How to access serial and parallel ports by using Visual Basic .

NET

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;823179&Product=vb6

This step-by-step article describes how to access serial ports and how to access parallel ports by using Microsoft Visual

Basic .NET. This article also contains sample code that illustrates the concepts that are discussed in this article.

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Requirements

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service packs that you need:

 Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000

 Visual Basic .NET

This article assumes that you are familiar with the following topics:

 Programming in Visual Basic .NET

 Platform invoke services in Visual Basic .NET

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Use the MSComm control in Visual Basic .NET to access serial ports

Because no Microsoft .NET Framework classes exist to access the communications resources that connected to your

computer, you can use the MSComm control in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. The MSComm control provides serial

communications for your application by enabling the transmission and reception of data through a serial port. To

implement basic serial communications by using a modem, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.

2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.

3. Under Project Types, click Visual Basic Projects.

4. Under Templates, click Console Application.

5. In the Name box, type MyConsoleApplication, and then click OK. 

By default, Module1.vb is created.

6. Right-click the MyConsoleApplication project, and then click Add Reference.

7. Click the COM tab, click Microsoft Comm Control 6.0 under Component Name, clickSelect, and then

click OK.

Note To use the MSComm control, you must install the related COM components of Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 on

the same computer that has Microsoft Visual Studio .NET installed.

For more information about license issues when you use Visual Basic 6.0 controls in Visual Studio .NET, click the

following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

318597  Errors when you use Visual Basic 6.0 controls in Visual Studio .NET

8. Replace the code in Module1.vb with the following code example.

9. Imports MSCommLib
10.
11. Module Module1
12.
13. Sub Main()
14. 'New a MSComm control
15. Dim MSComm1 As MSComm
16. MSComm1 = New MSComm
17. ' Buffer to hold input string.
18. Dim Buffer As String
19. ' Use the COM1 serial port.
20. MSComm1.CommPort = 1
21. ' 9600 baud, no parity, 8 data, and 1 stop bit.
22. MSComm1.Settings = "9600,N,8,1"
23. ' Tell the control to read the whole buffer when Input is used.
24. MSComm1.InputLen = 0
25. ' Open the serial port.
26. MSComm1.PortOpen = True
27. Console.WriteLine("Open the serial port.")
28. ' Tell the control to make the Input property return text data.
29. MSComm1.InputMode() = InputModeConstants.comInputModeText
30. 'Clear the receive buffer.
31. MSComm1.InBufferCount() = 0
32. ' Send the attention command to the modem.
 33. MSComm1.Output = "ATV1Q0" & Chr(13)
34. Console.WriteLine("Send the attention command to the modem.")
35. Console.WriteLine("Wait for the data to come back to the serial
port...")
36. ' Make sure that the modem responds with "OK".
37. ' Wait for the data to come back to the serial port.
38. Do
39. Buffer = Buffer & MSComm1.Input
40. Loop Until InStr(Buffer, "OK" & vbCrLf)
41. ' Read the "OK" response data in the serial port.
42. ' Close the serial port.
43. Console.WriteLine("Read the OK response data in the serial port.")
44. MSComm1.PortOpen = False
45. Console.WriteLine("Close the serial port.")
46. End Sub
47.
End Module

48. Press CRTL+F5 to build and run this project. You will receive the following output messages:

Open the serial port.

Send the attention command to the modem.

Wait for data to come back to the serial port...

Read the OK response data in the serial port.

Close the serial port.

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Use platform invoke services to call Win32 API functions in Visual Basic .NET to access

serial and parallel ports

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.

2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.

3. Under Project Types, click Visual Basic Projects.

4. Under Templates, click Console Application.

5. In the Name text box, type MyConsoleApplication, and then click OK.

By default, Module1.vb is created.

6. Add the following code to Module1.vb before the Module Module1 statement:

7. Option Strict On
8.
9. ' Define a CommException class that inherits from the ApplicationException
class,
10. ' and then throw an object of type CommException when you receive an error
message.
11. Class CommException
12. Inherits ApplicationException
13. Sub New(ByVal Reason As String)
14. MyBase.New(Reason)
15. End Sub
End Class

16. Declare structures, constants, and references to external functions that are in Kernel32.dll

To call unmanaged functions from your managed Visual Basic .NET application, you must declare references to

the structures that you pass as parameters to the unmanaged functions, and you must declare the constants that

you pass as parameters to the unmanaged functions. To do this, add the following code to Module1.vb after

the Module Module1 statement:

17. 'Declare structures.

18. Public Structure DCB
19. Public DCBlength As Int32
20. Public BaudRate As Int32
21. Public fBitFields As Int32 'See Comments in Win32API.Txt
22. Public wReserved As Int16
23. Public XonLim As Int16
24. Public XoffLim As Int16
25. Public ByteSize As Byte
26. Public Parity As Byte
27. Public StopBits As Byte
28. Public XonChar As Byte
29. Public XoffChar As Byte
30. Public ErrorChar As Byte
31. Public EofChar As Byte
32. Public EvtChar As Byte
33. Public wReserved1 As Int16 'Reserved; Do Not Use
34. End Structure
35.
36. Public Structure COMMTIMEOUTS
37. Public ReadIntervalTimeout As Int32
38. Public ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier As Int32
39. Public ReadTotalTimeoutConstant As Int32
40. Public WriteTotalTimeoutMultiplier As Int32
41. Public WriteTotalTimeoutConstant As Int32
42. End Structure
43.
44. 'Declare constants.
45. Public Const GENERIC_READ As Int32 = &H80000000
46. Public Const GENERIC_WRITE As Int32 = &H40000000
47. Public Const OPEN_EXISTING As Int32 = 3
48. Public Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL As Int32 = &H80
49. Public Const NOPARITY As Int32 = 0
50. Public Const ONESTOPBIT As Int32 = 0
51.
52. 'Declare references to external functions.
53. Public Declare Auto Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32.dll" _
54. (ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Int32, _
55. ByVal dwShareMode As Int32, ByVal lpSecurityAttributes As IntPtr, _
56. ByVal dwCreationDisposition As Int32, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As
Int32, _
57. ByVal hTemplateFile As IntPtr) As IntPtr
58.
59. Public Declare Auto Function GetCommState Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal nCid As
IntPtr, _
60. ByRef lpDCB As DCB) As Boolean
61.
62. Public Declare Auto Function SetCommState Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal nCid As
IntPtr, _
63. ByRef lpDCB As DCB) As Boolean
64.
65. Public Declare Auto Function GetCommTimeouts Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile
As IntPtr, _
66. ByRef lpCommTimeouts As COMMTIMEOUTS) As Boolean
67.
68. Public Declare Auto Function SetCommTimeouts Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile
As IntPtr, _
69. ByRef lpCommTimeouts As COMMTIMEOUTS) As Boolean
70.
71. Public Declare Auto Function WriteFile Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile As
IntPtr, _
72. ByVal lpBuffer As Byte(), ByVal nNumberOfBytesToWrite As Int32, _
73. ByRef lpNumberOfBytesWritten As Int32, ByVal lpOverlapped As IntPtr) As
Boolean
74.
75. Public Declare Auto Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile As
IntPtr, _
76. ByVal lpBuffer As Byte(), ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Int32, _
77. ByRef lpNumberOfBytesRead As Int32, ByVal lpOverlapped As IntPtr) As
Boolean
78.
Public Declare Auto Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hObject As
IntPtr) As Boolean

79. Before you can access a serial port or a parallel port, you must obtain a handle to the appropriate port and then

configure the port communications. To do this, add the following initialization code to Module1.vb after the Sub

Main statement.

Note To establish communication with the LPTx port, you must stop the Print Spooler service. To do this, use the

Services tool in Administrative Tools.

80. ' Declare the local variables that you will use in the code.
81. Dim hSerialPort, hParallelPort As IntPtr
82. Dim Success As Boolean
83. Dim MyDCB As DCB
84. Dim MyCommTimeouts As COMMTIMEOUTS
85. Dim BytesWritten, BytesRead As Int32
86. Dim Buffer() As Byte
87.
88. ' Declare the variables to use for encoding.
89. Dim oEncoder As New System.Text.ASCIIEncoding
90. Dim oEnc As System.Text.Encoding = oEncoder.GetEncoding(1252)
91.
92. ' Convert String to Byte().
93. Buffer = oEnc.GetBytes("Test")
94. Try
95. ' Access the serial port.
96. Console.WriteLine("Accessing the COM1 serial port")
97. ' Obtain a handle to the COM1 serial port.
98. hSerialPort = CreateFile("COM1", GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, 0,
IntPtr.Zero, _
99. OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, IntPtr.Zero)
100. ' Verify that the obtained handle is valid.
101. If hSerialPort.ToInt32 = -1 Then
102. Throw New CommException("Unable to obtain a handle to the COM1
port")
103. End If
104. ' Retrieve the current control settings.
105. Success = GetCommState(hSerialPort, MyDCB)
106. If Success = False Then
107. Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve the current control
settings")
108. End If
109. ' Modify the properties of the retrieved DCB structure as
appropriate.
110. ' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their
supported values.
111. MyDCB.BaudRate = 9600
112. MyDCB.ByteSize = 8
113. MyDCB.Parity = NOPARITY
114. MyDCB.StopBits = ONESTOPBIT
115. ' Reconfigure COM1 based on the properties of the modified DCB
structure.
116. Success = SetCommState(hSerialPort, MyDCB)
117. If Success = False Then
118. Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure COM1")
119. End If
120. ' Retrieve the current time-out settings.
121. Success = GetCommTimeouts(hSerialPort, MyCommTimeouts)
122. If Success = False Then
123. Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve current time-out
settings")
124. End If
125. ' Modify the properties of the retrieved COMMTIMEOUTS structure as
appropriate.
126. ' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their
supported values.
127. MyCommTimeouts.ReadIntervalTimeout = 0
128. MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
129. MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
130. MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
131. MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
132. ' Reconfigure the time-out settings, based on the properties of the
modified COMMTIMEOUTS structure.
133. Success = SetCommTimeouts(hSerialPort, MyCommTimeouts)
134. If Success = False Then
135. Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure the time-out
settings")
136. End If
137. ' Write data to COM1.
138. Console.WriteLine("Writing the following data to COM1: Test")
139. Success = WriteFile(hSerialPort, Buffer, Buffer.Length,
BytesWritten, IntPtr.Zero)
140. If Success = False Then
141. Throw New CommException("Unable to write to COM1")
142. End If
143. ' Read data from COM1.
144. Success = ReadFile(hSerialPort, Buffer, BytesWritten, BytesRead,
IntPtr.Zero)
145. If Success = False Then
146. Throw New CommException("Unable to read from COM1")
147. End If
148. Catch ex As Exception
149. Console.WriteLine(Ex.Message)
150. Finally
151. ' Release the handle to COM1.
152. Success = CloseHandle(hSerialPort)
153. If Success = False Then
154. Console.WriteLine("Unable to release handle to COM1")
155. End If
156. End Try
157.
158. Try
159. ' Parallel port.
160. Console.WriteLine("Accessing the LPT1 parallel port")
161. ' Obtain a handle to the LPT1 parallel port.
162. hParallelPort = CreateFile("LPT1", GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE,
0, IntPtr.Zero, _
163. OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, IntPtr.Zero)
164. ' Verify that the obtained handle is valid.
165. If hParallelPort.ToInt32 = -1 Then
166. Throw New CommException("Unable to obtain a handle to the LPT1
port")
167. End If
168. ' Retrieve the current control settings.
169. Success = GetCommState(hParallelPort, MyDCB)
170. If Success = False Then
171. Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve the current control
settings")
172. End If
173. ' Modify the properties of the retrieved DCB structure as
appropriate.
174. ' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their
supported values.
175. MyDCB.BaudRate = 9600
176. MyDCB.ByteSize = 8
177. MyDCB.Parity = NOPARITY
178. MyDCB.StopBits = ONESTOPBIT
179. ' Reconfigure LPT1 based on the properties of the modified DCB
structure.
180. Success = SetCommState(hParallelPort, MyDCB)
181. If Success = False Then
182. Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure LPT1")
183. End If
184. ' Retrieve the current time-out settings.
185. Success = GetCommTimeouts(hParallelPort, MyCommTimeouts)
186. If Success = False Then
187. Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve current time-out
settings")
188. End If
189. ' Modify the properties of the retrieved COMMTIMEOUTS structure as
appropriate.
190. ' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their
supported values.
191. MyCommTimeouts.ReadIntervalTimeout = 0
192. MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
193. MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
194. MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
195. MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
196. ' Reconfigure the time-out settings, based on the properties of the
modified COMMTIMEOUTS structure.
197. Success = SetCommTimeouts(hParallelPort, MyCommTimeouts)
198. If Success = False Then
199. Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure the time-out
settings")
200. End If
201. ' Write data to LPT1.
202. ' Note: You cannot read data from a parallel port by calling the
ReadFile function.
203. Console.WriteLine("Writing the following data to LPT1: Test")
204. Success = WriteFile(hParallelPort, Buffer, Buffer.Length,
BytesWritten, IntPtr.Zero)
205. If Success = False Then
206. Throw New CommException("Unable to write to LPT1")
207. End If
208. Catch ex As Exception
209. Console.WriteLine(Ex.Message)
210. Finally
211. ' Release the handle to LPT1.
212. Success = CloseHandle(hParallelPort)
213. If Success = False Then
214. Console.WriteLine("Unable to release handle to LPT1")
215. End If
216. End Try
217.
218. Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER to quit")
219. Console.ReadLine()
220. On the Build menu, click Build Solution.

221. On the Debug menu, click Start to run the application.

You may receive the following text in the console:

Accessing the COM1 serial port

Writing the following data to COM1: Test 

Read the following data from COM1: Serial Data

Accessing the LPT1 parallel port 

Writing the following data to LPT1: Test 

Press ENTER to quit

Note Serial Data represents the data that you read from the serial port.
 222. To close the application, press the ENTER key in the console.

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Sample code listing (Module1.vb)

Before you use the following code example, replace COM1 with the name of your serial port, and replace LPT1 with the

name of your parallel port.

Note The following code works only when serial devices and parallel devices are connected to the corresponding ports on

the computer. If you do not connect these devices and you run the program, the program waits indefinitely.

Option Strict On

' Define a CommException class that inherits from the ApplicationException class.
' Then throw an object of type CommException when you receive an error message.
Class CommException
Inherits ApplicationException
Sub New(ByVal Reason As String)
MyBase.New(Reason)
End Sub
End Class

Module Module1
'Declare structures
Public Structure DCB
Public DCBlength As Int32
Public BaudRate As Int32
Public fBitFields As Int32
Public wReserved As Int16
Public XonLim As Int16
Public XoffLim As Int16
Public ByteSize As Byte
Public Parity As Byte
Public StopBits As Byte
Public XonChar As Byte
Public XoffChar As Byte
Public ErrorChar As Byte
Public EofChar As Byte
Public EvtChar As Byte
Public wReserved1 As Int16 'Reserved; Do Not Use
End Structure

Public Structure COMMTIMEOUTS

Public ReadIntervalTimeout As Int32
Public ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier As Int32
Public ReadTotalTimeoutConstant As Int32
Public WriteTotalTimeoutMultiplier As Int32
Public WriteTotalTimeoutConstant As Int32
End Structure

'Declare constants.
Public Const GENERIC_READ As Int32 = &H80000000
Public Const GENERIC_WRITE As Int32 = &H40000000
Public Const OPEN_EXISTING As Int32 = 3
Public Const FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL As Int32 = &H80
Public Const NOPARITY As Int32 = 0
Public Const ONESTOPBIT As Int32 = 0

'Declare references to external functions.

Public Declare Auto Function CreateFile Lib "kernel32.dll" _
(ByVal lpFileName As String, ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Int32, _
ByVal dwShareMode As Int32, ByVal lpSecurityAttributes As IntPtr, _
ByVal dwCreationDisposition As Int32, ByVal dwFlagsAndAttributes As Int32, _
ByVal hTemplateFile As IntPtr) As IntPtr

Public Declare Auto Function GetCommState Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal nCid As IntPtr, _
ByRef lpDCB As DCB) As Boolean

Public Declare Auto Function SetCommState Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal nCid As IntPtr, _
ByRef lpDCB As DCB) As Boolean

Public Declare Auto Function GetCommTimeouts Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile As IntPtr, _
ByRef lpCommTimeouts As COMMTIMEOUTS) As Boolean

Public Declare Auto Function SetCommTimeouts Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile As IntPtr, _
ByRef lpCommTimeouts As COMMTIMEOUTS) As Boolean

Public Declare Auto Function WriteFile Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile As IntPtr, _
ByVal lpBuffer As Byte(), ByVal nNumberOfBytesToWrite As Int32, _
ByRef lpNumberOfBytesWritten As Int32, ByVal lpOverlapped As IntPtr) As Boolean

Public Declare Auto Function ReadFile Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hFile As IntPtr, _
ByVal lpBuffer As Byte(), ByVal nNumberOfBytesToRead As Int32, _
ByRef lpNumberOfBytesRead As Int32, ByVal lpOverlapped As IntPtr) As Boolean

Public Declare Auto Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal hObject As IntPtr) As Boolean

Sub Main()

' Declare local variables that you will use in the code.
Dim hSerialPort, hParallelPort As IntPtr
Dim Success As Boolean
Dim MyDCB As DCB
Dim MyCommTimeouts As COMMTIMEOUTS
Dim BytesWritten, BytesRead As Int32
Dim Buffer() As Byte

' Declare variables to use for encoding.

Dim oEncoder As New System.Text.ASCIIEncoding
Dim oEnc As System.Text.Encoding = oEncoder.GetEncoding(1252)

' Convert String to Byte().

Buffer = oEnc.GetBytes("Test")

Try
' Serial port.
Console.WriteLine("Accessing the COM1 serial port")
' Obtain a handle to the COM1 serial port.
hSerialPort = CreateFile("COM1", GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, 0, IntPtr.Zero, _
OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, IntPtr.Zero)
' Verify that the obtained handle is valid.
If hSerialPort.ToInt32 = -1 Then
 Throw New CommException("Unable to obtain a handle to the COM1 port")
End If
' Retrieve the current control settings.
Success = GetCommState(hSerialPort, MyDCB)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve the current control settings")
End If
' Modify the properties of the retrieved DCB structure as appropriate.
' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their supported values.
MyDCB.BaudRate = 9600
MyDCB.ByteSize = 8
MyDCB.Parity = NOPARITY
MyDCB.StopBits = ONESTOPBIT
' Reconfigure COM1 based on the properties of the modified DCB structure.
Success = SetCommState(hSerialPort, MyDCB)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure COM1")
End If
' Retrieve the current time-out settings.
Success = GetCommTimeouts(hSerialPort, MyCommTimeouts)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve current time-out settings")
End If
' Modify the properties of the retrieved COMMTIMEOUTS structure as appropriate.
' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their supported values.
MyCommTimeouts.ReadIntervalTimeout = 0
MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
' Reconfigure the time-out settings, based on the properties of the modified COMMTIMEOUTS
structure.
Success = SetCommTimeouts(hSerialPort, MyCommTimeouts)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure the time-out settings")
End If
' Write data to COM1.
Console.WriteLine("Writing the following data to COM1: Test")
Success = WriteFile(hSerialPort, Buffer, Buffer.Length, BytesWritten, IntPtr.Zero)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to write to COM1")
End If
' Read data from COM1.
Success = ReadFile(hSerialPort, Buffer, BytesWritten, BytesRead, IntPtr.Zero)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to read from COM1")
End If
Catch ex As Exception
Console.WriteLine(Ex.Message)
Finally
' Release the handle to COM1.
Success = CloseHandle(hSerialPort)
If Success = False Then
Console.WriteLine("Unable to release handle to COM1")
End If
End Try

Try
' Parallel port.
 Console.WriteLine("Accessing the LPT1 parallel port")
' Obtain a handle to the LPT1 parallel port.
hParallelPort = CreateFile("LPT1", GENERIC_READ Or GENERIC_WRITE, 0, IntPtr.Zero, _
OPEN_EXISTING, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, IntPtr.Zero)
' Verify that the obtained handle is valid.
If hParallelPort.ToInt32 = -1 Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to obtain a handle to the LPT1 port")
End If
' Retrieve the current control settings.
Success = GetCommState(hParallelPort, MyDCB)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve the current control settings")
End If
' Modify the properties of the retrieved DCB structure as appropriate.
' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their supported values.
MyDCB.BaudRate = 9600
MyDCB.ByteSize = 8
MyDCB.Parity = NOPARITY
MyDCB.StopBits = ONESTOPBIT
' Reconfigure LPT1 based on the properties of MyDCB.
Success = SetCommState(hParallelPort, MyDCB)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure LPT1")
End If
' Reconfigure LPT1 based on the properties of the modified DCB structure.
Success = GetCommTimeouts(hParallelPort, MyCommTimeouts)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to retrieve current time-out settings")
End If
' Modify the properties of the retrieved COMMTIMEOUTS structure as appropriate.
' WARNING: Make sure to modify the properties according to their supported values.
MyCommTimeouts.ReadIntervalTimeout = 0
MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
MyCommTimeouts.ReadTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutConstant = 0
MyCommTimeouts.WriteTotalTimeoutMultiplier = 0
' Reconfigure the time-out settings, based on the properties of the modified COMMTIMEOUTS
structure.
Success = SetCommTimeouts(hParallelPort, MyCommTimeouts)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to reconfigure the time-out settings")
End If
' Write data to LPT1.
' Note: You cannot read data from a parallel port by calling the ReadFile function.
Console.WriteLine("Writing the following data to LPT1: Test")
Success = WriteFile(hParallelPort, Buffer, Buffer.Length, BytesWritten, IntPtr.Zero)
If Success = False Then
Throw New CommException("Unable to write to LPT1")
End If
Catch ex As Exception
Console.WriteLine(Ex.Message)
Finally
' Release the handle to LPT1.
Success = CloseHandle(hParallelPort)
If Success = False Then
Console.WriteLine("Unable to release handle to LPT1")
End If
End Try
 Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER to quit")
Console.ReadLine()

End Sub

End Module

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Troubleshoot

 When you run the application, you may receive the following error message:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

You may receive this error message because your function declarations are incorrect. This error message typically

occurs when your declarations contain ByVal parameters instead of ByRef parameters.

 Your application may wait indefinitely when you invoke the ReadFile function. This behavior typically occurs

when you set the read time-outs to zero in the retrievedCOMMTIMEOUTS structure. To resolve this issue,

modify the properties of theCOMMTIMEOUTS structure, as appropriate.

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REFERENCES

For more information, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web sites:

Communications resources

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363196.aspx

Interoperating with unmanaged code

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/sd10k43k(vs.71).aspx

System.Runtime.InteropServices namespace

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.interopservices(vs.71).aspx

DllImportAttribute class

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.runtime.interopservices.dllimportattribute(vs.71).aspx

The Windows API and other dynamic-link libraries

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa141322(office.10).aspx
Understanding handles

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/modcore/html/deovrUnderstandingHandles.asp

For more information about AT modem commands, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft

Knowledge Base:

164660  AT modem command reference

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