VB6 ActiveX ctrl Interop: 'AxMSComm' and 'MSComm for serial communication

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Hi guys
I'm porting a program from vb6 and it used the old MSComm class to do some serial communication. As some of you know, when ActiveX controls are upgraded there's a prefix "Ax-" added to the class name. So now in the Main Menu. Designer.vb the definition for the serial comm control becomes:

VB

Public WithEvents MSComm1 As AxMSCommLib.AxMSComm

later I'm having some errors (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800A017C (CTL_E_INVALIDPROPERTYVALUE)) on the line

VB

frmMainMenu.MSComm1.Output = Chr(FrameSize)

which I believe there's something wrong with the type of the right side of the equation. but that's not my biggest concern now.
I'm just wondering, can I replace this interop AxMSComm with the MSComm which I saw in the Object Browser in VB08? Will that get rid of the whole interop deal?

I guess my last resort is to use System.IO.Ports.SerialPort to do the serial communication, which is the .net way, which means I need to get rid of the Interop and a lot of rewrites..
Any ideas appreciated
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ok.. I think between figuring out a way to wrestle with the interop and rewriting the code using IO.Ports.Serialport , i'd have to choose

Posted 26-Jun-12 7:17am

SandiegoSSD

Updated 26-Jun-12 8:47am

v2

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[no name] 26-Jun-12 14:36pm

Your "last" resort should be your first resort.

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Dave Kreskowiak · Answer 1 · 2012-06-26T07:54:00

Solution 1

I guess my last resort is to use System.IO.Ports.SerialPort to do the serial communication, which is the .net way, which means I need to get rid of the Interop and a lot of rewrites..

That's the answer. Don't depend on the old VB6 ways of doing things. Eventually, VB6 runtime support is going to die a justifiably horrible death.

But, you can't send a Chr character. You have to convert it to a String before you can send it to Output.

Posted 26-Jun-12 7:54am

Dave Kreskowiak

Updated 26-Jun-12 7:57am

v2

Comments

SandiegoSSD 26-Jun-12 14:55pm

not sure..i think it should be Bytes

Dave Kreskowiak 26-Jun-12 16:57pm

It can be either a String or a an array of bytes, Byte(), but it has to be one of them.

SandiegoSSD 26-Jun-12 18:03pm

yes.. when inputmode set to be binary then it's bytes. and when set to text then it's string