The New UBasic Debugger for SDM (StereoDataMaker) is a dedicated PC-based utility created by Dave Mitchell to help users test, isolate bugs, and optimize specialized scripts before running them on modified digital cameras. It explicitly parses uBasic, a lightweight scripting language heavily relied upon by the StereoDataMaker (SDM) project (an extension of the Canon Hack Development Kit / CHDK) for automating stereoscopic and high-speed photography.
The primary features and technical capabilities integrated into this debugging tool include: ⚙️ Core Operational Capabilities
Pre-Execution Script Validation: Simulates script paths on a PC text framework before deploying .bas text files to an SD/SDHC memory card. This prevents camera freeze scenarios caused by syntax errors.
Interpretation Optimization Analysis: Validates line structures to comply with uBasic’s 10ms processing duration per line limit. It flags dense command stacks or excess rem statements that could slow down high-speed triggers.
Automatic Error Logging Hacks: Provides full validation pathways for SDM config overwrites. If a user includes a configuration value override like set_config_value 125 666, the environment mimics the dynamic camera runtime and validates error routing directly to automated files like ubasic_errors.txt.
Plain Text Compatibility Verification: Audits code files to ensure they are strictly formatted in plain ANSI format instead of unreadable Unicode. It also checks for standard architecture requirements, such as ensuring a clean trailing blank line. 📸 Simulation of SDM-Specific Commands
The debugger evaluates camera behaviors by checking the logic of specific, advanced English-language command syntax unique to SDM:
Continuous-Shooting & Custom-Timer Bracketing: Simulates complex sequences like sdm_burst_mode and burst_sequence n to verify timing logic.
Distance Bracketing Control: Safely routes conditional loops containing continuous auto-focus calls (such as auto_focus_first or automated infinity-bound steps like set_zoom_to_step) without physical lens movement.
Hardware Mode Emulation: Formally maps out logical loops for mode toggles like playback_mode and record_mode, alongside internal hardware configurations (e.g., checking if the physical device handles user-set apertures via cam_has_av_mode). SDM uBasic commands