Commchk.doc Version 1.5 Documentation for the Serial protocol analizer Commchk is used to analyze information on a serial line by intercepting the information and allowing you to view the captured information in either a HEX format or in an ASCII format. The information captured may also be saved in files stored on disk. Commchk performs this function by routing any information read from com1 to com2 and any information read from com2 to com1, while capturing the information for display and or saving to a file. Commchk will split the screen into 2 windows, an upper window and a lower window. the upper window will display the information captured from com1 and sent to com2. The lower window will display the information captured from com2 and sent to com1. This program was developed to allow analyzing information being send from a host computer to a slave computer to determine the source of errors that were getting into the system. Alternatively, Commchk can be used to allow a computer that does not have a modem to access the modem of a second computer. Commchk command line options are summarized as follows. -1, -2, -3, -4 Setup ports to use. The first entry becomes the port designated com1 at the top of the screen. The second entry becomes the bottom half of the screen. -I 0/1/2 all commands up to the next "I" command are for the identified port. 0 = both ports 1 = com1 2 = com2 -B baud baud rates from 300 baud to 57600 baud are supported. -H Help off Turn off the initial help screen -P parity Allowable paritys are EVEN, ODD, NONE -W word length 7 or 8 bits -R Resident As soon as the program gets the serial ports initialized it will imiadiately shell out to dos. Information will continue to pass thru the serial ports from one to the other. -S stop bits 1 or 2 stop bits -f file name the file name must not have a length of greater than 7 characters, not including the path name. It is used to create create 2 files, one for information read from com1, and one for information read from com2 by appending the communications port number and .fil to the end of the file name. IE: -f test generates test1.fil - com1 info test2.fil - com2 info -f c:\commchk\test generates c:\commchk\test1.fil c:\commchk\test2.fil Example startup command: COMMCHK -I 1 -B 1200 -P E -W 7 -S 2 -I 2 -B 4800 -P N -W 8 THIS SETS COM1 TO 1200 BAUD, 7 BIT, EVEN PARITY, 2 STOP BITS AND COM2 TO 4800 BAUD, NO PARITY, 8 BIT. The commchk display is as follows: PORT1 BUFFER 0.0 SYSTEM BUFFER 0.0 RTS DTR DSR CTS 0 0 ^ SIZE OF THE BUFFER FOR PORT 1 ^ SIZE OF THE BUFFER USED FOR DISPLAY TOTAL NUMBER OF SERIAL PORT ERRORS ^ LAST RECIEVED SERIAL PORT ERROR CODE ^ Commchk keyboard commands are summarized as follows. F1 key - Help F4 key - Allow changing the serial port characteristics online. O key - Open the currently active capture files C key - Close the currently active capture files D key - Toggle video display on and off F key - Flush out all current serial port buffers of all characters. A key - place the display in ASCII mode H key - place the display in HEX mode Q key - Quit R key - Toggle the RTS line T key - Toggle the DTR line L key - Toggle the line display status line Commchk Startup defaults are as follows 2400 Baud, 8 Data bits, 1 Stop bit, No parity No capture file, com1 and com2 ports Revision History: 11/5/90 - Fixed serial protocol data errors. 11/13/90 - Modified help routine to not interrupt serial data flow. Added Flush buffer command. Modified asynchronous character send routine errors that caused loss of characters. Added code to allow setting of the serial ports to different parameters. Removed SHAREWARE message. VERSION 1.3 11/27/90 - Modified code to use only 8088/8086 code. Added a line at the bottom of the status windows that displays statistics about the serial port Added code to allow toggling the RTS and DTR lines Modified the asyncronous lines to have all serial port IO completely asyncronously driven to assist in performance on slower computers. Added code to allow changing the serial port characteristics while the program is running (F4 key). VERSION 1.4/1.5 04/26/92 - Added the -H Startup command to turn off the initial help screen. Added the -R Command to perform an imiadiate shell to Dos. Written using Turbo C++, Borland C++ by: Timothy L. Garrison 3003 W. Marquette Woods Rd. Stevensville Mi. 49127