Troi Serial Plug-in™ 4.5.1

Troi Serial Plug-in is copyright 1999-2017 of Troi Automatisering. All rights reserved (March 2, 2017).
 
Thank you for your interest in the Troi Serial Plug-in. This FileMaker^® Pro plug-in adds functions to access the serial ports with FileMaker Pro.

This cross-platform plug-in is compatible with FileMaker Pro 12 through FileMaker Pro 15 and adds extra functions, like reading and writing from a serial port. Create powerful database systems by using this plug-in!

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Starting with FileMaker Pro 12 a plug-in can be installed directly from a container field. So if you are using FileMaker Pro 12 or later, installation is very easy: just open the "All Serial Examples.fmp12" example file and the startup script will install the plug-in for you. See also the example file EasyInstallTroiPlugins.fmp12 which contains the actual plug-in and install script.

To install the plug-in for FileMaker Pro 11 follow these instructions:

• If you have not done so already, download the FileMaker 11 package from our web site and open it.
• For Mac OS X: put the file "Troi_Serial.fmplugin" from the folder "Mac OS X Plug-in" into the "Extensions" folder in the FileMaker Pro 11 folder. If you have installed previous versions of this plug-in, you must remove them.
• For Windows: put the file "Troi_Serial_Plugin.fmx" from the directory "Windows Plug-in" into the "Extensions" subdirectory in the FileMaker Pro 11 directory. If you have installed previous versions of this plug-in, you must remove them.
• You may want to install other plug-ins before proceeding. Then (re)start FileMaker Pro.

NOTE We have successfully tested the plug-in with FileMaker Pro 11, but we no longer provide active support for this version.

Troi Serial Plug-in will display a dialog box, indicating that it is loading and showing the registration status. You can now open the file "All Serial Examples.fmp12" to see how to use the plug-in's functions
There is also a Function Overview and a User Guide.

What Troi Serial Plug-in can do for you

This plug-in can read and write to any serial port that is available on your computer.

Notes and known issues

NOTE Troi Serial Plug-in does not supply functions to access the USB bus. However it will work with some USB to serial port adaptors, like for example those of Keyspan (now owned by Trip-Lite).

Known issue The Serial_TextToAsciiValue function incorrectly returns 32 in this call:
Serial_TextToAsciiValue( "-Encoding=ASCII_Windows" ; this::Ascii Text ; )
where the text contains the ASCII character 143 or 144.

Who wrote it?

Troi Serial Plug-in was designed and implemented by Peter Baanen of Troi Automatisering. You can visit the Troi web site at: www.troi.com for additional information.

Troi may also be reached by email at: info@troi.com

Note that due to spam we have to filter incoming email. It might happen that non-spam email is filtered out too. If you have sent an email and you don't get an answer, try to send another email, slightly differently formulated and include the word "FileMaker" in the body text.

Where can I get the latest version and more information?

The latest versions of our software are available for downloading at our web site:
www.troi.com
You can also download the OSErrrs database, which lists all Operating System error codes for Macintosh and Windows, some of which the plug-in may return. The web site is also your source for late breaking information, company information, FileMaker tips and more.

System requirements

System requirements Mac OS X

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard), Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), OS X 10.9 (Mavericks), OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), macOS 10.12 (Sierra).

System requirements Windows

Windows 7 on Intel-compatible computer 1 GHz or faster
Windows 8 and 8.1
Windows 10

FileMaker requirements

FileMaker Pro 12 or FileMaker Pro Advanced 12 or higher.
FileMaker Pro 13 or FileMaker Pro Advanced 13 or higher.
FileMaker Pro 14 or FileMaker Pro Advanced 14 or higher.
FileMaker Pro 15 or FileMaker Pro Advanced 15 or higher.

Also note that this Troi Serial Plug-in will no longer run on Windows XP and Mac OS X 10.5.

NOTE We no longer provide support for earlier versions of FileMaker Pro.

Troi Serial Plug-in version 4.5 does NOT run on versions prior to FileMaker Pro 7. If you need to run on versions prior to FileMaker Pro 7: see our web site for the Troi Serial Plug-in 2.6, which runs on FileMaker 6, 5.x and 4.x.

Troi Serial Plug-in is a commercial product

You can try-before-you-buy. This means that you are free and invited to test the plug-in 30 days before you pay. You may also make copies of the original and complete package (including this Read Me file) and distribute it to customers, friends etc. However, you may not distribute a modified or licensed version.

Use Troi Serial Plug-in at your own risk

Although Troi Serial Plug-in was tested carefully, we can not be responsible for any damages resulting from using this software. Also please try it out on a test database. Your system may be using an extension (unknown to us) that interferes with the proper functioning of Troi Serial Plug-in.

We like to hear feedback on the benefits and shortcomings of the plug-in. Please include the platform and version of the operating system in your suggestions and comments.

What are the costs?

Troi Serial Plug-in is more expensive than our other plug-ins, as it is a very specialized plug-in, with a limited customer base. We currently only sell a cross-platform developer license which allows you to deploy it with your solution, both on Mac OS X and on Windows:

Upgrades from previous versions

If you bought a license for Troi Serial 4 on or after May 12, 2015 the upgrade to v4.5 is FREE! Eligible users have been sent a new registration. Contact us if you have not received yours.

If you bought a license before May 12, 2015 you will need to buy an upgrade to use Troi Serial Plug-in 4.5.

We currently don't have an upgrade option for single licenses. We only have an upgrade option for developer licenses. Please contact us if you have any questions about this.

How to pay?

Paying for a license is easy. We have several ways to pay. More information on this can be found on the order page on our web site: https://www.troi.com/software/order.html. You can pay online by credit card via our web store, we also accept PayPal and other payment methods.

Protection and unlocking the application

Troi Serial Plug-in has a protection scheme. After you pay Troi Automatisering will tell you how to indicate to Troi Serial Plug-in that you have paid the license fee.

After you've supplied the payment data, the following is changed:

• the not registered warning is replaced by your name.
• the flash screen that shows at the first time the plug-in is used is removed. Of course also the delay (which is longer after 30 days of use) will be removed.

Bug reports and Wish list

If you find a bug, please report this by e-mail: info@troi.com. If you have any comments or other functions that you think need to be added, please notify us! We have a lot of ideas for this plug-in, so be sure to check our web site for new plug-ins and improved versions.

And please pay for software you keep using, so that the wish list becomes reality.

Versions

You can find what has been changed in this and previous versions of Troi Serial Plug-in in the separate file: Release_notes.htm.

Thanks for supporting our software!

Peter Baanen