Sharp PC-G850V Serial Tools

Small utilities for moving text files between a host computer and a Sharp PC‑G850 series pocket computer using SIO mode over a serial port.

• sendfile — send a text file to the Sharp
• recvfile — receive a text file from the Sharp
• xfer.c / xfer.h — serial port setup helpers (open and configure the TTY)
• terminal — TBD

These tools aim to be simple and predictable: they do not do protocol handshakes or “smart” conversions, and they do not insert or strip BASIC line numbers unless specifically noted below.

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Build

FreeBSD / BSD make (default cc = clang)

A BSD-make–compatible Makefile is provided. If you are using the version that allows choosing the receiver source, you can build like this:

# Clean build
make clean

make

This compiles:

• xfer.c → xfer.o
• sendfile.c → sendfile
• recvfile.c (or recvfile-fixed2.c) → recvfile
• terminal.c → terminal (links -pthread -lncurses -lform)

Alternatively, build the two main tools manually:

cc -Wall -Wextra -O2 -c xfer.c -o xfer.o
cc -Wall -Wextra -O2 -c sendfile.c -o sendfile.o
cc -Wall -Wextra -O2 -o sendfile sendfile.o xfer.o

cc -Wall -Wextra -O2 -c recvfile.c -o recvfile.o
cc -Wall -Wextra -O2 -o recvfile recvfile.o xfer.o

Dependencies: terminal requires ncurses and form (already part of base on FreeBSD).

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Usage

1) sendfile — send a text file to the Sharp

Purpose: Open the serial port and stream a text file to the PC‑G850 in SIO mode.
Line endings: Each line is sent with CRLF.
EOF: Appends CP/M style EOF byte 0x1A at the end (expected by some Sharp tools).
Line numbers: No numbering is inserted.

Command line:

sendfile <serial-port> <filename>

Examples:

./sendfile /dev/cuaU0 program.bas
./sendfile /dev/ttyu0 mynotes.txt

Behavior details:

• Reads the input file line-by-line with a modest buffer (multiple reads handle long lines).
• Strips trailing \r/\n and then transmits the line followed by \r\n.
• After all data is sent, writes a single 0x1A byte.
• Uses init_fd() from xfer for port setup.

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2) recvfile — receive a text file from the Sharp

Purpose: Read bytes from the serial port and write a normalized text file on the host.
Line endings: Any of CRLF, CR, or LF are normalized to \n.
EOF: Stops if it encounters CP/M style EOF (0x1A).
Line numbers: If a line begins with digits (optionally preceded by spaces), a single space is inserted immediately after the digit sequence. The digits themselves are preserved. No stripping is performed.

Command line:

recvfile <serial-port> <output-filename>

Examples:

./recvfile /dev/cuaU0 program.bas
./recvfile /dev/ttyu0 capture.txt

Behavior details:

• Streams safely; handles partial reads and mixed line endings.
• Converts CRLF/CR/LF to \n in the output file.
• If a line starts with spaces + digits, the program ensures there is one space after the digits before any non‑digit character (useful for BASIC listings).
• Does not otherwise modify content.

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3) xfer.c / xfer.h — serial setup helpers

Purpose: Provide a tiny API to open and configure the serial port for the PC‑G850 SIO link.

Exported functions (declared in xfer.h):

int set_interface_attribs(int fd, int speed, int parity);
int set_blocking(int fd, int should_block);
int init_fd(char *port);

Typical defaults:

• 1200 baud, 8N1, blocking I/O.
• You can edit init_fd() in xfer.c if you need different speeds/parity.

How to use:

• #include "xfer.h" in your program.
• Link with xfer.o (do not #include "xfer.c" in sources).

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4) terminal / terminal.c

TBD

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Notes & Tips

• Serial device names: On FreeBSD, USB serial adapters are often /dev/cuaU0 (callout) or /dev/ttyU0 (call‑in). The non‑modem callout device is usually what you want.
• Flow control: The helpers currently disable special processing and set raw-ish mode. If you need hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) or XON/XOFF, adjust set_interface_attribs().
• Baud rate: The default is B1200 to match common PC‑G850 SIO settings; change in xfer.c if necessary.
• CP/M EOF (0x1A): Commonly used by vintage systems to mark end-of-file. recvfile will stop when it sees it; sendfile appends one after transmit.
• Line numbers: sendfile does not insert them. recvfile only ensures a space after a leading numeric line label if present.

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License

MIT