Serial Port Tester

What is the Serial Port Test Utility?

It is a simple to use program for sending data over the comm port on a PC.  It was written to make it easy to send simple commands in binary, as opposed to ASCII which most terminal programs require.  This is useful when developing embedded applications:

In addition a simple "Echo" test is provided which is useful for loading down a serial port on a remote device to make sure that the rest of the system remains responsive when operating at full baud.  The program is written entirely in Java and should run on most platforms (see install instructions below).  Full source is provided and can be used for any purpose.  If you wish to modify the GUI component you may want to consider using Borland JBuilder Professional or Enterprise.  JBuilder has a feature called "XYLayout" which makes changing/building the GUI much simpler than with the GridBaglayout (how it is distributed), first time Java developers may become frustrated using GridBagLayout without JBuilder.
Shows the command test, with response as binary and as ASCII.  In this case the remote machine was programmed to echo the command.  Commands are saved in the drop down list for easy recall.  Only valid HEX values can be entered, formatting ([0x]) is automatic.



Any file can be used as input.  After the file has completed being sent the program waits for the receive thread to end or for a time out period.  After the receive thread completes the received data is compared to the data sent, if it is the same the test passes, fails otherwise.



How to Install

Download and Unzip this file.

For Windows platforms do the following:

Determine where your Java Runtime Library (JRE) is installed (c:\Program Files\Java\j2re1.4.1_01, c:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1_02, etc ) and in

JRE\bin place the win32com.dll file

JRE\lib place the javax.comm.properties file

Place the SerialTesterW.exe file in any directory, double click to run.  If you do not see any ports listed you have installed the win32com.dll or javax.comm.properties file incorrectly.

All other platforms:

See these links for installing the Comm API:

Java(TM) Communications API Solaris

Java Comm Serial API How-To for Linux Linux

JAVA Comm API for FreeBSD Free BSD

Java COMM API Support on the PocketPC PocketPC

Then use the serialtester.jar file contained in the zip file.  I haven't tested any platform besides Windows.

...develop, race, win!