Appendix

How To

Enable RFC 2217 in programs using pySerial.

Patch the code where the serial.Serial is instantiated. Replace it with:

try:
    s = serial.serial_for_url(...)
except AttributeError:
    s = serial.Serial(...)

Assuming the application already stores port names as strings that’s all that is required. The user just needs a way to change the port setting of your application to an rfc2217:// URL (e.g. by editing a configuration file, GUI dialog etc.).

Please note that this enables all URL types supported by pySerial and that those involving the network are unencrypted and not protected against eavesdropping.

Test your setup.

Is the device not working as expected? Maybe it’s time to check the connection before proceeding. Miniterm from the Examples can be used to open the serial port and do some basic tests.

To test cables, connecting RX to TX (loop back) and typing some characters in Miniterm is a simple test. When the characters are displayed on the screen, then at least RX and TX work (they still could be swapped though).

Related software

com0com - http://com0com.sourceforge.net/

Provides virtual serial ports for Windows.

License

Copyright (C) 2001-2010 Chris Liechti <cliechti(at)gmx.net>; All Rights Reserved.

This is the Python license. In short, you can use this product in commercial and non-commercial applications, modify it, redistribute it. A notification to the author when you use and/or modify it is welcome.

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