Thread: Help with RS232

Switch to more updated compiler to write windows application
read http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms810467.aspx

Originally Posted by evverton

thanks vart, so I have to change my compiler...

Is it necessary to use a windows protocol to communicate? I just want to read the bits arriving (without any kind of start bit, parity bit, etc..) if it arrives a +V level for 'x' seconds I want the C programm save this as '1', and if it arrives a 0V level for 'x' seconds, I want the C program save as '0' (of course, I will work with 12 bits, so it saves the 12 bits arrived sequentially). Suggestions?

Doesn't seem very easy. The hardware in a PC is designed to send at most 8 bits of data with a start and a stop bit at either end.

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Mats

It would be far easier to do this with a parallel port instead of a serial port, as you can address each bit individually.

The reason why you shouldn't just bang on the port with IN and OUT instructions is because the OS already provides an abstraction for this and there's no reason not to use it.

And of course, whenever attaching a home-built circuit to a computer, be careful to ground your circuit to the PC ground (there is a pin on the parallel port for system ground), and placing some zener shunts between the pins and ground is not a bad idea either. You don't want a bug in your circuit to blow up your parallel IO controller or the whole motherboard.