Instrument I/O Using Visual Basic
David Hergert · 2020
Use a commercial plug-in data acquisition board • Use the serial port • Use the printer port While Visual Basic can easily display data, it is more difficult to read in data than QuickBasic.Displaying data can be made a relatively simple process by first creating ActiveX controls.A discussion of how to read through a serial port is first covered, then a description of creating ActiveX controls for displays.Finally a description of how Visual C++ can be used to create a DLL that allows Visual Basic to read from a port. Serial I/O with Visual BasicMany inexpensive devices exist today that allow the user to read data through the communication port.Serial data acquisition boards can input and output analog or digital signals.In addition, digital multimeters and oscilloscopes often have an RS-232port included.Some digital multimeters also include a thermocouple for temperature measurement.Often this equipment comes with instructions on how to set up data transfer using Microsoft QuickBasic.Reading and writing to a serial port in Visual Basic is done in a similar manner.When QuickBasic attempts to make a connection, the following events happen: Page 6.601.1