User manual
194
mikoBasic PRO for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24
MikroElektronika
Modules
In mikroBasic PRO for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24, each project consists of a single project le and one or more module
les. The project le, with extension .mbpds contains information on the project, while modules, with extension .mbas,
contain the actual source code. See Program Organization for a detailed look at module arrangement.
Modules allow you to:
- break large programs into encapsulated modules that can be edited separately,
- create libraries that can be used in different projects,
- distribute libraries to other developers without disclosing the source code.
Each module is stored in its own le and compiled separately; compiled modules are linked to create an application. To
build a project, the compiler needs either a source le or a compiled module le for each module.
Include Clause
mikroBasic PRO for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24 includes modules by means of the include clause. It consists of the
reserved word include, followed by a quoted module name. Extension of the le should not be included.
You can include one le per include clause. There can be any number of the include clauses in each source le,
but they all must be stated immediately after the program (or module) name.
Here’s an example:
program MyProgram
include “utils”
include “strings”
include “MyUnit”
...
For the given module name, the compiler will check for the presence of .mcl and .mbas les, in order specied by
search paths.
- If both .mbas and .mcl les are found, the compiler will check their dates and include the newer one in
the project. If the .mbas le is newer than the .mcl, then .mbas le will be recompiled and new .mcl will
be created, overwriting the old .mcl.
- If only the .mbas le is found, the compiler will create the .mcl le and include it in the project;
- If only the .mcl le is present, i.e. no source code is available, the compiler will include it as found;
- If none of the les found, the compiler will issue a “File not found” warning.
Main Module
Every project in mikroBasic PRO for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24 requires a single main module le. The main module is
identied by the keyword program at the beginning. It instructs the compiler where to “start”.
After you have successfully created an empty project with Project Wizard, Code Editor will display a new main module.
It contains the bare-bones of the program: