dave@motto.UUCP (dave brown) (07/18/89)
I am writing a small program which does input and output through (and sometimes to) a modem connected to the ST's the serial port. I do not want the program to wait indefinitely if there is no response at the port (i.e. nothing connected to the port, other end does not reply, etc.). Currently I use BIOS BCONSTAT (TRAP #13 function 1) to test whether there is a character waiting for input. If so, I read it using BIOS CONIN (TRAP #13 function 2). If not, I keep looping on the BCONSTAT until a character arrives, or a certain amount of time passes. If the time limit expires with no character, I give up and report an error. Is this the best way to do this kind of thing? If I had to wait for input from the serial port and the keyboard, and process either one, would I just keep polling each one with BCONSTAT until one or the other had a character ready for input? Thanks for your help, Dave ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | David C. Brown | uunet!mnetor!motto!dave | | Motorola Canada, Ltd. | 416-499-1441 ext 3708 | | Communications Division | Disclaimer: Motorola is a very big company | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------