PaulStoffregen
Well-known member
I've been quiet the last few days, working on redesigning the way Teensy uses the Ports menu in Arduino
Here's a quick summary I recently posted on Twitter.
My hope is to have a new beta version to try by the end of this week. It's working great on Linux. Yesterday I got it working on Macintosh, and today I'm starting the Windows version. This work also improves the serial monitor, so it can start faster after uploading, and (hopefully) be able to reconnect when unexpected issues or actions outside the ordinary cycle of uploading happen, like unplugging the cable. Going to need help with testing....
Here's a quick summary I recently posted on Twitter.
Working recently to improve how Teensy works with the Arduino IDE Tools-Ports menu. Here's an early screenshot. Click for the rest of this tweet thread for what's new & why it matters....
Historically, everything in Arduino was a serial port. Teensy has long offered USB options without Serial. But the menu has shown only Serial. All the non-Serial cases involved automatically finding your Teensy. While convenient, that's often confusing & kludgey.
For Arduino Yun, the IDE gained a "Discovery Manager" feature. Currently it only supports Serial and Network. It's also deep within the Java code, out of the Boards Manager's reach. But that's not stopping me! Teensy has its own installer for this sort of thing.
Teensy's new Discovery Manager allows the Ports menu to show every connected Teensy and which type of USB it's running: Serial, MIDI, RawHID, Keyboard, Audio, etc. No more board disappearing from the menu in non-Serial modes! You can always see what's connected.
True hardware location is now used for the menu key (for these discovered ports), rather than an operating system name. As you reprogram your Teensy and it becomes other USB types, the same physical board always stays selected.
If you only use Serial, no big deal. But I've always wanted to offer more choices, and admittedly the non-Serial modes have been confusing. I'm excited to finally make a Discovery Manager to (hopefully) make these non-Serial options as intuitive as regular Arduino use.
The Arduino IDE still uses global settings across all open windows, so you want to work with 2 or more boards, you'll still need to open 2 instances of the IDE. Someday I hope to tackle that issue, but getting this Ports menu improvement is a first necessary step.
My hope is to have a new beta version to try by the end of this week. It's working great on Linux. Yesterday I got it working on Macintosh, and today I'm starting the Windows version. This work also improves the serial monitor, so it can start faster after uploading, and (hopefully) be able to reconnect when unexpected issues or actions outside the ordinary cycle of uploading happen, like unplugging the cable. Going to need help with testing....