sendvec2serial.m

Octave function file

Purpose

Send a given vector of numbers to a specified serial port. It sends number after number with a time gap.

You need to specify a vector S_VEC, the port name S_PORT and the baud rate S_BAUD at least. Optional the time gap S_TIME (default: 1 second) can be committed and - if you want to see a visualisation - a GUI waitbar S_GUI while sending (default: true). With the waitbar you are able to abort the transmission.

If S_GUI = FALSE and the package "miscellaneous" is installed and loaded a text waitbar is displayed instead. But you can abort the transmission with CTRL-C only.

[#################################                 ]   67%

If S_GUI = FALSE and "miscellaneous" is absent you just see a blinking cursor.

The other serial parameters are:

• 8 databits,
• 1 stopbit and
• no parity.

In this version you cannot change these parameters by committing arguments (but feel free to extend this function).

Application

You can use this function to build scripts which simulate a micro controller sending data from a sensor to test your own applications.

Dependency

The package "instrument-control" is needed to run "sendvec2serial" (refer http://octave.sourceforge.net/packages.php).

On GNU/Linux or other Unices type cd ~ and then pkg install -forge instrument-control in Octave if the package is not provided by the package manager of your GNU/Linux distribution. Take care that you have internet access. You may need to have a C/C++ compiler and "make" installed. On Debian/Ubuntu systems type sudo apt-get install build-essential.

On Microsoft Windows just type cd ~ and then pkg install -forge instrument-control while you have internet access.

Mac OS X users can use MacPorts or HomeBrew. In general you have one of these package manager already installed for getting Octave itself. But the Octave package "instrument-control" is not availabe as a port for MacPorts unfortunately. You need to do the same as Windows users have to do: cd ~ then pkg install -forge instrument-control.

Usage

USAGE

   status = sendvec2serial(s_vec, s_port, s_baud)
   status = sendvec2serial(s_vec, s_port, s_baud, s_time, s_gui)

INPUT:

   s_vec          Octave Vector of numbers (row or column vectors are 
                  valid)
   s_port         Name of the serial Port, e.g. COM1, /dec/ttyUSB0, etc
   s_baud         Baud rate, transmission speed, e.g. 2400, 9600, etc.
   s_time (OPT)   Time gap between sending numbers. 1 means it waits 
                  1 second before it sends the next number. (default: 1)
   s_gui  (OPT)   Displays a GUI waitbar for visualization of the 
                  transmission and to abort the transmission if desired 
                  (default: True).
 
OUTPUT

   status         Return a status number:
                  0: Transmission completed (everything went OK)
                  1: Missing arguments (s_vec, s_port, s_baud at least).
                  2: Missing installed package "instrument-control".
                  3: Port name or baud rate are not valid.
                  4: Transmission was aborted

Sample Script

You find a demonstration script "SendFile2Serial.m" with GUI in this distribution. This script loads a file ...

... with numbers, as:

1.9
2.34
2
1.87
2.07
1.98
...

... and specify the serial parameters and the time gap ...

... and observe the processing, abort if necessary:

The waitbar above is optional provided by the function "sendvec2serial" and not by the sample script -> argument S_GUI

All screenshots from Linux Mint Cinnamon. But the script works on Windows and Mac, too.

Matlab

"sendvec2serial" is build for Octave in the first place. It may or may not work on Matlab with its Instrument-Control toolbox. But it should be easy to adapt it to Matlab.

Changelog

Date	Version	Notes
2016-02-22	1.0	Initial version - GUI waitbar
2016-02-24	1.1	Text waitbar if S_GUI is FALSE and package 'miscellaneous' is installed and loaded

License

Copyright (C) 2016 Hani A. Ibrahim, GPL 3.0

The scrips provided here ares free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.