This is the initial release of my lightweight Serial Port Reader written in PowerShell script for reading data from a serial port and also able to export the captured data into a log file. You may download (copy-and-paste) the PowerShell script below to give a try. You may need to save into something like SerialPortReader.ps1 file. I also have published this script on my Gist in case you want to contribute or help to improve this script.
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Listens to and read data from a serial port (e.g. COM port)
.DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this script is to keep listening and read data from a serial port.
All the data captured will be displayed and log into a file.
.EXAMPLE
./SerialPortReader.ps1
.EXAMPLE
./SerialPortReader.ps1 -PortName COM3 -BaudRate 9600
.EXAMPLE
./SerialPortReader.ps1 -PortName COM3 -BaudRate 9600 -Parity None -DataBits 8 -StopBits One -Handshake None -OutputFile ".\output1.log" -ReadInterval 1000
.LINK
https://heiswayi.github.io
.AUTHOR
Heiswayi Nrird, 2016
.LICENSE
MIT
#>
[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true, ConfirmImpact='Medium')]
[Alias()]
[OutputType([int])]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=0)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[string]$PortName = "COM1",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=1)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[int]$BaudRate = 9600,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=2)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[System.IO.Ports.Parity]$Parity = [System.IO.Ports.Parity]"None",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=3)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[int]$DataBits = 8,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=4)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[System.IO.Ports.StopBits]$StopBits = [System.IO.Ports.StopBits]"One",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=5)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[System.IO.Ports.Handshake]$Handshake = [System.IO.Ports.Handshake]"None",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=6)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[string]$OutputFile = "notempty",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=7)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[int]$ReadInterval = 1000
)
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Listens to and read data from a serial port (e.g. COM port)
.DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this script is to keep listening and read data from a serial port.
All the data captured will be displayed and log into a file.
.EXAMPLE
SerialPortReader
.EXAMPLE
SerialPortReader -PortName COM3 -BaudRate 9600
.EXAMPLE
SerialPortReader -PortName COM3 -BaudRate 9600 -Parity None -DataBits 8 -StopBits One -Handshake None -OutputFile ".\output1.log" -ReadInterval 1000
.LINK
https://heiswayi.github.io
.AUTHOR
Heiswayi Nrird, 2016
.LICENSE
MIT
#>
function SerialPortReader
{
[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true, ConfirmImpact='Medium')]
[Alias()]
[OutputType([int])]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=0)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[string]$PortName = "COM1",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=1)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[int]$BaudRate = 9600,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=2)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[System.IO.Ports.Parity]$Parity = [System.IO.Ports.Parity]"None",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=3)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[int]$DataBits = 8,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=4)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[System.IO.Ports.StopBits]$StopBits = [System.IO.Ports.StopBits]"One",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=5)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[System.IO.Ports.Handshake]$Handshake = [System.IO.Ports.Handshake]"None",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=6)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[string]$OutputFile = "notempty",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$false, Position=7)]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[int]$ReadInterval = 1000
)
$proceed = $false
Write-Output ("Checking PortName...")
foreach ($item in [System.IO.Ports.SerialPort]::GetPortNames())
{
if ($item -eq $PortName)
{
$proceed = $true
Write-Output ("--> PortName " + $PortName + " is available")
break
}
}
if ($proceed -eq $false)
{
Write-Warning ("--> PortName " + $PortName + " not found")
return
}
$filename = ""
try
{
$port = New-Object System.IO.Ports.SerialPort
$port.PortName = $PortName
$port.BaudRate = $BaudRate
$port.Parity = $Parity
$port.DataBits = $DataBits
$port.StopBits = $StopBits
$port.Handshake = $Handshake
$currentDate = Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd
$fileExt = ".log"
if ($OutputFile -eq "notempty")
{
$filename = (Get-Item -Path ".\" -Verbose).FullName + "\SerialPortReader_" + $currentDate + $fileExt
}
else
{
$filename = $OutputFile
}
Write-Output ("Establishing connection to the port...")
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 1000
$port.Open()
Write-Output $port
Write-Output ("--> Connection established.")
Write-Output ("")
}
catch [System.Exception]
{
Write-Error ("Failed to connect : " + $_)
$error[0] | Format-List -Force
if ($port -ne $null) { $port.Close() }
exit 1
}
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 1000
do
{
$key = if ($host.UI.RawUI.KeyAvailable) { $host.UI.RawUI.ReadKey('NoEcho, IncludeKeyDown') }
if ($port.IsOpen)
{
Start-Sleep -Milliseconds $ReadInterval
#$data = $port.ReadLine()
$data = $port.ReadExisting()
<#
[byte[]]$readBuffer = New-Object byte[] ($port.ReadBufferSize + 1)
try
{
[int]$count = $port.Read($readBuffer, 0, $port.ReadBufferSize)
[string]$data = [System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetString($readBuffer, 0, $count)
}
catch { }
#>
$length = $data.Length
# remove newline chars
$data = $data -replace [System.Environment]::NewLine,""
$getTimestamp = Get-Date -Format yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff
Write-Output ("[" + $getTimestamp + "] " + $data)
if ($length -gt 0) { ExportToFile -Filename $filename -Timestamp $getTimestamp -Data $data }
}
} until ($key.VirtualKeyCode -eq 81) # until 'q' is pressed
if ($port -ne $null) { $port.Close() }
}
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Listens to and read data from a serial port (e.g. COM port)
.DESCRIPTION
The purpose of this script is to keep listening and read data from a serial port.
All the data captured will be displayed and log into a file.
.EXAMPLE
ExportToFile -Filename <fullpath> -Timestamp <time string> -Data <data string>
.AUTHOR
Heiswayi Nrird, 2016
.LICENSE
MIT
#>
function ExportToFile
{
[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true, ConfirmImpact='Medium')]
[OutputType([string])]
Param
(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=0)]
[string]$Filename,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=1)]
[string]$Timestamp,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true, Position=2)]
[string]$Data
)
try
{
"[" + $Timestamp + "] " + $Data | Out-File -FilePath $Filename -Encoding ascii -Append
}
catch [System.Exception]
{
Write-Warning ("Failed to export captured data : " + $_)
return
}
}
if (-not ($myinvocation.line.Contains("`$here\`$sut"))) {
SerialPortReader -PortName $PortName -BaudRate $BaudRate -Parity $Parity -DataBits $DataBits -StopBits $StopBits -Handshake $Handshake -OutputFile $OutputFile -ReadInterval $ReadInterval
}