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AN S-7600A/PIC16F877 JOURNEY

Part 4: Road Testing
by Fred Eady

Start ý Janis Joplin School of Programming ý Who or What is Perl? ý Setting Up the Server ý Applying What Weýve Learned ý Internet Engine Client Code ý Get on the ýNet ý Sources and PDF

JANIS JOPLIN SCHOOL OF PROGAMMING

Well, the late great Janis used to be known as Pearl (not Perl, but close enough). Having little widgets like the S-7600A/PIC16F877 Internet Engine is nice, but they sometimes need to convey information to others who are a bit larger in stature and more powerful for processing. For instance, assume an Internet Engine is monitoring the number of people who enter a small store in a shopping mall. Each time someone enters, the Internet Engine adds the extra body to the total count. At closing time, the Internet Engine picks up the phone and calls in the total. To be sure that the count was accepted, the Internet Engine waits for an acknowledgement. You already know how to implement on the Internet Engine side, but what about the remote host side? Assuming the remote host is not another S-7600A/PIC16F877 Internet Engine, thatýs where Perl comes in.

Thereýs no doubt that many of you in the audience could whip out a C, VB, or assembler program to fill the server side of this equation. Thatýs nice, but Perl has built-in socket capability to make the job quick and easy. I wonýt be counting bodies in this example, but I will be transferring data to a Perl-equipped Linux host attached to the Internet at 216.53.172.209. You can use the example code I will provide to talk to the very same Linux host via your Internet Engine and the Internet from the comfort of your lab or living room.

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