Arduino and C#

In the previous article we use Serial Monitor tool to view received data and send data through serial port. Today we will write our standalone Serial Monitor like tool in C#.
We will create new Window Forms Application and add the following components from the picture

C# serial tool

The refresh button will add com ports to the combo box. Let see how it is implemented

	using System.IO.Ports;
	...
	private void refresh_button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
	{
	portlist_comboBox.Items.Clear();
	foreach (string s in SerialPort.GetPortNames())
	{
	portlist_comboBox.Items.Add(s);
	}
	}

view raw 1.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Now when we have the name of serial port, we need to create serial port object and connect it, then send/receive data.

	private void connect_button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
	{
	...
	string port_name = portlist_comboBox.SelectedItem.ToString(); // get serial port name
	serial_port_ = new SerialPort(port_name, 9600); // set port name and speed 9600 bits/second
	serial_port_.Open(); // connect to port
	thread_ = new Thread(read_serial_port); // create thread for reading received data
	thread_.Start();
	...
	}
	...
	public void read_serial_port()
	{
	while (serial_port_.IsOpen)
	{
	try
	{
	string str = serial_port_.ReadLine(); //
	add_output(str); // add to output text box.
	}
	catch (TimeoutException) { }
	}
	}
	...
	private void send_button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
	{
	serial_port_.Write(send_textBox.Text);
	send_textBox.Clear();
	}

view raw 2.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Be careful, do not write data directly to the output text box in read_serial_port function, because you can't access a control created in another thread. To do that you need to invoke some updater function like this

	delegate void SetTextCallback(string newText);
	private void add_output(string text)
	{
	if (this.output_textBox.InvokeRequired)
	{
	SetTextCallback d = new SetTextCallback(add_output);
	this.Invoke(d, new object[] { text });
	}
	else
	{
	this.output_textBox.Text += text;
	}
	}

view raw 3.cs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Lets write the "echo" program in Arduino and see how our tool works.

	void setup()
	{
	Serial.begin(9600);
	}
	void loop()
	{
	if (0 < Serial.available()) // See is there any coming data
	{
	char data = Serial.read(); // read first byte
	Serial.println(data); // print data in HEX
	}
	}

view raw 1.pde hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Now we will upload above code to Arduino and run the tool. And it works. hurray:)

Working serial tool

Thats all. Next time we will connect accelerometer to the Arduino and write a tool to see values of sensor on the computer.