rs-232 emulation of a touch screen

[rlhornbeck]

I have an odd situation that I need to be able to control a computer like a touch screen would but without the touch screen. Basically I am looking for a touch screen driver that I can control with rs-232. I want to send only the basic command of touching the screen in certain locations to the computer through the serial port. I am not that good with figuring out the code so am looking for one that has documentation about the code with good examples to help me along. Does anyone have experience with this or know of a drive that would work?

 

[mavromatis]

You don't need a touchscreen driver as a touchscreen is just another input device, like a mouse. If I were you, I would just write a memory resident application that sends events and moves the mouse pointer to a location and clicks, etc. You need to write this code yourself as it will be either in managed or unmanaged code. You'll need to figure it out yourself (as in DIY) since creating a product like this won't be worth the development costs.

 

[rlhornbeck]

The problem with that approach is that I have never written any drivers nor do I have any knowledge of how to do it. I was hoping to use someone else’s driver in order not to have that step.

 

[WayneW]

Might AutoIt do what you are looking for?
http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/

 

[mavromatis]

AutoIt is just a scripting engine that gives you windowing automation. My understanding is that he wants to send some event or command via RS232 and have the mouse move to a location and/or click. Maybe an ASCII event like: MOUSEMOVE:0,0 would move the mouse to X:0, Y:0. This is totally possible but either you need to find someone to write it for you (free or for payment) or you need to DIY. If you would have found me 15 years ago, i would have done it for you as an exercise...

Here are some pointers:

- You will be using the System.IO.ports to read the serial data in C#.NET or VB.NET
- You would use the user32.dll in unmanaged code like C#.NET or VB.NET to control the mouse position and click

I would suggest you download the trial version of Visual Studio Standard or purchase it ($250) and write it yourself.

I think there is also a free versions called express?? (http://www.microsoft.com/express/product/). You'll need to research this yourself.

 

[damage]

check out eventghost http://www.eventghost.org

 

[rlhornbeck]

Mavromatis understands basically what I would like in the mousemove0,0 then left click. I was hoping for a pre-made driver since I don't know any programming. This is why I was thinking a touch screen driver.

 

[damage]

eventghost is point & click - no programming necessary. the attached images show how easy it is to move the mouse to where you want and issue a left button click. you just need to create an event (also point & click) to trigger the macro and decide how you want to trigger it. you can use the serial port plugin to trigger the event or you can use the network sender/receiver plugin, the xpl plugin, etc.View attachment 2436

 

[drozwood90]

Agreed. I was going to suggest Even Ghost or Mortscript.

Mort can move mouse, click, etc. Also can watch the COM port.

However, I think for what you are going to do, Run EventGhost. It's REALLY easy to configure. I was tempted to use Event Ghost to control my TV remotely, however, wanted to send commands across IP. I think Event Ghost COULD do that, but I already had the code 3/4 done by the time I realized Event Ghost might have been a faster / easier solution.

--Dan

 

[electron]

I would go the EventGhost route as well, extremely easy to use! I personally like AutoItv3 as well (and use it a lot), but probably not as user friendly as EG.