Chapter 9
If a SerialPort object is using ASCIIEncoding and storing received data in a
String or Char array, each received byte is stored by default as a 16-bit charac-
ter:
' Read a String.
Dim receivedText1 As String
receivedText1 = myComPort.ReadExisting
Console.WriteLine(receivedText1)
' Read a Char array.
Dim receivedText2(3) As Char
myComPort.Read(receivedText2, 0, 4)
Console.WriteLine(receivedText2)
// Read a String.
String receivedText1;
receivedText1=myComPort.ReadExisting();
Console.WriteLine(receivedText1);
// Read a Char array.
Char[] receivedText2 = new Char[4];
myComPort.Read(receivedText2, 0, 4);
Console.WriteLine(receivedText2);
The ReadExisting and Read methods retrieve received characters and store each
as a 16-bit value in a String.
The transmitting and receiving computers must agree on an encoding method
for the text. For example, in the code below, the transmitting computer might
think it’s transmitting a byte equal to 169 (A9h), which is the code point for a
copyright symbol (©):
Dim charToSend as Char = ChrW(169)
myComPort.Write(charToSend)