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C O M M H E X Serial Communications Display Program Users Manual Version 4.2 21 April 1988 Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1988 by Michael Burton CommHex is a proprietary product written and distributed by Michael Burton. TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose 2 Program Specifications 2 CommHex as ShareWare 2 Association of Shareware Professionals 3 Section 2 GETTING STARTED 4 Section 3 THE FIELD INPUT EDITOR 6 Section 4 COMMHEX INTERNAL FUNCTIONS 8 Grab Mode (Alt-G) 8 Transmit Mode (Alt-T) 8 Help Screens (Alt-H) 8 Information Screen (Alt-I) 8 Communications Parameters Change (Alt-P) 9 Macro Define/Change, Load, Save, Display (Alt-M) 9 Clear Windows (Alt-C) 10 Exit to DOS Shell (Alt-X) 10 Filter Values Change (Alt-F) 11 Echo Mode (Alt-E) 11 Delay Toggle Mode (Alt-D) 11 Leaving CommHex (Esc) 11 Section 5 CREATING AND USING MACROS (Alt-1 through Alt-0) 11 ________________________________________________________________________ Section 1 INTRODUCTION CommHex is a serial communications display program. It displays any data that is received on either serial port (COM1 or COM2) in two windows. The upper window displays the data in ASCII and the lower window displays the data as its corresponding hexadecimal values. Data sent to the serial port from the keyboard may optionally be displayed, and is distinguished from incoming data by being displayed in blue on a color display, or underlined on a monochrome display. You may control all communications parameters with CommHex; port number, baud rate, number of data bits, parity, number of stop bits and even the intercharacter delay between bytes of a macro as it is transmitted. CommHex serial communications are interrupt driven and will support rates of 75, 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2400, 4800, 9600 and 19200 baud. The incoming and outgoing serial buffers (these buffers are transparent to the user) can hold up to 16384 bytes without losing data. If for any reason you wish to filter out extraneous information from the incoming data, three data filters are available, which may be used singly or in combination. These are the AND filter, OR filter and eXclusive OR filter. They are applied to the data in that order (AND, OR, XOR). The filters are always active, but their initial values are such that they pass through data undisturbed. CommHex has a mode called the grab mode that, when toggled on, captures each incoming byte and puts it in a file called COMMGRAB.TXT. The data may then be analyzed at your leisure later. If you are unsure of CommHex's configuration at any point, an information window may be brought up to display this information. It tells you what all the communications parameters are, what the filter values are, whether grab mode is toggled on or off and what macro file is loaded. CommHex has a macro capability which allows you to create a string of almost any content that may then be sent out the serial port. A maximum of 10 macros are resident at a time and are activated using Alt-1 through Alt-0. The macros may be saved in a file and may later be reloaded. Any number of macro files is supported. CommHex has a help facility that gives a short synopsis of each of its commands, as well as the well-known ShareWare plea for cash. The help facility is meant to refresh your memory about the internal commands and is not meant to take the place of this manual. Finally, CommHex has the capability to remain in memory while you exit to MSDOS/PCDOS to perform whatever you need to do, such as copying files, deleting files, editing files, looking at directories, etc. You may return to CommHex by typing EXIT at the MSDOS/PCDOS prompt. Page 1 CommHex is great as a tool to test new serial devices, or to determine exact serial port requirements of devices. It may even be used to communicate with bulletin board systems, although we don't recommend it. _________________________ _________________________ Purpose The purpose of this users guide is to provide help with running CommHex, as well as helping you to get the most out of the program. It will explain how to run CommHex, how to use the input field editor, how to use the internal CommHex functions and how to create and use macros. _________________________ Program Specifications Program date: 21 Apr 88 Program version: 4.2 Program size: 44672 Disk Drives required: 1 floppy or hard disk. Display required: Any IBM compatible MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA, Hercules, etc. in text mode. Operating system: MSDOS or PCDOS, version 2.0 or higher. Special hardware required: Serial port _________________________ CommHex as ShareWare The CommHex serial communications display program is distributed using the ShareWare concept. This means that if after trying out CommHex, you decide to use it, we expect you to show your appreciation of our time and effort by sending $14 to Michael Burton 15540 Boot Hill Rd. Hayden Lake, ID 83835 In return, you will immediately receive via first class mail the latest version of CommHex, as well as several other programs we have written, including the Turbo Pascal source code of the procedure that is used for field input in CommHex, as well as the windowing procedures that are used. You are encouraged to copy and distribute CommHex to anyone with the following restrictions: 1. CommHex and this accompanying manual are to be distributed as a set, archived or not. Do not make any changes to either file. Page 2 2. Do not charge for CommHex's distribution or copying. (User Groups may make a small charge for the cost of disks and copying, not to exceed $10). 3. Commercial use of CommHex in any manner is prohibited without the written permission of its author. The CommHex program and this accompanying users guide are provided 'as is' without warranty of any kind. The correctness, accuracy, reliability and currentness of CommHex and this users guide is not warranted. The entire risk as to results and performance of CommHex is assumed by the user. _________________________ Association of Shareware Professionals The author of this program is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) and has agreed to comply with its standards: Programming Standards - 1. The program meets ASP's definition of Shareware. 2. The program has been throughly tested by the author and should not be harmful to other files or hardware if used properly (although ASP cannot warrant this; therefore, the user should take normal precautions in trying new software). Documentation Standards - 1. Sufficient documentation is provided to allow the average user to try all major functions of the program. 2. The program author has explained the Shareware concept in a professional and positive manner. Support Standards - 1. The program author will respond as described in the documentation to people who send registration payments. At a minimum, the author will send an acknowledgement of payment. 2. The author will respond to written bug reports from registered users when the user provides a self-addressed, stamped envelope (some authors will respond by phone, but this is not an ASP requirement). 3. Incompatibilities with other software or hardware, major or unusual program limitations, or known problems are noted in the documentation that comes with the Shareware version of the program. Page 3 General - 1. The author keeps his/her membership in ASP current. 2. The author recognizes that any user may appeal to ASP for any unresolved dispute that arises. If you feel that the author has not complied with these standards in some manner or if you register the program with the author and subsequently have any disputes with the author which cannot be resolved, please contact the ASP on Compuserve in the IBMJR forum. While ASP cannot warrant programs nor the actions of members, ASP will do what it can to assure that all authors who claim membership comply with ASP standards. These standards are the assurance of quality and support that you will get when you register Shareware produced by ASP members. ________________________________________________________________________ Section 2 GETTING STARTED To use CommHex, the only file required is COMMHEX.EXE. It may be anywhere that is accessible to the operating system; that is, it may be in your current default directory or in your command PATH. When CommHex is running, it may use several files it has created in your current default directory. These are: COMMHEX.CFG - Configuration file. Whenever you change the communications parameters, the new values are stored in this file, so that the next time you use CommHex the new parameters can be used as default values. COMMGRAB.TXT - Grab mode file. This file is created in your default directory the first time you toggle grab mode on. Every time after the first that you toggle the grab mode on, the data is appended to this file. If you wish to start with a new grab file you must erase the old one yourself. COMMHEX.MAC - Default macro file. You must create this with the macro facility if you wish CommHex to use it. To start up CommHex, simply enter COMMHEX The program will be loaded and begin execution. The first thing CommHex does is look for COMMHEX.CFG in your current default directory. If it finds the file, it will use the values contained therein as default communications values. Page 4 CommHex next looks for COMMHEX.MAC in your current default directory. If it finds the file, it loads the macros contained therein. If you have a set of macros you wish to be initially loaded, you should save them in a file called COMMHEX.MAC using the Alt-M Save option. When CommHex has finished looking for these files, it displays the CommHex banner and creates a window that asks you for the communications parameters: +-----------------------------------------------------+ | Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1988 by Michael Burton | | Version: 4.2 Last revised: 21 Apr 88 | | | | Communications port number (1 or 2): 1 | | Baud rate (75-19200): 1200 | | Number of data bits (6, 7, 8): 8 | | Data parity (O, E, N): N | | Number of stop bits (1, 2): 1 | | Intercharacter delay for macros/files: 0 ms | +-----------------------------------------------------+ Each question shows the legal values for the answer in parentheses and the current value in the request field. Just pressing ENTER will select the current value. CommHex will keep asking the same question over and over until you respond with a legal value. Each of the input fields uses the CommHex field editor, which is explained in detail in Section 3. The first question asked is what IBM PC communications port is being used to receive and transmit data on. Answer 1 for COM1 and 2 for COM2. The second question asks for a baud rate at which you will be communicating. Legal values are 75, 110, 150, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2400, 4800, 9600 and 19200 baud. The third question concerns the number of bits in a character coming from or going to the serial device to which you are connected. This is usually 7 if parity is enabled and 8 if parity is disabled. The fourth question concerns the parity of the data. Parity may be even (E), odd (O) or disabled by answering none (N). The fifth question asks how many stop bits a data word has. The normal answer for this is almost always 1. The last question asks how long to wait between characters when sending a macro string out the serial port. The default is usually 0 milliseconds. When all of the communications parameters questions are satisfactorily answered, the window is erased and the CommHex operating display is put up: Page 5 +-|CommHex V4.2|------------- ASCII ----------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Alt-H:Help Alt-1 thru Alt-0:Macros Esc:Exit Echo:OFF In: 0 Out: 0 +------------------------- HEX CODE ----------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ There isn't anything very mysterious about the display; the upper window will show data in ASCII and the lower window will show it in hexadecimal. The middle line consists of reminders and status. The reminders help you out with keys to get help, activate macros and show you how to exit from CommHex. The status shows whether Commhex is echoing local input and how many characters have come in from the serial port or gone out to it since the last time the windows were cleared. Once the operating display comes up, you are ready to communicate with the selected serial port. ________________________________________________________________________ Section 3 THE FIELD INPUT EDITOR All of the internal functions that solicit input (with the notable exception of the macro define/change function) use a field input routine that allows you unlimited editing capabilities of that field. The editing keys are shown below. Left Arrow (or Ctl-S) - Move the cursor nondestructively to the left by one character. Stop moving when you reach the starting position of the field. Right Arrow (or Ctl-D) - Move the cursor nondestructively to the right by one character. Stop moving when you reach the end of the current input. Home (or Ctl-A) - Move the cursor to the starting position of the field. End (or Ctl-F) - Move the cursor to the end of the current input. Page 6 Del (or Ctl-G) - Delete the character that the cursor is currently sitting under and fill in with the rest of the field to the right of the cursor. BackSpace - Delete the character to the left of the cursor, moving the cursor and the rest of the field to the left. Ctl-BackSpace - Delete the entire field. Position the cursor at the starting position in the field. Ins - Toggle insert mode. In insert mode, when characters are entered, those to the right of them are pushed farther to the right. When in overwrite mode, characters to the right are written over. The cursor size indicates the mode. A large cursor means you are in insert mode, and a small cursor means you are in overwrite mode. Ctl-End - Delete all the characters from the cursor position to the end of the field, including the character under which the cursor is sitting. Ctl-Left Arrow - Move the cursor one word to the left. A word is a group of characters delimited by a space, slash, backslash, colon, dash, period, equals, underline or comma. Stop at the starting position of the field. Ctl-Right Arrow - Move the cursor one word to the right. Stop at the end of the current input. Enter, Esc, Tab, BackTab, Up Arrow, Down Arrow - Done editing this field. Esc is sometimes used to cancel the current function. Most input fields have default or current values; these are placed inside the field, ready for editing, when you enter that field. Fields that should only allow certain characters do indeed only allow those characters. For instance, if CommHex is Page 7 only looking for the numbers 1 and 2, that is the only printable characters that the field input procedure will allow to be entered. This cuts down on entry mistakes but does not eliminate them. For instance, for a file name you could still enter 'C::\\FILENAME...EXTTT'. ________________________________________________________________________ Section 4 COMMHEX INTERNAL FUNCTIONS CommHex has twelve functions that are perform internal operations. Eleven of these are executed local to the program, i.e., they do not transmit anything through the serial port. The twelfth, transmit mode (Alt-T), allows automatic file transfer through the selected serial port. Operation of these internal functions is explained in this Section. _________________________ Grab Mode (Alt-G) The CommHex grab mode allows you to capture information coming from the serial port and place it in a file called COMMGRAB.TXT. CommHex never erases COMMGRAB.TXT; when grab mode is toggled on, new data is appended to the file until you leave the program or toggle grab mode off. When you press Alt-G, a window pops up telling you the status of the grab mode toggle. Grab mode toggle status is also available in the Information window (Alt- I). _________________________ Transmit Mode (Alt-T) The CommHex transmit mode allows you to transmit an ASCII file through the serial port. The delay time between transmission of each character in the file is controlled by the intercharacter delay, which may be turned off using Alt-D, or changed using Alt-P. You may terminate the file transmission at any time by pressing the Esc key. NOTE: Don't try to transmit the COMMGRAB.TXT file while grab mode is toggled on; the results will be unpredictable. _________________________ Help Screens (Alt-H) When Alt-H is depressed, a full screen window pops up, giving a synopsis of all the internal commands. There are three such windows full of information (the third is actually a desperate plea for cash). When you have cycled through all three windows, the display returns to the normal CommHex operating display. _________________________ Information Screen (Alt-I) Pressing Alt-I brings up a window that is filled with information about the current status of CommHex. It looks like this: Page 8 +----------------- Information -----------------+ | C O M M H E X | | Copyright (C) 1986, 1987, 1988 Michael Burton | | Version 4.2 21 Apr 88 | | Written By Michael Burton | | | | Comm Port : 1 | | Baud Rate : 1200 | | Data Bits : 8 Char Delay : 0 | | Parity : None Grab Mode : OFF | | Stop Bits : 1 AND filter : FFh | | OR filter : 00h XOR filter : 00h | | Macro file: COMMHEX.MAC | | | | Press any key to continue | +-----------------------------------------------+ _________________________ Communications Parameters Change (Alt-P) If for any reason you wish to change the value of any of the communications parameters, press Alt-P. A window will pop up that looks like this: +--------------- Change Comm Parameters --------------+ | | | Communications port number (1 or 2): 1 | | Baud rate (75-19200): 1200 | | Number of data bits (6, 7, 8): 8 | | Data parity (O, E, N): N | | Number of stop bits (1, 2): 1 | | Intercharacter delay for macros/files: 0 ms | | | +-----------------------------------------------------+ You will note that the questions are identical to the communications parameters questions in the opening CommHex window. See Section 2 for an explanation of them. _________________________ Macro Define/Change, Load, Save, Display (Alt-M) Pressing Alt-M will activate the CommHex macro facility. A menu will pop up that looks like: +--------- Macro Processing ---------+ | [M]acro key define/change. | | [L]oad macro definitions file. | | [S]ave macro definitions to file. | | [D]isplay all macros. | | [R]eturn to CommHex | | Selection:_ | +------------------------------------+ Pressing the appropriate letter enclosed in brackets will activate that particular macro function. Page 9 When 'M' is pressed, the following window appears: +------------------------ Macro Define/Change -----------------------+ | Define/change which macro (1-10, ESC to exit)? | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Below this window is another window with extended ASCII codes in it. This is meant to be used as a help when constructing the macro. When you enter a number from 1 through 10, the small window is cleared and the following appears: +---------------------- Macro Define/Change -------------------------+ | Macro #x Backspace in macro:@ Ctl-A:Pause 1 second Ctl-End:Exit | |_ | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ You may then enter your macro, up to 76 characters. Please note that only two keys are used in the editing process; the backspace key and the Ctl-End key. All other keys will be inserted into the macro definition. If you want to put a backspace character in your macro, you must use an '@' in its place. If you wish to delay 1 second between characters in a macro, use a Ctl-A. Macros created with this facility are only retained in memory and will be lost when CommHex is exited. If you wish to save the macros you have created in a file, use the 'S' option. You will be prompted for a file name to save the macros to. We recommend that you use a name with a .MAC extension. To reload macros that you have saved in a file, use the 'L' option. You will be prompted for a file name, and will be informed when the macros are loaded. To see the macros that you have defined or loaded, use the 'D' option. A window will pop up that lists each macro string. Use the 'R' option to return to the CommHex display windows. _________________________ Clear Windows (Alt-C) When Alt-C is pressed, the ASCII and Hex Code windows are both cleared, the In and Out counters are set to zero and the cursor is placed at the start of the ASCII window. _________________________ Exit to DOS Shell (Alt-X) If you wish to temporarily leave CommHex to perform some DOS function, press Alt-X. The display will be cleared and a reminder message, "Enter 'EXIT' to return to CommHex...", will be displayed. You may then perform any DOS function you wish, as long as there is enough memory left. Just type EXIT to return to CommHex. Page 10 _________________________ Filter Values Change (Alt-F) When Alt-F is pressed, the Change Input Filters window pops up. It looks like this: +------------------ Change Input Filters -----------------+ | | | AND filter for incoming characters (0-FFh): FF | | OR filter for incoming characters (0-FFh): 00 | | Exclusive OR filter for incoming characters (0-FFh): 00 | | | +---------------------------------------------------------+ We recommend that you leave the filters alone unless you really know what you are doing, as they can cause some pretty strange things to happen to the data. They were originally installed to compensate for negative true data levels when testing serial keyboards. The filter values are also available in the information window. _________________________ Echo Mode (Alt-E) Pressing Alt-E toggles the echo mode. The echo mode status is displayed in the middle line status area. _________________________ Delay Toggle Mode (Alt-D) Pressing Alt-D toggles the intercharacter delay off and on. This is useful for sending macros as fast as possible out the serial port. When the intercharcter delay is off, characters are sent even faster than if the intercharacter delay is set to zero. _________________________ Leaving CommHex (Esc) Pressing the Esc key closes COMMGRAB.TXT if it is open, causes storage of changed communication parameters in COMMHEX.CFG, clears the screen and exits to the operating system. ________________________________________________________________________ Section 5 CREATING AND USING MACROS (Alt-1 through Alt-0) Macro strings have many uses. One use is to send a series of codes to the serial port that we have selected for use as an internal function. For instance, you can send an Alt-C to the serial port by using a macro. It will not do a local window clear. Try bringing up the macro facility (Alt-M) and selecting option 'M'. Then create macro number 1 by entering a '1'. When you enter an Alt-C into the macro string, you will see a space and a period appear. If you look at the extended ASCII table, you will see that the space corresponds to a '0' and the period Page 11 corresponds to a '46'. Each character that you enter has a unique display character associated with it (except '0', which displays the same as a space). If you enter a carriage return, you will see a musical note. When you have finished constructing your macro, enter Ctl-End. You will be returned to the main macro menu. Enter an 'R' to return back to the CommHex display windows. To use the macro you have just constructed, press Alt-1. If you constructed macro number 10, you would press Alt-0. Macro five would be Alt-5. A good method to construct macros consists of going through the keystrokes you require manually, writing each keystroke down. Then invoke the macro facility and enter each keystroke into a macro. You are limited to 76 characters in any one macro. Macros currently do not chain, i.e., if you put an Alt-5 into macro number 1, macro number 5 would not be executed when you executed macro number one. Page 12