Correct Way to write Hex Values to Serial port this for a RFID Card Reader that is serial connected

Question

5.00/5 (1 vote)

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Hello,

I have a problem , i dont know how to write the correct way to the serial port Hex code's.

I have to write the following to the serialport.

&H02 &H00 &H09 &H35 &H32 &H08 &H99

I have a demo programm and there i can see what codes will be written to the serial port.

Send : 02 00 09 35 32 08 99
Answer : 06
Send : 05
Answer : 02 00 04 035 32 08 59 03 53

I have tried to do the following :

SerialPort1.Open()

VB

Dim code As String = ""

Dim receiveddata As Byte = 0

code = Chr(&H2) + Chr(&H0) + Chr(&H9) + Chr(&H35) + Chr(&H32) + Chr(&H8) + Chr(&H99)

SerialPort1.Write(code)

receiveddata = SerialPort1.ReadByte() ' Normal i should receive 06 , i receive 21 so it is not correct.

I think that i send the wrong code this becaude of the chr(&Hxx) on the manual it says for example send 0x02 0x00 0x09 0x35 0x32 0x08 0x99
So i think that maybe my system is not correct.

Thanks.

Best regards

Didier

Posted 3-Aug-11 21:02pm

Didier Cauberghe

Updated 29-Mar-20 14:18pm

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S Houghtelin · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-04T02:32:00

Solution 1

It looks a though you are sending data and getting a response.

VB

receiveddata = SerialPort1.ReadByte()

You received a 21, this is Ascii decimal version of NAK (Hex 15). This indicates the device does not understand what you are sending it. To receive the reply as a hex value you can do this:

VB

receiveddata = Hex(SerialPort1.ReadByte())

For sending a data string to the device I would use:

VB

SerialPort1.WriteLine(code)

Regards

[Edit]
WriteLine appends a line feed to the string, so maybe not so good to use.
Send each one out individually using Write.

I would check on the 0x99 code, that is part of the extended ascii format and when I send that out the comport it reads something different all the rest look OK. Check the device manual again .

Posted 4-Aug-11 2:32am

S Houghtelin

Updated 4-Aug-11 10:05am

v2

Comments

Didier Cauberghe 4-Aug-11 15:32pm

Hello,

Thanks for your answer.

Can you give me a tip how i need to send the codes like 0x02 0x00 0x09 0x35 0x32 0x08 0x99

Is use chr(&h02) + chr(&H0)+ ........ but i am not sure that this is the correct way.

Thanks.

br.

Didier

S Houghtelin 4-Aug-11 15:42pm

I think the string "code" you have should work, use WriteLine instead of Write.
Like this:
code = Chr(&H2) + Chr(&H0) + Chr(&H9) + Chr(&H35) + Chr(&H32) + Chr(&H8) + Chr(&H99)

SerialPort1.WriteLine(code)

S Houghtelin 4-Aug-11 16:05pm

See my updated answer.

Didier Cauberghe 4-Aug-11 16:13pm

Hello,

This is also not working.

What is strange when i set a breakline and go with the cursor on the code value the numbers are not visual there are strange signs " 52™œlœhˆ" instead of 02 00 09 35 32 08 ......

Can this be the problem ?

Thanks for your advise.

br.

Didier

S Houghtelin 4-Aug-11 17:42pm

That is because they are ascii characters and the display doesn't have a correct symbol.

Look up ASCII table on google and you will see what I mean.

02 = STX = Start of text

00 = Nul = Null

09 = TAB - Horizontal tab

And so on.

Additionally look up sysinternals and download the portmon utility. This will allow you to monitor the comm port in action.

Good luck.

If you find this information helpful please vote on the rating stars by the answer. Thank you.

Didier Cauberghe 5-Aug-11 2:54am

Hello,

Thanks, now i can see what is going out.

But i have seen that the code that i need to give , there it seems to be the problem the code is staring with &H99 &H9C .....
I use also chr(&H99) + chr(&H9C)

When i check the serial port monitor there are other codes 3F ,3F instead of &H99 and &H9C in the code i send Chr(&H99) + chr(&H9C) but they are translated do 3F 3F so i think that is the reason why the RFID is not responding like it should be .

The only question is why is it changing the codes

Do you have a suggestion.

Thanks

Br.

Didier

S Houghtelin 5-Aug-11 11:44am

As I said, those are a part of the extended ASCII set and are not being interpreted correctcly. This from MSDN.

By default, SerialPort uses ASCIIEncoding to encode the characters. ASCIIEncoding encodes all characters greater then 127 as (char)63 or '?'. To support additional characters in that range, set Encoding to UTF8Encoding, UTF32Encoding, or UnicodeEncoding.

Just because it is another case of MS improving my life that pisses me off, I have to figure this out because it part of my job. I'll get back to you.

Henri Aghaei 9-Jun-17 10:21am

in VS2013 C# forms there is no "HEX" syntax. What would you suggest then?

S Houghtelin 9-Jun-17 11:05am

In C# there is the "byte" variable that you can use to parse filestreams. IF you want to write in hex format use the 0x00 format, for instance:
byte byteVar = 0x0F; // Init with value of 15

Henri Aghaei 9-Jun-17 11:09am

Thanks for your prompt reply. Well actually I am reading from the port and I receive text instead of hex. I used: textBox2.Text = serialport1.ReadExisting();
That's why I am asking how I can read back in HEX. Any advice on this please?

S Houghtelin 9-Jun-17 11:21am

String strHEX;
byte byteVal = 0x0F;
// To read back as a hex format
strHEX = string.Format("{0:X2}", byteVal);

Be aware that this is a string, it will look like the hex value but you will not be able to perform numerical calculations. To do that use the byte value as you would an integer value.

Henri Aghaei 9-Jun-17 11:30am

S Houghtelin,

I am not too sure if I've got what you just explained.

Here is my code as follows.

byte[] bytesToSend = new byte[14] { 0x68,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x68,0x23,0x02,0x61,0x00,0xEC,0x16 };

serialport1.Write(bytesToSend, 0, 14);

System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(200); // wait for .5 sec

textBox2.Text = serialport1.ReadExisting();

But what you said by Format is not clear to me. What should I add to my read buffer to see Hex coming in?

S Houghtelin 9-Jun-17 11:52am

Here you go.

byte[] bytesToSend = new byte[14] { 0x68,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x99,0x68,0x23,0x02,0x61,0x00,0xEC,0x16 };

serialport1.Write(bytesToSend, 0, 14);

System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(200); // wait for .5 sec

byte[] buffer = new byte[serial.BytesToRead];
serialport1.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);

StringBuilder strHEX = new StringBuilder();

for (int i = 0; i < buffer.Length; i++)
strHEX.AppendFormat("{0:X2} ", buffer[i]);

textBox2.Text = strHEX;

If I do more, I'll have to start billing. ;)

Henri Aghaei 9-Jun-17 12:14pm

No. Don't do that please! LOL

I was intending to make the same format for the read buffer, but the problem is that

textBox2.Text = strHEX

is not acceptable and I need to find a way to put my hex array into the box!

Comes up with the following error.

Error 1 Cannot implicitly convert type 'System.Text.StringBuilder' to 'string'

S Houghtelin 9-Jun-17 12:20pm

Then convert it to a string.
textBox2.Text = ToString(strHEX);

Not been using C# for too long? It does get easier the more you use it.

A useful resource I use for C# questions is https://www.dotnetperls.com/ (Code Project is a great resource as well).

Henri Aghaei 9-Jun-17 12:27pm

Many thanks! I will wrestle it down!

S Houghtelin · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-05T08:18:00

Solution 2

OK, Here it is, damn what pain. Anyway the default decoding only supports 128 character so value above 127 will be displayed as a "?" or 3F.\

To change this the SerialPort encoding needs to be changed. (See below)

VB

'Other Serial Port Property
SerialPort1.Parity = IO.Ports.Parity.None
SerialPort1.StopBits = IO.Ports.StopBits.One
SerialPort1.DataBits = 8
SerialPort1.Encoding = System.Text.Encoding.GetEncoding(28605)


'Then for your output array
'(Note I am ussing an array here this will only work with integers)
Dim arCommand(6) As Int16
 arCommand(0) = &H2
 arCommand(1) = &H0
 arCommand(2) = &H9
 arCommand(3) = &H35
 arCommand(4) = &H32
 arCommand(5) = &H8
 arCommand(6) = &H99

Dim x As Int16 'This one and the array should be declared at the class level

For x = 0 To 6
    SerialPort1.Write(Convert.ToChar(arCommand(x)))
Next

For a complete list of encoding capabilities see this MSDN link.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.text.encoding.getencodings.aspx[^]

Alright Didier, Vote this one a 5 please.

Regards

Posted 5-Aug-11 8:18am

S Houghtelin

Comments

Didier Cauberghe 6-Aug-11 7:20am

Hello, Thanks for your support. That was the solution to the wrong characters send to the RFID device, now the returned values are like they are in the technical description. Maybe just one more question , what do i need to do for reading based on the same system (above 127) Can i do just serialport1.read() I dont know all the values that come back , maybe they are also above 127 Many thanks Best regards Didier

S Houghtelin 7-Aug-11 19:37pm

receiveddata = SerialPort1.ReadByte() should do the trick. By now you have read the ascii table and can use the decimal (integer) values to decipher what the RFID card reader is sending.

Or you can use convert.tohex or HEX(n).

Good luck and Thanks!

Member 11720767 12-Jul-15 15:15pm

Hello Dear All,

I am facing a problem with convert delphi code to vb.net... any body help me to get the solution please... please check the code below

m_arTxBfx:Array [0..255] of Byte; //Output Buffer
m_arRxBfx:Array [0..255] of Byte; //Input Buffer

myPort.ClearBuffer(false,true);
myPort.Write(m_arTxBfx[0],m_InputLength+4);

Now I need to convert it vb.net

I have tried this way...
myPort.write(m_arTxBfx,m_InputLength,4)

but its showing error.......

Please Help me ...

Thanks in Advance

Moseur

S Houghtelin 13-Jul-15 7:42am

Your question has a better chance of being answered if you post it in the Q&A section http://www.codeproject.com/Questions/ask.aspx

When you ask be sure to add what the error is showing, the error can provide a clue to the person who is willing to help.

In the mean time I would look a the syntax of the line:
myPort.write(m_arTxBfx,m_InputLength,4);

MSDN Link: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1050fs1h(v=vs.110).aspx

In short,
myPort.write(array_to_send, first_byte_of_array, number_of_bytes_to_send)