Path: utzoo!censor!geac!maccs!cs4g6ag
From: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
Subject: Re: Formatted text from a COM port
Message-ID: <25E9D92B.20065@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca>
Date: 27 Feb 90 01:34:34 GMT
References: <1990Feb20.165257.21884@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Reply-To: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn)
Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Lines: 25

In article <1990Feb20.165257.21884@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> sarathy@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Rajiv Sarathy) writes:
$I need to read formatted text from the serial port.  Unfortunately, fopen
$doesn't open "com1:", so I can't see how to use fscanf.

   Use stdaux ... it's already there for you.  But don't count on it working.
The serial port is not interrupt-driven by default, and has no buffering
except that provided by the chip you're using.  Writing stuff to it works
fine, but good luck trying to read from it!  I have had no luck in Turbo
Pascal or in Turbo C doing this; if you're sure you can write something
fast enough not to miss a character, you can do it all with calls to
the appropriate BIOS interrupt (14h, I think), but then the maximum speed
your program will run at depends on the power of your computer.

   Might I suggest that you look around on simtel20 for a shareware/PD
interrupt-driven comm port package?  Also check out any decent PC BBSs
in your area (Canada Remote Systems might, and I think I might have seen
such programs on the Lamis BBS at (416) 754-4103, but CRS requries
membership and Lamis also does, I think).  I found a couple of such
libraries somewhere last term, but never got around to checking them
out and I don't think I have them anymore.
-- 
Stephen M. Dunn                               cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca
          <std_disclaimer.h> = "\nI'm only an undergraduate!!!\n";
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               I Think I'm Going Bald - Caress of Steel, Rush