simple usb to com port

[Akiel]

Thanks to windows 7 64 bit i have a need to recreate a "simple usb to com port emulator" as the manufacturere of my barcode reader does not provide drivers for win7 64bit (They do for 32 bit which wont work in my application) I have a symbol ls4208 barcode reader (now made by motorola). I need to create a small app that runs in the background that performs this function. I have not been able to find any examples, whitepapers etc... of where to start, going to keep looking and if i find anything will post a record.  Any suggestions greatly appreciated tho

Thanks

[Akiel]

There is this thread as a place to start...

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/USB-Barcode-Event/td-p/682289

hopefully more info to come

[LaThoS]

Hi Akiel,

By the sound of it can't you put the reader into Simple COM Port Emulation mode and therefore not use the driver? Then you can use VISA reads to get the character data from the scanner and process that in LabVIEW. Is it this last step you are having trouble with?

Regards,

Laurence

[Akiel]

I have the reader in sdimple com port emulation but cant get the driver from the manufacturer to work in this mode, its stuck working as a keyboard wedge. I have spoken to motorola and they say they have no plans to make a 64bit driver (the 32bit one isnt working on 64bit but is fine on 32bit). I am looking to see if I can write a work round as we have legacy software that runs off events.

Thanks

[LaThoS]

Hi Akiel,

Just to clarify, you can see serial packets arriving on a terminal for example? If not then surely it isn't in COM emulation mode? In that case you'll need to parse the keyboard characters manually.

Otherwise, once you get it spitting out serial packets, you can use the VISA driver to read them and then convert to ASCII or hex. What's the purpose of the motorola driver? I'd imagine that just handles scan events and maybe parses info if the device is not in COM emulation mode. Surely if it in this mode then it does not need a proprietary driver and can be read by a COM port, and then the NI-VISA driver?

Regards,