Serial Built-ins ¶

Serial Built-ins send AT commands to any serial device data sticks using intaQt's Steps language. For proper device usage, refer to the data stick's user manual. Additionally, the Serial built-in must be configured if using the Speech Channel Module.

Configuration ¶

A dedicated configuration called Serial must be added to an intaQt configuration file. Each serial port requires its own serial configuration.

Syntax

Serial {
    <name String> {
        port = <String>
        rate = <Number>
        params = <Number>
        timeoutMillis = <Number>
    }
}

Parameters

name - The name assigned to the serial port configuration
- Any name may be chosen, but if the name starts with speech, intaQt will interpret the device as a Speech Channel Module
port - The serial port being used
params - The set of serial configuration parameters relating to databits, parity and stopbits
timeoutMillis (optional) - The timeout in milliseconds that Serial Built-ins wait after sending a command

Example

Serial {
    "huawei" {
        port = "/dev/ttyUSB0"
        rate = 9600
        params = "8N1"
        timeoutMillis = 30000
    }
}

Important! Windows uses a COM port with a number that may change when connecting the same device to another of the PC's USB ports.

Finding the Correct Serial Port ¶

Depending on the platform, the serial port can be manually found one of the following ways:

For Windows, this information is provided by the device manager that displays all serial ports (called COM ports).
For Linux, the command /dev/tty* shows all serial ports. Next, type the output (For example, /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyACM0). Note that the list might be quite long.
For Mac OS, entering ls /dev/cu.* into Terminal shows all serial ports. Next, type the output (for example, /dev/cu.ttyUSB0) Note: Serial terminal software (such as Putty for Windows or Minicom for Linux) can also be used to find the USB serial port.

Using Serial Built-ins ¶

Serial Built-ins return an object that communicates with a device via the serial port. This object supports two methods: sendAndReceive and fire.

Send and Receive¶

The sendAndReceive method sends a text string to the serial interface. It then waits for a response and returns it as a SerialCommunicationResult.

Syntax

1	<connection Object> := Serial.port(<portIdentifier String>).sendAndReceive(<text String>)

Returns
A response as a SerialCommunicationResult object. A CRLF (carriage return line feed) is appended automatically to the text string if not yet given.

Parameters

portIdentifier - The USB port, as defined in the configuration file
text - The text string being sent to the serial port

Example

stepdef "send an AT command"
    resp := Serial.port("huawei").sendAndReceive("ATI")
    if resp.isOK() then
        println("Response=" + resp.getContent())
    else
         println("FAILURE: " + resp.getContent())
    end
end

A SerialCommunicationResult is returned by sendAndReceive and supports the methods below:

response.isOK() - true if response is valid, false otherwise.
response.isNOK() - true if communication failed, false otherwise.
response.getContent() - Retrieves the response as a string. If the communication fails, the string contains an error message.

Fire¶

The fire method sends a string over the serial connection and ignores any response.

Syntax

1 2	<connection Object> := Serial.port(<portIdentifier String>) <connection>.fire(<text String>)

Returns
The serial connection object.

Parameters

portIdentifier - The USB port, as defined in the configuration file
text - The text being sent to the serial port

Example

stepdef "send an AT command"
    serialConn := Serial.port("huawei")
    serialConn.fire("AT^CURC=0")
    resp := serialConn.sendAndReceive("ATI")
    if resp.isOK() then
        println("Response=" + resp.getContent())
    else
        println("FAILURE: " + resp.getContent())
        assert false
    end
end