free C compiler for Windows

[Ether]

Hello C gurus.

Do you know if there's a free C compiler for Windows XP which has support for RS232 access, and has a sleep() function which blocks waiting (as opposed to busy waiting).

[EricVanWyk]

Not quite what you are looking for, but pyserial (http://pyserial.sourceforge.net/) for python can toggle the RTS pin, if that is what you are still trying to do.

[Ether]

Not quite what you are looking for, but pyserial (http://pyserial.sourceforge.net/) for python can toggle the RTS pin, if that is what you are still trying to do.

Thanks.

It's not just toggling the RTS pin that I'm after. I know how to do that.

I've written countless interrupt-driven RS232 comm test equipment apps, mostly in assembly, for older machines running DOS (where you can diddle directly with the hardware). Many of them run fine from a windows command prompt.

What I want to do is write a small 32-bit windows app that looks something like this:

void main(void){

while(1) do{
SetRTS();
sleep(10);
ClearRTS();
sleep(10);
}

}

... where the sleep() function is blocked waiting, not spinning.

I want to slap a scope on the RTS pin and watch it while I play around with Windows to see what it does to the signal under various conditions.

I'm thinking this would be a visually captivating show-and-tell for students just learning about realtime issues and concurrent processing.

[apalrd]

The Windows API for serial communication has a function (EscapeCommFunction) which can be requested to clear or set RTS state.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa363254%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Thus, any compiler which links to the Windows API can use it.....

I've used the VC++ compiler before (on windows), and Cygwin when building from my Linux machine. VC++ Express and Cygwin are both free. winapi also has a Sleep() function. The MSDN page on Sleep() has more information.

[plnyyanks]

The MSDN page on Sleep() has more information.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms686298(v=vs.85).aspx

When I program C(++) on Windows, I use either Bloodshed Dev-C++ (http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html) or VSC++ (http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-cpp-express). Both support the winapi and both are free.

[Ether]

@apalrd,plnyyanks: Thanks guys. This appears to be what I'm looking for.

[jwakeman]

I would recommend MinGW, Minimalist GNU for Windows, http://www.mingw.org/.