CompuServe Messages

Though some of pro units (most of them?) may accept a file over the serial port, I think that you may be surprised at the number of people who would want to do something at home, with equipment of their own design, etc. The advantage of doing search for a named message port should not be underestimated, for the reason already stated, and for future compatibility with any method that might be used on amateur or professional equipment. You say that single framing is no longer a requirement, but I'm afraid you are off base in that statement. You have mentioned sequences of 4-5 seconds, and have spoken of hard disk storage for longer sequences. This is all fine and good for those who have access to an editing suite, but falls short of the mark for those with less sophisticated equipment, including, as one member mentioned, movie cameras. My advice is to spend the small extra effort to look for a message port, and if available, send whatever status commands are needed. In addition, I would urge you to fully document the procedures and messages. It will serve to make your program more useful to a wider range of people. Another thing to keep in mind is that anything sent out the serial port should be completely under control of the user. It is annoying to say the least to see data pouring out to my modem as I use a program, and I imagine it is even more annoying to those who have a printer attached. Regards, Larry.