SiLA2.SerialPort 10.2.4

SiLA2.SerialPort

A .NET library for discovering and controlling serial port connections (USB/RS232) in SiLA2 applications. This module provides port discovery, multi-port connection management, and data transfer capabilities commonly needed for laboratory instrument communication.

Features

• Port Discovery: Enumerate available serial ports with USB device metadata (VID/PID/Serial)
• Multi-Port Management: Single manager handles multiple simultaneous connections
• Async Data Transfer: Send and receive text or binary data with async/await patterns
• Event-Driven: Subscribe to data received, errors, and status changes
• Configuration via Options Pattern: Easy integration with .NET configuration
• Dependency Injection: Full DI support with extension methods

Installation

dotnet add package SiLA2.SerialPort

Quick Start

Register Services

// In Program.cs or Startup.cs
builder.Services.AddSerialPortManager();

Discover Ports

public class MyService
{
    private readonly ISerialPortDiscovery _discovery;

    public MyService(ISerialPortDiscovery discovery)
    {
        _discovery = discovery;
    }

    public void ListPorts()
    {
        foreach (var port in _discovery.GetAvailablePorts())
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"{port.PortName}: {port.Description}");
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(port.VendorId))
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"  USB: VID={port.VendorId}, PID={port.ProductId}");
            }
        }
    }
}

Connect and Communicate

public class InstrumentController
{
    private readonly ISerialPortManager _portManager;

    public InstrumentController(ISerialPortManager portManager)
    {
        _portManager = portManager;
    }

    public async Task SendTextDataAsync(string portName, string data)
    {
        var connection = await _portManager.ConnectAsync(new SerialPortOptions
        {
            PortName = portName,
            BaudRate = 9600,
            DataBits = 8,
            StopBits = StopBits.One,
            Parity = Parity.None
        });

        // Send text data (encoded as bytes)
        var bytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(data);
        var result = await connection.SendAsync(bytes);
        Console.WriteLine($"Sent {result.BytesTransmitted} bytes");
    }

    public async Task SendBinaryDataAsync(string portName, byte[] data)
    {
        var connection = _portManager.GetConnection(portName);
        var result = await connection.SendAsync(data);
        Console.WriteLine($"Sent {result.BytesTransmitted} bytes");
    }

    public async Task<byte[]> ReadBinaryDataAsync(string portName, int maxBytes)
    {
        var connection = _portManager.GetConnection(portName);
        return await connection.ReadAsync(maxBytes);
    }

    public async Task<string> ReadLineAsync(string portName)
    {
        var connection = _portManager.GetConnection(portName);
        return await connection.ReadLineAsync();
    }

    public async Task DisconnectAllAsync()
    {
        await _portManager.DisconnectAllAsync();
    }
}

With Configuration

// appsettings.json
{
  "SerialPort": {
    "BaudRate": 19200,
    "DataBits": 8,
    "Parity": "None",
    "StopBits": "One",
    "ReadTimeoutMs": 2000
  }
}

// Program.cs
builder.Services.AddSerialPortManager(options =>
{
    builder.Configuration.GetSection("SerialPort").Bind(options);
});

Configuration Options

Events

ISerialPortConnection Events

connection.DataReceived += (sender, data) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Received {data.Length} bytes");
};

connection.ErrorOccurred += (sender, ex) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error: {ex.Message}");
};

connection.StatusChanged += (sender, status) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Status: {status}");
};

ISerialPortManager Events

manager.ConnectionOpened += (sender, connection) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Connected to {connection.PortName}");
};

manager.ConnectionClosed += (sender, portName) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Disconnected from {portName}");
};

SiLA2 Feature Integration

For gRPC exposure of serial communication, use the SiLA2.SerialPort.Features package which provides a complete SiLA2 Feature Definition and service implementation.

Platform Support

• Windows: Full support with native COM port enumeration and WMI-based USB metadata
• Linux: Supported via .NET 6+ (ports typically at /dev/ttyUSB* or /dev/ttyACM*)
• macOS: Supported via .NET 6+ (ports typically at /dev/tty.*)

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details.