Calculator links

A link in libcasio represents a calculator over a stream, i.e. the application level. It is an abstraction which proposes everything the protocols CASIO calculator use offer, although some operations might not be implemented behind.

Links can take the following callbacks:

int casio_link_confirm_t(void *cookie)

The process or the device on the other end requires a confirmation from the user, for which such as function is called. It shall return 0 if the user has not confirmed, or anything else if it is.

void casio_link_progress_t(void *cookie, unsigned int id, unsigned int total)

Is used for displaying the progress of an operation when it goes further on.

Managing a link

Only the library is able to implement link functions, in order to encourage users to contribute in the library development. Use the following functions to open and close a link:

int casio_open_link(casio_link_t **handlep, unsigned long flags, tio_stream_t *stream)

Open a link on the given stream. By default, uses the type of the stream to find out what behaviour to adopt:

• if the stream is a generic stream, it will try to communicate using P7.

• if the stream is a serial stream, it will try to communicate using CAS50, and if that failed, it will try to communicate using P7.

• if the stream is a USB stream, it will get the vendor, product, class, subclass and protocol identifiers:

  • if the protocol is found to be SCSI using the class/subclass/protocol, then we shall try to communicate using SCSI.

  • if the vendor identifier is 0x07cf (“Casio Computer Co., Ltd”), the product identifier is 0x6101 (“fx-9750gII”) and the device protocol is 0 (vendor-specific), then we shall try to communicate using protocol 7 (P7).

All of these behaviours are tweakable through the following flags:

CASIO_LINKFLAG_P7

We want to enforce protocol 7 on generic and serial streams (and skip the CAS40 check).

CASIO_LINKFLAG_CAS40

We want to speak CAS40 as we know it’s an ancient calculator on the other side (around 1990).

CASIO_LINKFLAG_CAS50

We only want to try out CAS50, and not skip to protocol 7 if it doesn’t work.

CASIO_LINKFLAG_CAS100

We want to speak CAS50 as we’re guessing it’s an AFX on the other side.

CASIO_LINKFLAG_SCSI

We want to speak SCSI on all kind of devices, through bulk-only transport on USB and plain SCSI writing on generic streams. This flag will be ignored on serial streams.

For protocol 7 streams, by default:

• we start off as the active device, i.e. the one that will send commands to the other one.

• we send a check then a discovery packet, in order to find out to what device we’re speaking to and trying to guess what commands are supported or not.

• if the device is identified to be connected through USB, we shift packets on data streams in order to go faster.

• we terminate the connection at the end.

All of these behaviours are tweakable through the following flags:

CASIO_LINKFLAG_PASSIVE

We want to start out as the passive device (emulate a calculator).

This will of course disable checks, discovery, packet shifting and terminating connections as we depend on the other side to make decisions.

CASIO_LINKFLAG_NOCHECK

We suppose the connection has already been made by a previous link (possibly on a previous process) and do not issue the check.

CASIO_LINKFLAG_NODISC

We do not want to discover what kind of device we have on the other side, and use fallbacks to guess what commands are supported. Notice that you shall only use this flag for devices that do not support the discovery command, as this can be made on an already established link.

CASIO_LINKFLAG_NOSHIFT

We do not want to do packet shifting on USB devices. This is usually done for sensitive data packet exchanges, as packet shifting can theoretically go really bad and make the link irrecoverable, but that’s yet to be seen in practice.

Packet shifting is not enabled on serial devices because it doesn’t speed up the process at all.

CASIO_LINKFLAG_TERM

We want to terminate the connection when the link is closed.

int casio_open_serial(casio_link_t **handlep, unsigned long flags, char const *name, tio_serial_attrs_t const *attrs)

Open a serial port using tio_open_serial_port() and the given serial attributes, and open a link onto it.

int casio_open_usb(casio_link_t **handlep, unsigned long flags, int bus, int address)

Open a USB device using tio_open_usb(), and open a link onto it.

void casio_close_link(casio_link_t *handle)

Close the link and free all the related resources.

Link-related operations

In order to get the link information, you shall use the following function:

casio_link_info_t const *casio_get_link_info(casio_link_t *handle)

Get the link information, i.e. the information on the device on the other side. This function will return generic information in case the discovery has been disabled.

For managing serial settings, the following function has your back:

int casio_setlink(casio_link_t *handle, tio_serial_attrs_t const *attrs)

Agrees on serial settings with the device and changes the stream serial properties on the underlying stream. Not all properties will be read, generally only the speed, stop bits and parity.

Screenstreaming

The logic for screenstreaming management in libcasio is kind of an infinite iterator, using the following function:

int casio_get_screen(casio_link_t *handle, casio_picture_t **screenp)

Warning

Initialize *screenp to either NULL or a valid picture before calling this function!

Get the next screen that the calculator has sent us. Depending on *screenp:

• if it is NULL, then the picture will be allocated and *screenp will be set to the newly allocated picture.

• if it is not NULL, then it points to a valid picture which is either modified if the dimensions of the received screen are the same as its dimensions, or reallocated if not.

System-related operations

CASIO calculators used to provide legit ways to backup different parts of the system on flash and upload and run special executables using protocol 7, although it has been removed on modern calculators. These functions implement these procedures:

int casio_backup_rom(casio_link_t *handle, tio_stream_t *buffer, casio_link_progress_t *progress, void *progress_cookie)

Backup the ROM into the given buffer.

int casio_upload_and_run(casio_link_t *handle, tio_stream_t *buffer, unsigned long loadaddr, unsigned long straddr, casio_link_progress_t *progress, void *progress_cookie)

Upload and run an executable from a stream. The stream is expected to be a generic stream where the size can be determined by using tio_get_size().

loadaddr represents where in the calculator’s memory the program shall be loaded (e.g. 0x88030000), and straddr is where the program shall be started (e.g. 0x88030000). Both should be on 32-bits.

This function is usually used for uploading code that replaces the flash’s content, but the uploaded code can also serve other purposes such as simply installing programs, displaying the calculator’s info or run a program to back up the calculator’s memory. It is not dangerous in itself, it’s the uploaded code which can be, so as usual, be careful with what you run on the calculator.

Main memory-related operations

All CASIO calculators have at least a main memory, whatever its format is (for more about main memories, check out Main filesystems). You can get the function that manages it through the link using the following:

int casio_get_link_mcs(casio_link_t *handle, casio_mcs_t **mcsp)

Get the main memory management object for the given link.

Protocol-specific functions

While libcasio offers you an abstract interface to any calculator whatever protocol it is using, you can use the protocols directly for operations it does not manage. For this, see the following pages:

• Using the CAS protocols
• Using protocol 7