RE: Programming the serial port from the AS/400

Rob,

Async programming is not difficult, but if you have not done any comms work
on the box before, there are a few techniques to understand.
RPG programs send/receive data via an ICF file. This is created with a
normal DDS with a couple of exceptions.
The ICF file is attached to an async device description.
The rpg program then reads and writes records in the normal way to this ICF
as if it was a workstation.

I can't point you to specific docs, but I have plenty of async progs on my
box that I have written over the years.

For starters, you will need to find the following from the LED display
suppliers:
Line speed
Data bits e.g. 8
Parity e.g. *none
Stop bits e.g. 1
Duplex e.g. *full
Echo (assume *none)
Flow control (assume *none)
End of records characters - ummmm. depends. probably '0A'

Create the async line with CRTLINASC
Create an Async controller & async device

Then you need to know how the conversation starts, continues, and ends.
i.e. who starts it, and how. The LED supplier should help you there.

Once you have all that lot, you will ceate the DDS for the ICF file,
probably with very general fields such as DATAOUT, DATAIN etc
There is also the INVITE keyword to tell the other box you want data from
them.
The CRTICFF creates the file, and the Aquired program device is your Async
Device above.

Your RPG program then reads/writes to the ICF file.

Dead easy :-0

Happy to send some example real code once you have got the basic data as
defined above


Regards

Ian Patterson
Grange Management Consultants
tel 01947 880458
www.grange-systems.co.uk




-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Robin Coles
Sent: 16 September 2003 14:31
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Programming the serial port from the AS/400


We have a customer who's looking at getting a wallboard LED display, but
wants to drive it from the AS/400.  The wallboard has a serial
interface, and there is a spare serial port on the back of the AS/400,
but I have no idea how to configure the serial port or how to get data
out to it once it's configured.

Has anyone done this, or can you point me to some appropriate
documentation?  A google search wasn't as fruitful as I'd hoped.

Cheers
Rob

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