Serial Communications: best way to start??

[Jack Black]

Hi, all! Using VS.Net '03 under Win2k3 Server; clients will be XP, Win2k...

I'm just beginning to look into how I would go about building serial
communication apps in VB.Net, and am not sure where to begin looking for
info, libraries, etc. The applications will basically query serial devices
for whatever info they contain, clear it, etc...

Can someone suggest some starting points for me on this? I saw one brief
blurb that suggested possibly using the old MSComm component, but I was
hoping there might be a better managed solution for .Net.

All suggestions welcome! Thanks!
Jack

[md]

google.com

"Jack Black" <ja*************@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eC**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi, all! Using VS.Net '03 under Win2k3 Server; clients will be XP, Win2k...
I'm just beginning to look into how I would go about building serial
communication apps in VB.Net, and am not sure where to begin looking for
info, libraries, etc. The applications will basically query serial devices for whatever info they contain, clear it, etc...

Can someone suggest some starting points for me on this? I saw one brief
blurb that suggested possibly using the old MSComm component, but I was
hoping there might be a better managed solution for .Net.

All suggestions welcome! Thanks!
Jack

[Ken Tucker [MVP]]

Hi,

The visual basic.net resource kit comes with the sax.net community
edition. Free serial communication control.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/vbrkit/default.aspx

Ken
------------------
"Jack Black" <ja*************@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eC**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi, all! Using VS.Net '03 under Win2k3 Server; clients will be XP, Win2k...
I'm just beginning to look into how I would go about building serial
communication apps in VB.Net, and am not sure where to begin looking for
info, libraries, etc. The applications will basically query serial devices for whatever info they contain, clear it, etc...

Can someone suggest some starting points for me on this? I saw one brief
blurb that suggested possibly using the old MSComm component, but I was
hoping there might be a better managed solution for .Net.

All suggestions welcome! Thanks!
Jack

[Jack Black]

Thanks for the heads-up! :) I've got that downloading even as we speak...
:) Any gotchas with serial comm in .Net that I need to keep an eye open
for? Bugs, "features", etc???

Jack
"Ken Tucker [MVP]" <vb***@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:uI**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...

Hi,

The visual basic.net resource kit comes with the sax.net community
edition. Free serial communication control.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/vbrkit/default.aspx

Ken
------------------
"Jack Black" <ja*************@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eC**************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi, all! Using VS.Net '03 under Win2k3 Server; clients will be XP,

Win2k...

I'm just beginning to look into how I would go about building serial
communication apps in VB.Net, and am not sure where to begin looking for
info, libraries, etc. The applications will basically query serial

devices

for whatever info they contain, clear it, etc...

Can someone suggest some starting points for me on this? I saw one brief blurb that suggested possibly using the old MSComm component, but I was
hoping there might be a better managed solution for .Net.

All suggestions welcome! Thanks!
Jack

[Jack Black]

Dick, thanks for responding!

In checking Amazon, it says that it would take 8-9 weeks for delivery; is
your book out of print, or a small-market publishing?

Jack
"Dick Grier" <di**************@msn.com> wrote in message
news:OI****************@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

Hi,

The considerations for .NET are no different than with earlier versions of
VB. What have you done before? I have example code in my book (see below), and try to answer specific questions here.

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.

[Dick Grier]

Hi,

In checking Amazon, it says that it would take 8-9 weeks for delivery; is
your book out of print, or a small-market publishing?
<<

No, it very much is "in print." However, as you guessed, the market is
small enough that Amazon does not keep them in stock. An annoying fact is
that Amazon demands such a large discount from publishers for the books that
they stock that Amazon's cost would be below our actual publishing expense!
It is tough to sell a product for negative profit.

I wanted to keep the nominal "retail" cost of the book below $40, which
isn't easy for a book that includes a CD ROM. If we had charged $50 for the
book, so that we could have Amazon stock it, we'd just break even.
All-in-all, I think we made the right choice, though this does reduce its
sales volume.

So, the easiest and fastest way to order is directly from the publisher at
www.mabry.com/vbpgser. They ship by Priority Mail as their normal delivery
mechanism, so it takes only a few days. However, you can specify Overnight
shipping if you need it RSN. This costs extra, of course.

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.