Re: RS232 data to Access database - general approach

From: perry (perry_at_cplusplus.org)
Date: 07/03/04 

Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2004 13:51:40 -0300

well you on a java board so the default answer is going to be to get
java involved and your lovely project can have many elegant solutions.
however, right now, you just want the job done. if you have a few hours
(or days) you can fiddle with it using Access VBA. windows people would
want you to launch a major campaign to active your downloading software
the moment the user connects the handheld to the serial port. this could
require praying to jesus or buddah as 99% of your software developement
time and money could go to that alone.

depending on how fast the user wants his handheld back, you effectively
have to either run an app that checks the port for the presense of the
handheld every five minutes or an interrupt that will activate a service
routine if there's change on the port.

the easu part is writing to an access database or a text file.

wish i were there, i'd spend the day at it. ofcourse, i'd want you to
consider linux but hey, you can't have everything...

cheers

- perry

perry@cplusplus.org

Chris wrote:
> Here's the situation:
>
> I work at a scientific institution and I have a portable electronic
> device which is used to take measurements. The device produces a very
> small amount of numerical data, about 10 to 15 numbers per
> measurement. This operation is performed frequently and I would like
> to implement an automatic solution that moves this data across a
> windows network and into the fields of an Access database application.
>
> The device has an RS232 port to transmit the data each time a
> measurement is made. I have tested this and can save the data to a
> text file by using the HyperTerminal application which ships with
> windows 98.
>
> HyperTerminal is fine but in order to read in data from the device I
> have to run the HyperTerminal application and manually open a serial
> port before the measurement is executed. I need a solution that opens
> the port automatically i.e. the user only has to operate the device
> and not the computer terminal that the device is connected to. The
> solution should either send data straight to Access or store the data
> in a text file for middleware to deal with.
>
> What should be my general approach? Would it be possible to implement
> a solution in, for example java, or could I use Access VBA?
>
> Maybe I don't need to write any code at all if there is middleware
> available that could do the transfer?
>
> Any suggestions appreciated.