All the demo files are supplied as ASCII text files (with a .ASM ending - pronounced "dot A.S.M.") they have all been written using the MPASM programming dialect.

During these tutorials, you will be asked to modify some of the .ASM files, and to write your own sets of commands, saving each with unique file names having the .ASM extension.

To assemble a .ASM file, you should use the IDE, which can be accessed via the 'Full Listing / IDE' button on all relevant tutorial screens.

You can use the IDE to:
* Assemble a .ASM file (producing a .HEX file)
* Send the .HEX file to the PICmicro

For more information on using the IDE see the 'Using the IDE' page within this section.

It is not our intention to teach you all about the MPASM programming dialect and the MPASM assembler, to learn more about these study Microchip's own documentation, available as described in the Reference section.

At various points in the tutorial texts, we ask you to "load and run" program files. For the demo files supplied, this simply means that you:

* Click on the ' Full listing / IDE' button
* Read the configuration data at the head of the opened .ASM file
* Check that your board's switches are in the correct positions
* Click the build button int the IDE to assemble the program and (assuming the file was assembled without errors) send it to the PICmicro

Note that if the "ignore HEX fuse data" option is selected in the "configuration options" screen of the IDE, you must make sure the correct configuration options are also selected.