Important Notice
The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software,
purely for historical purposes.
If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming,
you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully
out of date.
MODE (Configure Serial Port)
◄Note►
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MODE (Configure Serial Port)
Configures a serial communications port.
This version of the MODE command sets the parameters for a serial port
(COM1, COM2, COM3, or COM4).
Syntax
MODE COMm[:] [b[,p[,d[,s[,r]]]]]
MODE COMm[:] [BAUD=b] [PARITY=p] [DATA=d] [STOP=s] [RETRY=r]
Parameters
COMm
Specifies the number of the serial (COM) port. Valid values for m are in
the range 1 through 4.
If you omit any of the following five parameters, MODE uses the most
recent setting for the omitted parameter. If you are using the shorter
form of the syntax (without the words BAUD=, PARITY=, DATA=, and so on),
the MODE command "recognizes" the parameters by their positions. Thus,
if you do not specify a value for a parameter, you must still type the
comma that precedes the next parameter.
BAUD=b
Specifies the first two digits of the transmission rate in bits per
second. The following list shows each valid value for b and its related
rate:
11 110 baud
15 150 baud
30 300 baud
60 600 baud
12 1200 baud
24 2400 baud
48 4800 baud
96 9600 baud
19 19,200 baud
The b value of 19 is not supported on all computers (check your hardware
manual). You can abbreviate this parameter by omitting BAUD= and
specifying a value for b.
PARITY=p
Specifies how the system uses the parity bit to check for transmission
errors. The p value can be one of the following: N (none), E (even), O
(odd), M (mark), or S (space). The default value is E. Not all computers
support the values M and S. You can abbreviate this parameter by
omitting PARITY= and specifying a value for p.
DATA=d
Specifies the number of data bits in a character. Valid values for d are
in the range 5 through 8. The default value is 7. Not all computers
support the values 5 and 6. You can abbreviate this parameter by
omitting DATA= and specifying a value for d.
STOP=s
Specifies the number of stop bits that define the end of a character: 1,
1.5, or 2. If the baud rate is 110, the default value is 2; otherwise,
the default value is 1. Not all computers support the value 1.5. You can
abbreviate this parameter by omitting STOP= and specifying a value for
s.
RETRY=r
Specifies the retry action to take if a time-out error occurs when MODE
attempts to send output to a serial printer. This parameter causes part
of MODE to remain resident in memory. The following list shows each
valid value for r and a brief description of its meaning:
E Return an error from a status check of a busy port.
B Return "busy" from a status check of a busy port.
P Continue retrying until printer accepts output.
R Return "ready" from a status check of a busy port.
N Take no retry action (default value). You can also specify none for
this value.
If you are using the MODE command over a network, do not use any of the
r values. You can abbreviate this parameter by simply omitting RETRY=
and specifying a value for r.
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