1nqc(1) General Commands Manual nqc(1)
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6 nqc - A simple C-like language for Lego's RCX programmable brick
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9 nqc [ options ] [ actions ] [ - | filename ] [ actions ]
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12 NQC stands for Not Quite C, and is a simple language for programming
13 the LEGO RCX. The preprocessor and control structures of NQC are very
14 similar to C. NQC is not a general purpose language -- there are many
15 restrictions that stem from limitations of the standard RCX firmware.
16 This man page does not attempt to describe the NQC programming language
18 or the RCX API, merely the options of the nqc command-line program.
19 References to more complete documentation are given at the end of this
20 man page.
21 nqc is normally used to process a single source file given as filename.
24 You can also read from stdin by using - instead. If the filename ends
25 in .rcx, it is assumed to be a RCX image file from a previous compile,
26 and will be used as is (for downloading or listing).
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30 -1 use NQC 1.x compatibility mode. The RCX API changed signifi‐
31 cantly with version 2.0. This flag makes the compiler grok old
32 code.
33 -Ttarget
35 generate code and use communications methods for "smart bricks"
36 other than the RCX. Currently, can be either CM or Scout.
37 -d download program to the RCX. When this option is given, code is
39 sent directly over the serial port to the brick and no output
40 file is generated by default.
41 -n prevent the standard nqc.h file from being automatically
43 included.
44 -Dsym[=value]
46 define macro sym as value.
47 -E[filename]
49 write compiler errors to filename (or to stdout, if no name
50 specified) instead of to stderr.
51 -Ipath search path for include files. Multiple directories should be
53 seperated as normal for the platform (under Linux / Unix, that'd
54 be ""). Can also be set with the NQC_INCLUDE environment vari‐
55 able.
56 -L[filename]
58 generate a human-readable bytecode listing to filename (or to
59 stdout) instead of generating a binary file.
60 -Ooutfile
62 output code to outfile. This option causes a file to be written
63 even if -d or -L is also given. If no filename is specified,
64 the output file will have the same basename as the input file
65 but an extension of .rcx instead of .nqc.
66 -Sportname
68 use serial port portname. Under Linux, /dev/ttyS0 is the
69 default. (This will differ on other platforms.) The port can
70 also be specified via the RCX_PORT environment variable, but the
71 command line option takes precedence.
72 -Usym undefine macro sym.
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76 Actions look similar to options, but they have some subtle differences.
77 In general, options set up things (such as a serial port) for later
78 use, while actions cause something to happen. Actions are executed in
79 the order that they appear on the command line. In addition, actions
80 appearing before the source file happen before compilation, while
81 actions after the source file happen after compilation. For historical
82 reasons, downloading the compiled file (-d) works as an option and not
83 an action.
84 -run run the current program. This causes the program selected on
86 the RCX to execute.
87 -pgm number
89 select program number. This changes the program slot on the
90 RCX.
91 -datalog
93 get the datalog from the RCX and print it to stdout.
94 -datalog-full
96 same as -datalog but with more verbose output.
97 -near set the IR port to short-range mode.
99 -far set the IR port to long-range mode.
101 -watch time
103 set the RCX's clock to the specified time. If you use now, then
104 the host's current time is used.
105 -firmware filename
107 downloads the firmware to the RCX. You'll need the official
108 Lego RCX firmware from the CD-ROM -- the current (and so far
109 only) file is called firm0309.lgo. This will probably be neces‐
110 sary the first time you use your RCX, and whenever it's been
111 without batteries for more than a few minutes.
112 -firmfast filename
114 same as -firmware, but at quad speed. Requires the tower to be
115 in near mode (see -near). If you have trouble getting the fast
116 download to work, please revert to the older (and slower)
117 method.
118 -sleep timeout
120 set RCX auto-shutoff timeout, in minutes.
121 -msg number
123 send IR message to RCX. The brick will respond to this just as
124 it would a communication from another RCX.
125 -raw data
127 send an arbitrary packet to the RCX and print the reply (if any)
128 to stdout. The data should be a hexadecimal string, with no
129 spaces, zero-padded so that it is an even number of characters
130 (although it may be an odd number of bytes). For example, to
131 read the contents of variable 1, you could use -raw 120001. The
132 bytecodes for raw messages can be found on web sites that docu‐
133 ment the RCX protocol.
134 -remote value repeat
136 send a repeating remote command to the RCX.
137 -clear erase all programs and datalog from the RCX.
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141 RCX_PORT
142 sets the default serial port. See the -S option.
143 NQC_OPTIONS
145 specifies extra options to be inserted into the command line.
146 For example, setting NQC_OPTIONS to -TScout would cause nqc to
147 target the Scout by default.
148 NQC_INCLUDE
150 specifies additional paths to search for include files. See
151 also the -I option.
152
154 To compile foo.nqc, download the bytecode to program slot three, and
155 make the RCX start executing it immediately:
156 nqc -d -pgm 3 foo.nqc -run
158 To just compile bar.nqc, resulting in bar.rcx:
160 nqc bar.nqc
162 To download bar.rcx to the RCX:
164 nqc -d bar.rcx
166 To set the IR tower to short-range mode and download the firmware at
168 high speed:
169 nqc -near -firmfast firm0309.lgo
171 To compile /usr/doc/nqc-2.1.0/test.nqc and print the resulting bytecode
173 listing to the screen in human-readable format:
174 nqc -L /usr/doc/nqc-2.1.0/test.nqc
176 (This should result in the following output under nqc 2.1.0:
178 *** Task 0 = main
180 000 pwr ABC, 7 13 07 02 07
181 004 dir ABC, Fwd e1 87
182 006 InType 0, Switch 32 00 01
183 009 InMode 0, Boolean 42 00 20
184 012 out A, On 21 81
185 014 chkl 1 != Input(0), 14 95 82 09 01 00 00 fa ff
186 022 plays 0 51 00
187 024 out A, Off 21 41
188 )
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192 Older versions of nqc required a seperate rcx.nqh or rcx2.nqh file.
193 This is now integrated into the binary and no longer necessary, but for
194 reference, rcx2.nqh is included with the package. (If you installed
195 the RPM, try /usr/doc/nqc-2.1.0/rcx2.nqh).
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198 http://www.enteract.com/~dbaum/nqc/
199 The main Not Quite C web site. You'll definitely want to look
200 here. Notably, you'll find the NQC Programmer's Guide, which
201 covers the NQC language itself.
202 http://www.crynwr.com/lego-robotics/
204 A great site for alternative RCX / Mindstorms development.
205 http://graphics.stanford.edu/~kekoa/rcx/
207 Details on the internals of the RCX and the RCX protocol.
208 http://www.lugnet.com/robotics/rcx/nqc/
210 Discussion group for NQC. Also available via NNTP at
211 lugnet.com.
212 http://nqc.mattdm.org/
214 Linux binaries and RPM-format packages for NQC, including source
215 RPMs. Also has an RPM containing the NQC language documentation
216 from Dave's site, in case you'd prefer to have it installed
217 locally.
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220 None known. But be aware that Scout support is still preliminary and
221 may change significantly.
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224 nqc is Copyright (C) 1998-2000 David Baum and released under the terms
225 of the Mozilla Public License. See the documentation included with the
226 program for more details.
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229 The Not Quite C programming language and the nqc program were written
230 and are maintained by Dave Baum. Various contributions have been made
231 by other people -- a full list of these can be found on Dave's web
232 site.
233 This man page was written by Matthew Miller (mattdm@mattdm.org), with
235 extremely large amounts of borrowing from other NQC documentation.
236 Version 2.1 r1: 19 Feb 2000 nqc(1)