NOTICE (Nov 2020) This utility is currently obsolete and is under construction. It should NOT be used to generate files for SF V2.2.3.6 or later
Swordfish uses two files when compiling. An asm *.inc file (for example, P18F4520.INC) and a *.bas file (for example, an 18F4520.bas). These files need to be located in the Swordfish 'includes' folder.
NOTE: To add new devices, you can use the SystemConvert utility provided in the Tools folder of the current compiler (v2.2.3.2).
You must have the latest version of MPLABX installed. The software uses various files supplied by the Microchip assembler to try and construct the files required by the compiler. Just unzip the software and place in a folder that can be written to. The software will create two new folders called 'NewInclude' and 'NewIncludeBASIC', so it is essential you have write permissions!
Device Creation Software
Make sure the software is pointing to the MPASMX installation folder. If it is not, use the 'Change Folder' button to point to the location of the assembler. For MPLABX this is typically "C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLABX\mpasmx". Next, press the 'Get Candidates' button. This will build a list of all files that the software thinks it can generate Swordfish device files for. Finally, press the 'Convert Files' button to start the build process.
V1.44 Options:
The 'Copy Device List' button will take the contents of the device list window and copy it to the Windows clipboard in the form of 'device = xxxx' statements.
If all goes well, after pressing 'Convert Files' will see the two 'NewInclude' folders containing *.bas files and *.inc files. These folders will be created in the same path the program was run from. The contents of both these folders must be copied into the Swordfish 'includes' folder. For example,
c:\program files\mecanique\swordfish\includes\18F4520.bas c:\program files\mecanique\swordfish\includes\P18F4520.inc
Please note that for Vista and Windows 7 users, the paths to the include files will be a little different. For example,
c:\users\all users\mecanique\swordfish\includes\18F4520.bas c:\users\all users\mecanique\swordfish\includes\P18F4520.inc
You will probably also need to copy the latest version of mpasmx.exe into the Swordfish 'bin' folder, in order to assemble the new parts you have created files for. To do this, navigate to the Microchip folder specified above and copy the three files
mpasmx.exe 8bit_device.dll 8bit_device.info
from the 'MPLABX/mpasmx' directory to your Swordfish\Bin directory.
Note: The last version of MPLAB released was v8.92 (which includes MPASM v5.49) and is available from the Microchip development tools archive page at http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/MPLAB_IDE_8_92.zip The download above contains files already converted for this version.
Support for the newer devices (K40, Q10, K42, etc) requires the device files from MPASMX v5.68 (MPLABX 3.35) or later. The zip file below contains the core 18F device files already converted from mpasmx 5.77 (MPLABX 4.20) It does not include the LF devices or the register bit files.