home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Software Vault: The Gold Collection
/
Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
/
cdr36
/
gapcdr6.zip
/
WHATS.NEW
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-04-19
|
9KB
|
212 lines
04/16/93
GAPCDR now supports the DigiBoard COM/Xi series of Intelligent
Serial Communications boards. These boards contain 4 or 8 serial
ports along with their own on-board processor to control the ports.
These boards are actually a single-board computer dedicated to handling
serial port I/O.
By moving the serial I/O functions from the Host Computer to the
DigiBoard, the IRQ and Interrupt Latency bottleneck that plagues
Multi-Tasking users is eliminated.
GAPCDR supports the DigiBoard in two ways:
Direct Programming and INT14/EBIOS calls.
Direct Programming is the fastest because it eliminates the need
for costly software interrupt calls to a slower BIOS. In addition
it does not require the presence of a Device Driver which basically
performs the same functions as the Direct Programming method.
INT14/EBIOS requires that a Device Driver be loaded (this driver
is supplied by DigiBoard). Serial Port I/O is performed by issuing
software interrupts (Interrupt 14).
Whether or not to use the Direct Interface or the INT14/EBIOS
Interface depends on the BBS which will be running the GAPCDR
program. If the BBS is utilizing the Device Driver, then that is
how a GAPCDR program must be configured. If the BBS is a GAP system
and the Sysop is using the Direct Interface, then the GAPCDR program
must be configred the same.
The two interfaces can not be intermixed since the Direct Interface will
essentially put the Device Driver to sleep.
When using the INT14/EBIOS interface and the DigiBoard supplied Device
Driver, it is not necessary to turn on the "Character Waiting" flags
for each of the ports. GAPCDR does not use these flags as they basically
defeat the purpose of using a multi-port board in a multi-tasking
system. To use these flags an IRQ must be dedicated to the DigiBoard.
If the flags are not used, the IRQ need not be set.
Imagine running 8 ports under a Multi-Tasker where all 8 ports
are in use. As characters are received by each of the 8 ports, an
interrupt is generated. The Device Driver must service the
interrupt request and since the driver runs on the Host Computer,
it will be spending a lot of precious time figuring out which of
the ports generated the interrupt and updating its "Character
Waiting" flag for that port.
By disabling the "Character Waiting" flags and not utilizing the
IRQ, the Host Computer will not know it has 8 serial ports running
at high speed at the same time.
If, however, the Sysop has the IRQ and Character Waiting flags enabled,
no harm is done. GAPCDR simply will not utilize the flags.
The Character Waiting flags are provided because making Interrupt
14 calls takes longer than simply checking a memory address (which,
by the way, is what the Direct Programming interface does).
To use a DigiBoard with a GAPCDR program, 4 additional lines have been
added to the Door Configuration file. These 4 new options are:
Line 5 - The COM Port Interface to use:
STANDARD = Regular Communications Port Interface. This
is what you would normally use.
DIGIBOARD = Direct DigiBoard Programming Interface. Must
be used in conjunction with a program called
RESETDIG.EXE. If you don't have this program
but have a DigiBoard, then use the following
option.
INT14/EBIOS = Indirect DigiBoard Support via a Device Driver.
All Communications to the DigiBoard (or any
board that supports INT14/EBIOS) are performed
via a Software Interrupt that the Device Driver
handles.
Line 6 - This is the DigiBoard Memory Window, or the address the
card uses as a communications area between the card and
the Host Computer. Only needed if using an Interface set
to DIGIBOARD. If using STANDARD or INT14/EBIOS, this can
be set to 0. This address must be entered in Hexadecimal.
Valid entries are: C000, C800, D000, and D800
Line 7 - This is the DigiBoard I/O Port address that the Board is
attached to. Only needed if using an Interface set to
DIGIBOARD. If using STANDARD or INT14/EBIOS, can be set
to 0. This address must be entered in Hexadecimal.
Valid entries are: 100, 110, 120, 200, 220, 300 and 320
Line 8 - This is the DigiBoard Channel Number for the port this
program will be utilizing. This is REQUIRED for DIGIBOARD
and INT14/EBIOS Interfaces. This is 1 - 8 for the
DIGIBOARD Interface and usually 4 - 11 for the INT14/EBIOS
Interface. This number tells the program which of the
Com Ports on the DigiBoard it should use.
The new configuration file for a GAPCDR that will be using a DigiBoard
Serial port would look like the following:
DOOR.CNF
----------------------
C:\GAP
The Crow's Nest BBS
4
03F8
INT14/EBIOS
D000
320
4
Lines 3 and 4 are ignored by the program and can be set to 0.
Because this is an INT14/EBIOS interface, lines 6 and 7 are also
ignored. Line 8 is the Channel Number and in this case, it is the
first serial port on the DigiBoard (Channel Numbers 1 - 4 are
generally reserved for COM 1 - COM 4 on the Host Computer, although
this is up to the Sysop and how he/she configured the Device Driver).
To use the Direct Programming Interface, the configuration file
would look something like:
DOOR.CNF
----------------------
C:\GAP
The Crow's Nest BBS
4
03F8
DIGIBOARD
D000
320
1
Lines 3 and 4 are ignored by the program and can be set to 0.
Line 6 is the Memory Window that the DigiBoard and the program
use to communicate with each other. Line 7 is the I/O port that
the board uses. Line 8 is the Channel Number which, in this case,
is the first serial port on the DigiBoard.
To use the Standard Com Port Interface, the configuration file
would look something like:
DOOR.CNF
----------------------
C:\GAP
The Crow's Nest BBS
4
03F8
STANDARD
0
0
0
Lines 3 and 4 are used ONLY if the program will be using a COM port
other than COM 1 or COM 2. They can be set to 0 if the program will
not be using non-standard COM ports. Line 5 tells the program to
use its own internal interrupt handler. Lines 6-8 are not used and
can be set to 0.
Note that even if the DigiBoard specific options are not used or needed
they must still be present in the Configration File and all Door Specific
options now begin on Line 9.
02/18/92
GAPCDR is now compatible with GAPBBS version 6.
01/12/91
Since the new MASM 6 does not like the word WAIT to be used as
a procedure name, the function wait() has been changed to timer().
If you are converting from a previous version of GAPCDR, please
note that line 3 of the Door Configuration File (the one that was
either a 0 for GAP or a 1 for PCB, has been removed. GAPCDR no
longer cares what BBS system it is operating under.
The CNF file now has just 4 required lines. Please consult
the documentation for the proper format of the Door Configuration
File.
The show_file function no longer supports the old GAP AnsiCmds
to clear the screen and disable the More prompt.
Future releases of GAPCDR will include support for the full
replaceable parameter command set of GAP and PCB.
GAPCDR now writes directly to the screen (and is fully DESQview
compatible). It contains its own built in ANSI driver. Because
of the built in ANSI driver, if you used one of the C console
output statements (printf, cputs, etc), you need to change
those statments to use the GAPCDR functions of lputs or lputc.
If you use C's console output statments to write to the local
screen, your local screen will be quite a mess!
All of the GAPCDR functions are now documented. A printed and
bound manual is also available. Many new functions were added
and they are all explained in the manual.