Hi,
I'm a total newbie to VC#, but have managed to scrape a basic terminal program together which reads the data a microcontroller is spewing out (async) using example code and tutorials :P. I'm a little stuck now, as I need to parse the data I am recieving via the serial port.
Example of data I am recieving:
M01000000L<CR><LB>M00001100L<CR><LB>M00010000L<CR><LB>M01100000L<CR><LB>M00000001L<CR><LB>
Which is displayed in my terminal window as:
M01000000L
M00001100L
M00010000L
M01100000L
M00000001L
(fyi, the 0 and 1s represent the on/off state of switches connected to
the microcontroller, the M and L just indicate the beginning and end of
the data set (for ease of reading :P))
I would like to automatically update a string with the content of each complete line as it is recieved, so I can check and manipulate it, however I have no idea how to create a string such as this, or how to 'stop adding' characters when it reaches the end of each data segment...
Obviously the program just sees a string of junk and displays it, and I don't know how to put into something more coherent xD
Here's the code of my program.
| using System; |
| using System.Diagnostics; |
| using System.Collections.Generic; |
| using System.ComponentModel; |
| using System.Data; |
| using System.Drawing; |
| using System.Text; |
| using System.Windows.Forms; |
| using System.IO; |
| using System.IO.Ports; |
| |
| namespace PSComm |
| { |
| public partial class Form1 : Form |
| { |
| string RxString; |
| |
| public Form1() |
| { |
| InitializeComponent(); |
| |
| string[] ports = SerialPort.GetPortNames();//gets the names of COM ports installed in the system and adds them to the port selection list |
| foreach (string port in ports) |
| { |
| portBox.Items.Add(port); |
| } |
| portBox.DropDownStyle = ComboBoxStyle.DropDownList;//ensures user can't enter their own value |
| portBox.SelectedIndex = 0;//selects the first port in the port selection list |
| |
| baudrateBox.Items.AddRange(new string[] { "2400", "9600", "19200", "38400" });//adds a list of baud rates to the baud rate selection list |
| baudrateBox.DropDownStyle = ComboBoxStyle.DropDownList;//ensures user can't enter their own value |
| baudrateBox.SelectedIndex = 1;//selects 9600bps baud rate |
| } |
| |
| private void buttonStart_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) |
| { |
| try//attempts to set up and open the selected port |
| { |
| serialPort1.PortName = Convert.ToString(portBox.SelectedItem); |
| serialPort1.BaudRate = Convert.ToInt32(baudrateBox.SelectedItem); |
| serialPort1.Handshake = Handshake.None; |
| serialPort1.Parity = Parity.None; |
| serialPort1.DataBits = 8; |
| serialPort1.StopBits = StopBits.One; |
| serialPort1.Open(); |
| |
| if (serialPort1.IsOpen)//temporarily disables the options if the port is successfully opened |
| { |
| buttonStart.Enabled = false; |
| buttonStop.Enabled = true; |
| terminalBox.ReadOnly = false; |
| portBox.Enabled = false; |
| baudrateBox.Enabled = false; |
| } |
| } |
| catch (Exception ex)//any errors during this operation are captured and displayed in a message box |
| { |
| MessageBox.Show(Convert.ToString(ex)); |
| } |
| } |
| |
| private void buttonStop_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) |
| { |
| if (serialPort1.IsOpen)//closes the serial port if it is open |
| { |
| serialPort1.Close(); |
| } |
| |
| buttonStart.Enabled = true;//re-enables the options |
| buttonStop.Enabled = false; |
| terminalBox.ReadOnly = true; |
| portBox.Enabled = true; |
| baudrateBox.Enabled = true; |
| } |
| |
| private void Form1_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e) |
| { |
| if (serialPort1.IsOpen)//closes the serial port if application is exited while it is open |
| { |
| serialPort1.Close(); |
| } |
| } |
| |
| private void textBox1_KeyPress(object sender, KeyPressEventArgs e) |
| { |
| if (!serialPort1.IsOpen) return;//if the port is closed, don't try to send a character |
| |
| char[] buff = new char[1];//if the port is Open, declare a char[] array with one element |
| buff[0] = e.KeyChar;//load element 0 with the key character |
| serialPort1.Write(buff, 0, 1);//send the one character buffer |
| |
| e.Handled = true;//set the KeyPress event as handled so the character won't display locally |
| } |
| |
| private void serialPort1_DataReceived(object sender, System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs e) |
| { |
| RxString = serialPort1.ReadExisting();//reads the data in the serial port buffer and stores it in RxString |
| this.Invoke(new EventHandler(DisplayText)); |
| } |
| |
| private void DisplayText(object sender, EventArgs e) |
| { |
| terminalBox.AppendText(RxString);//updates the terminal box with the value of RxString |
| } |
| } |
| } |
| |
Any advice is appreciated!
