programmer

Programmer

Directory Structure

The programmer Python code is organized in a Python package. The actual code for the programmer is located in the tinyfpgab directory in the __init__.py and __main__.py files. The setup.py script is specific to the Python packaging system and should be be executed directly. If you want to learn more about Python packaging take a look at the Python packaging documentation. If you just want to run the programmer on the command-line, the best way is to install it using pip: pip install tinyfpgab. The programmer script will then be added to your PATH variable as tinyfpgab.

GUI

The GUI has been moved to the TinyFPGA Programmer Application repo. However, the tinyfpgab module can be used on its own with a command-line interface:

CLI Installation

Install the commandline tool via Python's pip tool:

> pip install tinyfpgab

CLI Usage

> tinyfpgab --help
usage: tinyfpgab [-h] [-l] [-p PROGRAM] [-b] [-c COM] [-d DEVICE] [-a ADDR]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -l, --list            list connected and active TinyFPGA B-series boards
  -p PROGRAM, --program PROGRAM
                        program TinyFPGA board with the given bitstream
  -b, --boot            command the TinyFPGA B-series board to exit the
                        bootloader and load the user configuration
  -c COM, --com COM     serial port name
  -d DEVICE, --device DEVICE
                        device id (vendor:product); default is TinyFPGA-B
                        (1209:2100)
  -a ADDR, --addr ADDR  force the address to write the bitstream to

You can list valid ports with the --list option:

> tinyfpgab --list

    TinyFPGA B-series Programmer CLI
    --------------------------------
    Boards with active bootloaders:
        COM24

You can use the --com option to specify a specific port. If you don't specify a port, it will use the first one in the list:

> tinyfpgab --program ..\icestorm_template\TinyFPGA_B.bin

    TinyFPGA B-series Programmer CLI
    --------------------------------
    Programming COM24 with ..\icestorm_template\TinyFPGA_B.bin
    Waking up SPI flash
    135100 bytes to program
    Erasing designated flash pages
    Writing bitstream
    Verifying bitstream
    Success!

Testing

The tests can be run with tox: just run the tox command. If you don't have tox installed, read the tox documentation and install it first.

The code coverage will be generated as HTML pages in the htmlcov directory.