A little toy that works with serial and usb ports
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User Guide
USB2Serial Chat is a set of two example stacks, showing how to use Apple's HyperCard Serial Toolkit 2.6 with USB equipped Macs, using a USB converter.
Here, you see the colour and the b&w versions of USB2Serial Chat. The b&w version is an actual screenshot of a Macintosh SE running HyperCard 2.2.
USB2Serial Chat consists of two HyperCard stacks. Figure 1 shows the window of the Serial version. This stack has to be installed on the mac without USB ports. In fact, it is possible to install this stack on two Macs without USB ports and to use these stacks for chatting.
The window of the Serial version shows one big text field. In this field, you type your messages and receive the messages from the other Mac. Always type your message in the last line of the field this happens automatically. Messages starting with ">" are the incoming messages.
The following features have to be set properly.
The baud rate is one of the following:
300 4800
600 7200
1200 9600
1800 19200
2400 57600
3600
Make sure that the baud rate is set equal to the maximum baud rate of the serial port of your non-USB Mac. If the baud rate of the USB2Serial converter is lower than that of the serial port of the non-USB Mac, use the lower baud rate.
Shut off listening by unchecking the Listen checkbox. It is recommended to disable listening while not chatting. Every time that HyperCard checks the serial port, you will not be able to use your Mac during a fraction of a second. This can be very annoying while you are writing an article or editing graphics in another application.
Make sure that you select the right port, either modem or printer port. If the USB2Serial converter is connected to the modem port, use modem port. If it is connected to the printer port, select printer port. Check the proper radio button.
On a Mac SE and older Mac, probably also on old Performa's and the Classic I and Classic II, you'll need to disable AppleTalk. If AppleTalk is active, it will override any of HyperCard's attempts to send messages to access the serial port. If AppleTalk is enabled while using USB2Serial Chat, you will get the error message "OpenDriver failed", meaning that the serial port is in use.
Figure 2 show the window of the USB version of USB2Serial Chat. Use the popup menu to choose the right baud rate. If the baud rate of the serial port of the non-USB Mac is lower than the baud rate of the USB2Serial converter, use the lower baud rate.
Press Check Ports to see whether your USB2Serial converter is recognized by HyperCard. You will see a list of available serial ports. If none of these ports is your USB2Serial converter, you may have to check the hardware. It is also possible that you need to update your USB drivers. Check also for conflicting USB drivers.
Disable listening by unchecking the Listen checkbox. As stated above, this might speed up other applications.
Select either the printer port or the modem from the second popup menu. If you are not sure what to choose, press the Check Ports button. It might reveal weather your USB device behaves like a printer port or a modem port. If you have connected the serial cable to the modem port on the non-USB Mac, the USB2Serial converter might still behave like a printer port.
Note for HyperCard programmers: it is not necessary to tell HyperCard which port to choose. It is sufficient to tell that the port is behaving like either a printer port or a modem port.
On the USB-equipped Mac, you don't have to disable AppleTalk. AppleTalk and USB do not interfere.
Requirements
The Serial version of USB2Serial Chat needs as least HyperCard 2.0. It works on an a Mac SE with 2.5MB built-in memory. This stack can be used to make a Mac communicate with either another similar Mac or a USB-equipped Mac. It is possible to use this version on all Macs, but it might be more convenient to use the USB version on USB-equipped Macs.
The USB version needs HyperCard 2.4.1. If you don't have this version, use the Serial version only. This means that you cannot check whether the USB2Serial converter is recognized as a serial port. You will have to experiment with the Serial version to find out whether HyperCard recognizes your USB device.
History
New in version 1.0a02: colour interface for USB version of USB2Serial Chat.
Version 1.0a01: first release. This version didn't have an actual version number.
About Serial Toolkit
Apple's HyperCard Serial Toolkit 2.6 contains everything you need to access the serial ports of the Macintosh from HyperCard. Besides the XCMDs and XFCNs needed, the toolkit also provides a complete set of documentation, and the full source code for the XCMDs and XFCNs. This toolkit can also be used with USB2Serial converters.
A license from Apple is required if source code supplied with this product is to be used in commercial applications. Contact Apple Software Licensing for more information.
The toolkit is part of the APDA Hypercard Toolkits. These toolkits can be downloaded at
Contact Information
If you have any comments or problems with USB2Serial Chat, you can send an e-mail to the author at marksch@zonnet.nl
Copyrights and license:
In the text below, stacks refers to USB2Serial Chat and the accompanying components. Author refers to Mark Schonewille, product is defined as any medium that may contain Overload. Other terms are defined by international agreements, directions of the European Union or Dutch national laws. A number of terms are defined by custom law.
USB2Serial Chat are copyright protected stacks. The stacks and all other components of this software package cannot be sold as a separate software package and cannot be part of any commercial product, such as magazines, shareware collections on cd-rom and the internet, books and promotional artefacts, without a written permit of the author. This restriction also holds if the product is a free gift.
USB2Serial Chat may be freely distributed in unaltered form, as long as the above restriction is not violated. This means that USB2Serial Chat is freeware, but the property rights remain with the author. The author is eligible to request the removal of the stack from hard disks and computers and the destruction of any product that contains the application.
The author and the persons who are mentioned anywhere in the stacks or documentation are not responsible for any damage that is possibly, allegedly or actually a consequence of the use of the stacks.
IMPORTANT: even though USB2Serial Chat may be distributed freely for non-commercial purposes, the copyrights still apply to the stacks as well as separate parts of it. Some parts of USB2Serial Chat may be copyrighted by Apple Computer. .
Last update: 02-06-2005