Read/Write USB with MFC NE 3.1?

Where can I read about doing I/O on one of the USB ports of my PC?  (using
Micro Focus COBOL Net Express 3.1)
Thanks,
Paul

"Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote

> Where can I read about doing I/O on one of the USB ports of my PC?  (using
> Micro Focus COBOL Net Express 3.1)

If it is a USB memory card then it may appear to the system as a disk
drive which can be read and written simply by using an appropriate
file name.

If it is something else then why do you want to write a device driver
in Cobol ?

I'm curious as to what you want to do to the USB port.  Mostly devices
have drivers that obscure this level and you don't care.  I think I
may know how to do this but I'm interested in a little more
information first.

"Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote in message news:<6Ua3c.148777$Xp.602126@attbi_
s54>...
> Where can I read about doing I/O on one of the USB ports of my PC?  (using
> Micro Focus COBOL Net Express 3.1)
> Thanks,
> Paul

I want to use the USB cable to my cell phone to upload and download names,
phone numbers, and whatever else is accessible using "AT" commands.  Years
ago when I needed to access serial ports to talk to modems, from MF Cobol, I
had to write an assembly language routine to deal with the port.  I hope
things have improved since then.
Thanks,
Paul

"Thane Hubbell" <thaneh@softwaresimple.com> wrote in message
news:bfdfc3e8.0403082250.15fbfbbd@posting.google.com...
I'm curious as to what you want to do to the USB port.  Mostly devices
have drivers that obscure this level and you don't care.  I think I
may know how to do this but I'm interested in a little more
information first.

"Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote in message
news:<6Ua3c.148777$Xp.602126@attbi_s54>...
> Where can I read about doing I/O on one of the USB ports of my PC?  (using
> Micro Focus COBOL Net Express 3.1)
> Thanks,
> Paul

This is a job for the operating system.   The application shouldn't need to 
know
that type of detail about where it is writing to.   The application should j
ust
write to a file on a drive.

That works when I write to my USB memory card.    Some old operating systems
have trouble with it though and I have to make sure that the card is mounted
before I boot up.   But newer operating systems handle this seamlessly.

Hi Howard,
That sounds good to me.  How should I refer to it in my COBOL program?  I
find no reference to "USB" in my manuals.  Most of my computers have more
than one USB and serial ports.
Thanks,
Paul

"Howard Brazee" <howard@brazee.net> wrote in message
news:c2kmct$45o$1@peabody.colorado.edu...
This is a job for the operating system.   The application shouldn't need to
know
that type of detail about where it is writing to.   The application should
just
write to a file on a drive.

That works when I write to my USB memory card.    Some old operating systems
have trouble with it though and I have to make sure that the card is mounted
before I boot up.   But newer operating systems handle this seamlessly.

On  9-Mar-2004, "Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote:

> That sounds good to me.  How should I refer to it in my COBOL program?  I
> find no reference to "USB" in my manuals.  Most of my computers have more
> than one USB and serial ports.

The USB memory card is just another drive.   How do you refer to it from you
r
OS?   On my Windows machine I call my memory card by a drive letter.

I plugged in my memory card to my card reader at work and noted that it crea
ted
a drive I:.    I was able to drag files to I:, and take that memory card hom
e
and read it there (the drive letter at home was different).

So I created a batch file to automate copying files to my memory card.    Th
e
first part of it is at the end of its post.   The only thing special in it i
s a
check to make sure that the drive is plugged in.

Plug in your card.   See what drive letter it is.   Drag a file to it.   Rea
d
that file.

Now write your CoBOL program.   Open the file by drive letter and name.  Do
status checking to make sure that the I/O worked correctly.   CoBOL doesn't 
care
what medium it is on.  (It is DASD - but beyond that you don't care).

.BAT code segment follows


rem backstick.bat             rem %userprofile% = "C:\Documents and
Settings\brazee"

DIR I: 2>NUL  | FIND /I "DIR" >NUL
@If     ErrorLevel 1 echo "no Drive I: found"
@If not ErrorLevel 1 echo "drive I: found"
@If     ErrorLevel 1 goto :Finale
:Continue
erase "c:\floppy\bookmark.htm" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "c:\floppy\bookmarks.html" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\opera*.adr" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\*.bak" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\bookmarks.mozilla" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\firebird\*.*" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\opera\*.*" < C:\Belfry\y
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\brazee\mphshb0w.slt\bookmarks.html"
"c:\floppy\firebird\*.*" /K/Q
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\MailwasherPro\*.*"
"c:\floppy\MailwasherPro\*.*" /K/Q  < c:\belfry\a
Xcopy "C:\Documents and Settings\brazee\Application
Data\Opera\Opera\profile\*.*" C:\floppy\opera\*.* /K /Q < c:\belfry\a
...

I think Windows API calls are the way to go here.  Suggest you search
MSDN.COM for "serial communications".


"Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote in message news:<GZf3c.155766$Xp.627934@attbi_
s54>...
> I want to use the USB cable to my cell phone to upload and download names,
> phone numbers, and whatever else is accessible using "AT" commands.  Years
> ago when I needed to access serial ports to talk to modems, from MF Cobol,
 I
> had to write an assembly language routine to deal with the port.  I hope
> things have improved since then.
> Thanks,
> Paul
>
> "Thane Hubbell" <thaneh@softwaresimple.com> wrote in message
> news:bfdfc3e8.0403082250.15fbfbbd@posting.google.com...
> I'm curious as to what you want to do to the USB port.  Mostly devices
> have drivers that obscure this level and you don't care.  I think I
> may know how to do this but I'm interested in a little more
> information first.
>
> "Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote in message
> news:<6Ua3c.148777$Xp.602126@attbi_s54>... 

Sorry to miss-lead you, Howard.  I will be using a USB cable to connect to a
cell phone, not to a memory device.  I want to read and write names, phone
numbers, and any other accessible data in the phone.  While, when I plus a
digital phone memory card reader into a USB port, it immediately shows as a
memory device, when I plug the phone in, it is ignored.  If I could access
it as any file type - byte-stream or whatever, that would be terrific.  But
I don't see how.  I believe I need to be able to do my own I/O to that port.
Send my own command strings to the phone and read replies.  Any help would
be appreciated.  Maybe I can buy a driver from someone?
Thanks,
Paul

"Howard Brazee" <howard@brazee.net> wrote in message
news:c2ksp6$bqr$1@peabody.colorado.edu...

On  9-Mar-2004, "Paul H" <NospaMphobergNospaM@att.net> wrote:

> That sounds good to me.  How should I refer to it in my COBOL program?  I
> find no reference to "USB" in my manuals.  Most of my computers have more
> than one USB and serial ports.

The USB memory card is just another drive.   How do you refer to it from
your
OS?   On my Windows machine I call my memory card by a drive letter.

I plugged in my memory card to my card reader at work and noted that it
created
a drive I:.    I was able to drag files to I:, and take that memory card
home
and read it there (the drive letter at home was different).

So I created a batch file to automate copying files to my memory card.
The
first part of it is at the end of its post.   The only thing special in it
is a
check to make sure that the drive is plugged in.

Plug in your card.   See what drive letter it is.   Drag a file to it.
Read
that file.

Now write your CoBOL program.   Open the file by drive letter and name.  Do
status checking to make sure that the I/O worked correctly.   CoBOL doesn't
care
what medium it is on.  (It is DASD - but beyond that you don't care).

.BAT code segment follows


rem backstick.bat             rem %userprofile% = "C:\Documents and
Settings\brazee"

DIR I: 2>NUL  | FIND /I "DIR" >NUL
@If     ErrorLevel 1 echo "no Drive I: found"
@If not ErrorLevel 1 echo "drive I: found"
@If     ErrorLevel 1 goto :Finale
:Continue
erase "c:\floppy\bookmark.htm" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "c:\floppy\bookmarks.html" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\opera*.adr" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\*.bak" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\bookmarks.mozilla" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\firebird\*.*" < C:\Belfry\y
erase "C:\floppy\opera\*.*" < C:\Belfry\y
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\brazee\mphshb0w.slt\bookmarks.html"
"c:\floppy\firebird\*.*" /K/Q
xcopy "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\MailwasherPro\*.*"
"c:\floppy\MailwasherPro\*.*" /K/Q  < c:\belfry\a
Xcopy "C:\Documents and Settings\brazee\Application
Data\Opera\Opera\profile\*.*" C:\floppy\opera\*.* /K /Q < c:\belfry\a
...

Paul H wrote:
> Sorry to miss-lead you, Howard.  I will be using a USB cable to connect to
 a
> cell phone, not to a memory device.  I want to read and write names, phone
> numbers, and any other accessible data in the phone.  While, when I plus a
> digital phone memory card reader into a USB port, it immediately shows as 
a
> memory device, when I plug the phone in, it is ignored.  If I could access
> it as any file type - byte-stream or whatever, that would be terrific.  Bu
t
> I don't see how.  I believe I need to be able to do my own I/O to that por
t.
> Send my own command strings to the phone and read replies.  Any help would
> be appreciated.  Maybe I can buy a driver from someone?
> Thanks,
> Paul
>

MarshalSoft have drivers, or you can use the API as Thane suggested.

Donald