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Remote control of PowerPoint SlideShow using RS232

Newbie
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1
#1: Jul 17 '07
Hello,

Just wondering if anyone can advise. I am trying to remotely control Powerpoint using a microprocessor. I am using RS232 (COM1). The idea is that the microprocessor sends ASCII strings to the PC and Powerpoint changes to the corresponding slide. For example:

01n - Go to slide 1
05n - Go to slide 5
02n - Go to slide 2, etc

I have managed to get a VBscript macro going in Powerpoint. Once the show begins I click a button to run the macro, it then sits polling the COM port until it sees some characters, interprets them as an integer (SlideNo) and then uses "SlideShowWindows(1).View.GotoSlide SlideNo". It changes slides as you'd expect.

The problem - I've discovered late in the day that Powerpoint "holds" the slideshow while a macro is running so that now all the custom animation doesn't run.

Can anyone suggest an alternative approach. Perhaps there is a way to make a standalone .exe which polls the COM port and fires instructions into Powerpoint?

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

danp129's Avatar
Expert
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 250
#2: Jul 18 '07

re: Remote control of PowerPoint SlideShow using RS232


This should get you headed in the right direction (getting an existing instance of powerpoint). http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/InterDev/C...PTFromWord.htm
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