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var NumberWritten:dword;
PhoneNumber, CommPort:string;
hCommFile:THandle;
- - - -
PhoneNumber := 'ATDT 1-555-555-1212' + #13 + #10;
CommPort := 'COM2';
hCommFile := CreateFile(PChar(CommPort),
GENERIC_WRITE,
0,
nil,
OPEN_EXISTING,
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
0);
WriteFile(hCommFile,
PChar(PhoneNumber)^,
Length(PhoneNumber),
NumberWritten,
nil)
From the same source.....
var //hCommFile : THandle; // Global variable set elsewhere TimeoutBuffer: PCOMMTIMEOUTS; begin GetMem(TimeoutBuffer, sizeof(COMMTIMEOUTS)); GetCommTimeouts (hCommFile, TimeoutBuffer^); TimeoutBuffer.ReadIntervalTimeout := 300; TimeoutBuffer.ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier := 300; TimeoutBuffer.ReadTotalTimeoutConstant := 300; SetCommTimeouts (hCommFile, TimeoutBuffer^); FreeMem(TimeoutBuffer, sizeof(COMMTIMEOUTS));Having done that, ReadFile waits until I scan a barcode. Eventually, I will use ReadFileEx because it will call a routine when a barcode is scanned. Once the port is open and configured, here are 2 routines that will read the port. For test purposes, each was connected to its own button. Uh, both routines work when run from the IDE ... the second refuses to work if you double click on the exe file. I have no idea why.
procedure TForm1.Read_ComPort_UIButtonClick(Sender:TObject);
var
InputBuffer : string;
NumberOfBytesRead : dword;
Buffer : array[0..255] of char;
i: Integer;
begin
if hCommFile=INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE then exit;
for i := 0 to 255 do // This is just for test
Buffer[I] := #42; // It demonstrates why InputBuffer
// is built inside a "for" loop
if ReadFile(hCommFile, Buffer, sizeof(Buffer),
NumberOfBytesRead, nil) = false then
begin
ShowMessage('Unable to read from comport');
exit;
end;
InputBuffer := '';
for i := 0 to NumberOfBytesRead - 1 do
InputBuffer := InputBuffer + Buffer[i];
Test_UIEdit.Text := InputBuffer;
end;
This next routine works from the IDE, but not if you run the app by double clicking the exe file.
procedure TForm1.ReadToString_UIButtonClick(Sender:TObject);
var
InputBuffer : string;
NumberOfBytesRead : dword;
MaxBytesToRead : dword;
begin
if hCommFile=INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE then exit;
InputBuffer := '11111111111111'; // the string must be longer than
// the number of bytes you expect to read
InputBuffer :=''; // This fails, the string must have a length
MaxBytesToRead := 14; // could use sizeof(InputBuffer) instead
if ReadFile(hCommFile, PChar(InputBuffer)^,
MaxBytesToRead,
NumberOfBytesRead, nil) = false then
begin
ShowMessage('Unable to read from comport');
exit;
end;
InputBuffer := copy(InputBuffer, 1,
NumberOfBytesRead);
Test_UIEdit.Text := InputBuffer;
end;
When CreateFile, ReadFile, and WriteFile are used, Delphi does not use MSComm. Instead, it uses the following Kernel32 commands (found using Depends.exe)
SetCommTimeouts, SetCommConfig GetCommTimeouts, GetCommConfig CommConfigDialogAIf you try to search the Delphi 5 help for ReadFile, there are no hits. This is because ReadFile is a Windows API command ... not a Delphi command. Instead, click on it in your code and press F1.
var
hCommFile : THandle;
procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
var
PhoneNumber : string;
CommPort : string;
NumberWritten : LongInt;
{N.B.: I saw the following in a newsgroup post:
Warning: There is an error in the FAQ - NumberWritten must be
dword not LongInt}
begin
PhoneNumber := 'ATDT 1-555-555-1212' + #13 + #10;
CommPort := 'COM2';
{Open the comm port}
hCommFile := CreateFile(PChar(CommPort),
GENERIC_WRITE,
0,
nil,
OPEN_EXISTING,
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,
0);
if hCommFile=INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE then
begin
ShowMessage('Unable to open '+ CommPort);
exit;
end;
{Dial the phone}
NumberWritten:=0;
if WriteFile(hCommFile,
PChar(PhoneNumber)^,
Length(PhoneNumber),
NumberWritten,
nil) = false then begin
ShowMessage('Unable to write to ' + CommPort);
end;
end;
procedure TForm1.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
{Close the port}
CloseHandle(hCommFile);
end;
Article ID: 16400 Publish Date: July 16, 1998 Last
Modified: September 01, 1999
======== http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/5764.htm CATE - Communication component A free, Win95 serial comms component. For Delphi. 20k ==== http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/2884.htm Port95 Another free, probably Win95 serial comms component. For Delphi. 1k zip. === http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/409.htm TSerial for Delphi 2 This is a no-frills serial component that saves you having to tangle with the Windows Comms API functions to handle a serial port. Uses overlapped I/O for full Windows NT functionality. Only basic serial comms are provided - no terminals, protocols etc. The above is another free(?), probably Win95 serial comms component. 26k zip... 5 star rated by Programmer's Heaven. When I checked with Groups.google.com, there was praise for Rick Crowther's TSerial, said to be exactly what someone wanted, "not free, but at GBP10 last time I bought it, you can hardly grumble.".... That discussion continued..... TSerial is great, but it's not free and so I searched the web again and again and found AsyncFree which is free and offers the same if not better functionality. I searched for AsyncFree, and came up with.... http://www.synchrondata.com/pheaven2/www/area48.htm... a list of Good Stuff from AsyncFree's source. For AsyncFree... http://delphree.clexpert.com/pages/projects/asyncfree/default.htm... Described itself as follows.... Serial communication in Delphi and related components. The goal is to offer quality and open solution of serial communication in Delphi including closely related components e.g. terminal window, TAPI, etc. My idea is to split the problem to several parts, create independent components for each part and thus limit the usage of extensive and complicated code for simple applications: Suggested project parts: Basic serial communication (input and output buffer, line events) Data and event dispatcher (user timers, input data-driven events...) Opened for linking to other communication enabling components, e.g. WinSocket, DCOM,... Visual components (terminal window,...) compatible with dispatcher by means of a link (like TDataLink with databases). Events will be both synchronized with VCL and without this synchronization. technology enabling remote connection of serial lines through the network (without the need for cabling from one point to individual computers). I have something prepared, but the code should be rewritten as it is rather closed and not divided according to the above description. Current version: 1.03 Supported Delphi versions: 3,4,5 Download: AsyncFree.ZIP, 105kB, 17.10.1999 === http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/14284.htm WINDOWS STANDARD SERIAL COMM LIB for Delphi. Win16 & Win32 DLLs. Version 2.1, . Serial comm library based on the Windows API. Includes 25 functions plus modem control, XMODEM & YMODEM, and 5 example programs. Requires Delphi compiler. By MarshallSoft Computing, Inc. File name: WINDOWS STANDARD SERIAL COMM LIB for Delphi. Product homepage: Unknown Order page: Unknown Language: Delphi 2 Platform: Windows 95 Release Date: Unknown File type: Unknown Size: 68 KBytes Price/ fee (US$): 0.00$ Number of downloads: 4944 ======= http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/14573.htm TPort Component Version 1.5 (not rated) This component will read and write from the computer's I/O ports. File name: TPort Component Version 1.5 Product homepage: Unknown Order page: Unknown Language: Delphi 2 Platform: Windows 95 Release Date: Unknown File type: Unknown Size: 8 KBytes Price/ fee (US$): 0.00$ Number of downloads: 11056 === The following looked like it might be what I wanted..... http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/18804.htm SerialNG V2.0.15 Full featured Serial Communication Component for Delphi 2.0.15 Fully Serial Communication with Delphi and Windows 95/98/NT/Me/2000. This tool is a fully redesign of my former Tool for Windows 98/98. It enables an Application to communicate through an serial port. It uses only WinAPI and Delphi functions, so no other third party software is needed. It comes with several Demos and Source Codes. File name: SerialNG V2.0.15 Product homepage: Product homepage Order page: Unknown Language: Delphi 3-4-5-6-7 Platform: Windows 2000-95-98-ME-NT-XP Release Date: 11/13/2002 File type: Public Domain Size: 48 KBytes Price/ fee (US$): 0.00$ Number of downloads: 2514 === http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/14247.htm Comm32 Is a simple Communications VC for Borland Delphi 2.0 which demonstrates the Win32 Communications functions and the new Delphi 'TThread' class. It is implemented using two threads: one for reading from, and one for writing to a Comm Port. File name: Comm32 Product homepage: Unknown Order page: Unknown Language: Delphi 3 (Yes: That conflicts with description above) Platform: Windows 95 Release Date: Unknown File type: Unknown Size: 13 KBytes Price/ fee (US$): 0.00$ Number of downloads: 4687 ======== http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone2/cat55/22553.htm QCCom32 1.4.0 A Delphi 5 component for doing simple serial (RS232) I/O in Windows 95/98/NT or 2000. Has built-in dialogs for choosing a port, displaying error messages, etc... Includes full source code, and a help file. It should work with Delphi 3, 4 or 6, but I can't say for sure. File name: QCCom32 1.4.0 Product homepage: Product homepage Order page: Unknown Language: Delphi 5 Platform: Windows 2000-95-98-ME-NT-XP Release Date: 7/1/2002 File type: Freeware Size: 14 KBytes Price/ fee (US$): 0.00$ Number of downloads: 4109 ======== (Also at Programmer's Heaven, I think... Not just serial port stuff, but telephony support, too......) KDTele Tools 3.0 (ActiveX/VCL) KDTele is a collection of controls that provide to your application advanced telephony features, such as: -Make and answer phone calls -Detect tone and pulse digit from the phone line -Capture Caller ID -Play and record on the phone line or sound card -Silence detection when recording -Send and ... Size: 4865 Kb Downloads: 2801 Updated: 2002-11-5 Rating: (Not Rated) $77
=======
http://www.lvr.com/serport.htm
Serial Port Central....
Many resources- serial port use within programs and otherwise.
========
Quotes from newsgroup discussions...
In Visual Basic, use the MSComm control included with the Professional and Enterprise editions. Visual Basic's Learning Edition doesn't include MSComm. But you can use the freeware XMComm ActiveX control... (Once at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/richard_grier/xmcomm.htm) ...which wraps the MSComm32.ocx. From Richard Grier's Hard & Software.... but link bad 5/07
========
EasyIO. An Active X control for very basic serial I/O under Windows 95/NT. From Stephen Payne.... Link WAS...http://members.aol.com/easyio/easyio.html (Seems dead 1/2010)
Quotes from EasyIO site...
I/O ActiveX Control This I/O ActiveX control allows easy reading and writing to and from both parallel and serial ports under Windows 95/98 and NT4.0. Use it as a Win32 communications library. I/O access under Windows 95/98 and Windows NT4.0 with an easy, quick to learn interface.
I THINK the following is quotes relating to the EasyIO product.... if not, if you can find where they came from (using Google), I'd welcome the information!
There are three functions for binary data transfers.
1) WriteData(Data, Length); Writes a data buffer of
Length characters.
2) ReadData(Length); Reads binary data and returns it
in a string.
3) BytesRead(); Returns the number of bytes read by
the ReadData() function.
---
There is a function to check various things....
SerialStatus (Property) R
Remarks
This reflects the current status of the serial port as
follows:
Example:
If (IOStatus And SERIAL_RXEMPTY) Then
NewText = NewText + "RX Buffer Empty, "
else
NewText = NewText + "RX Buffer Not Empty, "
End If
Some of the things that can be checked. See web for details not given here.
SERIAL_RXOVER
SERIAL_OVERRUN
SERIAL_RXPARITY
SERIAL_FRAME
SERIAL_BREAK
SERIAL_TXFULL The application tried to transmit a character, but the output buffer was full.
SERIAL_TXEMPTY The transmit buffer is empty.
SERIAL_RXEMPTY The receive buffer is empty.
SERIAL_CTS_TXHOLD
SERIAL_DSR_TXHOLD
SERIAL_RLSD_TXHOLD
SERIAL_XOFF_TXHOLD
SERIAL_CTS_ON
SERIAL_DSR_ON
SERIAL_RING_ON
SERIAL_RLSD_ON
NumCharsInQue (Property) R
Remarks
This reflects the number of bytes/ characters in the
input buffer (waiting to be read).
---
Dim Result as Integer
Dim DataStr as String
Dim NumBytes as Integer
Result = IO1.WriteData("String1" + Chr(00) + "String2"
+ Chr(00) + "String3" + Chr(00) +
Chr(00)) 'Sends 3 null terminated strings to the port,
with the total data being double null terminated.
DataStr = IO1.ReadData(30) 'Reads data from a port.
NumBytes = IO1.BytesRead() 'returns number of bytes
read.
See WriteData, ReadData, and BytesRead in I/O OCX Control Functions
=========
Recommended at groups.google:
"Unless you like digging in the dark or when you don't want to spend too much time on some buggy communication use the Asych Pro toolbox of turbopower software at : http://www.turbopower.com"
(1/2010 update: Sadly, TurboPower closed... but first they kindly released their software into the open source world! There is a sourceforge page for Async Pro! To quote from that: "Async Professional is a comprehensive communications toolkit for Embarcadero Delphi, C++Builder, & ActiveX environments. It provides direct access to serial ports, TAPI, and the Microsoft Speech API. It supports faxing, terminal emulation, VOIP, & more." From the same source: TurboPower Async Pro CLX: "Async Professional CLX is a comprehensive communications toolkit for Borland Kylix. It provides direct access to serial ports, and supports terminal emulation, file transfer protocols, & more.". At least at 1/2010 there was still a TurboPower.com page, listing what the former company has given to open source.)
Unfortunately, when I went to the TurboPower site, I found a notice that they had discontinued retail business.... but... to quote from their site....
"TurboPower announces sweeping open source initiative Colorado Springs: TurboPower Software Company today announces their immediate withdrawal from the retail component and developer tools market. As part of the move, TurboPower announces its intention to release their award winning component libraries as open source to the maximum extent possible. We've been a big part of the developer community for nearly 18 years, said TurboPower President Gary Frerking. Open sourcing our products seems like an appropriate gesture of appreciation to the community that supported us so well over the years. We sincerely hope these products take on a life of their own and continue to prosper for many years to come. TurboPower's component libraries cover a wide spectrum of development needs including compression, serial communication, faxing, Internet communication, scheduling, data entry, encryption, and XML manipulation. There are nearly twenty commercial-quality libraries being considered for release, containing hundreds of components and thousands of classes and routines | over one million lines of source code in all! The process of preparing the libraries for release to open source is already underway, and the current goal is to have the libraries released to the maximum extent possible by the end of January (2003?). The resulting open source projects will be hosted on SourceForge." (end quote from TurboPower page)
However, at 16 Apr 03, I didn't find AsyncPro or TurboPower at SourceForge... :-(
===
http://www.arcelect.com/rs232.htm has lots of good stuff on low level electronics, cables, connectors of RS-232
http://mc-computing.com/Languages/SerialIO.htm Lots of good links
* * * *========
(Mentioned on a Delphi directory of serial port stuff):
LOOKS REALLY GOOD!!! BUT... SEE TEXT...
TCommPortDriver. Freeware serial-communications component for Delphi. Includes source code that shows how to use Windows API calls to access serial ports. 16- and 32-bit versions available. From Marco Cocco. It used to be available from the Delphi Download Page., http://sdiclub.tms.ru/files_table.phtml?ipath=ACE, and looked pretty good! Seems to have been used by numerous people. But, of course, I hadn't downlaoded it myself, and the link above is dead 1/2010. Anyone know of a source?? TCommPortDriver is a component for Borland Delphi 2 that lets you handle COM ports (com1-com16) and all standard communication settings (baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, hardware and software flow control). Supports sending data in binary blocks or text strings. Supports asynchronous and synchronous data RX.
Freeware, 55k
========
Dirk's TComPort (Link seems out of date 1/2010):
http://users.pandora.be/dirk.claessens2/downloads/tcomport.zip
===Name: TDLPortIO 1.3 Date: 12/7/99 Environment: Delphi 3.0, Delphi 4.0, C++ Builder 3.0, C++ Builder 4.0 Download Type: Freeware with Source Size: 851 Kb Description: TDLPortIO is a wrapper for the free DriverLINX kernel mode driver (included). It allows full port IO under Windows 95/98/NT. Comes with a C++ Builder and Delphi components, ActiveX control (for Visual BASIC) and DLL version. Compatible with the shareware package TVicPort.
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