Re: Dial with a serial modem via vbScript? by mr_unreliable
mr_unreliable
Thu Jul 13 12:02:47 CDT 2006
hi Hadi,
Back in the early-Dos-days, probably before you were born,
this was a common thing.
Modems came with a standard command set (the "AT" commands),
and you could write a script (not a vbScript) to send these
commands to the modem to dial-up a service, send your user
name and password, and extract some information from the site.
In the early windows versions, microsoft provided some utilities
for this. For example, my ancient win98 system came with
hyperterminal and phone dialer, which could do what you want.
I am sure that if you search hard enough, you can come up with
a utility, even a free one that you can use.
If there are any ancient coders around the office, getting
ready to accept the severance and retire, see if they will
be willing to pass on their venerable copy of "CrossTalk"
which in its day was the "Cadillac" of the genre (maybe
Lexus is a more appropos simile today). CrossTalk was
(of course) a 16-bit app, but you should be able to run it
in compatibility mode.
If you want to go the "AT" code route, search the vbs archives
for discussions of how to send data to a serial port. I do
recall seeing discussions about sending data to a parallel
port (lpt1) for those wishing to get direct control of a
printer.
I have also seen (free) vb utilities for sending data to
serial ports.
If you are willing to spend some money, then there are a
number of commercial tools for talking to serial and
parallel ports, whose market is primarily college and
industrial labs that want to use a pc to talk to
lab equipment.
cheers, jw
Hadi wrote:
> How can I dial a certain number with a modem that is connected to COM1
> (serial port)?
>
> Is there a way to do this with vbScript? ... or do you know of a free
> command line tool that can accomplish this?
>
> Thank you in advance!