If you ever had to work on creating a hardware device communicating with a computer such as a barcode scanner, medical device, or factory machine, then you understand just how difficult it can be to get communication going perfectly. Pesky little flaws can take all day to isolate. Lost information, incorrect instructions, or compatibility mismatch in settings can bring operations to a grind.
That’s where a serial port monitor can come to the rescue.
Rather than taking a wild guess at what’s going wrong, you can observe exactly what your device is reporting, and how your software is reacting in real-time.
What is a Serial Port Monitor?
A Serial Port Monitor is a program that observes the information flowing in and out of a serial port (COM port). Ponder it as if it’s a translator that informs you of all the messages being sent and received between your device and your computer.
Engineers, developers, and testers who work with serial communication such as RS232, RS485, or even MODBUS protocols use it.
Why Does It Matters in Development?
When you’re developing a device, testing it is often trial and error. You send commands to your device, and it responds with results. But what if the device won’t respond? Or responds with something unexpected?
Without a serial monitor, you can sit there for hours making educated guesses about the issue.
With a serial monitor, you can see at a glance:
- What command was sent
- What response came back
- Whether or not there were errors
- If the data format was incorrect
- This is much easier and less frustrating.
Let’s take an example of simple barcode scanner
Suppose you’re writing software for a point-of-sale terminal and you’re debugging a barcode scanner. The scanner plugs in through a serial port.
You click the scan button, but there’s nothing to appear on your screen.
Now what?
With a serial port monitor, you launch the tool and immediately see:
- Whether the scan data was transmitted
- What it used as a format (text, binary, etc.)
- Whether the command made it to the software
- Whether there was error or loss of signal
- No longer hours of guessing, you fix the problem in minutes.
What are Major advantages of a Serial Port Monitor?
- Saves Time – Displays immediately what is working and what is not working.
- Avoids Rework – Identify problems early in development.
- Improved Debugging – Discover the precise location where communication fails.
- Supports Many Protocols – Software such as AGG Software’s Serial Port Monitor supports commonly used protocols like MODBUS, RS232, and others.
- Simulation Capability – You may even simulate the device, thereby allowing you to test without necessarily requiring the hardware.
Hardware development is already complicated. There is no need to make it more so by doing things in the dark. Utilizing a Serial Port Monitor is akin to illuminating the lights in your environment. You are able to easily observe what is happening, test more quickly, and debug problems more quickly.
