8051 Development tool : µVision® IDE & Debugger by KEIL

Keil was founded in 1982 by Günter and Reinhard Keil for the development tools, designed specifically for the 8051 microcontroller. Keil provides a broad range of development tools like ANSI C compiler, macro assemblers, debuggers and simulators, linkers, IDE, library managers, real-time operating systems and evaluation boards for 8051, 251, ARM, and XC16x/C16x/ST10 families. In October 2005, Keil was acquired by ARM.

The µVision IDE is the easiest way to create embedded applications using the Keil development tools. It combines project management, make facilities, source code editing, program debugging, and complete simulation in one powerful environment. The µVision development platform is easy-to-use and  The µVision editor and debugger are integrated in a single application that provides a seamless embedded project development environment. The main features of µVision IDE are:

• Huge Device Database (in our case we need only 8051 family devices)
• Simulates on-chip peripherals (I²C, CAN, UART, SPI, Interrupts, I/O Ports, A/D Converter, D/A Converter, and PWM Modules) of your 8051 device.
• A51 Macro Assembler(need only this as of now as we are going to do programs in assembly language)
• C51 ANSI C Compiler

To download the evaluation version of µVision IDE for 8051 development CLICK HERE. Its free and you will face no problem in it as a student. Download it and install is as any other software you install, no rocket science in this step.

Now we will see how to step up KEIL IDE according to the device we are going to use.

To launch µVision, click on the icon on your desktop or select Keil µVision4 from the Start Menu.

1. To start a new project go to Project >> New µVision Project. A new dialog box will open, now give a name to your Project and then click Save.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Now select the device that you want to work with in your project. I am going to Atmel >> AT89C51 and then press OK.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Now a dialog box will appear saying Copy standard Startup code to project folder and add file to project, click on NO. We will discuss its significance later.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Create a new file using File>> New or CTRL+N.
5. Now write your code in the text editor window and save it as .asm file(for assembly language program).
   Try this code:
   

    
           //To add two numbers
           org 00h
           mov a,#10h
           mov r2,#05h
           add a,r2
           end

6. In the Project window ie on the left side, Expand Target 1 >> right click Source Group 1 >> Add files to group 'Source Group 1'.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Now select your .asm file and then select Add.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Right click the .asm file in the project window and select Build Target. If there is any error in program it will be shown in the Build output window in the bottom.
9. To execute the program Debug >> Start/Stop Debud Session or CTRL+F5.
10. To run program Press F5 or F11 for step by step execution.

So this was a basic 10 Step Guide to get started with Keil µVision4. In our future tutorials we will discuss some of the more options present in this IDE. Hope you got confidence to start writing your very first code in Keil. 

If you have any queries please drop your comments below.
Thanks.