This is an outdated post.
For the lates windows release and source code, please visit
Serial Tool on GitHub.
While developing embeded electronic devices, I always have problems with the same thing: how to establish a communication and send/receive some data with a custom predefined protocol. I use UART in almost all my projects, but to remember the correct data array to control a device with computer is quite a challenge. It is easy to make up a protocol, but to remember it – no way. It is like a magnet for errors and hours of debugging a bug, which does not exist.
Yeah I know. Write a Python script! Been there, done that. It is OK, if you don’t use serial communication too frequently and if you don’t need to remember 10^4 bytes to toggle a led. So, what I did was to write a python script and add a “simple” GUI (Qt), a few features and a few bugs. Like a serial terminal (aka Putty) with few extra options.
Serial Tool is a utility tool, so you can set up bytes to send accordingly to your protocol and save configuration to a file – which can be used another time.
You can send multiple bytes, integers, strings, you can send sequence of different of channelds and even put delay between them and/or make them repeat several times. You can even write a note to yourself like: “CH1: toggle LED 1”.
Isn’t that awesome?
Source code and windows executable is available on Damogran Labs GitHub account. Let me know for the bugs and other thoughts. Buy me an ice cream. Thank you. |