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Author Topic: Serial communication (e.g. RS-232 RS-422)  (Read 10329 times)

October 08, 2008, 07:31:16 PM
Read 10329 times

Maarten Engels

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From VisualDMX release 1.49 build 26 we have added support for receiving serial communication. This enables you to have actions triggered by the computer's COM port using RS-232, RS-422, etc.

To use this feature simply add an action list with source "Serial" and actions to this list.

Set your transmitting device to a rate of 19200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity and one stop bit. Connect the cable to COM1 of your computer, and send data in the following format:

Just to trigger an action:  <action_index>E
Example: 0E

To switch a parameter: <action_index> bool "on"/"off"E
Example: 13 bool "on"E

To set a level: <action_index> float 0.0000E
Example: 20 float 0.7231E

To set a colour <action_index> colour 0xRRGGBBE
Example: 3 colour 0xff88FFE

The data sent is ASCII based; this is helpful while debugging your application. Also, the commands are parsed case insensitive.

Each message is marked with an ETX (End of Text) character ‘E’ (0x45) as the last byte. To preserve the ‘E’ character to be used within the data of the message, a DLE (Data Link Escape) character ‘D’ (0x44) is used to perform byte stuffing.

Any ‘E’ character not being an ETX should be preceded by a DLE. Consequently, any ‘D’ character not being a DLE should be preceded by a DLE as well.

For example the following string is not a correct command:
3 colour 0xDD00E0

It should be replaced by:
3 colour 0xDDDD00DE0E
« Last Edit: October 08, 2008, 07:38:51 PM by Maarten Engels »
Maarten Engels
Visual Productions BV

 

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