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From: jesup@pawl19.pawl.rpi.edu (Randell E. Jesup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Serial port expansion
Message-ID: <205@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU>
Date: 12 Jan 88 03:41:05 GMT
References: <197@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU> <4918@well.UUCP> <38256@sun.uucp>
Sender: news@imagine.PAWL.RPI.EDU
Reply-To: beowulf!lunge!jesup@steinmetz.UUCP
Organization: RPI Public Access Workstation Lab - Troy, NY
Lines: 30

In article <38256@sun.uucp> cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) writes:
...
>Personally, I think that this device should have a handler associated
>with it that should be associated with serial kinda things, much like disks
>have handlers associated with them which do disk kinda things. The default
>handler would be something AUX:/CON: like and probably ROM resident. This
>thing would be announced as a new "feature" of 1.x and DOCUMENTED so that
>any program could enumerate all of the serial devices just like they 
>enumerate all of the disk devices. Add a series of commands you can send
>to them like the CON: handler but with other info in them like baudrate
>and RS232 flags, give the handler a buffer that can be read byte at a 
>time and works JUST like the CON:/AUX: handlers.

	Very good idea; unfortunately, 99.9% of serial port dealing programs
use the device interface as opposed to the handler (ser:) interface.  1 (or
more) even uses the serial.resource, nothing we can do to help that one.

	One thing that should be part of any release of software to allow
more serial ports is a serx: handler.  With my plan, it would be opened
'SERX:name_of_thing/speed/flags/???' where name_of_thing is a name to
pass to the name mapper (mapper.device), for example 'serx:modem/1200/0'
which would open a serial port with a modem on it at 1200 baud.

>--Chuck McManis


     //	Randell Jesup			      Lunge Software Development
    //	Dedicated Amiga Programmer            13 Frear Ave, Troy, NY 12180
 \\//	beowulf!lunge!jesup@steinmetz.UUCP    (518) 272-2942
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