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QB/FOSSIL v2.0 A Quickbasic Interface to FOSSIL Type COMM Drivers (c) 1992 Scott MacLean QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 1 ====================================================================== Introduction ------------ I have been very active in development of telecommunications software for the past few years. I also remain a staunch supporter of Microsoft Quickbasic. Logic suggests that I write my communications software in Quickbasic. However, the communications routines inside Quickbasic leave a lot to be desired. It has some severe limitations: - Access to COM1 and COM2 only - Maximum baud rate of 9600 - Drops DTR when COM port closed For this reason, several "third party" library publishers have been producing Quickbasic libraries with built in COMM routines, to replace those inside Quickbasic. However, most of these also have limitations, lacking either buffers, flow control, ability to run more than one COM port simultaneously, or other crucial parts. So we have been stuck with the built-in Quickbasic routines. One day, I was setting up a Fido node using D'Bridge, which uses something called a FOSSIL driver to handle it's communications. The driver I was using was Raymond Gwinn's X00.SYS. I looked into the documentation for this driver, and lights went on inside my head. This driver did everything I wished Quickbasic did! I decided that I simply MUST write a routine so that I would be able to use X00.SYS (or any FOSSIL driver, for that matter) from Quickbasic. What is a FOSSIL driver? In quick layman's terms, a FOSSIL driver is an interface between software and hardware. If you write a BBS, and want it to run on a variety of machines, even though those machines have different COM port configurations, you will have to write separate communication routines for each one. However, if you write your BBS to talk with the FOSSIL driver instead, the FOSSIL driver does all the hardware-level processing appropriate to the machine it is being run on, and your BBS never knows the difference. FIDO, OPUS and SEADOG, to name a few, use the FOSSIL driver standard. Therefore, if you write a communications program that interfaces with a FOSSIL driver, you are expanding your potential user base instantly! I would highly recommend you download X00.SYS (look for a file starting with "X00") and read the documentation on it before attempt- ing to use QB/FOSSIL. While you will be able to get by without it, by doing so you will learn much more than I can easily tell you here. Not all the features contained in the FOSSIL driver are imple- mented in QB/FOSSIL. I left out things like reading the keyboard buffer and printing to the screen, simply because those things can easily be done from within Quickbasic anyway. I left in lots of other goodies, however. Prepare to be amazed! QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 2 ====================================================================== Features of QB/FOSSIL --------------------- - Ability to set Baud Rate, Parity, Word Length, and Stop Bits on the fly, even after the COM port has already been initialized - Ability to READ Baud Rate, Parity, Word Length, and Stop Bits from a port - handy for writing DOORs that can't reset the baud rate - Can send BREAK signals - Can watch for and expedite CTRL-C or CTRL-K, for BBS uses - Built-in carrier monitoring - can be monitored manually, or set to reboot PC if carrier drops - Data can still be sent to the COM port even if there is no carrier detect - Variable size buffers up to 32K (set in the FOSSIL driver at star- tup) - Automatic block movement of text in and out of buffers from and to string variables, up to 32K at a time. No character-by-character reading: This feature can allow you to create a super-fast stream- ing protocol, in Quickbasic! - User control over the DTR signal - XON/XOFF and CTS/RTS handshaking built in (both can be disabled) - Ability to flush both the input and output buffers - Functions to report number of characters in each buffer, and number of bytes free remaining in each buffer - Ability to test for input buffer overrun - Ability to either cold start or warm start upon command (reboot) - Ability to support up to eight COM ports simultaneously (X00.SYS and some other drivers allow you to define many COM ports to use a single IRQ line - put 8 COM ports in your PC with no expensive "Multiport" hardware!) - Convenient, fully-functional Quick Library (.QLB) and Library (.LIB) files included, all you need to test and compile programs with. Source code provided upon registration, allows you to cus- tomize QB/FOSSIL to your needs QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 3 ====================================================================== Registration ------------ By now, you can probably see why I am so excited about this project. It has taken me some time to put together the support code and write the documentation. If you use QB/FOSSIL, please register it. QB/FOSSIL is fully functional in the unregistered version, with all the files you need to run interpreted Quickbasic 4.5 programs, and compile them. You are free to use QB/FOSSIL in any programs you write. However, if you use QB/FOSSIL in a program which you are going to SELL, MARKET, DISTRIBUTE or otherwise GIVE AWAY, I must request that you register QB/FOSSIL first. Registered users will receive a disk containing the source code to QB/FOSSIL. This fully-documented source code can be modified, stripped down, used in your own programs, or whatever else you want to do with it. Registered users are also al- lowed to distribute their programs which make use of QB/FOSSIL. To register your copy of QB/FOSSIL, send $25 US FUNDS to the address shown below: Scott MacLean - QB/FOSSIL 6 Marilyn Crescent Georgetown, ON L7G 1K4 Canada PLEASE include your return address. Source code will be sent on a 3.5" 720K diskette as soon as your registration funds are received. As an added bonus, I will include on the disk the latest assortment of programs which I have for release at the time I receive your registra- tion. (Sorry, 5.25" diskettes just cost too much to mail, due to all the extra protection required) If you could care less about the source code, and don't want the disk, please indicate so. In this case, you can send $20 US instead of the regular $25 US. And of course, comment is invited. If you have a comment or suggestion, by all means, send it along! Basic 7 ------- Due to the different way Microsoft Basic 7 PDS stores far strings, this version of QB/FOSSIL will not work with it. This is cur- rently being worked on, and is expected to be finished in the near fu- ture. A Quick Note ------------ Before I get hundreds of letters from people screaming about how QB/FOSSIL doesn't work, I want to mention this. QB/FOSSIL is NOT a communications driver. It is an INTERFACE to a communications driver. QB/FOSSIL WILL NOT WORK UNLESS A FOSSIL DRIVER IS LOADED INTO MEMORY FIRST! Go back to the beginning of the manual where it recommends you download X00.SYS. Did you do it yet? If not, do it now. If you don't, you won't get any farther than this, because nothing will work. QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 4 ====================================================================== Implementation -------------- Getting QB/FOSSIL up and running is ridiculously easy. Let's write a small terminal program to show how simple it really is. To begin, start Quickbasic with the following command line: QB /LFOSSIL45 This loads up Quickbasic, and also loads in the QB/FOSSIL quick library. (.QLB) Enter the following program: REM $INCLUDE: 'FOSSIL45.BI' Init 0 SetBaud 0, 1200, 8, "N", 1 FlowCtl 0, 1 DO PRINT Receive (0, 0); Transmit 0, INKEY$ LOOP That's it. You have just written a terminal program. Let's ex- amine it. The first line MUST appear at the top of each module you write which will be calling QB/FOSSIL routines. It is a BASIC INCLUDE file which contains all the declarations necessary for the interface. Next we see the Init command. This tells the FOSSIL driver to initial- ize port 0. Port 0 will be the first port we defined when we started our FOSSIL driver. Next we set the port parameters. We tell it that for port 0, we want 1200 baud, 8 bit word, no parity, and 1 stop bit. We could just as easily say we wanted 38400 baud. Or, we could omit this line altogether, and QB/FOSSIL would use whatever settings the COM port was last used at. Next, we tell the driver that we want CTS/RTS flow control on port 0. Now we go into an endless loop. The first line inside the loop tells QB/FOSSIL to PRINT whatever is received from port 0. The next line transmits whatever we type. Notice that we are not closing the port (DInit) after we are done, because this program will never exit the endless loop. In our program, we are not doing any sort of error detection. After each command, the common variable "FossErr" contains the result of the command just executed. If FossErr = 0, the command was executed successfully. If FossErr contains a value other than 0, an error has occurred. The values of FossErr differ for each command, but they are similar for the most part: for instance, a value of -2 almost always indicates that an invalid port number was specified. In the case of an error, a second common variable "PortErr" will hold the port number the error occurred on. What follows is a small description of each QB/FOSSIL command, and an example. Following that is a list of each command, with allow- able parameters, and possible results. QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 5 ====================================================================== Break PortNum%, Length! This command sends a BREAK signal to the modem for a specified amount of time. The length of the BREAK is specified in seconds. The example causes a BREAK signal on port 1 for 1.5 seconds. Break 1, 1.5 SEE ALSO: DTR ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Carrier% (PortNum%) Carrier returns the status of the carrier detect line from the modem. If a 0 is returned, the carrier detect line is high, indicating a connection is made. Result% = Carrier (0) SEE ALSO: WatchDog ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CtrlCK% (PortNum%) CtrlCK is a unique function which comes in handy in BBS and host applications. A call to the CtrlCK routine will determine whether or not a CTRL-C or CTRL-K has been received, without having to read from the input buffer. A 0 returned indicates neither has been received since the last call to CtrlCK. Every call to CtrlCK resets this flag to 0, regardless of it's prior value. Result% = CtrlCK (0) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DInit PortNum% DInit deallocates the settings which were assigned when the port was initialized. It should be done to each and every port which was Init'ed before your program terminates. The DTR line is NOT dropped when this function is executed, like it is in the regular Quickbasic routines. Dinit 0 SEE ALSO: Init, DTR ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DTR PortNum%, State% DTR is used to control the state of the Data Terminal Ready line to the modem. This is frequently used to cause the modem to "hang up" when a connection is finished. Our example raises the DTR line. DTR 0, 1 SEE ALSO: Break ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 6 ====================================================================== FlowCtl PortNum%, FType% Flow control is commonly used on high speed modems, but is also used frequently on dumb terminals as well. It allows the computers at each end to tell each other to "stop sending data" when it needs a few moments to process data. Enabling flow control on QB/FOSSIL will cause the fossil driver to do it's own flow control automatically, depending on the amount of data in the buffers. Two types of flow control are available, XON/XOFF and CTS/RTS. High speed modems with fixed DTE rates commonly use CTS/RTS, while dumb terminals often use XON/XOFF. Our example turns on XON/XOFF flow control. FlowCtl 0, 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FlushIn PortNum% FlushIn causes the entire contents of the input buffer to be dumped, and the input buffer is reset. Any data which was in the input buffer is lost. FlushIn 0 SEE ALSO: FlushOut ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FlushOut PortNum% FlushOut causes the entire contents of the output buffer to be dumped, and the output buffer is reset. Any data which was in the out- put buffer is lost. FlushOut 0 SEE ALSO: FlushIn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FVersion$ FVersion returns the current version of QB/FOSSIL, as a string. This text is automatically printed every time Init is called. Result$ = FVersion ---------------------------------------------------------------------- InBufF& (PortNum%) InBufF returns the number of bytes of free space remaining in the input buffer. When this number falls to 0, either flow control will be initiated, or the input buffer will overrun, depending on whether or not flow control is enabled. Result& = InBufF (0) SEE ALSO: OutBufF, InBufW, OutBufW, OverRun, Receive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 7 ====================================================================== InBufW& (PortNum%) InBufW returns the number of characters waiting to be read from the input buffer. It can be used to determine whether or not the Receive routine should be called to retrieve the text. Result& = InBufW (0) SEE ALSO: InBufF, OutBufF, OutBufW, OverRun, Receive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Init% PortNum% Init causes the FOSSIL driver to allocate the resources required to access the specified COM port. Init ABSOLUTELY MUST be called before any other activity is done on a port. Init 0 SEE ALSO: DInit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OutBufF& (PortNum%) OutBufF returns the number of bytes of free space remaining in the output buffer. When this number falls to 0, the next time a Trans- mit is called, it will "wait" until enough space is cleared in the output buffer to insert the new text. If something has crashed, and flow control is being used, this could hang things up indefinitely. Result& = OutBufF (0) SEE ALSO: InBufF, InBufW, OutBufW, OverRun, Transmit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OutBufW& (PortNum%) OutBufW returns the number of characters waiting to be sent from the output buffer. When a large amount of text is transmitted, this value will rapidly fall to 0 as the data is moved out of the output buffer. When this value is 0, no data is waiting to be sent, and no data is being sent. Result& = OutBufW (0) SEE ALSO: InBufF, OutBufF, InBufW, OverRun, Transmit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 8 ====================================================================== OverRun% (PortNum%) When flow control is not being used, and data is streaming into the input buffer, it must be read out from the input buffer rapidly. If this does not happen, the input buffer will become full, and data will be lost, as the FOSSIL driver has no place to put it. This is called a data overrun. If this function ever returns a non-zero result, then data overrun has occurred, and the data in the input buffer can now be considered corrupt. In this case, a FlushIn function should be called to clear out the input buffer. Result% = OverRun (0) SEE ALSO: InBufF, InBufW, FlushIn, Receive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ReadBaud$ (PortNum%) ReadBaud returns the current settings found in the specified COM port. It returns it as an eight character string. The first five characters are the baud rate, the sixth is the word length, the seventh is the parity, and the eighth is the stop bits. An example of 19200 baud, 8 bit word, no parity and one stop bit would be returned as "192008N1". Baud rates are filled with leading zeroes, so 300 baud appears as "00300". Result$ = ReadBaud (0) SEE ALSO: SetBaud ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ReBoot RType% ReBoot allows you to give the PC the old "three finger salute". Two types of reboots are supported, warm (reboot only) and cold (memory check, diagnostic check, reboot). Our example does a warm reboot. ReBoot 1 SEE ALSO: WatchDog ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 9 ====================================================================== Receive$ (PortNum%, Chars%) Receive is one of the two most important functions of QB/FOSSIL. It is the function used to move data from the input buffer into a string variable. You can have QB/FOSSIL move the entire buffer (up to 32767 characters) at once, or you can specify as many characters as you wish. This is done with the Chars parameter. Using a value of 0 will cause QB/FOSSIL to return the contents of the entire input buf- fer. Using any other value (up to 32767) will return exactly that many characters. If less than the specified amount of characters exists in the input buffer, Receive will return those characters only. (ie. just because you told it you want 20 characters, doesn't necessarily mean you're going to GET 20 characters. However, you won't get MORE than 20 characters.) The data is removed from the input buffer when this func- tion is executed. Result$ = Receive (0, 255) SEE ALSO: Transmit, InBufW, InBufF, FlushIn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SetBaud PortNum%, BaudRate&, WordLen%, Parity$, StopBits% This command allows you to set all the parameters of a COM port in one stroke. Make sure that all the parameters passed are valid, or SetBaud will return an error value. SetBaud should be called im- mediately after Init, unless you intend on using values that already exist in the COM port. SetBaud 0, 19200, 7, "E", 1 SEE ALSO: Init, ReadBaud ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Transmit PortNum%, Text$ Transmit moves the text from a string variable into the output buffer. If there is not enough space in the output buffer for the en- tire text to fit, Transmit will wait until there is, and then insert the text. Transmit can handle up to 32767 characters at a time. Transmit 0, x$ SEE ALSO: TransmitC, Receive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TransmitC PortNum%, Text$ TransmitC is functionally identical to Transmit, except that it adds a carriage return (ASCII 13) and line feed (ASCII 10) after the block of text. This is useful when you wish to send a line of text, but don't want to manually tack on the CR/LF combination. TransmitC 0, x$ SEE ALSO: Transmit, Receive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 10 ====================================================================== WaitTx PortNum% WaitTx will cause QB/FOSSIL to enter an endless loop until the entire output buffer is empty. This is useful for BBS's, where you don't want the BBS terminating the connection when someone logs off until all the data has been sent. It is wise to write a two or three second delay AFTER each WaitTx call, because some high speed modems also incorporate their own buffers, and these can take time to clear out as well. WaitTx 0 SEE ALSO: Transmit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WatchDog PortNum%, Status% WatchDog allows you to write programs which cannot crash. It is useful for systems which MUST remain connected at all times. When WatchDog is enabled by setting Status% to 1, it will watch the specified COM port. If the carrier detect is lost on that COM port, WatchDog will reboot the computer immediately. Caution! If WatchDog is enabled on a COM port which does not have a carrier detect signal on it, the computer will reboot instantly! Enable WatchDog on a port ONLY after a connection has been established! Our example enables WatchDog on port 0. WatchDog 0, 1 SEE ALSO: ReBoot QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 11 ====================================================================== Break: Sends a break signal to specified COM port Break portnum%, length! portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized length! length of break in seconds (single precision variable) Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Carrier: Reports status of Carrier Detect result% = Carrier (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0: Carrier detect -1: No carrier detect -2: Invalid port number ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CtrlCK: Detects CTRL-C or CTRL-K on incoming data stream, without having to read or flush input buffer. Each read resets it for the next one. result% = CtrlCK (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0: None detected since last call -1: CTRL-C or CTRL-K detected since last call -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DInit: De-initializes specified COM port after use - DTR is not dropped DInit portnum% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 12 ====================================================================== DTR: Raises or lowers DTR line to modem DTR portnum%, state% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized state% 1: Raise DTR (normal operation) 0: Lower DTR (usually causes modem to disconnect) Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified FossErr = -3: Invalid DTR state specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FlowCtl: Turns flow control on and off, and sets type of flow control FlowCtl portnum%, FType% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized FType% 0: Turn off flow control 1: CTS/RTS flow control 2: XON/XOFF flow control Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -1: Invalid type of flow control specified FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FlushIn: Discards and resets input buffer, releases flow control if enabled FlushIn portnum% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FlushOut: Discards and resets output buffer, releases flow control if enabled FlushOut portnum% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 13 ====================================================================== FVersion: Returns the version of the FOSSIL interface result$ = FVersion Returns Current revision of the Quickbasic FOSSIL interface ---------------------------------------------------------------------- InBufF: Returns number of bytes free in the input buffer result& = InBufF (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0, or positive integer: number of characters free -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- InBufW: Returns number of characters waiting in the input buffer result& = InBufW (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0, or positive integer: number of characters waiting -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Init: Initializes specified COM port for use - DTR is raised Init portnum% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -1: Port could not be opened, or not defined FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OutBufF: Returns number of bytes free in the output buffer result& = OutBufF (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0, or positive integer: number of characters free -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 14 ====================================================================== OutBufW: Returns number of characters waiting in the output buffer result& = OutBufW (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0, or positive integer: number of characters waiting -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OverRun: Checks for input buffer overrun (should never happen when flow control is enabled) result% = OverRun (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns 0: Input buffer intact -1: Input buffer overrun - data is unreliable -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ReadBaud: Returns the current baud rate, word length, parity and stop bits from the specified port result$ = ReadBaud (portnum%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns "bbbbbwps", where: b = baud rate w = word length p = parity s = stop bits ie: "024008N1" spaces: Invalid port specified also, FossErr = -2 Note: If a 5 bit word length is being used with 2 stop bits, it will return "5N2", "5O2" or "5E2" (depending on the parity). This indicates that it is using 1.5 stop bits, not 2. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reboot: Reboots PC (closes all Quickbasic files first) Reboot RType% RType% 0: Cold boot 1: Warm boot Returns (nothing, hopefully!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 15 ====================================================================== Receive: Retrieves up to 32767 characters from the input buffer result$ = Receive (portnum%, chars%) portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized chars% Number of characters to be retrieved, or 0 to retrieve the entire buffer (up to 32767 characters). If more characters are requested than exist in the buffer, only those characters which exist are returned Returns text: Contents of input buffer null: Empty buffer or invalid port number if FossErr = -2, indicates invalid port number ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SetBaud: Sets baud rate, word length, parity and stop bits for specified port. SetBaud portnum%, baudrate&, wordlen%, parity$, stopbits% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized baudrate& valid baud rates: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400 (long integer variable type) wordlen% 5, 6, 7 or 8 parity$ valid arguments: "N", "O", "E" (for None, Odd or Even) stopbits% 1 or 2 Note: if 2 stop bits are specified for a 5 bit word length, it defaults to 1.5 stop bits. Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified FossErr = -3: Invalid baud rate specified FossErr = -4: Invalid word length specified FossErr = -5: Invalid parity specified FossErr = -6: Invalid stop bits specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Transmit: Transmits string to specified port, does not add CR/LF Transmit portnum%, text$ portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized text$ any string variable, literal or constant Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -1: String was not transmitted FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 16 ====================================================================== TransmitC: Transmits string to specified port, adds CR/LF afterwards TransmitC portnum%, text$ portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized text$ any string variable, literal or constant Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -1: String was not transmitted FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WaitTx: Waits for the output buffer to empty WaitTx portnum% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified Note: If flow control is active, and the driver is waiting to send data, it is possible for this function to never return control to the caller ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WatchDog: Reboots PC if carrier is lost (Quickbasic files are NOT closed) WatchDog portnum%, status% portnum% 0 through 7, for COM1 through COM8, as defined when the fossil driver was initialized status% 0: Disable WatchDog 1: Enable Watchdog Returns FossErr = 0: Success FossErr = -2: Invalid port specified Note: Enabling this function on a port which does not cur- rently have a positive carrier detect will cause an in- stant reboot! QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 17 ====================================================================== Help! ----- Q: You keep talking about buffers! How do I change the size of my buffers from within QB/FOSSIL? A: You can't. The size of the buffers is determined when you install your FOSSIL driver. Read the documentation that came with the FOS- SIL driver. Q: How come you keep talking about port 0? My computer has only COM1 and COM2. It doesn't have a COM0. A: COM1 and Port 1 are two different things. When you start the FOSSIL driver, you define up to eight "virtual" ports, Port 0 through Port 7. Each one of these ports "points" to a COM port. For instance, Port 0 could represent COM3, Port 1 could represent COM1, and Port 2 could represent another COM port at some strange address. This is all in the idea of getting away from direct hardware manipulation. Read the documentation that came with the FOSSIL driver. Q: What's a library? How do I get it to work with my program? A: A library is a collection of routines which can be "added" onto Quickbasic, but where you can't actually see the code. There are two types of libraries, Quick Libraries (those ending in .QLB) and regular libraries (those ending in .LIB). Quick Libraries are used when you are running a program interpreted (in the environment) and .LIB libraries are used when a program is being compiled. To load the .QLB into Quickbasic, start Quickbasic with the following line: QB /LFOSSIL45 When you compile from within the Quickbasic environment, it will compile the .LIB library in automatically. For more information, read the section on compiling and linking in your Quickbasic manual. Q: I have QBasic, that came with DOS 5. How do I get QB/FOSSIL to work? A: You don't. QB/FOSSIL is designed to work with Quickbasic 4.5. Go out and spend the $90 on Quickbasic, it's well worth the money. Q: I wrote a program with QB/FOSSIL, but it only gives me errors when I try to run and compile it. A: Check to ensure that you put the following line at the top of every module which is calling QB/FOSSIL functions: REM $INCLUDE: 'FOSSIL45.BI' QB/FOSSIL Interface v1.1 (c) 1992 Scott MacLean Page 18 ====================================================================== Release History --------------- Date Ver Notes --------- ---- ----- 23-Jun-92 2.0 Rewrite of main routines and documentation. All func- tions that were doing commands without returning data were changed to subroutines to facilitate writing readable code. Bug discovered in old version of X00.SYS was corrected in X00.SYS version 1.3, and compensation in the QB/FOSSIL code was removed. Use version 1.3 or greater of X00.SYS when using version 2.0 QB/FOSSIL. 07-Mar-92 1.2 Some people reported having problems with the way the segment pointers were being loaded, as FOSSIL was changing the BASIC defined segment on them. This method was removed, and a soft code method was inserted in- stead. You can now safely execute a DEF SEG statement, call a FOSSIL routine, and your SEG will remain as it was before you called the routine. Routine to display copyright changed to display through DOS instead of through Quickbasic. 18-Feb-92 1.1 Bug was discovered in the InBufF, InBufW, OutBufF and OutBufW routines, all of which were reporting one byte offset incorrectly. (ie. All "Waiting" functions would always report one byte waiting, even when buffers were empty) 31-Jan-92 1.0 Initial Release: Beta test completed