VB terminal emulation add-in

[donjohnson]

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone has seen any sort of API or addin for VB or VBA that would perform terminal emulation functions without having a terminal emulation program. More specifically, we are looking to pass keystrokes into and receive screen data from a Unix/Linux host from VB/VBA.

Any input or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Don Johnson

 

[BrainB]

If you mean run another application from Excel, I have done this. See Excel VB Editor Help for Shell and SendKeys for some background information.

The results cannot be 100% satisfactory due to varying server speeds. Delays have to be put in the code because it normally runs too fast to allow time for things to happen on screen. Nevertheless, users are happier with this than without.

The task of doing this is not recommended for beginners.


Regards
BrianB
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[donjohnson]

Thanks for your note, Brian. I am not looking to launch an application from Excel, but to pass and receive raw data streams to a unix/Linux host without having to use a terminal emulator like Reflection or Tiny Term to scrape the screen.

Don

 

[jaymaechtlen]

I did something like this long ago. (VB 1.0~3.0)
Had to establish connection to serial line, send keystrokes (character strings) to the device, then parse the return data.
It got easier once I discovered I could specify "where" on the screen to (tell the device to) place the info, hence I could predict which cursor positioning strings to look for.
Once I found the positioning strings in the returned 'stuff', I could parse the data I actualy wanted.
In our case, the device thought it was talking to an ANSI terminal. In your case, you must determine what char set/encoding/protocol the device needs, and figure out how to send and recieve it.

 

[rsinj]

try looking at this for an intro of how to proceed:

[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.planetsourcecode.com/vb/scripts/ShowCode.asp?txtCodeId=8089&lngWId=1[/URL]