How do I send and receive hex commands with visual basic

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Stuck on how to receive data?

To give you some context, I have the "Optris CT" IR sensor, there is a list of commands which you can find by googling Optris CT commands.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What I have tried:

1. Declared the COM port

2. Written a function for opening port

3. Written a function for sending data - which I'm not sure if its correct

VB

Imports System.IO.Ports
Public Class Form1

  Dim ComPort As New SerialPort("COM1", 9600, Parity.None, 8, 1)

   Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

    ComPort.Open()

  End Sub

Private Sub cmdSend_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdSend.Click
    Dim sendArray() As Byte = New Byte() {&H01, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0}

ComPort.Write(sendArray, 0, 8)

  End Sub

Posted 30-Aug-16 4:54am

Member 12292743

Updated 30-Aug-16 5:29am

Patrice T

v3

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OriginalGriff · Answer 1 · 2016-08-30T04:57:00

Solution 1

Um.

VB.NET

Private Sub cmdSend_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdStop.Click
Dim sendArray() As Byte = New Byte() {&H01, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0}

ComPort.Write(stopArray, 0, 8)

End Sub

Did you mean to send the sendArray instead of stopArray?:

VB.NET

ComPort.Write(sendArray, 0, 8)

Posted 30-Aug-16 4:57am

OriginalGriff

Comments

Member 12292743 30-Aug-16 11:03am

yeah i've edited the question

Member 12292743 30-Aug-16 11:03am

is the cmdSend Sub looking okay?

OriginalGriff 30-Aug-16 11:16am

We can't tell - we don't have the same hardware setup you do.
What happens when you call it?
Have you looked at the manufacturers site?

Member 12292743 30-Aug-16 11:18am

okay i understand. However how do I go about writing the function to receive hex?

OriginalGriff 30-Aug-16 11:29am

Receive hex is simple: you just use the Read method on teh SerialPort instance:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143549(v=vs.110).aspx
But...remember that serial ports are SLOW. 9600 baud is only around 1000 bytes per second, so if you read too soon you may not get all the bytes you expect.
It's better to use the DataReceived event and "build up" the bytes that you receive until you have the "complete" message - you will probably get one event per byte, not one per message.

Member 12292743 31-Aug-16 3:44am

awesome, one more question. How do I get the data recieved from the port to be written in a textbox?

OriginalGriff 31-Aug-16 4:00am

That's a little more complex, as it depends on exactly how you are receiving the data. If you use the DataReceived event - and you should - then it doesn't execute on your normal thread, and that means you can't access any form controls directly.
Search Google for "Thread Invoke VB" and it should give you examples of how to do that.

Member 12292743 31-Aug-16 3:54am

So would this work??

Imports System.IO.Ports
Public Class Form1

Dim ComPort As New SerialPort("COM1", 9600, Parity.None, 8, 1)

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

ComPort.Open()

End Sub

Private Sub cmdSend_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles cmdSend.Click
Dim sendArray() As Byte = New Byte() {&H01, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0, &H0}

ComPort.Write(sendArray, 0, 8)

End Sub

Public Function Read (
buffer As Byte(),
offset As Integer,
count As Integer
) As Integer

End Class

OriginalGriff 31-Aug-16 4:01am

Does it even compile? Because I don't think it does... :laugh:

Member 12292743 31-Aug-16 4:42am

yeah haha i doubt it, havent compiled. WHat do I need to add/change?

OriginalGriff 31-Aug-16 4:51am

Never ask people "would this work?" before you've even started writing the code! All you will do is annoy them as we have to assume you aren't intending to do it yourself and want us to do it for you...and that isn't what we are here for.