Free Download Virtual Serial Ports Emulator - You can use this software when you need to create several virtual devices to send and receive data. Create virtual device Serial port emulator. COM Port Emulator Emulate RS232 port pairs linked via virtual Null. When the virtual serial port pair is added, it appears in Windows Device Manager, what is more, it is automatically recreated on system boot, even before logging into your Windows user account. COM port emulation in Electronic Money Institution S-money is the electronic. Virtual Serial Port Driver Create virtual COM ports like real ones This utility is designed to create virtual com port and pair them for serial communication. Virtual null modem ensures that information sent from one app in the pair is received by the other app immediately.

I'm about to start developing a small app (C#) that communicates with a PLC and a testing unit via Serial Ports - this is my first venture into this area.

In essence, I am going to send the PLC a signal to start an operation, and then I am going to wait for the result of that operation from the test unit (which will be independently communicating with the PLC) to return a ASCII string.

Depending on the content of that string, I may want to listen to a signal from the PLC..

It's all new to me, so at the moment, I'm just researching System.IO.Ports.SerialPort; digression: are there third part products out there than simplify interaction with the Serial Port, or are the built-in classes as good as you will get? I'm thinking of ease of use as opposed to better features.

However, it will be a few weeks before the hardware is available for development and testing, so I was wondering how I could simulate communication to/from the serial port so that I can start developing my app?

[I don't yet know how the PLC and the PC are due to communicate - I understand it will be binary rather than text, but at the moment, that is all I know.]

6 Answers

Abstract away your serial port comms behind an interface so that you can code your app against the interface and then test with a 'fake' implementation. When you've got the hardware for the real thing, you can code up the 'real' implementation of the interface and swap out the fake one.

So for example, you'd have an interface

and you'd code your app against that interface using a fake implementation:

Hope that helps!

There are two pieces of software that I have found invaluable while doing serial port work.

Free Serial Port Monitor

Despite the cheesy name, it is actually quite useful. Note that you should have it stop listening to your port if you go to unplug a USB-to-Serial converter. Otherwise it can crash (well.. wait indefinitely on exit, which is annoying). It doesn't have to put itself in the middle of a serial connection to sniff data. It monitors the IO using the Win32 API.

Franson Serial Port Tools

Or. any loopback software really. There are lots out there. This allows you to send data and receive it within software. If you end up doing any GPS work, Franson also has a nice GPS simulator so you don't have to sit outside the whole time to debug code.

Finally, if you have had enough with the built-in serial class and its horrendous shortcomings, then you need a replacement, and going straight to the Win32 API will take forever.

CommStudio

I have found CommStudio to be absolutely rock solid. Quite frankly, after spending 5 months researching and buying other options, it is the only one that works perfectly with removable USB adapters. All of the other solutions have issues when the device is plugged back in. You can download their free 'Express' version here: http://www.componentsource.com/products/commstudio/downloads.html?rv=42917

There is another resource out there that emulates serial ports for windows if anyone else is still looking for decent serial debugging tools.

The 32-bit version is free and seems pretty decent. It's called Virtual Serial Ports Emulator.

I like David's answer above but if your looking to do integration tests and actually test your serial port communication I have used and application called ViN soft virtual serial cable in the past to basically create 2 serial ports on your machine that are connected by a virtual cable.

Also if you have a serial port on your development machine you could use it to connect to another machine that has a serial port and write an application that will basically simulate the communication of the PLC.

I would prefer to use a combination of both David's method and this method to ensure proper testing.

I have wrote an article on this topic using Virtual Serial Port Driver 9.0 standard using Microsoft SerialPort Class (Sytem.IO.Ports), it is of course possible to use any other comm port tool.

In the software I create 2 virtual ports COM1 and COM2.

I use COM1 to emulate as data sender.

I use COM2 to receive what ever being send from COM1.

This is helpful if you are developing Embedded or IoT solution.

Emulator (in this example as random accelerometer)

And my data receiver is almost similar

Disclaimer: the link of this guideline refer to my personal web site. Pokecommunity hack of the year.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged c#serial-portsimulation or ask your own question.

COM ports have been introduced a long time ago and have been an integral part of computers. These days however they become almost obsolete as more and more machines use USB ports or no ports at all. This doesn't eliminate the need for serial connections though, especially if we are talking about industrial equipment, lab devices, etc. Developers creating software to work with industrial devices need to test and debug applications before releasing them. That's where virtual serial port emulation comes into spotlight. If you are looking for a software to create a virtual COM port on Windows 10 or a virtual COM port on Windows 7 read about the virtual serial port emulator software that we consider to be the top solutions currently offered:

Contents

1. VSPD by Eltima Software

1. Virtual Serial Port Driver developed by Eltima Software allows users to create virtual serial ports that can be connected in pairs via virtual null modem (com0com) cable. Applications communicating with created virtual ports treat those ports the same way they would communicate with real ports. This software solution works on 32- and 64-bit Windows OS and supports operating systems up to the latest Windows 10. Virtual Serial Port Driver is officially signed by Microsoft.

The advantages of Virtual Serial Port by Eltima:

• Using Virtual Serial Port Driver, you can create as many pairs of virtual COM ports as you want. The pairs are linked by a virtual null modem cable. A nice feature of the software is the ability to delete all of your created pairs with a single click.


• When creating virtual serial ports with this application you have the ability to name them in any way that you like. You can even use the same names as the system’s physical COM interfaces. A simple search in Device Manager’s “Ports” group will display all of your virtual ports.


• The virtual serial port emulator enables the virtual COM ports to be re-created when your system is restarted Your configured virtual serial ports are re-established before user login. You can also delete a virtual pair or modify their settings without closing the ports down.


• All standard hardware signal lines are supported by Virtual Serial Port Driver. This include DTR/DSR/CTS/RTS/DCD/RI, etc. as well as software flow control (Xon/Xoff).


• Virtual Serial Port Driver also can serve as a null modem emulator. Multiple null modem schemes are available with the tool, and they can be saved as templates for later use. The application lets you emulate a virtual serial line connection and its break.


• With Dynamic Link Library supplied with VSPD (an OEM License) you can control virtual serial ports directly from your own app. Emulating the ports also gives you an advantage of a faster serial communication, than with a real null-modem cable, solely depending on your processor speed (average is about 5.5 Mbytes/sec)


• You will not be surprised by any warning messages when performing serial port emulation on Windows 10, Windows Server 16, Windows XP or other Windows variations. This is due to the fact that the drivers are digitally signed by Microsoft and have all passed the Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) tests.


• Virtual Serial Port Driver is pretty flexible letting you create ports for the current user session only; allowing RDP users to create port with the same name (e.g. COM1) in each user session; letting you delete ports even if they were opened by other apps.


• VSPD is hyper-threading and VMware friendly.

• Splitting and Joining Serial Ports - VSPD PRO enables you to split a physical serial port into multiple virtual copies that fully emulate the original interface. This allows you to share a single physical COM port and its attached devices with several applications simultaneously. You can also combine the transmissions from several physical serial ports into a single virtual port allowing the redirection of data from multiple devices to a single application.
• Creating Serial Port Bundles By creating bundles of physical and virtual serial ports, serial communication between an unlimited number of COM interfaces is made possible
• Automatic Port Switching - Combine several physical ports into one virtual interface and create a software switcher to offer your application an open serial port on demand.
• Merging COM Ports - Using this feature of Virtual COM Port Driver PRO you can enable communication between multiple devices and applications simultaneously.

In case you are willing to split a real or virtual COM port data between several applications, check out our tutorial about serial port sharing with VSPD PRO version.

2. Null-modem emulator (com0com) is an open source kernel-mode virtual serial port emulator for Windows, distributed under GPL license. One can create an unlimited number of virtual serial port pairs and connect one serial application to another with any created pair. This app can provide serial interface for device emulators and serial port redirectors.

3. Free Virtual Serial Ports by HDD Software is a Windows user-mode software that offers creation of virtual COM ports and emulation of physical serial ports. This app operates in user-mode exclusively and acts as a hardware COM port with full functionality, baud-rate emulation, configuration of data bits, parity, stop bits, XON/XOFF flow control, etc.

This serial port emulation software works on Windows desktop and server versions up to Windows 8/8.1 32- and 64-bit.

4. Virtual Serial Ports Emulator developed by Eterlogic is the next VSPE solution on our list. It is developed for software developers to create/debug/test applications that use serial ports. Virtualization of ports offers great possibilities: same device can be opened by different apps, physical serial port data can be shared among several applications, a serial port can be shared to local network (via TCP), one can create virtual serial port pairs, etc. This program supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32/64), Windows 7. Licenses for 32-bit platforms are offered for free, while 64-bit solution is paid.

5. Virtual Serial Port Kit is developed by FabulaTech and offers virtual serial ports creation with the possibility to connect them via virtual null-modem cables. All information written to one virtual port is immediately available on the other one of the pair. Virtual serial ports function the exact same way as hardware serial ports. This app also runs as system service meaning all virtual ports are available prior to user logon.

Prices and more details are available on developers' websites. Some solutions are free, but will require you to expose your source code when developing an app with them, also not offering support for the latest Windows OS. Some solutions require a payment but in return you receive an up-to-date software with regular updates and dedicated support service. Hopefully this brief overview will help you get the best virtual COM port solution for your project.

COM Port Data Emulator

This software tool allows the user to emulate the data stream generated by a serial interface or device. You can use the application to create data packets and send them to network-connected serial ports. The data packets can be randomly generated or read from a file to enable complete control of their contents.

The program offers flexible configuration options and can serve as a server or client on a TCP/IP network. Full duplex mode and flow control are supported on COM and RS232 ports. Log files of sent data can be saved for future analysis and data is visually displayed as it is sent and received. Developers and network professionals can benefit from the features of this serial communication application.

Virtual Serial Port Driver