The communications classes presented here are modified versions of ones posted by Romain Vignes. I have significantly modified them, and although the interface to them is similar to that of Mr. Vigne's, and the class names are the same, they should be considered separate work. Romain Vignes should not be held responsible for any mistakes, bugs or any other inaccuracies that I may have introduced. There is no guarantee that subsequent versions of my modified classes will contain revisions that he may introduce and disseminate, and vice versa. That said, here is what I have added to his work:
• The Terminal class instantiates and maintains Communication and File Transfer objects. Default call back procedures are now provided for this class.
• Asynchronous IO mode is supported, and is set by an argument added to the Terminal class. The default is synchronous.
• Auto-start file transfers are now supported.
• Here is the biggie: a scrollback buffer is provided for text mode terminals. Graphics mode terminal tools are not supported, nor have any been tested with this class. Use one with it and you're on your own. You're on your own anyway, but you'll really be on your own if you use a graphics terminal tool.
• Another goodie: Thread Manager support for all three tools, provided you have the headers and MPW ThreadUtilLib.o file provided on the Developer's CD. If you don't, you can conditionally compile the classes anyway, without the support.
Mr. Vigne's original documentation is provided for informational purposes. His classes are available on online services like the one this was found on.
This work is free, if you find any bugs let me know. If you fix anything or make any improvements, bless you and send them to me as well. Send suggestions, I'll try to oblige. If you use it in a neat program, please send me a copy. I am not to be held responsible for any ill affect to your person or possessions as a result of consuming this product. If support for the Communications Toolbox is dropped as I have heard it might be, don't bother sending me any messages, I'll have jumped out of the nearest window.
Many thanks to Christopher R. Wysocki, whose CPEditText edit class provided the framework used to implement the scrollback buffer, without his work this might have been impossible. Thanks also to Gary J. Hardy, whose CommTest source code helped a great deal in implementing the Thread Manager support. It underscores the importance of sharing knowledge and work.
