Hi Paul,
what kind of project do you have? HDL-code only or SOPC Builder project maybe with Nios processor?
If you have a nios processor system, you could search the Nios Forum (General Discussion and General Software Forum) for "uart" and "rs232", because there are plenty of posts according to this topic with good hints.
A simple C-function to send characters is this one:
void UART1_T(unsigned char ch)
{
while((IORD_ALTERA_AVALON_UART_STATUS(UART_BASE) & 0x040) != 0x040)
{ ;}
IOWR_ALTERA_AVALON_UART_TXDATA(UART_BASE,ch);
}
You can find it in the thread "Need help for my RS232 in NIOS II" in the "General Software Forum" of the Nios Forum.
And did you check check the Volume V, section II "Communication Peripherals", chapter 6 "UART Core with Avalon Interface" of the Quartus II Handbook (
http://www.altera.com/literature/quartus2/lit-qts-peripherals.jsp) already?
Hope that helps :)