Here is some information I have collected in the past. Never had a personal need to use it: mscomm control =================== posted by eric in programming In the VBE, create a userform. Next, create a communications control (Microsoft Communications Control, version x.x) and name it Comm1. In the properties window of the communications control, see what the name is. We'll name this one comExcel for the examples below. Then in a module, type: Comm1.comExcel.CommPort = [Enter the com port here] Comm1.comExcel.Settings = '9600,n,8,1' 'enter your own for your device Comm1.comExcel.PortOpen = True 'opens the port Comm1.comExcel.Output = anything that needs to read from the computer to the PC Use at your own risk!!!! This code works for our weight scales, but you'll have to read your manual to get the output you desire.

Bebe Stores. This I/O ActiveX control allows easy reading and writing to and from both parallel and serial ports under Windows 95 and NT4.0 io ocx read com port read parallel port. Jan 10, 2008 Using Mscomm32.ocx for serial port communication. I put the MSCOMM32.ocx into c. Using Mscomm32.ocx for serial port communication. We've been using the GreenLeaf serial port OCX to talk to our scanners and postage scales for years now with no difficulty. Check them out. Sep 15, 2002 Experts Exchange >Questions >MSCOMM control in VBA? This reads the serial port. Paradise or Greenleaf Software.

If anyone has any other suggestions, please feel free. ---------------------------------- Thomas Lutz Unfortunately Excel makes it almost impossible to do serial communications directly using VBA. Fortunately there are other easy solutions for inputting serial data into Excel from devices like scales, measuring tools and bar code readers. The company that I work for sells a serial communications program called the Software Wedge that you may find to be a good tool for adding serial communications capabilities to your application. The Software Wedge is an executable program that can pass serial data back and forth to other programs using either DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) or by converting incoming serial data to keystrokes (i.e. It stuffs the keyboard buffer with the incoming serial data).

The program is extremely easy to use and is designed to have you up and running sending and receiving serial data directly from within your application in just a few minutes. Please visit for more information. This link has some free utilities from TalTech: ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- ================================================ Tim Following was posted by Jack Silver as indicated: He was speaking of reading the comm port for information from instrumentation, but the information provided should be applicable. Regards, Tom Ogilvy ================== From: 'Jack Silver' Newsgroups: microsoft. Pierce County Relicensing Program more. public.excel.programﾃつｭming Subject: Re: RS232 communication in excel Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 19:32:17 -0400 Organization: Photon Technology International Lines: 61 ====================== There are a few ways to do this. If the instrument provides data on its own (such as a lab balance or bar code reader), you may consider software wedge (see ). This reads the serial port, and data is entered into Excel as if it was entered into the keyboard (in fact, it pushes data into the keyboard buffer). This program has the ability to parse data (to separate the data from the data header), and insert keystorkes (notably the 'enter key' so Excel moves to the next row for the next data point).

If you are using Excel '97 or Excel 2000, it can also be done with an ActiveX control added in and a little macro programming. This solution is better if the instrument needs to be controlled by software. If you have Visual Basic, professional edition or better, you can use MSCOMM32.OCX.

If you don't have VB, you can purchase similar controls from Programmer's Paradise or Greenleaf Software (, now sysFire LLC?) However, for simple communications, you can use a free control downloaded from the following site: You will want to download cheapcomm.zip- this will contain an installation program (to install the control so Excel or Visual Basic can access it), documentation (as a Word file), and a help file that describes the various functions in the control. The file VisualBasicLib.zip in the same location shows how to use the control in a VB or VBA program. An example program using Excel to read/write data to a GPS with COM1 can be found at: e.htm (this uses CheapComm) A change in the program in a single line will cause it to use COM2. After installing the component (either Cheapcomm or another component), you will need to tell Excel you are using it. From the VBA program (Excel 2000 menus described here, Excel 97 will be similar), use the menu item 'Insert', then select 'Components'. All the ActiveX components installed in your computer will appear- Check the serial port component you will use. CheapComm and MSCOMM32.OCX can be placed on a dummy form for use, and accessed from the form.