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Software Breakout Box

Software Breakout Box is designed to work under Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP. It monitors the status of the PC serial port (RS-232) hardware status lines, CTS (Clear To Send), DSR (Data Set Ready), CD (Carrier Detect), RI (Ring Indicate) -- inputs to the port, and RTS (Ready To Send), DTR (Data Terminal Ready) -- outputs. This process does not use any Windows APIs, nor does it intercept Windows system calls. Rather, it interrogates the appropriate UART Modem Status and Modem Control registers directly. For this reason, this software is limited to use with serial ports that use actual hardware 16550 UARTs (or the equivalent). The I/O ports associated with these UARTs must be in the "ISA" I/O port address range (addresses less than 0x400 (hexadecimal). The Software Breakout Box will not work with devices that employ software UARTs, such as WinModems or USB serial port adapters. Nor will it work with serial port devices with I/O addresses higher than 0x3FF, such as some PCI bus modems or serial port adapters.

I have decided to offer this software as a WORKING DEMO. What does that mean? And... Why?

The application is fully functional as downloaded, with one exception. A "nag" screen is displayed when it starts and the application runs for only three minutes before exiting. Often, three minutes will give you all the information that you need. If not, you can restart it. If you want to run it without this time limit, you can get a "licensed" version for $10. Simply send me email at dick_grier@msn.com. I will send you a user name and serial number that you can enter to enable unlimited time operation; also the "nag screen" is removed.

The "logic analyzer" display uses a commercial Visual Basic add-on (for those interested, it is one of the components in National Instruments Measurement Studio package). This product is moderately expensive. You can help me to defer my cost by paying for the unlimited-time version.

Source Code is available. You may purchase it for $15 (see the instructions above). However, please realize that the graphical display elements rely on Measurement Studio. You can duplicate these elements using native VB methods (or APIs). However, that is a project that I will have to leave up to you.

Disclaimer

This application is provided free, without warranty of any kind. You are free to use it for any purpose that you deem reasonable, but the author is not responsible for any such use (or misuse), or for any damage that might result from its use. Treat this software like you would any beta software. If you encounter a problem, let me know. I'll try to solve the problem. However, even in the unlimited-time version I cannot guarantee it - try the demo before you purchase the "full version". IMPORTANT: This is legacy software that works only under Windows XP or Windows 7 - it will not work under Windows 10!

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