EOF reading in the buffer

Hi:

If I want the program to know whether it is the end of data in the input buffer in the serial port. So I do:

Code:

DCB dcb={0};

if(!GetCommState(hCom1, &dcb))  //get default dcb settings
  printf ("GetCommState is failed\n");

dcb.EofChar = '3'; //want character '3' to indicate the end of     
                              //the data in the input buffer

if(!SetCommState(hCom1,&dcb)) //re-set the dcb
{
    printf("%d\n",GetLastError());
    printf("SetCommState is failed\n");
}

but it didn't work, even if the string in the input buffer is, for example {'1','2','3','4'},

but it still read the whole string, I think character '4' should be read at least. What's going on with this?? Thank you.

Don't count on that working.
Either you know how many bytes to expect or you devise a protocal so that you know when to stop reading.

gg