Hi Charles,

On 8 Feb 2005 at 14:15, Charles Pond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> spoke, thus:

> Hi Sabahattin and thanks.  I believe that one can transfer files, contrary
> to the guesswork on the list.  I have managed to "capture" and have the
> exported file show up on the DOS machine's screen, which means that the
> connection is sort of working. However, I cannot get the computer to upload
> or download files with the BN.  Nor can I have the BN import files from the
> DOS machine.  I'll look at the handshaking.  Also, I'm not sure which
> protocl to use, I.E., ZModem, YModem. XModem, ... ASCII up.downoload,
> Kermit, and so forth.

Aha, I see what you mean now.  You cannot upload or download in the terms 
your terminal program uses.  The BrailleNote only sends and receives 
"Plain" files, so you would choose "ASCII" upload/download in your 
terminal.  The host PC will tell you when it is ready for your BrailleNote 
to send data.  Likewise, you must tell the PC when the BrailleNote is 
waiting to receive data.  You can, as you have said, do all this from the 
procedures in the translation menu relating to "Serial port" import and 
exports and of course from your terminal end to match.  For the 
BrailleNote to import, you simply "Send text file" from your PC at the 
moment your BrailleNote states that it is waiting to import from the 
serial port.  The BrailleNote insists on warning you that it hasn't 
received data for a while and prompts you to do something about it, which 
I find a bit annoying, instead of just cancelling upon a keypress or 
escape.  Therefore, watch out for a timeout.

The binary-to-text protocols you are talking about are not supported by 
the BrailleNote.  They were supported by the Braille Lite and Millennium 
notetakers, which I must admit I think was entirely appropriate 
considering the method of transfer was the serial port and also the 
resultantly instantaneous cross-platform support for file transfer 
(ActiveSync is, of course, Windows-specific <sigh>) could always be 
guaranteed.  The same could easily have been applied to the infrared port, 
which emulates serial, but infrared also has its own standard file 
transfer protocol set in stone by the IRDA, further also supported by 
Bluetooth in the same fashion (OBEX - Object Exchange).  For Ethernet, of 
course, the story is different.  But as TCP/IP is supported, they should 
have used a good file transfer protocol that is standardised by the IETF 
(TFTP, FTP, HTTP).  But this is a world where Microsoft rules everything 
including the standards and software engineering models, so I'm afraid the 
serial transfer in plain ASCII mode is your only option.

Cheers,
Sabahattin

-- 
If an email tells you to forward it to all your friends, please
temporarily forget that I am your friend.

Sabahattin Gucukoglu
Phone: +44 20 88008915
Mobile: +44 7986 053399
http://www.sabahattin-gucukoglu.com/
Email/MSN: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Skype: SabahattinGucukoglu
(requires authorisation, add me to your list first)
SpeakFreely: sabahattin-gucukoglu.com
(Please use CELP compression if your processor allows)


Reply via email to