Installing Brad’s Spin Tool (BST)
Brad’s Spin Tool (more commonly referred to as BST) is a multi-platform development environment for the Propeller chip, created by Brad Campbell. This IDE provides Mac users the opportunity to program the Propeller without the need to run a virtual machine. Included below is a brief tutorial on installing the application as well as how to customize the IDE so it closely resembles the Propeller Tool from Parallax. BST is compatible with Linux and both Intel and PowerPC OSX 10.4, 10.5 & 10.6.
Parallax discussion forums contain an extensive thread with additional information about BST
Before installing the application, it’s important to install the latest serial adapter driver from FTDI. The Parallax USB to serial adapter uses the FT232R chip, and the corresponding driver can be downloaded from:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
Once the drivers are properly installed, the BST application can be installed from: http://www.fnarfbargle.com/bst.html
On this page, we’re looking to install the GUI IDE:
Clicking this link will bring you to the FTP index, from here just select the latest version and your operating system. The file will then download to your Downloads folder, and from there you can move the application anywhere you like.
Customizing Brad’s Spin Tool
The Propeller Tool from Parallax utilizing a special font for the editor and Character Chart. In order to achieve the same results in Brad’s Spin Tool, a modified version of the Parallax Font can be downloaded here:
DOWNLOAD PARALLAX PROPELLER FONT HERE
More information about the Propeller font: http://propeller.wikispaces.com/Propeller+Font
Once downloaded, open the file, and install the font:
The font will then be installed in your Font Book for future use:
Once the font is installed, BST can be opened for the first time. Before entering any code, we can change some IDE preferences so that BST more closely resembles the Propeller Tool from Parallax. The first is to set the font to the Parallax font. This can be done through Tools -> IDE preferences.
You can change the editor font by selecting the appropriate button. Choose the Parallax font installed earlier for the most accurate appearance.
You can also have the editor color-coordinate its code blocks by selecting the “Enable Colour Syntax Highlighting” checkmark.
Through Tools -> Compiler Preferences, you can choose search paths for spin code. For example, one path could be for the code included in the Propeller library. The compiler will then search for any Propeller objects in that file path.
