====== Linux Serial Programming ======

There is ''%%termios%%'' which is the linux library of accessing the serial port. It is super
fucking complicated.

There are some concepts to keep in mind.

**1. Canonical mode**: This is most useful when dealing with real terminals, or devices that provide line-by-line 
communication. The terminal driver returns data line-by-line.

**2. Non-canonical mode:** In this mode, no special processing is done, and the terminal driver returns individual characters.

**3. "Blocking"**: sets whether a read() on the port waits for the specified number of
characters to arrive. Setting no blocking means that a read() returns however many
characters are available without waiting for more, up to the buffer limit.

The man page ([[http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/termios.3.html|link]]) for
''%%termios%%'' is actually pretty useful. This is not that complicated. I, and you, can
friggin do this.

There is an interesting function called ''%%cfmakeraw%%'' that sets the terminal to what I
want I think I want. 

===== General Programming Serial Stuff =====

If you use ''%%printf%%'' to print to the terminal be aware that ''%%stdout%%'' is buffered! That
means that it doesn't just instantaneously print to the terminal. It either waits for
a new line, has a timeout (i think) or a buffer fills up. 

To get ''%%printf%%'' to print immediately either call ''%%fflush(stdout)%%'' or do the following to
make the buffer size smaller:

<code c>
// printf which uses stdout is buffered. The larger the buffer, the slower it
// will post to the terminal. I can either set the buffer to smaller size like
// the following, or call fflush(stdout) to force a write to the terminal
char buffer[10];
setvbuf(stdout, buffer, _IOFBF, sizeof(buffer));
</code>

===== General OS Serial Stuff =====
To list the USB devices by dev path use this script ([[http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/144029/command-to-determine-ports-of-a-device-like-dev-ttyusb0|link]]).

I have added this script to ''%%paul_scripts%%'' and added an alias called ''%%listusb%%'' to my ''%%.zshrc%%'' file.