Specifications

for postage, or send $6.00 and he'll mail a disk to you. For 8050 format, send
$6 U.S. to the Editor, SuperPET Gazette, P0 Box 411, Hatteras, N.C. 27943. and
we’ll send the disk. More software, praise be. Thanks, Paul.
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
(C) 1984 000 THE APL EXCHANGE 000 STEVE ZELLER
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Much of the last issue was devoted to telecommunications tools. Among these were
a terminal package, developed by Waterloo, that functions in APL mode. In this
article, APL tools are presented that will help you communicate with other comp
uters from the APL workspace without a terminal package. We will see that while
our ability to function as a terminal is impaired, there are other important ad
vantages to being able to communicate from the APL workspace (WS).
The first step: set the operating characteristics of the serial port. In lieu of
setup from the main menu, the functions SI0INIT and STIME0UT will do the job.
Then, executing PASSTHRU will allow you to type characters to the serial port.
To return to the WS environment, use the <ST0P> key. If you need the ASCII char
acter set for all or part of the terminal session, type "SETAPL OFF"; return to
APL by typing "setapl on".
VSIOINITlQlV VSTIME0UTIU1V
0]
SI0INIT BR ;Q10
[
OJ STIME0UT SEC ;Q10
13
ftSETS BAUD RATE ON SERIAL PORT
[
1]
ftSETS TIMEOUT ON SERIAL PORT
2]
OlCh-0
[
2]
HI0+0
3]
-*-(~B/?e300,1200) / ERR
C
3]
□4KC.4 2p0 10*SEC] QP0KE 878+\8
4]
0 0p(61424 ,BRt96 0) 13575 45203
VPASSTHRUim?
5] -K)
[
0] PASSTHRU
6]
ERR:'???'
[ 1]
ftJUMPS INTO ’’PASS THROUGH" MODE
[
2] 0 OpQS/S 45173
VSETAPLl []]V
vOflCCDv
0] SETAPL B [ 0 ] R ♦ ON
1]
ft,SELECTS APL CHARACTERSET "ON’’ OR "o f f
C 13 R*-1
2] -*-(~Be0,1) / ERR VOFFlD]V
3] 0 Op(5+1) QSYS 45194 [ 0 ] R OFF
4]
-K)
[ 1] R*-0
5] ERR:'???' ( TO
SWITCH
TO ASCII, TRY: SETAPL OFF )
The prime reason to be in the APL WS, communicating with a host computer, is not
to use the passthrough mode; rather, it is to drive the serial port from an APL
program. This opens up a whole new range of possibilities in communicating with
host computers that are simply not possible as a terminal. To this end, I cannot
emphasize enough the importance of obtaining an intelligent modem. The examples
below are based on a Hayes Smartmodem. For example, to dial (by touch-tone), the
number 999-1234, you send the ASCII string "AT DT9991234" to the serial port. If
you add a semicolon to the end of the string, the modem returns to command mode,
after it has made a connection. With this feature, you may develop an APL-based
"Rolodex". Both modem and telephone can be connected (with a Y connector) to the
phone jack at the same time: use APL and the modem to place the call; then pick
up the phone and talk!
There are other applications as well. I now pay all recurring bills with this
type of modem. Several banks and S&L's here let you pay bills via touch-tone
dialing. With the payee codes stored in a WS, I use the modem to dial the compu-
SuperPET Gazette, Vol.I No.11 -162-
December 1983/January 1984