> I realize this isn't exactly on topic, but I figure a bunch of you
> guys/gals have probably done stuff like this, and might know where to
> point me.
>
> I am trying to write an automation program in FreeBSD that listens for
> commands on a serial port, and responds by issuing commands in response. I
> also need to accept commands and data from local users or shell scripts.
>
> Right now, I poll the serial ports periodically, and this seems to work
> OK. I would prefer to put the program to sleep until either a fixed amount of
> time has passed ( a timer interrupt ), or data arrives at one of the
> serial ports ( a device interrupt ). Unfortunately, I don't know how to do
> to this under FreeBSD. (All my C programming so far has been "filters"
> and such). Could someone point me to a resource on how to do this?
>
> Also, this program should run as a daemon, but I don't know how to make it
> disconnect from the tty (currently, I just run it using &).
bkpupsd is a simple port that demonstrates this.
>
> How can I call programs, and read their output, from within my program?
>
> How can I read the system clock? A lot of events need to occur based on
> real-time (I presently use cron and shell scripts, but I would like to be
> able to calculate future times programmatically, and set my own "alarms")
long int unixtid;
time(&unixtid);
>
> Lastly, how can I get data and commands into and out of my program? I
Also demonstrated by bkpupsd
> figure a file interface would be the simplest, and simply check the file
> periodically to see if it has changed. Is there an easier way, or is this
> an accepted method? I would eventually like to write a web page and use my
> existing web server and CGI scripts to control/monitor the daemon - but
> I'm not sure I'm ready to write my own web server code into this app.
You will find that PHP scripts lends itself fine for this..
>
> In summary, can anyone help me write code that:
> 1) puts my daemon to sleep, awaking only when either a timer has expired,
> data has arrived one of the controlled serial ports, or the user has
> invoked some interface from a script or command line utility.
>
> 2) Daemonizes my program (dissasociating itself from the terminal)
>
> 3) Accepts commands and/or data from scripts or command line utilities.
>
> 4) Call other programs, and pass them parameters.
>
> 5) Read the system clock.
The above should answer your questions?
regards from Kjell / LA3SG
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