RS232 (V24) Communication
RS232 serial lines may be used for point to point communication between
two machines. In this case, the RPC system runs a simple protocol
over the line. There are various options available
to optimise the protocol given the capabilities of the systems in use.
The address format is
< device > : .V24
The < device > is, under VAX/VMS a logical device name, but otherwise of the
form
TTn
where n is the channel number:
IBM-PC Macintosh MoniCa
__________ __________ ___________
TT1 COM1: sPortA Terminal
TT2 COM2: sPortB Hostline
The options are optional single letters as follows.
They are not all supported on all systems.
- B
-
Binary coding method: use all 8 bits of the communication path. This is
the default. This is faster than the alternative "L" option, but
is not possible with some systems because of operating system restrictions.
If the serial line runs over multiplexers, then they might also
restrict the use of the line so that 8 bit communication cannot be used.
In this case the alternative option (L) must be used.
- L
-
Printable ASCII coding method: use only the printable ASCII characters (seven
bits). This is slower, but does not require the operating system to pass
control characters undamaged.
- R
- A strict handshake is used for flow control,
for the benefit of those
systems with inadequate input buffering.
If both connected systems have sufficient input buffering,
the F option may be used to make the protocol run faster.
The default varies from system to system.
- F
- Disables the handshake protocol. Alternative to R.
- C n
- Selects (for PCs, Monica and Macintosh) the communications channel.
"n" is either 1 or 2.
- S n
- Selects, where this is possible, the baud rate. "n" must be the
baud rate required in decimal, e.g. S300 or S9600
These options are specified in the RPC address string, just before
the ".V24" medium specifier. See details in the section about your
particular system@@..