Okay, so i made a simple sketch. it makes you capable of adding a dropdown list where you can choose a COM port. this shouldnt be limited to windows COM ports but should show all Serial ports available.
Oh and for those who dont want to download the library and all just to see if its something for them, heres a picture where is used it in a fan and servo controller.
The ControlP5 library should be place in you sketches folder (so if all your sketches goes into documents processing, the folders inside the .zip that you get the library in should be put like this:
If you get the Warning mismatch bla bla error, just download the the latest RXTX from
here (the binary not the source)
put the RXTXcomm.jar into:
[folder with processing in]\java\lib\ext
and put both the rxtxParallel.dll and rxtxSerial.dll into:
[folder with processing in]\java\bin
I have used some time to comment every single line thats why the code seems so long
(about double the length).
/*Dropdown list made by Dumle29 (Mikkel Jeppesen) for processing, it uses the ControlP5 library and the processing.Serial library
*/
import controlP5.*; //import the Serial, and controlP5 libraries.
import processing.serial.*;
ControlP5 controlP5; //Define the variable controlP5 as a ControlP5 type.
DropdownList ports; //Define the variable ports as a Dropdownlist.
Serial port; //Define the variable port as a Serial object.
int Ss; //The dropdown list will return a float value, which we will connvert into an int. we will use this int for that).
String[] comList ; //A string to hold the ports in.
boolean serialSet; //A value to test if we have setup the Serial port.
boolean Comselected = false; //A value to test if you have chosen a port in the list.
void setup() {
//Set the size, for this example 120 by 120 px is fine.
size(120,120);
//I dont fully understand the library and the thing with this, but monkey see monky do ;) (oh yeah and it needs this line).
controlP5 = new ControlP5(this);
//Make a dropdown list calle ports. Lets explain the values: ("name", left margin, top margin, width, height (84 here since the boxes have a height of 20, and theres 1 px between each item so 4 items (or scroll bar).
//Setup the dropdownlist by using a function. This is more pratical if you have several list that needs the same settings.
customize(ports);
}
//The dropdown list returns the data in a way, that i dont fully understand, again mokey see monkey do. However once inside the two loops, the value (a float) can be achive via the used line ;).
void controlEvent(ControlEvent theEvent) {
if (theEvent.isGroup())
{
//Store the value of which box was selected, we will use this to acces a string (char array).
float S = theEvent.group().value();
//Since the list returns a float, we need to convert it to an int. For that we us the int() function.
Ss = int(S);
//With this code, its a one time setup, so we state that the selection of port has been done. You could modify the code to stop the serial connection and establish a new one.
Comselected = true;
}
}
//here we setup the dropdown list.
void customize(DropdownList ddl) {
//Set the background color of the list (you wont see this though).
ddl.setBackgroundColor(color(200));
//Set the height of each item when the list is opened.
ddl.setItemHeight(20);
//Set the height of the bar itself.
ddl.setBarHeight(15);
//Set the lable of the bar when nothing is selected.
ddl.captionLabel().set("Select COM port");
//Set the top margin of the lable.
ddl.captionLabel().style().marginTop = 3;
//Set the left margin of the lable.
ddl.captionLabel().style().marginLeft = 3;
//Set the top margin of the value selected.
ddl.valueLabel().style().marginTop = 3;
//Store the Serial ports in the string comList (char array).
comList = port.list();
//We need to know how many ports there are, to know how many items to add to the list, so we will convert it to a String object (part of a class).
String comlist = join(comList, ",");
//We also need how many characters there is in a single port name, we´ll store the chars here for counting later.
String COMlist = comList[0];
//Here we count the length of each port name.
int size2 = COMlist.length();
//Now we can count how many ports there are, well that is count how many chars there are, so we will divide by the amount of chars per port name.
int size1 = comlist.length() / size2;
//Now well add the ports to the list, we use a for loop for that. How many items is determined by the value of size1.
for(int i=0; i< size1; i++)
{
//This is the line doing the actual adding of items, we use the current loop we are in to determin what place in the char array to access and what item number to add it as.
ddl.addItem(comList[i],i);
}
//Set the color of the background of the items and the bar.
ddl.setColorBackground(color(60));
//Set the color of the item your mouse is hovering over.
ddl.setColorActive(color(255,128));
}
void startSerial(String[] theport)
{
//When this function is called, we setup the Serial connection with the accuried values. The int Ss acesses the determins where to accsess the char array.
port = new Serial(this, theport[Ss], 9600);
//Since this is a one time setup, we state that we now have set up the connection.
serialSet = true;
}
void draw() {
//So when we have chosen a Serial port but we havent yet setup the Serial connection. Do this loop
while(Comselected == true && serialSet == false)
{
//Call the startSerial function, sending it the char array (string[]) comList
startSerial(comList);
}
//set the background color of the sketch
background(0);
//Do some stuff, for example, since the serial connection is set up (once the user has selected a port), sending/receive serial data ;).
(about double the length).