Question

I want to have an array of SerialPort-Objects for each Port in the System.
My idea was to make it in that way:

    public ref class CommunicatorClass
{
private:
    static array<SerialPort^>^ _serialPortList;

public: 
    static void Main(){
//          _serialPortList->Initialize;
        for each (String^ s in SerialPort::GetPortNames())
        {
            Console::WriteLine("   {0}", s);
            AddListItem(s);

        }
    }

     static void AddListItem(String^ s)
    {
        // Get the length
        _serialPortList->Length = _serialPortList->GetLength + 1;

        _serialPortList[_serialPortList->GetLength] = gcnew SerialPort(s, 9600);
    }
};

but I am completely new to C++/Windows-Programming. So, yes, sure, there are many errors in. Can anyone please correct it (if the idea itself is not complete bullshit) and tell me some words on the errors ?

Would be nice, thank you in advance.

Answer 1

You want to actually open every serial port on the system, all at the same baud rate?

You can’t change the length of an array, you have to create a brand-new one and copy over all the data, and it’s inefficient to do that every time you need to add another item. I suggest using System::Collections::Generic::List instead, which takes care of all the dynamic resizing for you.

C++/CLI can call the native Windows serial port functions directly, and I suggest you do so, because the .NET SerialPort class is a piece of total garbage which forces you into a programming style that causes nothing but trouble. Of course you’ll want to hide the Windows interface behind a wrapper class of your own, but it’s well worth the effort.