to use, you should click on it first, then click on
the appropriate place within the main window where you want to create your visual contents.
When the selected tool is placed, a set of options used to adjust the currently active tool will
appear on the left side of the main window, Figure 2.
8 Visual TFT Additional Software mikroElektronika
Figure 2 - The main window with a text tool active
Figure 3 - PSet of tools Figure 4 - Tool adjustment
mikroElektronika Visual TFT Additional Software 9
A set of tools includes basic shapes that can help you create visual contents. Each tool may be
adjusted to the user needs by using a set of options for tool adjustment, Figure 4. In addition to
these basic shapes, you can also place images in .bmp, .jpg or .jpeg format. The maximum size
of image is limited by the size of the TFT display in use.
Figure 5 - Selecting image
When the image tool is placed in the main window, it is necessary to import an image from the
image folder. Select an image and click on the Open button. The selected image will appear in
the main window.
10 Visual TFT Additional Software mikroElektronika
Figure 6 - Selected image placed in the main window
When the desired visual contents is placed and displayed in the main window, it is time to
create a code to be loaded into the compiler.
mikroElektronika Visual TFT Additional Software 11
Generating a code
Before we proceed, it is necessary to save the
current project. Just in case. Then you should
generate a code.
Figure 1 - Save option
By clicking on the Generate code icon, a folder with
files required by the compiler in order to generate
a hex code will be automatically created.
Figure 2 - Code generation
Figure 3 - Code
At the bottom of the main window, you can see the code to be loaded into the compiler.
Click on the Start compiler icon to open the compiler
that you are going to use to generate a .hex code.
Figure 4 - Start compiler icon
12 Visual TFT Additional Software mikroElektronika
Figure 5 - Compiler window
The mikroC PRO for dsPIC compiler is the compiler we have selected in the Option window when
we started to create a new project.
Figure 6 - Compiler window with code
mikroElektronika Visual TFT Additional Software 13
Click on the Build option within the compiler to start the process of compiling the program
into the .hex code. When the compiling process is completed, it is necessary to load the code
into the microcontroller. After that, the image we have selected in the previous step will be
displayed on the mikroMMB for dsPIC33 development system’s TFT display.
Figure 7 - Project complete
After loading the .hex code into the microcontroller, the results of your work will be visible on
the TFT display. Look at the Figure above.
14 Visual TFT Additional Software mikroElektronika
Disclaimer
All the products owned by MikroElektronika are protected by copyright law and international
copyright treaty. Therefore, this manual is to be treated as any other copyright material. No
part of this manual, including product and software described herein, may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, translated or transmitted in any form or by any means, without
the prior written permission of MikroElektronika. The manual PDF edition can be printed for
private or local use, but not for distribution. Any modification of this manual is prohibited.
MikroElektronika provides this manual ‘as is’ without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties or conditions of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
MikroElektronika shall assume no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions and inaccuracies
that may appear in this manual. In no event shall MikroElektronika, its directors, officers, employees
or distributors be liable for any indirect, specific, incidental or consequential damages (including
damages for loss of business profits and business information, business interruption or any other
pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of this manual or product, even if MikroElektronika has
been advised of the possibility of such damages. MikroElektronika reserves the right to change
information contained in this manual at any time without prior notice, if necessary.
HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES
The products of MikroElektronika are not fault – tolerant nor designed, manufactured or
intended for use or resale as on – line control equipment in hazardous environments requiring
fail – safe performance, such as in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or
communication systems, air traffic control, direct life support machines or weapons systems in
which the failure of Software could lead directly to death, personal injury or severe physical or
environmental damage (‘High Risk Activities’). MikroElektronika and its suppliers specifically
disclaim any expressed or implied warranty of fitness for High Risk Activities.
TRADEMARKS
The Mikroelektronika name and logo, the Mikroelektronika logo, mikroC, mikroC PRO,
mikroBasic, mikroBasic PRO, mikroPascal, mikroPascal PRO, AVRflash, PICflash, dsPICprog,
18FJprog, PSOCprog, AVRprog, 8051prog, ARMflash, EasyPIC5, EasyPIC6, BigPIC5, BigPIC6,
dsPIC PRO4, Easy8051B, EasyARM, EasyAVR5, EasyAVR6, BigAVR2, EasydsPIC4A, EasyPSoC4,
EasyVR Stamp LV18FJ, LV24-33A, LV32MX, PIC32MX4 MultiMedia Board, PICPLC16, PICPLC8
PICPLC4, SmartGSM/GPRS, UNI-DS are trademarks of Mikroelektronika. All other trademarks
mentioned herein are property of their respective companies.
All other product and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be
registered trademarks or copyrights of their respective companies, and are only used for
identification or explanation and to the owners’ benefit, with no intent to infringe.
Copyright © 2003 – 2010 MikroElektronika. All rights reserved.
What’s next?
MORE PROJECTS
Now when you have successfully created the first project, it’s time to
move on to more complex examples. Check out the examples provid-
ed in the Examples folder located in the VisualTFT installation folder.
Feel free to experiment on your own and change the code as you like
to suit your new project idea.
COMPILERS
You still don’t have the appropriate compiler? Visit
http://www.mikroe.com/eng/categories/view/2/compilers/
and choose the compiler that suits you best. The software is equipped
with fully functional demo version, limited only to 2K of generated
code’s program words.
SUPPORT
If you cannot find enough information in the Help file, or you need to
ask a question or report a malfunction, feel free to contact our Techni-
cal Support Team at
http://www.mikroe.com/esupport
