Interfacing an Instrument thru RS232 using C#

[itsme321]

Hi
I am from science background and learnt little bit of programming in C,Matlab,C#.
My task in hand is to interface an instrument through RS 232. I am using the serialport class but not able to communicate with the instrument . So kindly help me. Its completely educational purpose (no profit making) so reply soon.....
awaitng expert reply.....................

[tifoso]

What have u tried already?? It may be the external black box u r interfacing with
does not use the CTS/DTS handshaking?? Are u pairing the baud rate for both ends?? Do u have your serial cable tested??? GIve out more info and some hints will come your way

Ciao

Becker

[nmsreddi]

Hello

As you said you are using serialport class ,i think you are using c# as your language,what methods you are using for interfacing ,how can you say the device is not interfacing with your application,have you tested the device by interfacing it with some other softwares,

more over can you give some specifications about your device which you are going to interface ,

if possible try to post some sample code so that we can under stand your actual point and can give the solution


Regards
N.Msreddy

[Plater]

Try communicating with your instrument through HyperTerminal first. Then when creating your serialport class be sure to use the same baudrate and stop bits and other settings.
The SerialPort class in .NET2.0 is pretty unstable and rather tricky. You need to use the events that fire when data is recieved (Note: Do not actually try to read the data inside the eventhandler)

I am unsure how far you got with it but start with this?
SerialPorts are addressed by name (ie "COM1") if you need a list:
System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.GetPortNames();

I don't want to link to other helpsites but if you google "using SerialPort class in C#" you will get a number of examples better then I can explain

[itsme321]

thnx a lot for replying and sorry for a very late reply from my side .......... I was busy with something else ......... surely i'll come back soon with some more details whatever you need .............

[itsme321]

yes i'm doing the programming in C# language ......... and am using the srial port object and its methods to write and read data .......... basically i have to get the data sent from the instrument to the computer so that the analysis can be done easily using excel or any other application ........ and the data that the instrument sends is the wavelength and corresponding absorbance values ( in ascii ) ........... now let me tell you some details about the instrument's serial communication .......... its thru RS232C .......... and I have prepared the cable by following the pin configuration given in the instrument manual .............. what i feel that i'm doing mistake somewhere in the hand shaking part of the communication while reading the data .......... coz I have no problem at all when I send any data from my application ........... and the handshaking is thru RTS/CTS ............. so tell me now what should i do ............. i didnt find anything regarding asynchronous mode of reading data ........... so please guide me