Serial Port Data Logger

  1. Serial Port Data Logger
  2. Serial Port Data Logger With Sms
  3. Serial Port Data Logger Excel
  4. Serial Data Logger
  5. Data Logger Water
Active3 years, 11 months ago

I'm working on an embedded system and it uses one serial port for all it's logging purposes.

Download RS-232 Data Logger for free. Allows you to redirect all communication data from RS232 compliant serial port device into a text file for further analysis. RS232 Data Logger redirects data from any available serial port/ports and works under Virtual Machine. Serial port data logger are developed on unique big memory SD card storing technology which doesn’t need special protocl and support standard serial port with transparent protocol. Data is stored at SD card with TXT file and can support 1-8G. Intro: I need to write a small program that reads serial data in real-time and writes it to a text file. I have made some progress with reading the data, but I haven't had any success storing this.

  • Related downloads: Advanced Serial Port Monitor. This program allows you to check the flow of data through a computer's COM ports. As you can see from software name this application can work as serial port monitor.It supports full duplex mode, flexible adjusting of parameters, output received data to file, automatic and manual modes, free data source, serial device simulation, plugins.
  • The SparkFun Logomatic v2 takes everything we learned with logging analog or serial data from your projects over the years and boils it down to an easy to. SparkFun Logomatic v2 - Serial SD Datalogger (FAT32) Product Help and Resources. If you are using the second SPI port (the one brought out to connectors, port 0 is used.

Is there a tool out there that allows you to filter lines into different windows (or remove them altogether) so that I can separate the output of the various logging sub-systems and remove spam messages that show up multiple times a second?

I'd prefer an open-source solution, but a highly-recommend closed product might do.

Bill KBill K
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closed as off-topic by Machavity, Pang, Makyen, Paul Roub, Petter FribergMar 17 '17 at 20:35

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10 Answers

I've never thought of doing such a thing, but here's one product that might do the trick: Eltima Serial Port Splitter. It claims to be able to take one COM port and turn it into multiple virtual ports to connect to many applications. You might be able to take each application and just look at one kind of output.

Personally, I would just write a python script with PySerial and something like PyQT or wxPython (GUI libraries) to filter the data to different windows. It's an easy language to learn and makes a handy tool for embedded systems development for things such as this.

Jay AtkinsonJay Atkinson
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I would do the following:

Use Python.

  • Use Python's logging module
  • Use 3rd-party pySerial module

Write a Python program to read the serial data from the device, and translate it into log item for Python's logging module.

  • If your device's log messages have some sort of source identifier, translate that to a Python 'logger' name according to your needs, using the getLogger() function. You can define logger names any way that you need, e.g. to define log source or category.
  • If your device's log messages have a severity indication, translate it to the lvl parameter to the logger's log() method. Otherwise just use one of the logger methods such as info().

Make use of the Python logging module's config file feature to filter the data as you want in a particular situation.

  • You can filter particular log items by severity and logger name.
  • You can log to multiple destinations: You can filter and print certain log items to screen, and at the same time filter and print certain log items to one or more files. You can mix these in any combination that you want. It's very flexible.
  • You could have several logging config files, for several different logging purposes, and simply specify which one you want to use via the command line each time you run your program.

I've used Python's logging module with config files to set up my filtering, and it's really terrific.

Craig McQueenCraig McQueen
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You can use the Eltima's splitter with Advanced Serial Data Logger, this software has several filter plug-ins that can filter out unnecessary messages.

Helen DownsHelen Downs

I guess it will depend on the format your logs have. If they looks like (or you can make them look like) the syslog format, you can try the following:

Data logger testo
AlejandroAlejandro

I would personally use the Python method described above, but another (relatively easy) way to go about it would be to use sed.

Build a couple different filters to show precisely what you want from the stream, and then pipe in tail -f of your serial device file.

Paul McMillanPaul McMillan
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SmarTerm allows you to connect to many different serial ports in a tabbed interface. It also has a Visual Basic like scripting language that allows you to write scripts for different needs. I wrote quite a few scripts for updating embedded software and also automating the saving of logs in multiple tabs.

Mark NorgrenMark Norgren

Serial Port Data Logger

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Try Powershell. You obviously need to add filtering, but this should get you started

Mathias FMathias F
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sanmaisanmai
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My first choice is to always run PortMon (originally from SysInternals). It has a filter option where you can type in strings to include, exclude, or highlight:

I have used this for years on Windows NT/2000/XP with great success.

Hopefully, you're running a 32-bit Windows OS, because if you're running 64bit, you'll have to go with something like Eltima's product.

DaveDave
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There's always the venerable protocol analyzer.

You might only get one color on the screen, but it's a platform independent serial port logging solution.

WildCrustaceanWildCrustacean
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Today, computer viruses have literally flooded the world and continue moving freely around the Internet. Now, when we hear the word “port”, the first thing that comes to our minds is logical ports that are used in network technologies like TCP/IPor UDP to organize communication channels, but we forget about physical ports serving for connecting external devices. High-speed USB interfaces are now seen as a universal means for connecting printers, mice and keyboards, whereas good old COM ports are used less frequently. However, the latter ones are still present in some modern computers, and probably the time has come to use them for some other purposes, for example, for controlling specialized COM-based equipment.

In order to monitor and analyze serial communications between a computer and a COM port device, you can rely on a dedicated software - serial data logger which will read and record RS232 data to a text file for its further analysis.

There are also special hardware RS232 port analyzers designed to capture analog and digital signals but, like any professional equipment, they are rather expensive to buy.

In this article, I’ll cover both software and hardware COM port loggers and highlight the clear benefits you get with one or another solution. Read on to learn how to capture serial port data to file in the fastest and simplest way.

Contents


  1. Serial port logger software
  2. Hardware serial data recorders

RS232 port logger software


If you’re looking for a handy solution to capture and display traffic passing over serial connections of your computer, a COM port data logging software is what may help you do this quickly and effortlessly. With a decent serial logger app, you can capture RS232 communication data, parse it and decode into a human-readable form.

Below you’ll find the description of several popular software COM loggers allowing users to review the serial communication data and perform effective analysis of RS232 data packets.

Serial Port Data Logger With Sms

1. Serial Port Logger by Eltima


COM Port Logger by Eltima takes the leading position in the market of software apps for serial data reading and recording.


Eltima’s Serial Logger delivers a host of powerful features helping users monitor the activity of their systems’ COM ports, read serial communication data and save it to a file. The utility will let you prevent issues from arising during development, testing or optimization of a serial app or driver. Serial Data Logger provides several ways to visualize captured data and gives you the ability to see what’s happening to any of your serial interfaces in real time.

RS232 Logger app allows collecting data from virtually any device communicating over RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 protocol. Also, you can use the utility to monitor the data exchange between Windows-based applications and external devices attached to a serial port of your PC. This can be a specialized measuring instrument, a home radio station, another computer connected via a null modem cable, etc.

  • 01Top 5 Free Serial Monitoring Utilities
  • 03Advantages of serial data transmission

Here are just some of the advanced features setting Serial Data Logger apart from most other serial port terminal solutions:

  • The program can display RS232 data in four different views: table, line, dump, and terminal.
  • It allows sniffing and logging multiple COM ports within one monitoring session.
  • It records serial input/output control codes (IOCTLs) with details.
  • It makes it possible to emulate sending data (string, binary, octal, decimal, hexadecimal, mixed) to a COM port on behalf of the monitored program.
  • It comes with advanced filters and flexible search options which let you track the data you are interested in, etc.

2. Free Serial Com Port Logger


Another utility that will come in handy for collecting precise data about RS232 port activity is FREE RS232 Data Logger - open source solution. This free app is written for the Windows platform and works well with Windows XP/7/8, Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows Server 2012, and more.


This program is a powerful real-time communication analyzer that allows you to monitor the data exchange over COM interfaces and understand how your serial ports work. The program has a convenient and intuitive interface that makes it simple to manage your I/O serial ports.

In addition, this freeware Serial Port Logger is able to easily:

  • Connect to a COM port and begin serial logging even if the port has already been used by another program.
  • Record the incoming data stream to a text file from several serial ports at a time.
  • Sniff real and virtual COM interfaces.
  • Start/stop serial data logging on the fly.
  • Work in a virtual environment (VMware, ESX, Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft Hyper-V, etc.)

3. COM-File


COM-File is a simple serial data logging app that can connect to and log virtually any serial peripheral.

Why choose COM-File?

  • Well for one, it can read and record data from up to 16 COM-based devices at a time, which is rather convenient as you can simply open another COM-File connection window and start logging a new serial port right away.
  • A friendly multi-document user interface of COM-File app enables you to work with multiple documents at the same time.
  • On top of that, COM-File software allows logging serial data directly to a disk file. All you need to do is configure the serial communication settings and specify the name of a disk file.

4. Advanced Serial Data Logger

Serial Port Data Logger Excel


Serial port data logger software

Last but not least software solution in our collection is Advanced Serial Data Logger by AGG Software. This utility processes data packages received via RS-232 ports and records the data to an Excel or Access file or any other Windows application.

The program gives you the way to not only collect serial data from any device in real time but also receive and transmit data via an RS-232 or RS-485 interface with a hardware converter.


Serial Data Logger

With this handy app, you can capture data from a serial port, process it according to your needs, extract bits of data from data packets, and then send the data to any Windows or DOS application by clicking the appropriate buttons in the application window. The data will be transferred via DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange), ODBC, OLE, etc. Advanced Serial Data Logger is a great solution for automated data collection systems, office call analysis systems, etc.

The program can also transmit requests and commands via a serial port when you need to control serial devices using ASCII (default) or Modbus protocols. In this case, Advanced Serial Data Logger becomes an I/O server.

RS232 Analyzer Hardware


Logging COM port activity can become a real challenge for users working with serial devices and applications. RS232 data logger hardware delivers a great option to monitor and analyze the activity of serial ports. This specialized hardware empowers users to capture data instantly, record RX/TX channels to output files, and detect serial communication problems on the fly.

  • 01Serial port sniffer hardware overview
  • 03How to parse a Modbus message

Let’s have a closer look at two of the most efficient hardware solutions for serial data logging.

1. AirDrive Serial Logger


Data Logger Water

AirDrive Serial Logger is a compact device aimed at recording RS-232 data from such devices as COM-based printers, terminals, keyboards, mice, etc. With its advanced time-stamping and live data streaming options, this solution can be applied as both a Wi-Fi hotspot and a Wi-Fi device. You can access this serial logger from a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer and find the data log on the webpage it presents.

The hardware analyzer can be a big help in many usage scenarios, including:

  • Reverse-engineering of data exchange protocols;
  • Creating backup copies of important data from devices such as terminals, barcode readers, card readers, etc.
  • Data logging from temperature, pressure, voltage sensors, etc.

2. RSLogger Module


RSLogger Module is a hardware device offering the outstanding data-logging and analyzing capabilities that make it a favorite for many users. RSLogger solutions can transfer data over Ethernet and Wi-Fi. They work with virtual COM ports and have unlimited data storage capacities with external USB Mass Storage support.

Also, this hardware delivers numerous other features that ensure you’ll have no trouble recording serial data, including:

  • Consistent support for customized baud rates;
  • Advanced date and time stamping option;
  • Separate settings for each RX, TX channel, and more.

Arduino serial data logger


Want to find out how to build an Arduino data logger and watch data from an Arduino? Here’s a quick way to do this:

If you can use an SD card in your project, that is an obvious solution to create an Arduino SD card data logger. Some Ethernet shields are provided with an SD Card reader. Or you can add an SD card by using a microSD adapter.


It won’t be difficult to interact with your SD card from an Arduino, as SD cards use a form of the SPI protocol. You only need to make sure it is a slower class. A proven way is to use Class 4 cards and make sure then are 16GB or less.

The IDE comes with an SD Example called “Datalogger”, so you can find a code example there.

Serial Port Monitor

Requirements: Windows (32-bit and 64-bit): XP/2003/2008/Vista/7/8/10, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016 , 9.16MB size
Version 7.0.342 (13th Jan, 2018) Release notes
Category: Communication Application
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