ted spencer wrote:
> 
> >From the nimble fingers of Paul Bruneau (paul_bruneau@...)
> (18/2/2002 10:37 AM) came...
> 
> > Because I've been having trouble with Xon/Xoff handshake, I thought I'd
> > give hardware handshaking a try. I have been using DIN to DB-25 adapter
> > cables to hook my serial printers to my Macs. I remember that to use
> > hardware handshaking used to require a special nine-pin serial cable on
> > the Mac side. Is this correct or does a "regular" 8-pin DIN type of
> > cable work?
> 
> It seem to me that the 9 pin connector was for a "Geoport" which also
> supplied power (12 VDC, 150 mA) to that connector; the 8 pin one has all
> that is necessary for hardware handshaking.

OK, that is interesting, because I can distinctly remember certain
Global Village modems requiring a special "hardware handshaking cable".
I will continue to search the web for info.
 
> > PS: Is there anyone out there who is successfully using Xon/Xoff in FB3?
> > By successfully, I mean is it successfully stopping the output when the
> > serial device fills up? For me, everything is great until label #50 or
> > so, where data loss occurs due to overflow.
> 
> I use Xon/Xoff in a system here, but there might have been some cheating,
> since I also wrote the code for the microcomputer at the other end of the
> cable; that software was written based entirely on what I saw FB3 doing (as
> regards the Xon/Xoff bit). If FB3 was non-standard, then so was the code I
> wrote for the micro. What does that tell you???

It tells me that you do things like I do :)
 
> One thing to note, though... You should allocate a serial buffer big enough
> to hold everything you might write to the port, because you MIGHT not know
> (unless you've taken extraordinary measures) how much of your data has
> already been sent.

This comment I do not understand. As far as I can tell with FB serial
communication, I am NEVER aware of how much data has already been sent
(this may be an element of my problem). I simply open the channel, call
the HANDSHAKE command, and send the data, never looking back. I have
always counted on the handshake taking care of when to pause (at least I
assume it was pausing...it always worked flawlessly in FB2, but I am
having no luck in FB3). By what mechanism am I able to tell how much
data has been sent down the channel? (I use the default 64 Byte buffer, btw).

Thanks,

PB