CTPBDIP stands for Developer Information Pack for Phone Blaster Series. It is made for developers who wish to develop applications that fully tap the capabilities of the Phone Blaster series.
The CTPBDIP covers mainly the modem subsystem of the Phone Blaster. Since the Phone Blaster is actually an integration of Sound Blaster 16 and a modem, the programming of other subsystems, such as the digitized sound I/O, FM synthesizer, etc. are identical to that of the SB16. Therefore, in this package, our effort is concentrated on the technical details of programming the modem subsystem. Included is a section on programming of the Phone Blaster using AT commands with emphasis on the extended AT commands specific to control of the Phone Blaster's audio path. Another section acts as a supplement to Windows Telephony API programming with the Phone Blaster Telephony Service Provider. Sample source codes in C for DOS (AT commands) and Windows are provided.
To be able to use the CTPBDIP, you will need to be familiar with programming aspects of using either the AT Commands or the Microsoft Telephony API. For programming of the audio subsystem of the Phone Blaster, the developer should already be familiar with the Developer Kit for Sound Blaster Series, 2nd Edition (DOS) or Visual C++ Windows low level audio API and MCI commands.
The CTPBDIP supports both the Phone Blaster 14.4 and 28.8 series of cards.
The CTPBDIP supports MS-DOS using AT commands and Windows 3.1x & 95 using either AT commands or Telephony API (TAPI).
In Windows 3.1x or 95, MS Visual C/C++ compilers are supported. For DOS, the main focus is on the C language using the standard Microsoft's or Borland's C compilers. However, since the AT command set is not driver dependent, practically any programming language like C, Pascal or Assembly, with their respective compilers that support writing to the standard serial port, may be used to program the Phone Blaster.
No, it does not contain hardware programming information. As for the low-level hardware programming of the audio part, you will need the hardware reference available in the Developer Kit for Sound Blaster Series, 2nd Edition (SBK2). In DOS, the modem part of the Phone Blaster can be programmed through standard serial port interface using AT commands. In Windows, either TAPI (suggested) or the AT commands can be used.
The CTPBDIP is available to public for free.
You can download it now (616k).
Windows Telephony Application Program Interface (TAPI) specification is jointly developed by Microsoft and Intel. It provides uniform interface to application programmers for adding telecommunication capabilities to their Windows applications.
If you are developing your application using WIN32 API, you can find the TAPISDK in Visual C/C++ 4.xx compiler. However, if you are developing it in Win 3.11 platform, please approach Microsoft to obtain the SDK.
For DOS, you will need to obtain the Developer Kit for Sound Blaster Series, 2nd Edition (SBK2). For Windows, you will have to refer to the Microsoft Windows API, under the Multimedia category, which is available in Windows compilers like MS Visual C/C++. You can either use the low-level audio functions or the Media Control Interface (MCI) commands.
For faxing capability, you can program the Phone Blaster using Fax Class 1 or 2 AT command sets. TAPI does not cover fax.
By redirecting the playback path of the Phone Blaster to the telephone line or handset, you can use TextAssist or play WAV files as greeting messages. For WAV file greetings, please refer to AUTOANS source code in the CTPBDIP. However, if you wish to integrate the TextAssist control into your program, you will need to refer to the TextAssist API for TextAssist programming.
Refer to the DIGIMON (TAPI) sample source code in the CTPBDIP.
The Phone Blaster Telephony Service Provider does not support multiple cards. However, you may use the AT commands to program the cards directly or to write your own driver or service provider.
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Creative Labs, Inc.