>  The trick is to only discard one byte instead of the whole
>buffer or a whole packet's worth of bytes. Then the receiver

A good way to synch yourself is to use a mechanism such as this:

void sendc (char c)
        {
        if (c >= 0xe0)
                {
                putc (0x1b);
                putc (c);
                }
        else
                putc (c + 0x20);
        }

void sendmsg (char *s, int count)
        {
        int i;
        char c;

        putc (0x02);
        for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
                {
                c = *s++;
                sendc (c);
                CRC = crcfunc (CRC, c);
                }
        s = (char*)&CRC;
        for (i = 0, i < sizeof (CRC); i++)
                sendc (*s++);
        putc (0x0d);
        }

While this is not perfect (because the CRC should be handled as a
network-level thing) is does work quite well.  The code above is also
generic enough that it should compile pretty easily on your machine - just
define a few variables (CRC and the message you are sending) and the crcfunc().

The receiving end simply looks until it reads a 0x02, then reads and
buffers all chars until
        a) it detects the 0x0d, which causes it to validate and forward the
message, or
        b) it detects a buffer overrun, which causes it to look for the 0x02 aga
in.

The receiver code is almost as simple, and is "left as an exercise for the
student."

Hope this helps.

We use this ALL the time.

Andy

==================================================================
Andy Kunz               Life is what we do to prepare for Eternity
------------------------------------------------------------------
andy@rc-hydros.com      http://www.rc-hydros.com     - Race Boats
andy@montanadesign.com  http://www.montanadesign.com - Electronics
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