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<!-- saved from url=(0046)http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html -->
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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>NQC FAQ</TITLE>
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<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1250"><!-- Copyright 1998 Dave Baum -->
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<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
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<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
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<H2>NQC FAQ</H2>
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<H3>General</H3>
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<UL>
10 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#nqc">What is
11 
  NQC?</A>
12 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#mindstorms">What
13 
  is LEGO MINDSTORMS?</A>
14 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#RIS2">Does NQC
15 
  support RIS 2.0?</A>
16 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#firmware">How can
17 
  I get the RCX 2.0 firmware?</A> </LI></UL>
18 
<H3>NQC Compiler Usage</H3>
19 
<UL>
20 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#dos">I'm using
21 
  Windows, and when I click on NQC a window with some text flashes on the screen
22 
  then disappears. What's going on?</A>
23 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#-Trcx2">I'm using
24 
  the RCX 2.0 firmware but get errors when trying to call 2.0 functions (e.g.
25 
  SetUserDisplay). What's wrong?</A>
26 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#errors">How can I
27 
  redirect errors to a file?</A>
28 
  <LI><A
29 
  href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#spiritinstall">Where is
30 
  Spirit.ocx? RcxCC complains that it is not installed.</A> </LI></UL>
31 
<H3>IR Communication</H3>
32 
<UL>
33 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#usb">How do I get
34 
  NQC to work with my USB IR tower?</A>
35 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#control">How do I
36 
  use a computer to control the RCX?</A>
37 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#irusb">How do I
38 
  use the IR tower with a USB Macintosh?</A>
39 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#irdebug">Help,
40 
  RcxCC/MacNQC/NQC can't communicate with my RCX!</A>
41 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#irlaptop">How do I
42 
  use my computer IR port with the RCX?</A>
43 
  <LI><A href="file:///Users/dave/WebSite/nqc/doc/faq.html#irxp">How can I get
44 
  the USB IR tower to work under Win XP?</A> </LI></UL>
45 
<H3>Miscellaneous</H3>
46 
<UL>
47 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#spirit">Why
48 
  doesn't NQC use the Spirit OCX?</A>
49 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#vision">Does NQC
50 
  support Vision Command?</A>
51 
  <LI><A href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#build">What
52 
  computers/tools/etc do you use to develop NQC?</A> </LI></UL>
53 
<P></P>
54 
<HR align=left>
55 
 
56 
<P></P>
57 
<H3><A name=nqc></A>What is NQC?</H3>
58 
<P>NQC (Not Quite C) is a programming language for several LEGO MINDSTORMS
59 
products including the RCX, CyberMaster, and Scout. NQC's syntax is very similar
60 
to the C programming langauge, so experienced C programmers (and Java
61 
programmers) should find it very easy to get started with. Even if you aren't an
62 
experienced programmer, NQC is relatively easy to learn.</P>
63 
<P>The two primary reasons people move up to NQC from the standard tools (RCX
64 
Code and Robolab) is that NQC is a textual langauge, and it is more powerful.
65 
Graphical languages are often easier to learn (no syntax errors!) but are
66 
generally more tedious to use than a textual langauge. The graphical metaphors
67 
of RCX Code (and to a certain extent Robolab) also significantly limit the types
68 
of programs you can write.</P>
69 
<P>NQC uses the same firmware as LEGO's standard tools (RCX Code and Robolab).
70 
This means it is possible to have RCX Code, Robolab, and NQC programs loaded
71 
onto the RCX at the same time. NQC also benefits from the stability and user
72 
interface (e.g. the View button) provided by the standard firmware. On the minus
73 
side, NQC must live within the constraints of the standard firmware. For
74 
example, since the firmware does not provide floating point support, NQC cannot
75 
provide it either. Other altermatives for programming the RCX (notably legOS and
76 
pbForth) do not have such restrictions.</P>
77 
<P></P>
78 
<HR align=left>
79 
 
80 
<P></P>
81 
<H3><A name=mindstorms></A>What is LEGO MINDSTORMS?</H3>
82 
<P>LEGO MINDSTORMS is a series of LEGO sets that use special programmable bricks
83 
to allow construction of robots. The most versatile programmable brick is the
84 
RCX, which can be found in the Robotics Invention System set. A simpler brick,
85 
the Scout, can be found in the Robotics Discovery set. The simplest brick, Micro
86 
Scout, is featured in two sets with a Star Wars theme: Droid Developer Kit, and
87 
Dark Side Developer Kit. Even though it is the most expensive, the RCX based set
88 
is still the best value due to the versatility of the RCX itself. The Scout is a
89 
bit more limited, but still can be programmed (using NQC) to do some interesting
90 
things. The Micro-Scout is extremely limited, and it useful mainly as an
91 
accessory to another programmable brick such as the RCX or Scout. Further
92 
information on MINDSTORMS sets can be found at the official site: <A
93 
href="http://www.legomindstorms.com/"
94 
target=_blank>http://www.legomindstorms.com/</A>.</P>
95 
<P></P>
96 
<HR align=left>
97 
 
98 
<P></P>
99 
<H3><A name=RIS2></A>Does NQC Support RIS 2.0?</H3>
100 
<P>The RCX in the RIS 2.0 is nearly identical to the 1.0 RCX. However, new
101 
firmware is used to give the RCX some new capabilities. Fortunately for existing
102 
RCX owners, this firmware is available for download from www.legomindstorms.com
103 
(as part of the RIS 2.0 SDK). NQC supports this new firmware (see <A
104 
href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#-Trcx2">here for more
105 
info</A>).</P>
106 
<P>RIS 2.0 also uses a new IR tower with a USB connection (instead of the
107 
eariler RS-232 based towers). Support for the USB tower under Windows and Mac OS
108 
X is currently in <A
109 
href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/beta/index.html">beta test</A>. Support
110 
for Mac OS 9 will be added shortly and several other people are working on Linux
111 
support.</P>
112 
<H3>
113 
<HR align=left>
114 
<A name=firmware></A>How can I get the RCX 2.0 firmware?</H3>
115 
<P>The RCX 2.0 firmware is contained in a file named FIRM0328.LGO and is
116 
installed on your PC when you install the standard LEGO software. It is also
117 
installed as part of the Vision Command software and the 2.0 SDK.</P>
118 
<P>Unfortunately, all previously mentioned sources for the firmware require
119 
software to be installed on a Windows computer. If you are using a different
120 
operating system, then you will need to download the earlier Beta version of the
121 
2.0 SDK which was packaged as a .zip file rather than a full installer. This
122 
.zip file may then be expanded to get the FIRM0328.LGO file. The SDK 2.0 Beta
123 
can be found at <A href="http://mindstorms.lego.com/sdk2beta/default.asp"
124 
target=_blank>http://mindstorms.lego.com/sdk2beta/default.asp</A>.</P>
125 
<P></P>
126 
<HR align=left>
127 
 
128 
<P></P>
129 
<H3><A name=dos></A>I'm using Windows, and when I click on NQC a window with
130 
some text flashes on the screen then disappears. What's going on?</H3>
131 
<P>NQC is a command line based tool - normally you run it by typing an
132 
appropriate command into an MS-DOS window. When you double-click the exe file it
133 
launches an MS-DOS console, runs NQC within it, then since NQC finishes almost
134 
immediately, the entire window disappears.</P>
135 
<P>Some people prefer command line based tools because they allow you to use the
136 
text editor of your choice, etc. It also makes for identical behavior under
137 
Windows, Mac, and Linux. In order to use the command line version of NQC you'll
138 
need to do two things:</P>
139 
<P>1) Use some sort of text editor (such as Notepad) to edit and save a source
140 
file for NQC to compile.</P>
141 
<P>2) From an MS-DOS window type the appropriate NQC command. Its usually best
142 
to either put all of your programs and nqc.exe in the same directory, or make
143 
sure the directory containing NQC is in your command path. For example, to
144 
compile and download the program "test.nqc" using the default serial port you
145 
would type the following command:</P>
146 
<P>nqc -d test.nqc</P>
147 
<P>An alternative is to use the <A href="http://www.cs.uu.nl/~markov/lego/"
148 
target=_parent>RCX Command Center</A> by Mark Overmars, which is a familiar
149 
Windows style application that provides a front end to the NQC compiler.</P>
150 
<P></P>
151 
<HR align=left>
152 
 
153 
<P></P>
154 
<H3><A name=-Trcx2></A>I'm using the RCX 2.0 firmware but get errors when trying
155 
to call 2.0 functions (e.g. SetUserDisplay). What's wrong?</H3>
156 
<P>When NQC compiles a program it needs to know what kind of programmable brick
157 
you want it to generate code for (this is called the <I>target</I> for the
158 
compile). By default, NQC assumes you are targetting RCX 1.0. If you want to use
159 
RCX 2.0 features, you need to tell the compiler you are using an RCX 2.0 target.
160 
If you are using a command line version of NQC, then add <TT>-Trcx2</TT> to the
161 
command line:</P>
162 
<P><TT>nqc -Trcx2 -d foo.nqc</TT></P>
163 
<P>If you don't want to type <TT>-Trcx2</TT> all the time, then just use the
164 
environment variable <TT>NQC_OPTIONS</TT> - NQC reads this environment variable
165 
and inserts any options in this variable at the front of the command line. For
166 
example, if <TT>NQC_OPTIONS</TT> was set to <TT>-Trcx2</TT> and you issued the
167 
following command</P>
168 
<P><TT>nqc -d foo.nqc</TT></P>
169 
<P>NQC would behave as if you actually typed</P>
170 
<P><TT>nqc -Trcx2 -d foo.nqc</TT></P>
171 
<P>The specifics of setting environment variables depends on your operating
172 
system and shell. For example, under Windows you could type the following in a
173 
command shell:</P>
174 
<P><TT>set NQC_OPTIONS=-Trcx2</TT></P>
175 
<P>If you want to always use RCX 2.0, then you can make this setting permament
176 
by editing the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and adding the above command to the end of the
177 
file. This way, the variable will get set every time Windows is started.</P>
178 
<P>If you are using a GUI based version of NQC (such as MacNQC), then there
179 
should be some preference setting for the target - just make sure it is set to
180 
"RCX 2.0". Unfortunately, RcxCC does not have an "RCX 2.0" setting, but there is
181 
a workaround. Leave the target as "RCX" (which means RcxCC won't specify any
182 
target information and just rely on the fact that NQC defaults to RCX), then use
183 
the <TT>NQC_OPTIONS</TT> environment variable to specify RCX 2.0 (as described
184 
above).</P>
185 
<P></P>
186 
<HR align=left>
187 
 
188 
<P></P>
189 
<H3><A name=errors></A>How can I redirect errors to a file?</H3>
190 
<P>Compile errors are written to stderr, not stdout. This is to allow the
191 
calling program to separate errors from the program listing (-l option) that
192 
appears on stdout. The normal redirection facility of a shell only redirects
193 
stdout, thus the errors will still be printed to the screen. Most shells have
194 
additional syntax that allows the stderr stream to be redirected (use
195 
"option-&gt;" in MPW, or "2&gt;" for WinNT). I do not know of any mechanism to
196 
redirect stderr in Win95 command.com.</P>
197 
<P>In addition, nqcc now supports (verion 1.1 b1) the ability to route error
198 
messages to stdout with the -E option.</P>
199 
<P></P>
200 
<HR align=left>
201 
 
202 
<P></P>
203 
<H3><A name=spiritinstall></A>Where is Spirit.ocx? RcxCC complains that it is
204 
not installed.</H3>
205 
<P>NQC has never used Spirit.ocx, but RcxCC used to require Spirit.ocx for
206 
communication with the RCX. Lego no longer supports Spirit.ocx as of RIS 2.0,
207 
but fortunately RcxCC has been updated to no longer require it. In addition,
208 
RcxCC has been renamed to BricxCC (due to trademark concerns from Lego). You can
209 
download the latest version of BricxCC <A
210 
href="http://members.aol.com/johnbinder/bricxcc.htm" target=_blank>here</A>.</P>
211 
<P></P>
212 
<HR align=left>
213 
 
214 
<P></P>
215 
<H3><A name=usb></A>How do I get NQC to work with my USB IR tower?</H3>
216 
<P>Presently, USB towers are only supported under Mac OS X and Windows. I will
217 
be releasing Mac OS 9 support shortly. Some other developers are working on a
218 
Linux solution.</P>
219 
<P>USB support is in beta test and requires version 2.4a4 of NQC.</P>
220 
<P><B>IMPORTANT</B>- you need to tell NQC that you want it to look for a USB
221 
tower, otherwise it assumes you have a serial tower and uses the default serial
222 
port for your operating system (e.g. COM1 under Windows). Add <TT>-Susb</TT> to
223 
the command line or set the <TT>RCX_PORT</TT> environment variable to
224 
<TT>usb</TT>. When adding a command line option, put it near the beginning of
225 
the command:</P>
226 
<P><TT>nqc -Susb -d test.nqc</TT></P>
227 
<P><B>Windows only:</B> NQC uses the USB driver installed by the Lego RIS 2.0
228 
software, so you will need to install the RIS software and run it once with the
229 
USB tower connected in order for the driver to be correctly installed.</P>
230 
<P><B>Mac OS X only:</B> NQC talks directly to the USB tower. There is no
231 
driver, so you'll never see the tower show up in /dev.<BR></P>
232 
<P><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">FreeBSD (unoffical port):</SPAN> As of NQC
233 
2.5 a5, the USB tower is supported when running a FreeBSD build from 02/28/03 or
234 
later (the upcoming FreeBSD 5.1 will work).<BR></P>
235 
<P></P>
236 
<HR align=left>
237 
 
238 
<P></P>
239 
<H3><A name=control></A>How do I use a computer to control the RCX?</H3>
240 
<P>There are two basic ways to do this: send raw commands to the RCX, or send
241 
'messages' which are then listened to by a program running on the RCX.</P>
242 
<H4>Sending Messages</H4>
243 
<P>This is generally the simplest way to interact with the RCX. First you write
244 
a program for the RCX that continuously checks for received messages (using the
245 
Message() and ClearMessage() calls) and then dispatches the messages
246 
accordingly. The messages may have any value between 1 and 255. There is no
247 
predefined meaning for these messages - your program can do whatever it wants
248 
with each message.</P>
249 
<P>There are several ways to send the message. You can use another RCX (or a
250 
Scout) by calling the SendMessage() function. You can also use the nqc command
251 
with the -msg option, for example to send message #3:</P>
252 
<P>nqc -msg 3</P>
253 
<P>You can use the LEGO remote control to send messages 1, 2, or 3. It is also
254 
possible to send the message by sending the appropriate command packet (see
255 
below)</P>
256 
<H4>Sending Raw Commands</H4>
257 
<P>Sending raw commands gives you complete control over the RCX. The commands
258 
(a.k.a. opcodes or bytecodes) and the general packet format are unofficially
259 
documented at <A href="http://graphics.stanford.edu/~kekoa/rcx/"
260 
target=_parent>http://graphics.stanford.edu/~kekoa/rcx/</A>. For example, to
261 
make the RCX play system sound #3 (upward tones), you would send a two-byte
262 
command (shown in hex):</P>
263 
<P>51 03</P>
264 
<P>Messages are just a specific type of command - F7 followed by the message
265 
value, so message #4 would be the packet</P>
266 
<P>F7 04</P>
267 
<P>If you are using NQC, you can let NQC take care of all the details of packet
268 
formatting, getting an acknowledgement from the RCX, and retrying if a failure
269 
occurs. You do this with the -raw option, which takes a single parameter listing
270 
all of the bytes (in hex format) for the command:</P>
271 
<P>nqc -raw 5103</P>
272 
<P>If you are writing your own program, you can build up the packet yourself. A
273 
suitable packet (for the plays sound command) would be:</P>
274 
<P>55 ff 00 51 ae 03 fc 54 ab</P>
275 
<H3>
276 
<HR align=left>
277 
<A name=irusb></A>How do I use the IR tower with a USB Macintosh?</H3>
278 
<P>Since a USB version of the IR tower doesn't exist (yet), you will need a USB
279 
to serial converter (such as the Keyspan TWIN adapter). If the adapter provides
280 
a 9-pin serial connector, then you should be able to use the standard Mindstorms
281 
cable between the adapter and the IR tower. If the adapter provides mac-style
282 
serial connector, then you will also need an appropriate cable as desribed <A
283 
href="http://www.baumfamily.org/lego/macmind/cables.html">here</A>.</P>
284 
<P><I>Note: I have heard several reports of the Palm USB adapter not working. I
285 
am not sure if this is a problem with the adapter itself, or some unusual
286 
interaction between it and the OS. If you have been able to use a Palm USB
287 
adapter with MacNQC or NQC, please let me know. I would like to get a definitive
288 
answer on whether this adapter can be made to work. Personally, I use the
289 
Keyspan Twin adapter (USA-28X), and I've heard that both the Keyspan PDA adapter
290 
(USA-19) and Xircom PortGear USB also work.</I></P>
291 
<P>If you are using MacNQC, then the popup menu in the Preferences dialog box
292 
will list all available serial ports (including those provided by USB
293 
converters).</P>
294 
<P>If you are using the MPW version of NQC, then you will need to specify the
295 
serial port either on the command line (using the -S option) or in the RCX_PORT
296 
environment variable. Both methods require that you know the name of the serial
297 
port driver. The easiest way to make this work is to use the adapter's control
298 
panel to configure the serial port to "emulate the printer port". This will
299 
cause the serial port to be named "B", thus you could do either of the
300 
following:</P>
301 
<P><TT>nqc -SB -d foo.nqc</TT></P>
302 
<P>or</P>
303 
<P><TT>set -e RCX_PORT B</TT></P>
304 
<P><TT>nqc -d foo.nqc</TT></P>
305 
<P>If you choose the second option, the <TT>set</TT> command only needs to be
306 
executed once per MPW session - adding it to a Startup file will make life
307 
simpler.</P>
308 
<H3>
309 
<HR align=left>
310 
<A name=irdebug></A>Help, RcxCC/MacNQC/NQC can't communicate with my RCX!</H3>
311 
<P>In most cases, problems like this boil down to a configuration issue, bad
312 
cable, or dead battery. Here are some troubleshooting tips.</P>
313 
<P>If the program says it cannot open the serial port, then this is almost
314 
certainly a configuration problem. For MacNQC, make sure you have a valid serial
315 
port selected in the Preferences dialog box. For NQC, make sure you have
316 
specified the appropriate serial port name (default is modem port, "B" is the
317 
printer port, see <A
318 
href="http://www.baumfamily.org/nqc_old/doc/faq.html#irusb">above</A> for USB
319 
based macs). For RcxCC, I suggest trying once with auto-detection, and if that
320 
fails, then manually set the serial port in the RcxCC program.</P>
321 
<P>If the program reports that it cannot communicate with the IR device, then
322 
either the program is talking to the wrong serial port (see the previous item),
323 
or there's a problem with the cable and/or battery. Make sure you have a fresh
324 
9v battery installed in the IR tower, and if possible use the cable supplied by
325 
Lego.</P>
326 
<P>If the program reports that it cannot communicate with the RCX, then
327 
communication with the IR tower is probably OK, and the problem is between the
328 
tower and the RCX.</P>
329 
<UL>
330 
  <LI>Certain light sources (bright sunlight, certain projection TVs) can cause
331 
  interference...try using a towel or other item to shield the IR tower and RCX
332 
  from other light.
333 
  <LI>The tower and RCX should be about 6 inches apart. Tty the switch on the
334 
  front of the tower in both positions - some people report better success with
335 
  "near" mode, and some with "far" mode.
336 
  <LI>Make sure you have firmware downloaded into the RCX. If the display only
337 
  shows "1" on it, then firmware isn't installed yet...download the firmware
338 
  using the Lego software or the -firmware option for NQC (the firmware itself
339 
  must be copied from the Lego CD or downloaded from <A
340 
  href="http://www.legomindstorms.com/"
341 
  target=_blank>http://www.legomindstorms.com/</A>). Once the firmware is
342 
  installed you should see something like "00.00 1" on the display. </LI></UL>
343 
<P>If you have a terminal program (e.g. HyperTerminal for Windows, Zterm for the
344 
Mac), then you can check the IR tower directly. Open up a session to the
345 
appropriate serial port at 2400 baud, 1 stop bit, odd parity, and 8 data bits.
346 
Turn off local echo. Start typing a few characters. A green LED on the front of
347 
the IR tower should light up, and the characters you typed should be echoed back
348 
to the screen (with an occasional mistake depending on how much interference
349 
there is).</P>
350 
<P>If you are using the command line version of NQC, then you can have it log
351 
any serial communication. This is helpful in trying to isolate where
352 
communication is failing. A good general-purpose test is</P>
353 
<P><TT>nqc -v -raw 10</TT></P>
354 
<P>Please include the output of this test in any e-mail to me regarding IR
355 
communication problems.</P>
356 
<P></P>
357 
<HR align=left>
358 
 
359 
<P></P>
360 
<H3><A name=irlaptop></A>How do I use my computer IR port with the RCX?</H3>
361 
<P>You can't. At least not easily.</P>
362 
<P>Most computers use the IrDA protocols for IR communication. The RCX uses a
363 
proprietary protocol developed by Lego for communication. Quite simply, these
364 
protocols are incompatable.</P>
365 
<H4>What about IrCom? Doesn't that let me use the IR port as a regular serial
366 
port?</H4>
367 
<P>Yes and no. From an application's point of view, IrCom looks like a serial
368 
port (complete with hardware handshaking and control lines). However, the IrCom
369 
layer actually resides on top of normal IrDA communication, so what appears to
370 
the application to be async serial communication, is in fact a bunch of IrDA
371 
packets getting sent back and forth. Since the RCX doesn't understand IrDA
372 
packets, it can't understand IrCom either.</P>
373 
<H4>What if I access the hardware directly?</H4>
374 
<P>Even if you bypassed the IrDA protocol stacks on the computer and somehow
375 
managed to control the hardware directly (a task that is likely to be different
376 
for different computer vendors), it still may not be possible. The Lego
377 
protocols encode bits using a 38kHz carrier frequency. This frequency is
378 
generated an filtered in hardware. IrDA doesn't really use a carrier frequency,
379 
and the actual specs on bit times provide a lot of lattitued to device
380 
manufacturers. As a result, it is difficult to get generic IrDA hardware to
381 
generate the required 38kHz carrier reliably. Filtering the recieve side is even
382 
more problematic.</P>
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<P>I would hesitate to say that this problem is "impossible" to solve, but
384 
people have been asking about this for over a year, and to my knowledge no
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general solution has emerged. There are, however, specialized solutions for
386 
specific pieces of hardware (usually PDAs or other handled devices such as a
387 
Palm III).<BR></P>
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<HR align=left>
389 
 
390 
<H3><A name=irxp></A>How can I get the USB IR tower to work under Win XP?</H3>
391 
<P>There appear to be some timing related difficulties when using NQC with the
392 
USB tower under Windows XP.&nbsp; If you are having difficulty downloading
393 
programs, open the LEGO USB Tower control panel, select the Advanced Tab, and
394 
set the Read Timeout to 300 msec.&nbsp; This generally fixes the
395 
problem.<BR></P>
396 
<H3>
397 
<HR align=left>
398 
<A name=spirit></A>Why doesn't NQC use the Spirit OCX?</H3>
399 
<P>The Spirit OCX is only available on the PC. My personal preference is to use
400 
a Macintosh, so I needed to have a platform independent means for communicating
401 
with the RCX.</P>
402 
<H3>
403 
<HR align=left>
404 
<A name=vision></A>Does NQC Support Vision Command?</H3>
405 
<P>Vision command programs run in two places...all of the image processing
406 
software runs on the PC, then sends messages to a program running on the RCX.
407 
The messages that are sent are ordinary RCX messages, and by using Message() and
408 
ClearMessage(), NQC programs can respond to them. Mike Gasperi calls this "<A
409 
href="http://www.plazaearth.com/usr/gasperi/vcsensor.htm" target=_blank>Using
410 
Vision Command as a Smart Sensor</A>".</P>
411 
<P>Note that I have never tried this myself (Vision Command doesn't run on Mac),
412 
so I can't really help if things don't work as expected.</P>
413 
<H3>
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<HR align=left>
415 
</H3>
416 
<H3><A name=build></A>What computers/tools/etc do you use to develop NQC?</H3>
417 
<P>All of the NQC development takes place on my Macintosh PowerBook. I use
418 
Metrowerks CodeWarrior to write and debug the code as a Macintosh
419 
application.</P>
420 
<P>The Code Warrior project also has targets to build the MPW version of NQC as
421 
well as the Win32 version. Regression tests on the compiler are done on the PPC
422 
version of the MPW tool (via a couple of MPW scripts and a bunch of sample
423 
programs). Some minimal testing of the Win32 version is done from within Virtual
424 
PC - I just make sure that the build went fine and that the serial port works
425 
since that is really the only code custom to Win32.</P>
426 
<P>For the source release, I boot into Mac OS X, copy over the NQC source tree
427 
and build it (using make, gcc, etc). A simple test (again just to make sure the
428 
serial port code for Unix is working) is performed. I then use a shell script to
429 
create a source release tree, strip out any unwanted binaries, and package the
430 
entire thing up as a .tar.gz. Recently, I've also been packaging up a Mac OS X
431 
binary version.</P>
432 
<P>So there you have it...development for Mac, Windows, and Unix all done on my
433 
trusty PowerBook.</P>
434 
<P></P>
435 
<HR align=left>
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