Re: Reading data from the serial port using ADA on an Unix

Re: Reading data from the serial port using ADA on an Unix

[Robert C. Leif, Ph.D.]

To: Darel Cullen et al.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Date:    Tue, 20 Aug 1996 22:46:49 +0100
>From:    Darel Cullen <Darel@DJCULL.DEMON.CO.UK>
>Subject: Re: Reading data from the serial port using ADA on an Unix platform
>
>In article <Pine.OSF.3.95.960820092821.10850A-100000@leonis.nus.sg>,
>Quek Chee Kwang <engp6328@leonis.nus.sg> writes
>>Greetings.
>>
>>I'm new to ADA and I would like to know how to program in ADA to read data
>>(binary & ascii) coming from the serial port (for instance, a modem) on an
>>Unix platform.
>>
>>Thank you very much.
>>
>>Quek
>>
>>
>
>Firstly Investigate your compilers pragma INTERFACE features. what you
>will need to do is build up a set of ADA functions and procedures that
>are directly bound to the C calls, in unix's case I think ioctl() would
>be a good place to start.
>basically , ADA has no features with which to read from a serial port,
>you'll have to use the C calls and bind them to ADA.
>
>
>--
>Darel Cullen
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I believe that Ada 95 has all of the facilities necessary for serial
communication. In fact, AdaSAGE for DOS has the following:

"SerialIO - Asynchronous serial communication package (SerialIO)"

"This package contains an interface to the asynchronous serial communication
devices of a system."

The Web page for AdaSAGE is http://sageftp.inel.gov/sage/homepage.htm
I understand that UNIX (POSIX) are multitasking. However, the Ada compiler
vendor, presumably, will have created a binding to the operating system. You
might check whether AdaSAGE has created SerialIO for your operating system.

In the long run, an operating system where the multitasking and real-time
core are written in Ada 95 would be preferable. It is time to produce with
Ada well engineered software products of sufficient quality, that they will
force the C and C++ communities to learn how to interface with Ada.

Bob Leif

Robert C. Leif, Ph.D., PMIAC,
Vice President & Research Director
Ada_Med, A Division of Newport Instruments
Tel. & Fax (619) 582-0437