New features and enhancements

Please see the Change Log for a list of new features and enhancements in XJTAG 2.6.

XJRunner Integration

Previous versions of XJTAG have included a COM based API for embeddeding XJRunner functionality in other applications (XJIntegration.ocx). Among its limitations, this was written in such a way that it required a Windows message loop to be running. It also did not provide access to some of the more recent improvements to the user interface available to XJEase such as formatted output, messageboxes and the Layout Viewer.

In this release of XJTAG, we introduce a new .NET based API that provides the same functionality as the COM based API, plus allows access to many of the improvements made over the past few releases. It also has methods for running XJEase functions synchronously and collecting their output without requiring a message loop. More attention has been paid as to how to integrate with such environments as LabVIEW.

The COM API is still included in this release of XJTAG, but we recommend that any new development be done against the new .NET API.

Maintenance Licensing

With XJTAG 2.4.9, the system now checks the maintenance status of the XJLink, and will not allow XJTAG releases available after maintenance has expired to run.

Supported Platforms

XJTAG is supported under Windows XP^® (service pack 3 or higher), Windows Vista^® (both 32 bit and 64 bit) and Windows 7^® (both 32 bit and 64 bit). Please upgrade to one of these operating systems before attempting to install XJTAG, and then apply the latest Service Pack for your operating System. Service Packs are available from the Microsoft Support website.

Support for Windows 2000 was dropped in version 2.4.

XJTAG recommends a screen resolution of at least 1024×768.

Target Hardware

In order for XJTAG to interact with a circuit, the JTAG chain must be set up properly. To help with this, we have a produced a set of DFT guidelines. There is also a troubleshooting section in the help files.

Side-by-side installations

It is only possible to have one instance of each major release of XJTAG installed. It is possible, for example, to install any variant of version 2.5.x along side any variant of version 2.6.y; however it is not possible to install two variants of version 2.5, e.g. 2.5.6 and 2.5.7.

In order to allow users of the XJRunner COM interface to upgrade XJTAG without having to recompile their applications, the GUID for this component of XJTAG does not change with each major version of XJTAG.

Consequences: To use the XJIntegration COM object in side-by-side installations the correct version of the library must be selected when switching between versions. The Version Checker utility (XJVersion) that comes with XJTAG allows the registered version of the XJIntegration to be switched between installed versions.

Changing Project File Associations

By default, double-clicking on an XJTAG project file of any kind will open it in the most recently installed version of XJTAG. The Version Check utility (XJVersion) can be used to control these file associations. It is recommended to do this using the copy installed with the latest version of XJTAG that you have installed.

Previous versions

2.5 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.4

We welcome any suggestions for improving our products. Please contact us with any comments you may have and we will look into incorporating your ideas into a future version.