Thoughts on commercial serial controls

[rt]

Hello,

I'm looking for a commerical (supported) .NET serial control with source
(just in case) and have found the following and was wondering if anyone has
had experience with any of them:

http://www.sax.net/dotnet/communications/
http://www.winsoft.sk/ncomport.htm
http://www.mycomponentsoftware.com
http://www.scientificcomponent.com
Just looking at the web sites I've found the following:
- The Sax.net component doesn't seem to be available yet so I'm not sure
of price or if source is available.

- winsoft seems to be simple and inexpensive ($105 with source).

- MyComponentSoftware also looks good and includes a couple more
components that must make use of their SerialCtrl. The feature list looks
good and the price is $87 with source.

- ScientificComponent's PortController appears to be nice but with source
is over $1000.00

Any other suggestions?

Oh, one more thing, I'm not looking for XModem, YModem transfer and such.
I'm basically after a control with support for all/most of the serial
control properties. I'm doing a lot of barcode scanning and gathering
information from various devices on the factory floor.

Thanks,

Rick

[Kevin Yu [MSFT]]

Hi Rick

First of all, I would like to confirm my understanding of your issue. From
your description, I understand that you need some advice on choosing
commercial serial controls. If there is any misunderstanding, please feel
free to let me know.

After checking the links you have provided, I think winsoft and
ScientificComponent's controls are good. However, which one to choose
depends on the requirement of your project. If the bar code scanner is not
quite complex and don't need much function that serial port provides,
winsoft's control is a good choice, and it is very cheap.

If you need more intensive programming on serial port. I think
ScientificComponent's control is a good choice.

HTH.

Kevin Yu
=======
"This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights."

[rt]

Kevin,

Thanks for the input. The barcode scans are typically simple. We've been
using the MSCOMM control for years but are moving to .NET so wanted a
control for that environment. We do a lot of work in manufacturing
facilities so our apps usually involve scanning a barcode or getting input
from some device on the floor.

I decided to try the SerialSuite from www.mycomponentsoftware.com since it
also included a component that lets you watch for patterns
(MultiPortPatternScan). That component turns out to be realy handy.

You drop n SerialCtrls in the component tray, set the properties, drop a
MultiPortPatternScan and using the built-in collection editor for
MultiPortPatternScan add your patterns and assign to the SerialCtrl
components previously dropped in the tray.

The cost was only $87 with source so I thought I'd take a chance and thus
far I'm real pleased. I've only had it day so all I've been able to really
know is that it has the functionality I need. I have an application that has
been running a few hours and thus far no issues (memory loss etc...).

Thanks again,

Rick
"Kevin Yu [MSFT]" <v-****@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:IR**************@cpmsftngxa06.phx.gbl...

Hi Rick

First of all, I would like to confirm my understanding of your issue. From
your description, I understand that you need some advice on choosing
commercial serial controls. If there is any misunderstanding, please feel
free to let me know.

After checking the links you have provided, I think winsoft and
ScientificComponent's controls are good. However, which one to choose
depends on the requirement of your project. If the bar code scanner is not
quite complex and don't need much function that serial port provides,
winsoft's control is a good choice, and it is very cheap.

If you need more intensive programming on serial port. I think
ScientificComponent's control is a good choice.

HTH.

Kevin Yu
=======
"This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights."