Create a new 'Stand-Alone' project in MPLAB X for a PIC16F1709.

Open the MPLAB Code Configurator under the Tools > Embedded menu of MPLAB X.

Select the Peripherals for your project.
In this project you will need to select these peripherals:

• System
• DAC::DAC

The system peripheral will be automatically included but the DAC peripheral must be selected from the Device Resources. The result should look like the picture below:

The system needs to be set up. Click on the System name in Project Resources. It should be highlighted in blue when selected.

The System section will appear. In this section, the Oscillator settings and the configuration settings are selected.

Oscillator

1. Select 'INTOSC' from the System Clock Select drop-down menu.
2. Select the '1 MHz_HF' selection from the Internal Clock drop-down menu.

This will enable the internal 1 MHz internal oscillator as the system clock.

The DAC needs to be setup. Click on 'DAC' under the Project Resources menu to make the DAC setup window appear.

1. Check the Enable DAC box
2. Check the Enable output on DACOUT2 box
3. Set the 'Positive Reference' to V_dd
4. Set the 'Negative Reference' to V_ss

The settings should look similar to the image below after the setup.

The pin module in MCC doesn't need to setup as the DAC setup takes over the RA2 pin setup automatically. You can see this in the Pin Manager window.

Click on Generate Code to have the MCC create the software libraries for this project.

The project will now have both generated header files and source files. It should also have a generated main.c file.

Double click on the main.c file to open it up in the Editor window.

The main.c file requires a few lines to be added to make the DAC output create the rising voltage. Two functions created by the MCC are described in the dac.h file; DAC_Initialize() and DAC_SetOutput(). DAC_Initialize() is used to set up the DAC and DAC_SetOutput() is used to control the output pin.

Two sections of code need to be added to main.c. The main.c file will already have a while(1) loop created with a comment line. This project needs code inserted before the while(1) loop and also code added where it says // Add your application code

while (1)
    {
        // Add your application code 
    }

Above the while (1) loop

Add the code below in main.c above the while(1) statement. This will initialize an integer variable named count and then initialize the DAC using the DAC_Initialize() function.

uint8_t count=0;

DAC_Initialize();

In the while (1) loop

Add the code below within the while(1) brackets. This will create a 30 step loop that will increase the voltage every 500 milliseconds. A zero value will output V_ss level (zero volts), a 30 value will output a value close to V_dd (5 volts) on the PICDEM Lab II Development Board.
The __delay_ms() is a function built into the XC8 compiler to create time delays. The 500 value will create a 500-millisecond delay between increases to the DAC voltage output.

for(count=0; count<=30; count++)
        {
            DAC_SetOutput(count);
            __delay_ms(500);

        }

Full main.c Code Setup

The complete main.c file is shown below. The section in blue shows the modified area of main.c.

Click on 'Build Project' (hammer icon) to compile the code and you should see a "BUILD SUCCESSFUL" message in the Output window of MPLAB X.

BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 3s)

Make sure your project has the programming tool selected (part of Step 1 above) and connect power to your development board.

Click on 'Make and Program Device'. This will build the project again and launch the programmer. In the Output window you should see a series of messages and if successful it will end with a "Programming and Verify Successful" message.

Output Window:

Connecting to MPLAB PICkit 3...
Firmware Suite Version.....01.34.11
Firmware type..............Enhanced Midrange

Target detected
Device ID Revision = 6

The following memory area(s) will be programmed:
program memory: start address = 0x0, end address = 0x7ff
configuration memory
Device Erased...

Programming...
Programming/Verify complete

The project can be closed in MPLAB X. The project is saved automatically when it is built but any changes to files or configuration may be asked to be saved before the project is closed.
The project can be closed under the File > Close Project.