Re: Data capture from a serial port

Richard Thomas wrote: } } Hi, } } Our call centre runs on a phone system that produces statistics every hour, } and outputs them through a serial port. We have a dot matrix printer connected } to this port that prints this data onto reams of paper. We want to get this } data } into our OnLine database (5.0.3 on SCO 5.0.0) without having to key it in } from the printout. We figure this would save paper, save time, improve } accuracy, prevent paper loss due to jams, paper running out etc. } } The question is, is anyone else capturing data from a serial output, } formatting } it and inserting it into tables. The options open to us are shell scripts, } awk, } SQL, ACE and PERFORM. ie NO 4GL or C/C++ :-( } } Any ideas? We did this for a phone company out here...I'll forward this on to someone in the company I think was working on that project and ask them...I don't know what database it was for, but that really doesn't matter. } } Cheers, } } Richard. } } PS I need to stop our users logging in on Friday morning (call centre opens } at 8am, I arrive and essential maintenance starts at 9am). Telling them not } to log in doesn't seem to work :-) On Solaris, I seem to remember you } could put a file somewhere called 'nologin' which did exactly what I want. } Can't find any mention of it on SCO. Any ideas, other than threats/ } disconnection of terminals?! SCO supported this in the last version I worked with. I believe it goes in /etc either nologin or .nologin check the man page on shutdown, as that's one process that puts the file out there.