Mail Archives: djgpp/1999/08/16/22:21:05
Bill:
>I think you mean a Perl version build with DJGPP 2.01. Did you
compile it yourself, or just use a pre-build binary distribution?
Pre-built binary.
>I also must ask WHY? The last time I looked, the DJGPP-built Perl
...
Because my work, and thus home, boxes are Win98. I want to support
the FSF and their "GNU Software for MS-Windows and MS-DOS and
Compatible Systems" (http://www.fsf.org/order/windows.html) seems
to work well on Win98. The FSF/ DJGPP Perl also works well with
Sambar Server (www.sambar.com) for Perl/CGI.
>There are at least two common ports for Win98 ...
Yup.
>> This is my current attempt...
>And it ... is doomed to failure on Win9x...
Hmmm. Eli suggested that I look into serial I/O using DJGPP first,
then try to do it in Perl. I also had the idea of writing test
patterns to the serial port from Perl and seeing what happens.
>> Searching around on Deja...
>People with either of the above ports...
OK that's what I thought. My back-up plan has always been CPAN
first, ActivePerl second.
>>> There is a gentleman in Japan...
>I still have not seen results...
He is constrained by the DOS (DPMI?) API, which I never learned --
I always programmed to the standard C library when I was on DOS. I
did serial I/O once using MS Quick C several years ago, but
couldn't figure out my code the last time I looked at it (~6
months?). I think I got the key bits from sample code in the MS
Mouse Programmer's Guide. I remember there was one or more
bios-something calls, but I couldn't find decent documentation for
them or the DOS serial driver. It was monkey see, monkey do.
For this project, I ended up learning the Win32 API stuff and
writing a console utility to do blocking serial I/O with timeouts.
My early development support apps were Win98 batch files calling
the console utility. I then migrated the serial code into our
Borland C++ Builder production app. The development need is back,
and I refuse to use batch files -- thus Perl. But the console
utility is slow and the constant open/closing of the serial port
confuses everything on the RS-485 bus. The clean Perl solution
would be a DJGPP::SerialPort. A work-around might be a Win32
service with a (piped? socketed?) console interface.
Thanks for your insight and suggestions! :-)
--
David Christensen
dchristensen AT california DOT com
-----------== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeeds.com The Largest Usenet Servers in the World!
------== Over 73,000 Newsgroups - Including Dedicated Binaries Servers ==-----
- Raw text -