GDOS-188

Complete ROMed Operating System

for cards with x86 code compatible

GDOS-188 English Tech. Manual PDF format.

Ver.5.10 - Rel.. 11 October 1999.

G E N E R A L

GDOS-188 is a software tools developed for all grifo® industrial cards based on the wide Intel 188 family of microprocessors.

This software tools allows programmation of these cards through high level environments that doesn't require a closely knowledge of the used hardware. With GDOS-188, the user exployes high level programming languages and many other resources, not available in other different software tools. It is possible to develop, debug and install any kind of user programs obtaining complete applications in a fast and confortable way.

GDOS-188 is a simple and efficient operating system for industrial application. It derives from famous Microsoft MS-DOS operating system and it has similar commands, compatible programming modes and similar use.

As well as all the operating systems, GDOS-188 interfaces hardware to the user, so this one never must develop low level firmware but he can directly use hardware with high level instructions, commands and languages. The power of GDOS-188 is the result of his possibility to use the hardware resource of an external personal computer that simplifies the develop and debug phases, with no requirements of other devices and further cost.

For example GDOS-188 manages the following hardware resource: serial lines, printers, mass memory devices, user interfaces that can whole be used by programmers through simple instrunctions of the selected programming language. Normally the operating system uses a little space of memory and it shares the use of one serial line. If this features are not acceptable, there are some hardware solution that solve the problem.

GDOS-188 is composed by some subsistems that create a confortable develop environment provided of: notes, guides, on line help, examples, etc.

The GDOS-188 is composed by software on disks, a user manual and a memory device (EPROM or FLASH EPROM) for the used card.

GDOS-188 REQUIREMENTS

Control card based on 80C188

It is the electronic card that belong to grifo® industrial set, based on Intel-188 and compatible microprocessors, as:

• GPC® 188F
• GPC® 188D
• GPC® 884

Independently from the application to develop, the target card must be provided of:

• - EPROM or FLASH EPROM with GDOS operating system
• - at least 32K bytes of RAM
• - one asyncronous RS 232 serial line

Personal Computer

A personal computer provided of:

 

• - 3 1/2" floppy disk drive
• - at least 640K RAM
• - one RS 232 serial line with V24 standard
• - Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version >= 3.3 or WINDOWS version >= 3.11

An hard disk is not necessary but recomended to speed all the files management operations.

Programming software

This is the software that must be used to write and test the application program to develop. Actually the programming software is one of the following programming languages :

• PASCAL compiler (PASCAL 188)
• C compiler (DDS MICRO C 86; HTC)
• ASSEMBLY

GDOS-188 FEATURES

The GDOS-188, when combined with a programming software, can be used to develop embedded code for the selected control card. It has many features that are below summarized

• It comprises a BIOS and a DOS featured by a long list of functions that manage hardware resource of both control card and develop PC.
• It includes a start up code that defines stack, initializes some on board peripheral devices and it plans the operating system resources management.
• It uses about 20K of memory, placed in EPROM or FLASH EPROM.
• It divides the EPROM or FLASH EPROM that exceed the 20K bytes in 64K size segments. Each one of these segments can be saved and executed an application program.
• It manages the a portion of RAM as an high level RAM Disk drive, where data are organized in read and write files. The RAM disk dimension is selectable by the user.
• It is a non intrusive operating system, in fact it doesn't use interrupts and it doesn't execute operations autonomously.
• It is a determinable operating system: the execution times of its functions are fixed, therefore it can be used even in real time applications.
• It directly executes the application program/s, developed by the user, on EPROM or FLASH EPROM, RAM disk and standard RAM. In the final installation, when the program is saved on EPROM or FLASH EPROM, the required RAM configuration is reduced at the only application program data area.
• It includes a complete and powerfull monitor Debugger that manages the hardware resources of the control card downloads, downloads the application program and debugs it at assembly level. Among the commands of this monitor debugger we can remember: binary or HEX file serial download; on line assembler; deassembler; memory dump, substitute and fill; breakpoint setting; execution step by step, step over and real time; I/O operation; etc.
• It manages the FLASH EPROM programmation with the code developed by the user.
• It generates the EPROM immage with the code developed by the user. This immage must be burned through a proper EPROM programmer.
• It manages one console serial line necessary every time GDOS-188 is used also for the application develop and debug phases.
• It manages one auxiliary serial line available for an high level characters reception and transmission with a predefined physical communication protocol.
• It manages 14 TTL I/O lines to drive a CENTRONICS parallel printer (connected for example with IAC 01 or DEB 01 modules).
• It includes driver for the on board serial EEPROM managed at high level as a buffer where data can be loaded and saved in a byte form.
• It includes functions for high level management of real time clock.
• It retriggers the watch dog circuit.
• It includes a proper utility program (TOOLS 188) that increases the versatility of the system. This program provides commands to copy, rename and delete files, to format the on board RAM disk, to set the real time clock, etc.
• It is prepared to operate also with application programs that manages Interrupts.
• It is available a reach list of example for each control card and each programming language. These examples are supplied in source and executable form, they are well documented and they show how to use the card hardware sections through the operating system.
• It has no license nor additional costs. The user is free to develop all the applications that he requires even without advise grifo®.

GDOS-188 VERSION

To satisfy all the different requirements of the customers, the GDOS 188 is available in the following versions:

GDOS xxx
Operating system for target card GPC® xxx on EPROM.

FGDOS xxx
Operating system for target card GPC® xxx on FLASH EPROM.

FGD xxx and FGD xxx MCI
FLASH EPROM for target card GPC® xxx with the operating system saved on its last sector.

Page updated at 30 October 2003

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