Output Hex byte to parallel port

[Bill Littlejohn]

I'm working on a project using a parallel port relay board. To control the board I need to simply send a hex byte to the parallel port.
Anyone know if this is possible directly from Dialect?
I have a simple exe (and C source) that will do it, but I dont want to pop-up DOS windows every execution.
I'd rather do it directly.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

[A.H. Banen]

Bill,
Take a look at http://www.lvr.com/parport.htm (look for inpout32.dll and go from there; there are several dll's that may work for you).

Sincerely,
André

[Bill Littlejohn]

Thanks André
I think this will work great.
I'm really bad at C conventions however, would you mind checking if I've done this correctly below?

New Dialect DLL call:
pport = system.dll("user32.dll")
pport.__loadpfunc__("Inp","Inp32",'int,['int])
pport.__loadpfunc__("Out","Out32",'int,['int,'int])

Given VB example:
Public Declare Function Inp Lib "inpout32.dll" _
Alias "Inp32" (ByVal PortAddress As Integer) As Integer
Public Declare Sub Out Lib "inpout32.dll" _
Alias "Out32" (ByVal PortAddress As Integer, ByVal Value As Integer)

Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong, but why are the declarations of type Integer when it takes a hex argument?
Out PortAddress, ValueToWrite
   Example: Out &h378, &h55

[George Harth]

I believe the ByVal in the VB means that you need to pass by reference.  So for the args you'd want 'intp instead of 'int.  The Out32 function doesn't have a return value, but you declared an 'int return value.

Also, you should probably use __loadcfunc__ instead of __loadpfunc__.  Most regular DLL's are compiled to the C function calling convention.  The exception is the Win32 API DLLs which use the Pascal calling convention.  If you use the wrong one, you will corrupt the stack and crash.

Cheers... George

[Bill Littlejohn]

Oops.
Should have been
pport = system.dll("inpout32.dll")

[George Harth]

Wait, wait... I'm a fool.  ByRef in VB means by reference.  Ignore my ByVal comment.  Doh.

Cheers... George

[A.H. Banen]

Bill.
Your (corrected) conversion of the VB code looks fine to me.

Please note that Dialect has no unsigned integer but it overcomes this problem but allowing an - uinsigned! - hex format for the signed integer range by using the format 0x<hex number>.
This allows the mapping of unsigned hex numbers on the signed integer range; after all it are only the bits tat matter.
Notice that you always can use format to convert the integer to a hex number, e.g.
a = 0xFF
print a, cr
print format("%0x", a), cr
print format("%0X", a), cr

resp.
a = 0xFFFFFF80
print a, cr
print format("%0x", a), cr
print format("%0X", a), cr

You can call the example "Out &h378, &h55"
in Dialect as:
retval = pport.Out( 0x375, 0x55 )

Have fun!
Sincerely,
André

[Bill Littlejohn]

Thanks George and André !

I'll do some testing with my board tonight.
I don't actually need the Input since my board handles output only. If your curious, http://electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/ck1601.htm

I've got this for the DLL call.
Thanks again.

pport = system.dll("inpout32.dll")
pport.__loadcfunc__("Out","Out32",'void,['int,'int])

Usage: retval = pport.Out( 0x375, 0x55 )

[Bill Littlejohn]

In the interest of Thread completion...

Here's the test code I came up with.
Hopefully the board won't screw it up too badly.
The inpout.dll needs to be in the program directory.
It works great with this kit: http://electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/ck1601.htm

Dialect source:

import "system" as * ; import "gui"

pport = dll("inpout32.dll")
pport.__loadpfunc__("Out","Out32",'void,['int,'int])

rstate = 0

r1 = 1
r2 = 2
r3 = 4
r4 = 8
r5 = 16
r6 = 32
r7 = 64
r8 = 128

w = gui.window("Relay Control",[0,0,100,200])
ck1 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 1",[10,10,100,20])
ck2 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 2",[10,25,100,35])
ck3 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 3",[10,40,100,50])
ck4 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 4",[10,55,100,65])
ck5 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 5",[10,70,100,80])
ck6 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 6",[10,85,100,95])
ck7 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 7",[10,100,100,110])
ck8 = gui.checkbox(w,"Relay 8",[10,115,100,125])
cko = gui.checkbox(w,"All Off",[10,130,100,140])
ckc = gui.checkbox(w,"Cycle All",[10,145,100,155])

ck1.onclick = func()
    If ck1.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r1
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r1
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck2.onclick = func()
    If ck2.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r2
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r2
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck3.onclick = func()
    If ck3.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r3
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r3
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck4.onclick = func()
    If ck4.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r4
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r4
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck5.onclick = func()
    If ck5.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r5
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r5
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck6.onclick = func()
    If ck6.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r6
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r6
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck7.onclick = func()
    If ck7.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r7
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r7
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
ck8.onclick = func()
    If ck8.checked then
        rstate = rstate + r8
    Else
        rstate = rstate - r8
    Endif
    operate()
    endfunc
cko.onclick = func()
    ck1.checked = false
    ck2.checked = false
    ck3.checked = false
    ck4.checked = false
    ck5.checked = false
    ck6.checked = false
    ck7.checked = false
    ck8.checked = false
    cko.checked = false
    rstate = 0
    operate()
    endfunc
ckc.onclick = func()
    rstate = 0
    rstate = rstate + r1
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r2
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r3
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r4
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r5
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r6
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r7
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = rstate + r8
    operate() ; sleep(300)
    rstate = 0
    operate()
    ckc.checked = false
    endfunc

operate = func()
    Try
        retval = pport.Out( 0x378, eval( "0x"~str$(format("%X",rstate) ) ) )
    Catch *, e
        print "Exception: "~e, cr
    Endtry
    endfunc

w.onclose = func()
    rstate = 0
    operate()
    return true
    endfunc

operate()
gui.enter()