Serial Port Plugin

[dyingstar]

Hey Guys,

I'm curious as to how the serial.write() function outputs the data. I am trying to output bytes of data. Should I use decimal, hexademical, binary notation, or something else? Is there a way I can send exactly one byte? I am a beginner when it comes to programming, so I apologize if this question has already been answered in the documentation. I looked, but I couldn't find it.

Thanks.

[sdx]

I have the same question:

I have to send hexadecimal value to serial port , what is the format to be used ?

[Bitmonster]

Get the beta and read the help to the actions.

[sdx]

Thanks, the send action is working OK.

2 things I do not unerstand :

1 => How to use "Generate events on incoming data", I have selected the box but no envent appear

2 => How to use the read function, my device send me 17 bytes hexadecimal return information, I would like to read it. I have tried both "Read as many bytes as currently available" and "Read exactly this maximum number of bytes" = 17 , "for" 2000 ms and nothing happens. (I use another soft : "advanced serial port monitor" and I see the information that should be read, so my device answers)

[PeteThornbury]

From the Beta:

"Writes some text through the serial port.
You can use Python string escapes to send non-printable characters. Some examples:
\n will send a Linefeed (LF)
\r will send a Carriage Return (CR)
\t will send a Horizontal Tab (TAB)
\x0B will send the ASCII character with the hexcode 0B
\\ will send a single Backslash."

[sdx]

Sorry but as indicated in my last post, I am able to send data "SERIAL PORT : WRITE DATA" is working OK

I have issues with reading data on serial port either using the "SERIAL PORT : READ DATA" action or expecting an event.

[PeteThornbury]

Does your device terminate all of it's transmissions with a specific character? If so, make sure that character is listed in the "terminator" field under the serial port plugin configuration. You may use the same python string escapes here as you can in the send event. (eg \x80 for hex 80) As for the read data, your guess is as good as mine as to where exactly that data goes after it has been read...

On a related note:
The problem I am currently having is trying to control my crystalfontz lcd panel using the serial plugin and the crystalfontz lcd panel terminates with a CRC, so it is different every time. Not only can I not input a termination character, it is also very hard for me to send data to the lcd because I need to figure out the crc for any message I send. Anyone have any suggestions? Is there a plugin for controlling LCDs?

[sdx]

I have tried what this, the information sent by the device is hexedecimal and finishes with \xFF.
So I indicated this character as terminator.

This creats an bug:

10:00:59 Exception in thread Thread-6:
10:00:59 Traceback (most recent call last):
10:00:59 File "threading.pyc", line 460, in __bootstrap
10:00:59 File "threading.pyc", line 440, in run
10:00:59 File "C:\Program Files\EventGhost 3.6\plugins\Serial\__init__.py", line 180, in ReceiveThread
10:00:59 File "C:\Program Files\EventGhost 3.6\plugins\Serial\__init__.py", line 134, in HandleChar
10:00:59 File "C:\Program Files\EventGhost 3.6\eg\RawReceiverPlugin.py", line 58, in TriggerEvent
10:00:59 File "C:\Program Files\EventGhost 3.6\eg\PluginClass.py", line 140, in TriggerEnduringEvent
10:00:59 File "C:\Program Files\EventGhost 3.6\eg\EventThread.py", line 73, in TriggerEnduringEvent
10:00:59 File "C:\Program Files\EventGhost 3.6\eg\EventGhostEvent.py", line 45, in __init__
10:00:59 UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xfc in position 0: ordinal not in range(128)

The hexadecimal chain to be received is like :

\xFC\x32\x11\x05\x00\x01\x02\x00\x00\x26\x22\x01\x00\x00\x30\x39\xFF

[Bitmonster]

I have not much time these days. So in short:

First:
Serial.Read returns the data through eg.result, as any action does that is returning data. So you have to use Python scripting to do anything with it:
http://www.eventghost.org/wiki/Scripting
Serial.Read and event generation cannot be used at the same time, as one of it will always eat the data away from the other.

The Unicode error:
This will be fixed betimes. The problem is, that the plugin doesn't know what encoding you want to use. It currently assumes ASCII but I will add an option for Hex, UTF8/16, Latin-1 and so on.

Using Serial.Write with a CRC:
Again this will only be possible with some scripting. You have to calculate the CRC yourself and can then use eg.plugins.Serial.Write(myString) from your script.

[Pako]

The hexadecimal chain to be received is like :

\xFC\x32\x11\x05\x00\x01\x02\x00\x00\x26\x22\x01\x00\x00\x30\x39\xFF

You can try the attached serial plugin and port settings (item Terminator).
Pako

[Bitmonster]

The latest beta includes a new option to set the encoding with "generate events". If you set this option to "HEX" you will get an event string like
Serial.FC3211050001
if you receive raw byte code data like:
\xFC\x32\x11\x05\x00\x01

Another option for these circumstances is "Python string escape" that will output every ascii character as ascii character, but replaces every non printable characters with a string escape like "\xff".

[stefstef]

Is it possible to have the same behaviour as http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/92855 with serial port plugin.

For example, you can go to http://www.instructables.com/id/EQ4DKO0H01ERIE2AAM/

EventGhost is a wonderful.

[Bitmonster]

Is it possible to have the same behaviour as http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/92855 with serial port plugin.

For example, you can go to http://www.instructables.com/id/EQ4DKO0H01ERIE2AAM/

EventGhost is a wonderful.

Currently not. It would need some hours of coding and I'm actually not motivated to do it. There is also a problem with the RING indicator line of such devices. Windows only detects the rising edge of the signal efficiently, so the falling edge has to be detected by polling and this impacts system performance.

If you want some buttons that you can wire anywhere, get a cheap USB gamepad with many buttons from the rummage table, dismantle it and solder some cables to the circuit board. Then you have a really nice USB device, that works perfectly with EG's Joystick plugin.

[stefstef]

It's very good idea, thanks !