15.1.2. Scripts, examples, and the documents folder¶

15.1.2.1. New files¶

Creating a new file opens an untitled_N.py buffer preloaded with a minimal capture loop – reset the sensor, configure the pixel format and frame size, then snapshot and print the frame rate forever. The starter script is adapted to the connected board, so it runs as created. The buffer lives in memory only: it can be edited and run repeatedly without ever being saved, which makes new files the cheapest way to test an idea. Saving it to disk turns it into an ordinary script.

15.1.2.2. The examples menu¶

File → Examples holds a categorized library of example scripts covering essentially every feature the camera has – one folder per topic, from basic snapshots through colour tracking, machine learning, and board peripherals. Opening an example loads it into a memory buffer like a new file, so it can be modified and run freely without touching the installed copy.

By default the menu is filtered to the connected board and its sensor: examples that need hardware the connected camera does not have are hidden, and the menu asks for a connection before showing anything at all. Tools → Filter examples by board and sensor type turns the filter off to browse the full set.

Examples are also adapted on open. Scripts are written against a typical colour sensor, so when the connected camera differs – a thermal or event sensor, a board with a different native resolution – the IDE adjusts the pixel format and frame size lines to values the hardware supports as it loads the example. The example that opens is the one that runs.

Working through the examples menu is the fastest way to learn what the camera can do; most applications start as an example that grew.

15.1.2.3. The documents folder¶

For personal scripts, the IDE watches an OpenMV directory inside the platform’s documents folder (Documents/OpenMV). Everything stored there appears under File → Documents Folder, including subdirectories, so a private script collection is one menu away. The menu is built from the directory live – files added outside the IDE show up the next time the menu opens.

The IDE runs as a single instance: opening a .py file from the platform’s file manager, or dropping one onto the IDE window, opens it in the running window rather than launching a second copy.

15.1.2.4. Cross-compiling a script¶

Tools → MicroPython Tools → Copy/Convert Python File copies a .py file to a destination – the camera’s drive, when one is connected – with a choice of what happens on the way: copy it unchanged, strip whitespace and/or comments to shrink it, or compile it to a .mpy bytecode file with the mpy-cross compiler matched to the target board. A .mpy file imports exactly like the .py it came from, loads faster, and does not ship its source – the form to use when distributing a library module to the camera’s filesystem. With a camera connected the target board is taken from it automatically; otherwise the dialog asks.