Topology in the Parameters Pane
There is no specific topology for this library. Only the last script is stored under the root entry. Use the Save script option from the active controls to store scripts to a file.
Description
The Generic Memory library allows access to any address location in the 4GB range between 0x00000000-0xFFFFFFFF physical space. It employs a script engine with several commands that allow event check, loops, different data types and timers and a buffer hex editor to edit the memory area. By default on startup no entries are enabled. The Memory script entries can be configured through the script table under the dllmemory navigation tab of the active controls. A refresh command is available with Mouse right-click in the Parameters window on the Generic Memory Access entry as well as through the active controls. This command executes the script itself. You may then select the memory entry under the parameters window (mouse double click) to view the memory script results in the main view of HWAccess.
Functionality of the Active Controls
The Memory library has several controls to watch Physical Memory locations. There are 4 display controls used for watch and performance operations. Under the watch section the Physical Address display selects the location to select a watch. The sampling period describes how often all locations are sampled. Period changes take effect once the apply period button is pressed. Under the performance section the Physical Address display shows the location to be used for timing test. The time/sample counter shows in pSecs the time taken for a single access operation to complete. The operation is subject to data type and access mode. The thread priority list, drives the execution priority of the entire script. The following table describes the functionality and usage of each active control for the Memory llibrary.
| Active Control | Usage |
| Remove Watch | Select the Physical Address from the Memory Watch Configuration-Offset display and hit the Remove Watch button. If a watch is present it will be removed. |
| Add Watch | Select the Physical Address you want to watch and hit the Add Watch button. A watch will be inserted and shown in the main watch window in HWAccess. The new watch is subject to the data type selected. Supported types are 8,16 and 32bit wide. If the contents of the watch change they will be displayed in the watch window of HWAccess. |
| Delete Physical Address watches | Removes all Physical Address watches. |
| Disable Physical Address watches | Disables all Physical Address watches. |
| Enable Physical Address watches | Enables all Physical Address watches. You can disable the I/O watches, modify the sampling period and re-enable them. The monitor process checks the period setting on every sample so sampling period changes will take effect immediately once the apply period button is pressed. |
| Apply Watch Period | Applies the watch period selected within the sampling period display. Changes take effect immediately for active watches. |
| Execute Script | Executes the script in the list. Only the script lines that are set are executed. The executed script once complete will show the results under the main view of HWAccess. |
| Check Timings | Tests the Physical Address described in the performance-address section and displays the Time taken to execute a single memory operation. Physical Address latency is displayed in pSecs. |
| Execute Line | Executes the selected script line from the Memory script list. Only the highlighted line is executed. The displayed memory offsets are updated automatically upon step execution. This is a fast way to change the monitor location. The cells of the script list for the associated line are updated along with the buffer editor. The main HWAccess view remains the same. The HWAccess main view is only updated with the Execute Script command. |
Note: To quickly modify the memory offset for watches & timings use the script step command from the active controls. Enter a new entry in the script table as an input and click the step function. Script functions automatically update the offset display counters.
Script Engine
The Memory Script table is a list of Memory operations using various commands. The user has the ability to add, remove and configure entries. This section includes the basic steps to write and change simple scripts
The picture describes which colums show within the script table. It acts as a filter and can be activated by clicking the mouse on any of the header entries on the script table. When a column entry is not set it will still refer to the script table but it will not show in the script results and in the script table. These entries have two different settings: on/off.
ID
This is the Identifier field. Each entry has an identifier. The Identifier number indicates the entry number in the table. Identifiers are always shown in ascending order. If you delete or insert an entry in the script table the identifiers are adjusted and therefore operations that refer to entries like the Goto Entry ID must be adjusted by the user.
On the left side of the identifier there is a state box which controls the behavior of each entry. There are 3 states available:
- When the state Icon is cleared the entry is not executed by the script engine. This is the default for a new entry.
- In the first checked state the entry is executed and displayed in the main View window of HWAccess.
- In the second checked stat the entry is executed but is not displayed. This state is an additional filter mechanism
Address
The Address field specifies the start address of the memory operation. Acceptable values for this field are in the range of 0x00000000-0xFFFFFFFF when the entry is used for all Input/Output operations with the exception of Memory Offset. For the Memory Offset operation this field is in signed decimal format and the acceptable values are 0 to 2G. To edit the Address field Mouse left-click the Memory field under an entry. This procedure will switch the table to edit mode. Modify the value and hit enter to accept the changes. This field is not available for Goto Entry ID, Wait operations.
Operation
The Operation field specifies the command the script engine will execute. For every new entry this is the first field the user must modify because the other fields depend on its value. To select an operation for an entry Mouse right-click under the Operation field within the entry row to bring up the operations menu and select the desired operation. See also Memory Operations for details and examples.
Size
The Size field defines the number of data types the entry will process during the specified Operation. Its value differs for each operation. For Memory R/W related operations this specifies the number of data types to process. For the Goto Entry ID operation it specifies the ID the script engine will go to. Acceptable values for this field are in the range of 0x000000-0xFFFFFF when the entry is used for Memory R/W operations except, Goto Entry ID and Wait operations. To edit the Size field Mouse left-click the Data field under the entry you want to modify. This procedure will switch the table to edit mode. Modify its value and hit enter to accept the changes. Note this range will cause memory allocation to enable the buffer editor. It is recommended to keep the size for each entry to a small value within 4 KBytes.
Mask
The Mask field specifies the Mask operand the script entry will use in conjunction with the Mask Data. For every new entry this field is initialized to None which means the Mask is disabled. To select a Mask for an entry, Mouse right-click under the Mask field within the entry row to bring up the Mask menu and select the desired Mask. See also Masks for details.
Mask Data
The Mask Data field defines the mask that will be applied to the Data field during execution of the script line. For Read operations the mask is applied after the Read operation is complete. For Write operations the mask data is applied before the operation. To edit the Mask Data field Mouse left-click the Mask Data field under the entry you want to modify. This procedure will switch the table to edit mode. Modify its value and hit enter to accept the changes.
Loop
The Loop field defines the how many times the operation will be executed. It is an editable field and applies to all operations. Acceptable range is in the 32bit range (0 to 4G). This value shows always in unsigned decimal format. To edit the Loop field Mouse left-click the Loop field under the entry you want to modify. This procedure will switch the table to edit mode. Modify its value and hit enter to accept the changes.
Type
The Type field specifies the Data Type to be used during a Memory operation. The script engine applies this field to Data and Mask Data fields before executing the script line. For every new entry this field is initialized to BYTE. To select a Type for an entry Mouse right-click under the Type field within the entry row to bring up the Type menu and select the desired Data Type. See also Data Types for details.
Wait
The Wait field defines how long the script entry will wait before executing. Its value is in mSecs and is applicable to all operations except the Goto Entry ID. Acceptable range is in the 32bit range (0 to 4G). This value shows always in unsigned decimal format. To edit the Wait field Mouse left-click the Wait field under the entry you want to modify. This procedure will switch the table to edit mode. Modify its value and hit enter to accept the changes.
Data
Clicking this field will invoke the Buffer Hex Editor for the entry. This is a Read-Only field. To modify the contents of the memory Mouse left-click this entry and modify the buffer contents. To achieve Read-Modify-Write operations configure the entry for Read Operation, execute the entry, invoke the buffer hex editor and modify its contents, change the operation to Write and execute the script line again. This will update the contents of the physical memory. For more information see Buffer Hex Editor .
Script Masks
A number of masks are available for I/O operations. This section describes the use and functionality on each one. To bring up the available masks select a script entry then Mouse right-click the Mask field. The mask field and mask data are used with Input, Output, Port Offset, Data Offset and Event operations. With the current version of the Generic I/O DLL the following mask options are available:
- None
Disables the I/O mask - And
Performs a logical AND to the data read from an address location with the Mask Data specified during Read, Memory Offset and Event operations.
Performs a logical AND to the data before writing to the memory with the Mask Data specified during Write and Memory Offset write operations. - Nand
Performs a logical NAND to the data read from an address location with the Mask Data specified during Read, Memory Offset and Event operations.
Performs a logical NAND to the data before writing to the memory with the Mask Data specified during Write and Memory Offset write operations. - Or
Performs a logical OR to the data read from an address location with the Mask Data specified during Read, Memory Offset and Event operations.
Performs a logical OR to the data before writing to the memory with the Mask Data specified during Write and Memory Offset write operations. - Xor
Performs a logical AND to the data read from an address location with the Mask Data specified during Read, Memory Offset and Event operations.
Performs a logical AND to the data before writing to the memory with the Mask Data specified during Write and Memory Offset write operations.
Script examples and further information for the script operators can be found unde the DLL Memory Scripts section.
Static Configuration Options
There is a performance option for the Memory library to select the size in bytes of the Performance operations. This is used in conjunction with the timing check control. The library will access sequentially the base address plus the memory block size. For example if the physical address under the performance options in the active controls states 0x1000 Starting physical address, the timing is based in the range 0x1000-0x81000. This option will change with future HWAccess versions. This option is available from the main menu tools-options under the memory library.