Using modems from Dolphin?

Greetings,

I've got a project coming up that will involve using
a modem to dial a bulletin board system and enter a
status report.  The client wants to automate a time
consuming data entry job.  Can anyone advise me on how
to access a modem from Dolphin?

Thanks,
Craig H. Anderson
[hidden email]

Hi Craig,

"Craig H. Anderson" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:[hidden email]...
> Greetings,
>
> I've got a project coming up that will involve using
> a modem to dial a bulletin board system and enter a
> status report.  The client wants to automate a time
> consuming data entry job.  Can anyone advise me on how
> to access a modem from Dolphin?

Have a look at one of Ian's goodies:
http://www.iandb.org.uk/goodies4/serial.html

Hope that helps,

Ted
www.tedbracht.co.uk

Craig,

I wrote an interface to the Windows RAS(Remote Access Service) API some
years ago for a Visual Age Smalltalk app I was working on.  Initially I
wrote a C dll to do the job with Smalltalk only needing to call one exported
function from the dll.  Later I rewrote it in Smalltalk(VA).  I would look
at the RAS API to use a modem under Windows.  It is a little complicated at
first, expecially if you are not accustomed to writing for the API directly.
However, you will only need to use a few of the functions if you just want
to dial out.

Perhaps someone already has an interface to RAS for Dolphin already?

Chris


"Craig H. Anderson" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:[hidden email]...

Not the question you asked, but how about automating this over an internet
dial-up, rather than a direct modem dial-up?  Then you can avail yourself of
HTTP, SOAP, etc. to do this, using something like the Dolphin Harbor code
http://www.dolphinharbor.org/qad/welcome/index.html.

If they were dialing long distance, this might pay for itself, and set the
stage for other services.

jlo


"Craig H. Anderson" <[hidden email]> wrote in message
news:[hidden email]...

Craig,

> > I've got a project coming up that will involve using
> > a modem to dial a bulletin board system and enter a
> > status report.  The client wants to automate a time
> > consuming data entry job.  Can anyone advise me on how
> > to access a modem from Dolphin?

In addition to Craig's suggestion of RAS, your problem might be one of those
things that's easily enough done by sending some characters over a serial
port (see Ian Bartholomew's web site for Serial Comms support).  Basically,
you would open a serial port and send a few command strings, then the data
(with some character "escaping" IIRC), and finally more commands to hang up.

Have a good one,

Bill

--
Wilhelm K. Schwab, Ph.D.
[hidden email]