VB sending serial data to PIC

I have the PIC side of things working OK. Very simple to start with, when i send a 1 to the PIC serially, it flashes an LED. Nice simple visual representation that the data is received.

However, this is done using the serial communicator as part of Microcide Studio.

I have made a small VB app which i planned on sending this code, but nothing is happening.

Can anyone assist or point me in a direction of where to look for VB - PIC comms. Ultimately i would like to send a series of variables to the PIC for storage in EEPROM to use later in its program.

Here is the VB Code i came up with:

Code:

---

Private Sub Form_Load()

' 2400 Baud, No Parity, 8 Data Bits, 1 Stop Bit
MSComm1.Settings = "2400,N,8,1"

' Open COM1
MSComm1.CommPort = 1
MSComm1.PortOpen = True

End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    MSComm1.PortOpen = False
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    MSComm1.Output = Text1.Text
End Sub

Private Sub Command2_Click()
    MSComm1.PortOpen = False
    End
End Sub

---

Obvioulsy there is a text box where i am typing 1 into and then pressing the command button to send the 1 serially to the PIC.

Thanks for any assistance.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Havent got VB on the machine I am using at the moment but check the following properties for the MSComm control

DTREnable
InputLen
RThreshold

I think that is all.

Regards

Thanks for yur reply Keith.

What should the settings be?

Currently:

DTREnable = False
InputLen = 0
RThreshold = 0

Cheers,

Steve

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tissy

Thanks for yur reply Keith.

What should the settings be?

Currently:

DTREnable = False
InputLen = 0
RThreshold = 0

Cheers,

Steve

---

Looking at one of my old projects

DTREnable = False
InputLen = 1
RThreshold = 1

And that works fine.

Regards

Don't quite know what i have done, but i am getting some kind of comms.

If using the text1 box i put a 1 in there and send it, the PIC doesn't do anything. If i use ANY character first, such as Z1, then the LED flashes fine.

I have also put a text box to read a line coming back of the PIC. If a 1 is successfully received then the PIC should output "That Worked". However i'm getting "??????2rked" in VB.

It also takes two button presses in VB, one to send the 1 which will flash the LED, another press gets the garbled "IT WORKED", and then another press will flash the LED again. Who can this be done with one button push. ie, each time the button is pressed it sends the 1 and displays the input message. Do you have any exmaples of what you have done which you wouldn't mind sharing ?

Obvioulsy haven't quite mastered this yet !!

Cheers,

Steve

You look at this program.

Thanks elektroline, your VB allowed me to compare with what i had and the reason the serial data coming back was goofed was because of one of the setting in Comm1.

I'm still not convinced i have the PIC code right though, does this look right?

As i say, if i send a 1 from VB nothing if i send t1 or a1 or any letter followed by 1, then the LED flashes and the command is sent back to VB.

Code:

---

include "modedefs.bas"

Clear
DEFINE OSC 20         
DEFINE LOADER_USED 1
ADCON1 = %00001111

In      VAR PORTA.5
Out    VAR PORTA.4
Loop    Var Byte
LED    VAR PORTB.1
test    var word

test = 1

TRISB = %10000001      ' Set PORTB (0)INPUT (1-5)OUTPUTS

Start:
  SERIN IN, N2400, [#TEST]
    IF TEST = 1 THEN
        GOSUB FLASH
    ENDIF

    write 3, test
'    IF test = 1 THEN GOSUB FLASH
    pause 500
'    low PortB.1
    read 3, test
    SEROUT out, N2400, ["That Worked ", #test + 5] ' Senda the wording "That Worked" and a number
GOTO Start

Flash:
    For loop = 1 to 5
        LED = 1
        Pause 100
        LED = 0
        Pause 100

---

Cheers,

Try changing your "test" variable to a byte. Then don't bother with the serial qualifier, just jump right to the data input, and do a compare.

-----------------PICSTER--------------