DPRG mailing list archives: [DPRG] WinXP communications support

Wed Sep 6 00:48:59 CDT 2006

A quick trip down the MSDN TOC tree turns this up:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/devio/b
ase/configuring_a_communications_resource.asp

CodeProject also has a good demo or two:
http://www.codeproject.com/system/chaiyasit_t.asp
http://www.codeproject.com/vb/net/BetaBriteAPI.asp

WindowsXP still supports serial ports, and is commonly
backwards-compatible with other programs. I have used a serial port from
a DOS window, as well as from within Cygwin, and I haven't seen any
problems using ports.  Things haven't changed much with serial ports
since Windows 2000.  It is still just a comms device, and you just need
to make the appropriate API calls to use them, be it ActiveX, Win32, or
"file IO".  .NET also supports and makes available a library/wrapper for
using serial ports.

-----Original Message-----
From: whitmorj [mailto:joe_cat at verizon.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 9:48 PM
To: dprglist at dprg.org
Subject: [DPRG] WinXP communications support - the end of simple I/O?

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I'm stumped, frustrated, and my 
projects are all stalled.

I want to interface with a PC running WinXP. Sure the easiest answer is 
user 802.11 b/g (wireless TCP/IP).
I don't want to use TCP/IP, but that might be the only option available 
that is still supported.

I've read Serial Port Complete, Parallel Port Complete and even USB 
Complete. These are great resources but the methods they use are not 
supported by the current O/S and SDK (WinXP, MS Visual Studio, JAVA).

The library for serial and parallel port control with C++ or Visual 
Basic was deprecated a few years ago, and is not compatible with the 
Visual Studio versions. I also found the javax.comm library, which was 
deprecated back in 2001 with JAVA v1.3.

USB is current but it is limited by range and it essentially requires 
expensive developer's kits or extensive experience with WinXP device 
drivers to use with non-standard devices (robots vs. mouse, keyboard, 
storage).

Before I give in and adopt wireless networking for my robotic control 
solution, is there any currently supported serial or parallel 
communications port solution available. I'm looking for something that I

can program to, not a GUI with sliders to control 16 servos on a 
parallel port.

Links, tutorials, books. All advice is appreciated.

Thanks
Joe Whitmore

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