Com port framming error

I am using a hardware which has UART pin shared with some other serial protocol pin. So when the hardware is handling data with the other protocol, I get garbage on the UART.

Now I have written an application in VB 6.0, which reads this data from the hardware. But I never get the data reliably with the application. Sometimes the application stops getting any data from UART. Whereas if I kill my application and connect the same port using HyperTerminal, I still get the data with some garbage in between.

I feel that when the hardware sends some garbage, which is due to the other protocol, there some framing error occurs and I am unable to handle that error properly(may be resetting that error). So the MSCOM stops getting further data.

Can anybody tell me anythig about it?

Thanks for the help.

In your MSComm_OnComm() event handler you're supposed to have something like this:

Code:

---

    dim ErMsg$
    Select Case MSComm1.CommEvent
        ' handle events
        Case vbMSCommEvReceive
                'handle incoming data

        'other Cases are for errors
        Case vbMSCommErFrame
            ErMsg = "Frame-error"
        Case vbMSCommErOverrun
            ERMsg = "Overrun"
        Case vbMSCommErCDTO
            ERMsg = "Carrier timeout"
        Case vbMSCommErRxOver
            ERMsg = "Receive buffer overrun"
        Case vbMSCommErRxParity
            ErMsg = "Parityerror"
        Case vbMSCommErTxFull
            ErMsg = "Sendbuffer full"
    End Select
    debug.print ErMsg

---

The above sample shows how to detect what kind of error occurs.
E.g. if you really had a frame error, the CommEvent would be vbMSCommErFrame and the apropriate Case statement would be executed, here loading an error message which is then printed.

Maybe that gives you a clue what error really occurs and you might take measures in the apropriate Case.