Alcorn Mcbride V+ series, User Manual

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15-10 Appendix A
– Adding User-Defined Serial Protocols
Here are four different ways of representing the same three literal bytes:
Type Representation
String "ABC"
Decimal 65 66 67
Hex h41 h42 h43
Combination "A" h42 67
The bolded text below is literal data:
message=h02 " OPL:F " @string(param2) h03
Parameters specify a parameter to be directly entered into the message. the
bolded text below is parameter data:
message=h00 h02 param1
Parameters take the first byte out of the compiler buffer and put it into the
message. The following bolded text uses a
byte function to exactly duplicate the
functionality of a parameter:
message=h00 h02 @byte(param1)
Functions allow many different operations which allow data to be put into the
message. Typically these functions take data from what the user entered and
convert it into a usable format for the message.
The bolded text below is function data
message=h02 "OPL:F" @string(param2) h03
Functions
All functions begin with an @ sign, and have parenthesis around their
arguments. Functions can have multiple arguments, separated by commas, but
typically only have one. In this case this function takes whatever data is in the
compilers temporary buffer, and puts it into the message, regardless of it's
length, and does not convert it whatsoever.
It is important to realize that
param
fields take whatever the user entered,
qualify it, and then place it into the compilers buffer in a pre-parsed format.
Functions take that pre-parsed and convert it into a useful format in the actual
message. The
combination of these two processes is what allows a
message
field to work. For example, a timestring
param
field takes a valid time in the