4.1 MPLAB Harmony v3 User Interface

One of the significant features of MPLAB Harmony v3 is the graphical user interface (GUI) which helps to configure the MCU features easily. The following list provides examples of some of the GUI windows under the MCC GUI:

Project Graph
Clock Configuration
Pin Configuration
NVIC Configuration
DMA Configuration
ADC Configuration
Touch Configuration
Qspin Motor Control Configuration

Note: The MPLAB Code Configurator is based on the device family features.

The Project Graph shows all the modules used in the project, and their connection with other modules to give a visual representation of dependency between the modules. Similarly, other GUI windows are very helpful in configuring the corresponding modules.

Configuring these modules is possible without using these easy-to-use GUIs. This can be done by using the other basic UI configuration tree. When using the UI configuration trees, the user needs to pay more attention to understand the hardware and configure it correctly in the tree view.

For example, many Microchip Arm devices have lot of flexibility in clock configurations. If the user had to configure the clock without the Clock Configuration, the user should fully understand the clock distribution of the MCU, and configure the clock using the UI configuration tree.

The Clock Configuration GUI in the MCC, helps by visually showing the clock tree, status and values on the UI which is similar to the clock distribution diagram available in the data sheet. Therefore, the user can configure them easily. The Clock Configuration shows the CPU, other clock values, and the Clock mask status. If there is any change in clock masks, DPLL ratio, or prescalars, the Clock Configuration updates the corresponding values for the clock and status accordingly and shows the current values.

Figure 4-1. Clock Configuration (Project Graph > Plugins > Clock Configuration)

Other GUIs, such as the Pin Configuration, NVIC Configuration, and ADC Configuration ease the configuration.

Note: Atmel START has similar GUIs for the clock, pinmux, and Qtouch. Users familiar with the GUIs in Atmel START will find the MPLAB Harmony v3 GUIs user friendly. In addition, MPLAB Harmony v3 has more GUIs, such as the DMA, NVIC, and Event Configuration to ease the configuration of a peripheral.