The BDOS Serial Services provide a user program with the ability to access the logical serial devices under CPM. The logical serial devices can also be mapped to the physical hardware serial devices using the set IOBYTE service function. For more information about serial devices see the CPM STAT Utility command and the BIOS Serial Devices articles.
| Function 1: Console Input | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 01H |
| Return | A | ASCII Character |
The Console Input function reads the next console character to register A. Graphic characters, along with carriage return, line- feed, and back space (CTRL-H) are echoed to the console. Tab characters, CTRL-I, move the cursor to the next tab stop. A check is made for start/stop scroll, CTRL-S, and start/stop printer echo, CTRL-P. The FDOS does not return to the calling program until a character has been typed, thus suspending execution if a character is not ready.
| Function 2: Console Output | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 01H |
| E | ASCII Character | |
| Return | (none) | |
The ASCII character from register E is sent to the console device. As in Function 1, tabs are expanded and checks are made for start/stop scroll and printer echo.
| Function 3: Reader Input | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 03H |
| Return | A | ASCII Character |
The Reader Input function reads the next character from the logical reader into register A. Control does not return until the character has been read.
| Function 4: Punch Output | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 04H |
| E | ASCII Character | |
| Return | (none) | |
The Punch Output function sends the character from register E to the logical punch device.
| Function 5: List Output | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 05H |
| E | ASCII Character | |
| Return | (none) | |
The List Output function sends the ASCII character in register E to the logical listing device.
| Function 6: Direct Console I/O | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 06H |
| E | 0FFH (input) or char (output) |
|
| Return | A | char or status |
Direct Console I/O is supported under CP/M for those specialized applications where basic console input and output are required. Use of this function should, in general, be avoided since it bypasses all of the CP/M normal control character functions (for example, CTRL-S and CTRL-P). Programs that perform direct I/O through the BIOS under previous releases of CP/M, however, should be changed to use direct I/O under BDOS so that they can be fully supported under future releases of MP/M and CP/M.
Upon entry to Function 6, register E either contains hexadecimal FF, denoting a console input request, or an ASCII character. If the input value is FF, Function 6 returns A = 00 if no character is ready, otherwise A contains the next console input character.
If the input value in E is not FF, Function 6 assumes that E contains a valid ASCII character that is sent to the console.
Function 6 must not be used in conjunction with other console I/O functions.
| Function 7: Get I/O Byte | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 07H |
| Return | A | I/O Byte Value |
The Get I/O Byte function returns the current value of IOBYTE in register A.
| Function 8: Set I/O Byte | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 08H |
| E | I/O Byte Value | |
| Return | (none) | |
The SET I/O Byte function changes the IOBYTE value to that given in register E.
| Function 9: Print String | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 09H |
| DE | String Address | |
| Return | (none) | |
The Print String function sends the character string stored in memory at the location given by DE to the console device, until a $ is encountered in the string. Tabs are expanded as in Function 2, and checks are made for start/stop scroll and printer echo.
| Function 10: Read Console Buffer | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 0AH |
| DE | Buffer Address | |
| Return | Console Characters in Buffer | |
The Read Buffer function reads a line of edited console input into a buffer addressed by registers DE. Console input is terminated when either input buffer overflows or a carriage return or line-feed is typed. The Read Buffer takes the form:
| DE: | +0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | ... | +n |
| mx | nc | cl | c2 | c3 | c4 | c5 | c6 | c7 | ... | ?? |
where mx is the maximum number of characters that the buffer will hold, 1 to 255, and nc is the number of characters read (set by FDOS upon return) followed by the characters read from the console. If nc < mx, then uninitialized positions follow the last character, denoted by ?? in the above figure. A number of control functions, summarized in Table 5-3, are recognized during line editing.
| Character | Edit Control Function |
|---|---|
| rub/del | removes and echoes the last character |
| CTRL-C | reboots when at the beginning of line |
| CTRL-E | causes physical end of line |
| CTRL-H | backspaces one character position |
| CTRL-J | (line-feed) terminates input line |
| CTRL-M | (return) terminates input line |
| CTRL-R | retypes the current line after new line |
| CTRL-U | removes current line |
| CTRL-X | same as CTRL-U |
The user should also note that certain functions that return the carriage to the leftmost position (for example, CTRL-X) do so only to the column position where the prompt ended. In earlier releases, the carriage returned to the extreme left margin. This convention makes operator data input and line correction more legible.
| Function 11: Get Console Status | ||
| Register | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | C | 0BH |
| Return | A | Console Status |
The Console Status function checks to see if a character has been typed at the console. If a character is ready, the value 0FFH is returned in register A. Otherwise a 00H value is returned.
