aoberoi / c64-slack-client

A Slack client for the Commodore 64

Slack client for Commodore 64

_Where a Raspberry Pi and a Commodore64 collaborate with Slack._

Commodore 64 program

The c64 program code is written in 6502 assembly and somewhat(?!) well documented.

Compiling

Grab dependency: ACME assembler

cd c64
acme main.asm

This will create build/slack-client.prg.

Running the program on real hardware

If you are reading this, have a C64, and plan to run this program on it, you likely don't need step-by-step instructions ;). Obviously it will need to copied onto a floppy disk, disk emulator etc.

LOAD "SLACK-CLIENT.PRG",<device_nbr>
RUN

Running with the Vice64 emulator

First, we need to configure the emulated serial port.

Open 'Settings' > 'Resource Inspector' window

Peripherals > Cartridges > Userport RS232 > 
  Baud Rate: 1200, 
  Enabled: true, 
  Device: device4
RS232 > Device4 > 
  Device: |../raspberry_pi/app.js, 
  Baud Rate: 1200

Hit 'Save current settings', then Quit.

/path/to/x64 build/x64 c64/build/slack-client.prg

Raspberry Pi Slack API proxy

This is a NodeJS app which connects to the Slack RTM api on one side, and a serial port connection to the C64 on the other side and translates data back and forth.

It can be configured to communicate via a real serial port, or via stdout/stdin (for Vice64 emulator)

Configuration

First, you need to create a Slack OAuth token here https://api.slack.com/docs/oauth-test-tokens

export SLACK_API_TOKEN=token

If C64_SLACK_SERIALPORT_DEVICE is not defined, it will use stdout/stdin for communication. To communicate via a real serial port:

export C64_SLACK_SERIALPORT_DEVICE=/dev/ttyUSB0 (or /dev/cu.usbserial etc)

Run the API proxy:

cd raspberry_pi
npm install
npm test
node app.js

On startup, it will authenticate with Slack RTM api, then send a HELLO RPC message to the C64, which we expect to already be running.

Helpful links

• 6502 opcodes reference - http://www.6502.org/tutorials/6502opcodes.html
• Official Commodore 64 Programmer's Reference Guide - http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/cbm/c64/c64prg.txt
• Intro to C64 programming - http://dustlayer.com/tutorials/

ISC License

Copyright (c) 2016, Jeffrey Harris

Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.