Steve Drake wrote:
> Hi, I new to labview and I can't understand how to program the serial
> port? Can the serial port through LabView read binary data ?
> Everything I read talks about strings which for me are only ASCII
> data. Thanks for any help you can give.
The short answer is Yes, LV and serial port read binary data.
The long answer is a bit more complex.
The serial port only understands binary data (that is, some sequence of 0's
and 1's).
Interpretation of that sequence is another matter.
ASCII assigns specific characters to specific sequences of binary data.
Since ASCII covers the range of an 8 bit sequence it is normally used
to transfer serial data. This can be seen by the serial port VIs.
If I wanted to send binary data of 41 (hex) I would send the A
SCII
character "A" using serial port write VI.
If I received the binary data of 41 (hex) the serial read VI will give me an
ASCII "A"
this may mean the character "A" or hex 41 or decimal 65 or it could mean
"feed the cat".
It is all a matter of interpretation.
Use the string functions to generate and decode the values to something
appropriate.
Hope this is less confusing than Quantum Physics.
Kevin Kent