Compact FLASH III Digital Audio System
Copyright©1992-2010 by ACS, Sarasota, Florida
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Basic Mode
In Basic Mode, the operation of the CFSound-III is controlled by the interpreted execution of a user
written program that is written in the ACS Basic language.
BASIC
is the acronym for
B
eginners‟
A
ll-
purpose
S
ymbolic
I
nstruction
C
ode – an easy to learn programming language developed by Kemeny & Kurtz
at Dartmouth in 1964. Programs consist of numbered lines with one or more English keywords describing the
operations that the user wants to have performed.
The BASIC interpreter built-in to the CFSound-III implements most of the language elements for
working with integers, strings and files as well as providing access to the CFSound-III hardware features such
as contacts, timers, clock and playing sounds. The language elements are outlined in the separate document
“
ACS Basic User’s Manual”
available for download on the CFSound website.
Programs may be developed three different ways:
1.
Interactively using an installed Video Graphics Adaptor module with an attached display and
PS/2 keyboard. Program statements comprised of language elements are interactively keyed-in,
developing and debugging programs that may be saved on the CF card. This is the optimum
development methodology.
2.
Interactively using a terminal emulator such as Windows HyperTerminal connected to the
CFSound-III‟s serial port. Operation is similar to 1. above only via the host PC‟s user interface
and serial port. See the “Upgrading the Firmware” section at the end of this manual for a
description of the required cabling and HyperTerminal settings.
This is the preferred
development methodology.
3.
Offline using a text editor such as Windows Notepad. The files are then saved onto the CF card
for debugging when inserted into the CFSound. This methodology is slow, cumbersome and
error-prone since it is not interactive and errors cannot be viewed or addressed in-situ and is not
recommended.
Once a program has been developed and tested, it may then be placed onto the CF card named as
CFSOUND.BAS along with any other required files. The CFSound will then load and execute this file upon
power-up, reset or CF card insertion, effectively customizing the unit‟s function.
