Digital Scale integration with .NET (like a postal scale)

[John Bonds]

I'm looking for some sort of digital scale to integrate into .NET.

Does anybody know of anything (like a postal scale) that attaches to USB,
serial or whatever that comes with a DLL or an API that I could integrate
into .NET?

Thanks,

John

[Robert Jacobson]

Interesting question -- could be fun to automate something like that. A
search on Google for "digital scale usb" turned up some useful products,
like this one:
http://www.ohaus.bz/ohaus_scout_pro_balance.htm

However, there isn't any USB support built into .Net. Hopefully the scale
would ship with the necessary device drivers (check with the manufacturer),
bud you'd have to wrote the .Net USB code to connect with the drivers.
These threads might get you started:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...ublic.dotnet.*

"John Bonds" <jo*******@hotm ail.com> wrote in message
news:ut******** *****@tk2msftng p13.phx.gbl...

I'm looking for some sort of digital scale to integrate into .NET.

Does anybody know of anything (like a postal scale) that attaches to USB,
serial or whatever that comes with a DLL or an API that I could integrate
into .NET?

Thanks,

John

[John Bonds]

yah, I actually found that one and did some research on it. I will probably
end up getting it and writing a .NET interface for it (if I can).

Also, if anyone has info on how to send commands to a device through USB,
let me know.

Thanks,

John

"Robert Jacobson" <rj************ **********@nosp am.com> wrote in message
news:u3******** ******@tk2msftn gp13.phx.gbl...

Interesting question -- could be fun to automate something like that. A
search on Google for "digital scale usb" turned up some useful products,
like this one:
http://www.ohaus.bz/ohaus_scout_pro_balance.htm

However, there isn't any USB support built into .Net. Hopefully the scale
would ship with the necessary device drivers (check with the manufacturer), bud you'd have to wrote the .Net USB code to connect with the drivers.
These threads might get you started:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...ublic.dotnet.*
"John Bonds" <jo*******@hotm ail.com> wrote in message
news:ut******** *****@tk2msftng p13.phx.gbl...

I'm looking for some sort of digital scale to integrate into .NET.

Does anybody know of anything (like a postal scale) that attaches to USB, serial or whatever that comes with a DLL or an API that I could integrate into .NET?

Thanks,

John

[Dick Grier]

Hi,

Interfacing serial devices is straight forward. You can download
NETComm.ocx from my homepage, or use any one of several .NET classes that
wrap the Windows serial APIs, using P/Invoke.

I have several scale examples in my book. See below. Scales have no
standard communications protocol, so you have to write code that uses the
data furnished by the scale manufacturer. Usually, this amounts to only a
few lines of code that parse receive data.

USB devices use whatever API is provided by the manufacturer. There isn't
any USB support in .NET (USB is a bus, like PCI or ISA -- the API is defined
by the device, not the bus).

Dick

--
Richard Grier (Microsoft Visual Basic MVP)

See www.hardandsoftware.net for contact information.

Author of Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications, 3rd
Edition ISBN 1-890422-27-4 (391 pages) published February 2002.