Here’s a simple network programming example for the Flyer I’ve been meaning to post for quite some time. It demonstrates using the Flyer to implement a server application, utilizing the tcp listen functionality that was recently added in the 1.2.1 firmware.

It is essentially a “paint server”, and includes a corresponding client application for Windows, Mac and Linux. Once running on the Commodore/Flyer, clients can connect and paint remotely onto the Commodore’s display (nothing high tech at all – painting is done using simple character blocks). The goal was to demonstrate/provide some solutions to writing a “real” networked application for the Flyer.

Source code is included for both server and client applications.

• The server app is written in C and developed using CC65. There are both c64 and pet targets. I am using the excellent “generic makefile” for cc65 projects, found here. Please refer to this page if you have any issues building the CC65 targets.
• The client is written in C++ and uses the Qt 4 framework. Solution/project files are included for Visual Studio 2008 (requires the Qt Visual Studio add-in). Project files are also included for Qt Creator, which should build under Windows, OS X and Linux without issue.

Downloads

The client and server projects + source code can be downloaded here.
Precompiled binaries for Windows can be downloaded here.
The server binaries can be downloaded for the C64 here, and for the PET here.

To load the paint server directly from your Commodore using the Flyer, type the following:

For the C64: load”http:retroswitch.com/files/PaintServer.c64″,7
For the PET: load”http:retroswitch.com/files/PaintServer.pet”,7

NOTE

Inside the archive are all the files related to this project.  Links to the individual files are provided above also.