Software for Casio SF-4300 ???
Todd Schaefer
which is used to download data into the Casio SF-4300 32KB Digital
Diary. I noticed that it is priced from the company at about
$130.00. Ouch!
What is so special about this software? Are there cheaper alternatives
for interfacing with the SF-4300??
Can I "hack" something for it? 8-)
Todd
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Todd J. Schaefer |
Electrical Engineer |
Motorola | Phone: (817) 232-6446
Telepoint Systems Division | Fax: (817) 232-6510
5555 N. Beach St., TX14-1E |
Fort Worth, Texas 76137 | Email: tsch...@sunmail1.fwrdc.rtsg.mot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Bormel
options to Exclusive for the DOS Box, transfer rate improves and error
rate goes to zero. Previous to this, I had been experiencing highly
variable success with file transfer. (I use FastLynx, Norton
Commander, as well as the Connectivity Pack, depending on my needs at
the time). Hope this helps others.
Brendan O'Connor
> I was just wondering if anyone has or has seen the software program
> which is used to download data into the Casio SF-4300 32KB Digital
> Diary. I noticed that it is priced from the company at about
> $130.00. Ouch!
>
> What is so special about this software? Are there cheaper alternatives
> for interfacing with the SF-4300??
>
> Can I "hack" something for it? 8-)
>
> Todd
If you are talking about the PCLINK software, yes I have it. I think
the cost comes from the fact that a cable is included in the package.
It is not a simple cable there is some electrical conversion done in
the plug that goes in the SF unit.
A cheaper alternative would be a hack, but you might still need the
cable!
Does anyone out there know the protocol used by the SF unit to
communicate between units and with PC and MAC? I have mailed several
people who have have posted on the net, but not gained any new facts.
--
Brendan M.O'Connor - Inmos Ltd. - +44-454-616616
1000 Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4SQ, United Kingdom
bre...@inmos.co.uk
Luciano Lavagno
(Brendan O'Connor) writes:
>In article <1993Dec21....@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> tsch...@137.23.53.1
>(Todd Schaefer) writes:
>
>> I was just wondering if anyone has or has seen the software program
>> which is used to download data into the Casio SF-4300 32KB Digital
>> Diary. I noticed that it is priced from the company at about
>> $130.00. Ouch!
>>
>> What is so special about this software? Are there cheaper alternatives
>> for interfacing with the SF-4300??
>>
>> Can I "hack" something for it? 8-)
>>
>> Todd
>
>
>If you are talking about the PCLINK software, yes I have it. I think
>the cost comes from the fact that a cable is included in the package.
>It is not a simple cable there is some electrical conversion done in
>the plug that goes in the SF unit.
>
>A cheaper alternative would be a hack, but you might still need the
>cable!
>
>Does anyone out there know the protocol used by the SF unit to
>communicate between units and with PC and MAC? I have mailed several
>people who have have posted on the net, but not gained any new facts.
Here is a (LONG) summary I once found on this newsgroup. It seems to me that it
answers your questions.
Ciao !
--
Luciano Lavagno +39-11-564-4038 (or 4045; fax 4099) lav...@polito.it
Dip. di Elettronica, Politecnico, C. Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, ITALY
From uwm.edu!caen!uunet!Cadence.COM!alastair Sun Feb 21 14:47:06 CST 1993
Article: 13677 of comp.sys.handhelds
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Path: uwm.edu!caen!uunet!Cadence.COM!alastair
From: alas...@Cadence.COM (Alastair Young)
Subject: Re: PIM, Async hook for Casio BOSS
Message-ID: <1993Feb17.2...@Cadence.COM>
Keywords: Casio, BOSS
Organization: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
References: <1993Feb16....@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1993 22:26:24 GMT
Lines: 48
In article <1993Feb16....@dg-rtp.dg.com> mor...@commtg3.rtp.dg.com
(Keith Morgan) writes:
>I recently purchased a Casio B.O.S.S 8700. It's been invaluable, but
>I can tell that it would be a lot easier to use if I could connect
>it to my PC or Unix workstation & down/upload schedules, phone lists,
>etc. Two questions: First, is there a cheapler solution for async
>hookup than the $100.00 RS232 cable from Casio? Second, does anyone
>have recommendations for either PC or Unix (DG/UX, actually) PIMs
>for use with the Casio?
>
I recently asked a similar question and was pointed in the right direction.
There is a Unix X-Windows solution in the comp.sources.x archive called "boss".
There is also a Macintosh solution called "casio-talk" which I found in
iskut.ucs.ubc.ca:/pub/info-mac/app.
Both supply a window application which will talk to the BOSS (also known as
the SF-xxxx series). Both also supply circuit diagrams for building your own
interface. "boss" can convert your Casio data to calentool or calendar form
for use on your unix box.
I have loaded both software packages and they look pretty good. I phoned the
manufacturer of the TTL-RS232 chip used in the Unix solution to find out how
much they cost and they pre-empted me and are sending me a free sample :-)
The circuit diagram supplied with "boss" requires an external power supply,
the casio-talk one does not. They use different chips (MAX233 ans MAX232)
respectively. Hopefully I can get the MAX233 to work power free.
casio-talk is $25 shareware.
Al
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alastair Young _ Ariel NH
Cadence Design Systems, Information Services )/___ _ Red Hunter
555 River Oaks Parkway, 4B1 __/(___)_*##/c
San Jose CA 95134 / /\\|| \ / \ If in doubt
alas...@cadence.com (408)428-5278 \__/ ----'\__/ Paint it RED
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
From uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!nigel.msen.com!well!moon!pixar!news Tue Jun 29
22:32:57 CDT 1993
Article: 7752 of comp.sys.palmtops
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Path: uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!nigel.msen.com!well!moon!pixar!news
From: Br...@Pixar.com (Bruce Perens)
Subject: Casio 256k BOSS SF-20, $180
Message-ID: <1993Jun29....@pixar.com>
Sender: ne...@pixar.com (Usenet Newsmaster)
Nntp-Posting-Host: kvetch.pixar.com
Organization: Pixar -- Point Richmond, California
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1993 17:58:33 GMT
Lines: 16
I have a 256k Casio BOSS SF-20 that I don't need, and will be willing to
unload it with box and manuals for $180, shipping included.
This unit lists for $300, and includes the usual organizer features,
Lucid-3D spreadsheet, and a warranty card that hasn't been filled out. The
only bad thing about it is that there is no programming language available
for this system, and I'm upgrading to a unit that will allow me to write my
own applications.
There is a freeware upload/download program for this organizer that runs
under Open Look on Sun systems and is avaliable in source form. The
communications protocol details and cable schematic are available, as well.
Thanks
Bruce Perens
From uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!labtam!cnw01!iann Mon Jul 5
12:03:12 CDT 1993
Article: 7851 of comp.sys.palmtops
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Path: uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!labtam!cnw01!iann
From: ia...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au (Ian Nicholls)
Subject: Casio sfdtool file data formats?
Message-ID: <1993Jul5.0...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au>
Sender: cn...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au (Ian Nicholls)
Nntp-Posting-Host: cnw08
Organization: Coles Supermarkets
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1993 06:22:13 GMT
Lines: 18
I bought the PC comms software for the Casio SF-5300, and, while I'm
aghast at the user interface, I'm also in the dark about the formats it
saves its data in. It seems incredible that the appointment scheduler,
the most important part of my palmtop (IMHO), cannot read and write
external files.
While this project percolates up my to-do list, has anyone else worked
out the data structures used, especially for the scheduler?
--
"In some parts of the city, curiosity didn't just kill the cat, it threw
it into the river with lead weights tied to its feet" - Terry Pratchett
Ian Nicholls Phone : +61 3 829 6088 Fax: +61 3 829 6886
--
"... and her terrifying brush with credibility" -- Fast Forward
Ian Nicholls Phone : +61 3 829 6088 Fax: +61 3 829 6886 \_o_/
Coles/Myer Ltd. E-mail: ia...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au \\|
L1 M11, PO Box 480, Glen Iris 3146, Australia \\
From uwm.edu!wupost!uunet!munnari.oz.au!labtam!cnw01!iann Thu Jul 8 23:37:08
CDT 1993
Article: 7934 of comp.sys.palmtops
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Path: uwm.edu!wupost!uunet!munnari.oz.au!labtam!cnw01!iann
From: ia...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au (Ian Nicholls)
Subject: File formats for Casio PC-Tool program
Message-ID: <iann.742177266@cnw01>
Summary: Transmission protocol and file formats for Casio B.O.S.S's
Sender: cn...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au (Ian Nicholls)
Nntp-Posting-Host: cnw06
Organization: Coles Supermarkets
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1993 00:21:06 GMT
Lines: 674
Following my request for this information, an anonymous reader sent me
this and asked that it be posted. It doesn't have any ownership
details, but doesn't seem to contain anything which can't be determined
by the public, so here goes, and thanks again for this.
> This may of be some use for decoding the data from your
> "digital diary". May or may not be the same format as my SF7500.
>
> Please redistribute on news for me, for the good of all, but EXCLUDE my
> name/address/email address etc.
CASIO DIGITAL DIARY COMM FORMAT
_______________________________
The CASIO SF-series pocket Digital Diary, also known as the B.O.S.S.
(Business Online Scheduling System) in North America can communicate
with a personal computer, allowing it to back-up and restore data
easily, and allowing the PC to be used to maintain the Diary data base.
This document describes the CASIO interface unit and communications
protocol. The communications format used by the Digital Diary is
described in sufficient detail to write a custom communications program
for it on any computer. This information has been derived from and
tested on the SF-7500 and SF-9700 models. It therefore should also
apply to all the related models, i.e. the 7000, 8000, and 9000 series.
1. CASIO RS232 INTERFACE
------------------------
The CASIO SF-series Digital Diary has a built-in serial interface and
communications program. It can communicate directly with another
SF-series unit, but for standard RS232 It requires an external adaptor
consisting of a level converter and an interface cable.
The CASIO FA-100 or FA-150 package is designed to connect the Digital
Diary to an IBM PC. The package consists of:
- An interface box with a 25-pin RS232 jack and a CASIO
SB-60 (3-pin) jack
- The SFD interface program on IBM-PC floppy disk (5.25" and
3.5" formats)
- Manual (skimpy on technical details)
No provision is made for computers other than IBM PC in the instructions
and the SFD program is PC-specific, but the interface is standard RS232
which should work on any computer serial port.
The box contains a battery-powered voltage level converter, which
converts between the 3-volt serial I/O of the Digital Diary and the
required 5-7.5 volt RS232 level.
CASIO makes a heck of a profit on this relatively simple unit, so it's
not suprising that someone else has duplicated it at lower cost:
Travelling Software sells their own FA-120 B.O.S.S. interface consisting
of an RS232-Casio cable with the level converter built in, and TS's own
interface program BOSS, designed to work with Sidekick on the PC.
The I/O jack of the Digital Diary is a standard serial port operating at
low TTL voltage. The 3 pins are Ground (the tip), Send (middle), and
Receive. The RS232 adaptor cable must connect these 3 pins to a 25-pin
RS232 plug on pins 2,3,7, with CTS/RTS and DSR/DTR/CD connected as usual
for a null modem. However, TTL to RS232 conversion is required. Don't
try to connect directly, or you'll likely blow up the Casio unit.
The RS232 cable required is inadequately specified in the CASIO
FA-100 manual, but it is a standard null modem cable with SND and RCV
crossed. The interface seems to ignore the other pins (as it should).
The SF-series Digital Diary unit can vary three communications
parameters: parity (even/odd/none), data bits (7/8), and baud rate
(1200/2400/4800/9600). For maximum speed select none/7/9600, although 8
data bits is more usual. Note that it specifies 2 stop bits, which is
a bit unusual. The 2 stop bits are required on input to the unit.
2. CASIO SF COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOL
-----------------------------------
The communications sequence between any 2 SF-series Digital Diaries, or
between an SF-unit and a PC is:
RECEIVER SENDER
Place unit in receive mode
(waiting for input)
Send CR-LF pair (ASCII 13, 10),
repeating until response received
If no response after 15 CR-LF pairs,
send " (ASCII 34) to abort transmission
and quit
Respond (ASCII 17/Ctrl-Q/XON)
to indicate Ready after
receiving a CR-LF pair
Send item type identification field
Send a series of entry fields making up
one complete item record of the
specified type
May send (ASCII 19/Ctrl-S/
XOFF) to request a temporary
halt (too much data too fast
for it)
Wait for XON before continuing
Sends XON (ASCII 17) when ready
to continue after XOFF
Send record terminating field
Wait for # acknowledgement
May send ? (ASCII 63) to
indicate error in received
field
or
Respond # (ASCII 35) to indicate
"Received OK, continue" after
receiving the last character of
the record terminating field
Continue with next item record (if any)
Respond with # after each ...
record
...
Send " (ASCII 34) at any time
to abort transmission
Send end-of-transmission field after
last item record
or
Send ! (ASCII 33) to stop transmission
Stop receiving
No count of the number of records or entry fields per record to be sent
is given ahead of time. The end of an item record is recognized by the
terminating field. The end of a multi-record transmission is marked by
an additional special terminating field. Prior to the final terminating
field of a multi-record transmission there is no indication if more
records will follow: the receiver must keep receiving until either the
final terminating field is received, or a stop character (!) is
received.
All data fields are sent as ASCII hex digit characters (0-9, A-F), with
2 sequential ASCII hex digits corresponding the hex value of each data
byte. For example, an ASCII "A" data character is sent as the two ASCII
characters "41". CASIO probably chose to do it this way to allow for
7-bit ASCII format, but it takes twice as long to transmit as the actual
hex values. In fact, the transmission format is very inefficient in
several other aspects as well: redundant offset and field separator
values, a lengthy record terminator which could be a single character,
etc.
When sending a series of items it is common for there to be delays of up
to 1/2 second between data items while the unit searches its memory for
the next item to transmit. The 9000 series seems faster than the 7000
series in this respect, but unknown if it is related to model number or
rather to a convoluted memory structure caused by adding and deleting
items many times on a well-used unit.
The general field format for all fields in a record is:
:llffoottdd...ddcc
where:
: - Field always begins with leading colon
ll - 2 digit (1-byte) field data length, number of bytes
of data (dd) in field, not counting llffoooo and cc
Maximum value is 80 hex (128)
Zero length always indicates a record terminating
field
ff - Flag byte:
00 - type identification field or
record terminating field
80 - text data field or MARK terminating field
C0 - schedule alarm field
D0 - calendar field
E0 - time field
F0 - date field
- Low digit of flag byte should be masked to 0 when
read to mask out offset bit
oo - Low byte of data offset (bits 0-7)
High bit of data offset (bit 8) is in low bit of flag
byte
tt - Sub-type, 02 for type identification field,
01 for record terminator field,
FF for transmission terminator field,
00 for all others
dd - One or more data bytes
...
cc - Checksum
The length is the number of bytes of actual data in the field, not
counting the length byte itself, flag, offset, sub-type, or checksum.
Remember, there are two ASCII digits per byte. The length is not
allowed to exceed 80 hex (128) in CASIO's transmission protocol; longer
fields are broken up into multiple sequential fields for transmission.
The end of such a field can be recognized only by the presence of the
field terminating character 0A (LineFeed) as the last data byte.
The checksum is the simple running checksum of all bytes in the record,
beginning with and including the length byte, continuing to and
including the checksum byte itself. The total of all bytes (including
the checksum itself) must be 00 in the low 2 hex digits, where the
checksum byte value is adjusted to make this true. A checksum error
indicates a faulty transmission.
The flag byte ff indicates the type of field, with the sub-type byte tt
indicating a sub-type in some cases.
TYPE IDENTIFICATION FIELD
A transmission always begins with a type identification field,
indicating what type of item data follows (i.e. memo, bus.card,
telephone, schedule, or calendar). The flag byte in this case is 00,
the "offset" is always 00 and the sub-type byte is 02. The data type to
follow is determined from the first data byte value:
80 - calendar
90 - telephone
A0 - memo
B0 - schedule
C0 - business card
There is always a second data byte of 00, and there is no other data in
the record, so the field data length is always 02.
Example of type identification field:
:02000002A0005C
|| | | |
|| | | checksum 02+00+00+02+A0+00+5C = x00
|| | |
|| | type A0 is memo
|| |
|| type byte 02 indicates type identification field
||
|flag value always 00
|
data length always 02 (the 2 bytes A000 in this record)
The type identification field is sent only prior to the first item of
each type; it not repeated prior to each item in a multi-item
transmission. When transmitting "all" data, a type identification field
is sent prior to the start of the items of each type.
DATA FIELDS
The type identification field is followed by a set of item
records. Each item record is made up of a number of data fields.
Data fields have one of four formats, depending on the data type
they contain: text, date, time, or calendar.
Text data fields always have a flag byte of 80.
Example of text data field:
:0480000031323334B2
|| | | |
|| | | checksum 04+80+00+00+31+32+33+34+B2 = x00
|| | |
|| | data bytes for entry field "1234"
|| |
|| offset is 0 for first entry
||
|flag value 80 indicates text data field
The offset is cumulative. The first text data field of a record always
begins at offset zero, the 2nd at 0 + the length of the 1st field, the
3rd at the offset of the 2nd field plus the length of the 2nd field,
etc. Note that if (and only if) there is a following data field in the
record, a field separator character (0A = LineFeed) is added to the end
of the field data. The field separator is counted in the length byte
and the subsequent offsets.
Memo, telephone, and business card item records consist of one or more
text fields. A missing/empty data entry which is sequence-dependent
(i.e. like those in a telephone or business card item record) is marked
by a text field containing only a separator character 0A.
As noted above, text fields longer than 128 bytes are broken up into
multiple fields for transmission. Only the last has a trailing field
separator.
If an entry contains one or more Carriage Return (CR) characters in the
text, it is broken into separate fields ending at the CR for
transmission. When a CR is received as the last character in a field,
the next text data field should be appended to it rather than beginning
a new text field of the item record. There is no field separator 0A in
this case.
Date/time entry fields:
Date entry fields have a special format marked by a flag byte of F0.
The date entry field appears as the first field when a schedule or
calendar item is transmitted. For a schedule item it is followed
(optionally) by time record(s) and a text data field for the schedule
entry.
Schedule item transmission sequence:
Date field
(Time field - optional)
(Alarm time field - optional)
Text data field for schedule item
The time field, if present, identifies the start time of the schedule
item, and may also identify an end time for the schedule item. The
alarm time field, if present, specifies the time of the associated
schedule alarm.
When multiple schedule items for a single day are transmitted, each item
is transmitted seperately beginning with a date field.
Date field format:
:0AF00000yyyyyyyy2Dmmmm2Dddddcc
| | | | |
| | | | day (01-1F)
| | | |
| | | dash (-)
| | |
| | month (01-0C)
| |
| dash (-)
|
year (19xx or 20xx)
Time field format:
:05E00000hhhh3Ammmmmcc
| | |
| | minute (00-3B)
| |
| colon :
|
hour (01-18)
For a schedule appointment with time duration specified (start and end
times):
:0BE00000hhhh3Ammmmm7Ehhhh3Ammmmcc
| ||
| |end time (hh:mm)
| |
| separator character ~
|
start time (hh:mm)
The hour is always in 24-hour format.
A schedule alarm time field is identical in format except that the flag
value is C0 instead of E0. Note that the Digital Diary does not allow
two schedule items to have the same alarm time - it will not store a
second item with the same alarm time as an existing item.
Term schedule items (SF-9000 series):
A term schedule item includes both a start date and an end date in a
longer schedule field of the following format:
:15F00000yyyyyyyy2Dmmmm2Ddddd7Eyyyyyyyy2Dmmmm2Dddddcc
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | end day (01-1F)
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | dash (-)
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | end month (01-0C)
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | dash (-)
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | end year (19xx or 20xx)
| | | | | |
| | | | | separator character ~
| | | | |
| | | | start day (01-1F)
| | | |
| | | dash (-)
| | |
| | start month (01-0C)
| |
| dash (-)
|
start year (19xx or 20xx)
Calendar fields:
A calendar month item is transmitted as a date field identifying the
year and month (day of month always = 01), followed by a calendar
highlight field which identifies the highlighted days in that month.
Associated schedule items must be transmitted separately.
Calendar item transmission sequence:
Date field (day=01)
Calendar highlight field
The highlighted days are identified by the setting of individual bits in
a string of 32 bits (8 hex digits). A bit set on indicates a
highlighted day. The bits are ordered right-to-left, with bit 0 of the
rightmost (last) digit representing day 1 of the month, and bit 2 of the
leftmost (first) digit representing day 31 of the the month.
Calendar highlight field format:
:04D00000hhhhhhhhcc
|
32 highlight bits
TERMINATOR FIELDS
A complete item record, consisting of one or more data entries, is
always terminated by a terminator field which has a field length of 00,
a flag value of 00, an "offset" value of 00, and a sub-type byte of 01.
Record terminator field:
:00000001FF - end of record
A different record terminator field is sent at the end of a "marked"
item:
:008000017F - end of marked record
Following the record terminator field of the last item record in a
multi-item transmission, a transmission terminator record is added. This
is similar in format to the record terminator field, but with a sub-type
byte of FF instead of 01.
Transmission terminator field:
:000000FF01 - end of multi-item transmission
SAMPLE PROGRAM
The following is a sample Microsoft BASIC program for receiving from the
Digital Diary and printing the characters received in hex digit form:
10 OPEN "com1:1200,N,8,1,CS0,DS0" AS 1
20 IF INPUT$(1,1)<>CHR$(13) THEN 20
30 IF INPUT$(1,1)<>CHR$(10) THEN 20
40 PRINT #1,CHR$(17);
50 A$=INPUT$(1,1)
60 PRINT A$;
70 IF A$="F" THEN X=X+1 : ELSE X=0 'not formally correct, but simple
80 IF X=2 THEN X=0 : BEEP : PRINT#1,"#";
90 GOTO 50
Note: BASIC is speed-limited on slower PCs. Interpreted BASIC can only
handle 1200 baud on a PC/AT. Compiled BASIC can handle 9600 baud on a
PC/AT, but only 4800 baud on an XT.
3. CASIO SFD Program
--------------------
CASIO provides the program SFD with their FA-100 IBM PC interface
package. SFD offers the same functions and user interface as the
Digital Diary, so it is easy to learn. It does have some extensions:
it makes use of the larger PC screen to show more information, it can
use a mouse if you have one, it can store more information in multiple
disk files, and it allows more flexible selection of a set of data items
to transmit.
Unfortunately the original FA-100 SFD program also has a number of
shortcomings: it requires an AT with at least 512K memory and an
EGA/VGA display to run, precluding the use of many typical PCs. It is
also sensitive to a common hardware fault in PC serial port UART
chips, which prevents communications from working properly on many PCs.
The updated FA-150 version of SFD is more flexible.
(Symptom of UART problem: Transmit Error from Digital Diary, or
PC receives the first item sent, but won't continue and won't send
anything, dependent on baud rate. Solution: replace the 8250 UART
chip in the serial port, or use alternate software.)
The CASIO manual provided with the FA-100/150 package is a very simple
operational guide to the SFD program, and fails to give much useful
information on installation, cable connection, communications protocol,
file format, or troubleshooting.
SFD DATA FILE FORMATS
---------------------
The SFD program which comes with the FA-100/150 package stores its data
in several different types of data files. They share the common default
name "SFDTOOL", with the file extension distinguishing the type of data.
They default file name can be changed to another. This section describes
the internal data formats of these files.
Data Files:
SFDTOOL.BSI - Business Card file
SFDTOOL.TEL - Telephone file
SFDTOOL.MEM - Memo file
SFDTOOL.SCH - Schedule file
SFDTOOL.CAL - Calendar file
These files contain the actual item data. Items are fixed length
384-byte records. The files are variable size and grow with the number
of records. Records are added in the order they are created; a
separate index file records the sorted order of records. When a
record is deleted, the last record of the file is moved to take its
place, and the index is updated appropriately.
Index files:
SFDTOOL.BMK - Business Card index file
SFDTOOL.TMK - Telephone index file
SFDTOOL.MMK - Memo index file
SFDTOOL.SMK - Schedule index file
These files contain an index to each of the data types (the Calendar has
no index file). The index size is fixed at 30002 bytes, enough to index
15000 items at 2 bytes per item (+ a 2-byte file header), except for the
schedule index which has a different format. The index contains the
sorted order of the data records. The Business Card index and the
Telephone index are sorted in alphabetical order. The memo index is
sorted in order of entry. The schedule index is sorted in chronological
order.
Data format:
The general format of text data records in the Business Card, Telephone,
Memo, and Schedule data files is:
text data field - variable number of ASCII data bytes
field separator - hex 8E byte (except for last field)
... repeat for number of data fields in record ...
record end mark - hex FF byte
Record length fixed at 384 bytes (180 hex); total number of data bytes
and field separators may not exceed this. The record is filled with zero
to this length.
Empty positional fields within the item record are represented by a
field separator with no text data. The final (or only) data field does
not end with a field separator.
A carriage return character within the data field is represented as a
byte of hex 8F.
There is always an extra final record in the file containing all bytes
of hex FF, probably written only to establish the file length.
A Business Card or Telephone record can have several text data fields
with separators. A Memo or Schedule record has only one text data field.
Calendar data format:
The calendar data file has a different format. The calendar record is 6
bytes long:
yymmhhhhhhhh (6 bytes, shown in hex)
yy - year (binary, 0=1900)
mm - month (binary 1-12)
hhhhhhhh - highlight flag bits
Each record begins with the year and month, followed by 4 bytes (32
bits) of bit flags set for highlighted days. The bits read left to
right: day 1 of the month is the leftmost bit (bit 7 of the first
byte); day 31 is bit 1 of the rightmost byte (bit 0 is unused). Note
that this order is inverted from the right-left transmission format.
There must be a final 6 byte record with the high bit of the first
byte set to act as an end of file marker.
Index format:
The index files are created with a fixed length of 30002 bytes. The
first two bytes of the index file are a header containing the total
number of data/index items (thus explaining the extra 2 bytes of file
length). Index data of 2 bytes per item is recorded beginning at the
third byte of the file and continuing for as many index items as there
are data items. The unused remainder of the index file to the length of
30002 bytes is junk.
The two bytes of data per index item are:
nn - item number in data file (low 8 bits)
fn - 2 flag bits and high 6 bits of item number
The item number is the record number of the corresponding item in the
data file. The index is kept in sorted order, but the items in the
data file are left in random order (the order they were entered in,
modified by rearrangement following deletions).
The flag bits in the second byte are:
bit 7 - set if data item is marked (BC, Tel, Memo only)
bit 6 - set if item is first with this employer (BC only)
The high 6 bits of the data item number are bits 0-5 of the second byte,
allowing record numbers to be up to 15,000.
The schedule index has a different format since it is kept in order of
time. It still begins with the 2-byte header containing the total number
of schedule data items, but the index entries have a length of 12 bytes
each:
yy - year (byte value where 0=1900)
mm - month (byte value 1-12)
dd - day (byte value 1-31)
hh - hour of appointment (0-23 or hex FF)
mm - minute of appointment (0-59 or hex FF)
hh - hour of appointment end (0-23 or hex FF)
mm - minute of appointment end (0-59 or hex FF)
hh - hour of schedule alarm (0-23 or hex FF)
mm - minute of schedule alarm (0-59 or hex FF)
00 - always 0
nn - item number in data file (low 8 bits)
fn - 2 flag bits and high 6 bits of item number
The value hex FF for any of the times (both hour and minute) indicates
that the corresponding start/end/alarm time is not specified. An end
time is never specified without a start time.
Since the schedule index file still has a fixed length of 30002 bytes,
it can store only 2500 (30000/12) items.
--
"Curiosity killed the cat - but for a while, _I_ was the suspect" -Steven
Wright
Ian Nicholls Phone : +61 3 829 6088 Fax: +61 3 829 6886
Coles/Myer Ltd. E-mail: ia...@cnw01.storesys.coles.oz.au
L1 M11, PO Box 480, Glen Iris 3146, Australia
--
The opinions of the poster do not necessarily represent those of the company.
From uwm.edu!linac!unixhub!slc.slac.stanford.edu!levitt Mon Jul 12 14:03:13 CDT
1993
Article: 7985 of comp.sys.palmtops
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Path: uwm.edu!linac!unixhub!slc.slac.stanford.edu!levitt
From: lev...@slc.slac.stanford.edu
Subject: Casio SF5300 <--> Mac xfer
Message-ID: <1993Jul12...@slc.slac.stanford.edu>
Lines: 19
Sender: ne...@unixhub.SLAC.Stanford.EDU
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1993 17:47:27 GMT
For those of you who own a Casio SF-something-or-other and wish to make it
talk to a Mac, there is an application program and cable diagram available.
Look at sumex.stanford.edu (or any other Mac archive sites) in the directory
info-mac/app for the file casio-talk-205.hqx This is a demo version that only
allows 1000 characters to be transfered at a time, but it looks quite good and
is reasonably easy to use. This software is shareware, and the author asks
for $25 for a registration number that will allow unlimited transfers. He will
also sell you a ready-made cable for $20 (a little more than it cost me at my
local Radio Shack).
According to the author, only the Casio SF-7500 may be used, but I was so
determined I should be able to transfer between my 5300 and my Mac, that I
actually went ahead, built the cable and circuit, and transferred data. No
problems. I guess this means that the SF-5300 (and 5100, 4300) uses the same
protocol as the SF-7500.
Hope this helps,
Steve Levitt
From
uwm.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!udel!news.intercon.com!panix!netnews
s!news.nyu.edu!freudent Fri Jul 16 13:20:14 CDT 1993
Article: 14260 of comp.sys.handhelds
Path:
uwm.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!udel!news.intercon.com!panix!netnews
s!news.nyu.edu!freudent
From: freu...@alpha.ultra.nyu.edu (Eric Freudenthal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: Casio SF5300 <--> Mac xfer
Date: 16 Jul 93 13:05:24
Organization: /a/users/freudent/.organization
Lines: 22
Distribution: inet
Message-ID: <FREUDENT.93...@alpha.ultra.nyu.edu>
References: <1993Jul12...@slc.slac.stanford.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: alpha.ultra.nyu.edu
In-reply-to: lev...@slc.slac.stanford.edu's message of Mon, 12 Jul 1993 17:48:54
GMT
I have a simpler circuit for the cable to attach a mac to a casio (two
resistors and a diode, no chips). Send me a SASE and I'll send you
a photocopy.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Eric Freudenthal
Email: freu...@nyu.edu
Office: NYU Ultralab, 715 Broadway 10th floor, New York, NY 10003 212/998-3345
Home: 220 Berkeley Place 4b, Brooklyn NY 11217 718/789-4486
"One seventh of all Americans can trace their ancestry
through Brooklyn...can you?"
Fax: call for info
--
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Eric Freudenthal
Email: freu...@nyu.edu
Office: NYU Ultralab, 715 Broadway 10th floor, New York, NY 10003 212/998-3345
Home: 220 Berkeley Place 4b, Brooklyn NY 11217 718/789-4486
"One seventh of all Americans can trace their ancestry
through Brooklyn...can you?"
Fax: call for info
From
uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!uvaarpa!gmuvax.gmu.edu
u!mason1.gmu.edu!ami Sun Aug 1 19:41:24 CDT 1993
Article: 8366 of comp.sys.palmtops
Path:
uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!uvaarpa!gmuvax.gmu.edu
u!mason1.gmu.edu!ami
Newsgroups: comp.sys.palmtops
Subject: Casio BOSS stuff for sale
Message-ID: <1993Jul31.1...@gmuvax.gmu.edu>
From: a...@mason1.gmu.edu (AMIHAI MOTRO)
Date: 31 Jul 93 11:25:59 -0500
Distribution: usa
Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Nntp-Posting-Host: mason1.gmu.edu
Lines: 18
FOR SALE
1. Casio Boss SF-9000: 64K organizer, communications and IC card capabilities
2. FA-120: PC-Link cable and software for communicating with IBM PC ($99.95)
3. ES-600: IC card Dictionary/Thesaurus/Speller ($79.95)
4. ES-100: 64K RAM card extends unit's memory to 128K ($89.95)
All components are in like-new condition with original manuals and boxes.
One exception: one of the hinges of the 9000 is broken and fixed with tape.
The 9000 is discontinued but items 2,3,4 are compatible with most new Casios
(above prices are from the current catalog of J&R Music World, NY).
Original price paid for all 4 items: $517.46
Current price for items 2-4 only (at J&R Music World, NY): $269.85
Asking price for all 4 items (shipping included): $150.00
------------------------------------------------------------ END ---------
Todd Schaefer
: > I was just wondering if anyone has or has seen the software program
: > which is used to download data into the Casio SF-4300 32KB Digital
: > Diary. I noticed that it is priced from the company at about
: > $130.00. Ouch!
: >
: > What is so special about this software? Are there cheaper alternatives
: > for interfacing with the SF-4300??
: >
: > Can I "hack" something for it? 8-)
: >
: > Todd
: If you are talking about the PCLINK software, yes I have it. I think
: the cost comes from the fact that a cable is included in the package.
: It is not a simple cable there is some electrical conversion done in
: the plug that goes in the SF unit.
If I were to take a 'guess' at it, I would guess that the cable consisted
of 3 lines being: TX, RX, and ground (from RS-232). The electrical
conversion that you mentioned might be bringing the voltage down on
the RS-232 lines to about the +5v level. That means that the cable
should'nt be too hard to construct. All I would need to know then is
which lines to hook up to what.
The hardest part would be figuring out how to communicate with the SF.
You would have to know what type of protocol that they use, which that
in itself might be quite a challenge. Anyone have any bright ideas,
hints?
: A cheaper alternative would be a hack, but you might still need the
: cable!
: Does anyone out there know the protocol used by the SF unit to
: communicate between units and with PC and MAC? I have mailed several
: people who have have posted on the net, but not gained any new facts.
: --
: Brendan M.O'Connor - Inmos Ltd. - +44-454-616616
: 1000 Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol BS12 4SQ, United Kingdom
: bre...@inmos.co.uk
--
John P Cavanaugh
>Brendan O'Connor (bre...@inmos.co.uk) wrote:
>: In article <1993Dec21....@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> tsch...@137.23.53.1 (Todd Schaefer) writes:
>: > I was just wondering if anyone has or has seen the software program
>: > which is used to download data into the Casio SF-4300 32KB Digital
>: > Diary. I noticed that it is priced from the company at about
>: > $130.00. Ouch!
>: >
>: > What is so special about this software? Are there cheaper alternatives
>: > for interfacing with the SF-4300??
>: >
>: > Can I "hack" something for it? 8-)
>: >
>: > Todd
Check at wuarchive under the systems/mac/umich.edu for something
called casiotalk. The archive contains a schematic of the cable
and the chip required for the processing. There is also a program
for communication but its only for us mac users. All you pc'ers are
out of luck.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
John Cavanaugh
cava...@ecn.purdue.edu Purdue University
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
-- Theodore Roosevelt
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
William C Koffke
Kof...@wild.vill.edu
Snoopy
I have some software written some years ago for SunOS and OpenWindows by
a guy called Chuck Harris...it works fine for me.
You can easily make your own cable: you just have to get a 5V -> 12V
converter chip: I built an interface using about 20$ worth of parts and
about an hour of fiddling it into the case (which was the most expensive
item, together with the DB25 RS-232 plugs for the SUN).
I will mail a copy of the program if people want it from me. But I cannot
support it.
Included in the package is a document describing the protocol.
If there is enough demand, I will gladly post it to comp.unix.sources
or here.
Love,
Snoopy
--
uunet!unido!ixos!snoopy.schmitz -or- snoopy....@munich.ixos.de
"Every passing hour brings the solar system 43,000 miles closer to globular
cluster M13 in Hercules - and still there are some misfits who insist that
there is no such thing as progress." - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.