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Troi Serial Plug-in Release notes 1999-2017

By March 2, 2017September 4th, 2019Additional info

In this post you find the older release notes for Troi Serial Plug-in for FileMaker Pro.

Version 4.5.1 (for FileMaker 12 to 15) (March 2, 2017)

  • Updated the code in several places and added improved namespace handling to make the plug-in more robust.
  • Fixed a bug in the Serial_Receive function, where in some cases not all data would be returned directly.
  • (Mac OS X) Improved export of symbols of the compiled plug-in: now only the symbols that are required are exported.
  • (Mac OS X, 32-bit only) Fixed a possible interference with other plug-ins, during the registration phase.
  • Updated debug example file and made several small improvements to the example files.


Version 4.5 (for FileMaker 12 to 15) (June 2, 2016)

  • Tested and made compatible with FileMaker Pro 15.
  • Tested and improved compatibility with Windows 10 and OS X 10.11 (El Capitan).
  • Added new switch to Serial_Receive function: -Encoding=BytesOnly. This will store all received bytes to the same byte values (Unicode 0 to 255).
  • Added new switch to Serial_Receive function: -ConvertBytesToNumbers. This switch will directly convert all received bytes to their numeric value. The function will for example return “65 66 67 “, which would be Unicode “ABC”. Note that each number is followed by a space, as separator, including after the last number.
  • Added description and type-ahead information for all functions of the plug-in. This extra function description will be shown in FileMaker Pro 15 in the Specify Calculation dialog box when you type a function name and also as a text popup in the functions pane on the right.
    The type-ahead information is used by the auto complete functionality of FileMaker Pro 15. In the calculation pane of the Specify Calculation dialog box you can type a letter or two of the function name and instantly see a list of matching function names. For example when you type “op”, the auto complete functionality will suggest the Serial_Open function. You can also type a function name in the functions pane on the right: for example if you type “rece” you will see all the functions with receive in the name, like Serial_Receive.
  • Improved the multi-threading behavior of the plug-in when running in FileMaker Pro 15.
  • Improved the example file EasyInstallTroiPlugins.fmp12, to provide more help when an installation error occurs.
  • Fixed several bugs, rewrote and modernized the code in several places and made further improvements.
  • Updated the User Guide and the Overview.fmp12 file.

Version 4.0 (for FileMaker 12, 13 and 14) (May 12th, 2015)

  • Tested and made compatible with FileMaker Pro 12, 13 and 14.
  • Added support for 64-bit architecture with FileMaker Pro 14: On OS X the 32-bit and 64-bit version is a single universal plug-in and on Windows there are 2 plug-ins: Troi_Serial.fmx (for 32-bit) and Troi_Serial.fmx64 (for 64-bit).
  • Improved the example file EasyInstallTroiPlugins.fmp12, to support the 64-bit version of FileMaker Pro 14.
  • Fixed a problem in the Simple Serial.fmp12, Weigh.fmp12 and Terminal.fmp12 example files: The close script no longer halts if no Serial Plug-in is found.
  • Added new switch -GetRegistrationState to the Serial_Version function: this switch allows you to check if the plug-in is currently registered.
  • Updated Version example to show the use of -GetRegistrationState.
  • Rewrote the code in several areas and made it more future proof.
  • (Mac OS X) Added code signing to the plug-in, also compatible with the new Mavericks version of code signing.
  • IMPORTANT This plug-in drops support for Windows XP (the plug-in will no longer load on XP). On Mac OS X the minimum supported system is now Mac OS X 10.6.8 (the plug-in will not load on 10.5 and earlier).
  • NOTE The User Guide has not yet been updated, and is still for version 3.2. We expect to provide an updated version soon.

Version 3.2.0.1 for FileMaker Pro 8 to 13 (April 11th, 2015)

  • Updated all example files. They now use variables to make the scripts more portable.
    NOTE you need FileMaker Pro 8.0 or later to use the example files. Troi Serial Plug-in itself is still at version 3.2.

Version 3.2 for FileMaker Pro 7 to 11 (March 27th, 2012)

  • Tested and made compatible with FileMaker Pro 11.
  • Optimized the plug-in when running under Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
  • Added new switch to Serial_Version function: -UnregisterPlugin. This will remove the registration data. The plug-in will be in a unregistered state after this. See the “Temporary Register Serial Plug-in” script in the file RegiFunc.fp7 for an example use.
  • Fixed a missing script in the Terminal.fp7 example file.
  • Corrected the path of logs files in the document filemaker-server-side-plug-ins.htm.
  • Made small change to the bundle (on Mac OS X) and FileVersion resource (on Windows) so it now reflects the correct version number.
  • Updated incorrect text in All Serial Examples.fp7

Version 3.1.1 for FileMaker Pro 7 to 10 (June 22nd, 2009)

  • (Windows) Fixed a bug in the Serial_Send function, where an error code of $$14007 could be returned.
  • Fixed a missing Perform script step in the SimpleSerial.fp7 example.
  • Fixed a button with a missing script step in the SimpleSerial.fp7 example.

Version 3.1 for FileMaker Pro 7 to 10 (March 10th, 2009)

  • Made compatible with FileMaker Pro 10.
  • Fixed a syntax error in the MultiPorts.fp7 example file.
  • Added the plug-in’s version number to the description in FileMaker’s preference pane.
  • Added new Serial_VersionAutoUpdate function. The Serial_VersionAutoUpdate function is part of an emerging standard for FileMaker plug-ins of third party vendors of plug-ins. The version number is returned in the format aabbccdd where every letter represents a digit of the level, so versions can be easily compared.
  • Fixed a bug in the Serial_SetDispatchScript function, where it would not work when you specified a portname.
  • Fixed typo in the documentation of Serial_SetDispatchScript (extra ; )
  • Troi Serial plug-in is now compatible to run under FileMaker Server (server side)! The plug-in now creates log files when running under FileMaker Server to make troubleshooting installing easier and and provides feedback regarding errors and registration status. Also note that you might need a special Server/WebEngine license to use this plug-in on FileMaker Server. See our web site for details.

Version 3.0.2 for FileMaker Pro 8.5, 8 and 7 (March 26th, 2007)

  • (Windows) fixed a bug where opening COM ports with names COM5 or higher would result in an $$2 error.
  • Improved Barcode.fp7 example file.
  • Fixed a bug in the Serial_DataWasReceived function, where it would return $$-50.

Version 3.0.1 for FileMaker Pro 8.5, 8 and 7 (October 16th, 2006)

  • Significantly improved speed of triggering scripts when data comes in.
  • Fixed a bug when using the waitstring parameter in Serial_SetDispatchScript.
  • Improved triggering when a script is already running:
    -If a script is already running: the plug-in will pause the current running script, run the trigger script and then automatically pick up the original script where it left off.
    -If a script is paused: the plug-in will pause the current running script, run the trigger script. When the trigger script is finished, the original script is still paused.
    If you want different behaviour: add a Halt or Pause/Resume step in your trigger script.
  • Added “-ResumeWhenScriptPaused” switch to Serial_Open function: this changes the behaviour of the trigger script: if another script is already running and is paused, the paused script will now resume after the trigger script is finished.
  • Added final version of user guide.
  • Improved All Serial Examples.fp7, so that for for Debug.fp7 the correct script “Open File” is called.
  • Improved several example files and removed remaining old style function calls.
  • Changed incorrect function name Serial_AsciiValueToTxt in documentation. It is now correctly referred as Serial_AsciiValueToText. (Note the extra e in Text at the end).

Version 3.0b1 Beta for FileMaker Pro 8.5, 8 and 7 (October 3rd, 2006)

  • Made compatible
    FileMaker Pro 8.5.
  • (Mac OS X) Converted to Universal plug-in which runs natively on PowerPC and Intel Macs.
  • Added new Serial_TextToAsciiValue function, which converts a text to the ASCII values.
  • (Windows) The Serial_GetPortNames function now detects all existing serial ports, instead of always returning with COM1…COM4.

2.6 (October 3rd, 2006)

  • Prepared for new version of registration.

2.5.0.1 (March 13th, 2003)

  • Improved the Terminal.fp5 example file.

2.5 (July 8th, 2002)

  • Added a Serial-Debug function, which helps you to troubleshoot setting up a serial port. It can beep when data arrives and test the triggering of the dispatch script.
  • Added a Serial-SetSetting function. With this function you can specify a different way to trigger scripts, where Active X is not available.
  • Added a switch -GetLastMatch in Serial-Receive, which will return the last matchstring received.
  • Added a Serial-Reinitialize function, which you can use when new or different serial ports are added dynamically, for example if you plug-in a USB-To-Serial adapter.
  • Added functions to change the separator between parameters. This is useful for Japanese systems, where portnames contain the pipe characters.
  • Fixed a bug on Mac OS, where flow control would not be set properly. This happened with the switch flowControl=DtrDsr, flowControl=DtrDsr=RtsCts and the advanced versions of these.
  • Fixed a bug where not all data would be returned when multiple matchstrings where received.
  • Updated the user guide and added Barcode and other examples.

2.2 (October 30th, 2001)

  • Tested with FileMaker 5.5 and ported to Mac OS X. The Mac version of the plug-in is now a so called ‘Super Fat’ plug-in that will run on Mac OS 8, 9 and Mac OS X. On Mac OS X the file “Troi Serial X extension” is required in the FileMaker Extensions folder.
  • Added possibility to trigger different scripts for each port.
  • Added extra example files.

2.0 (October 13th, 1999)

  • Made compatible with FileMaker Pro 5.0.
  • Added Active X support for Script Triggering.
  • Added Apple event support for Script Triggering.
  • Added Control function, which can Temporary suspend the data stream. (Ideal for continuous devices).
  • Added Wait for string function, which can wait for a specific character before triggering.

1.0 (February 23rd, 1999)

  • Added Serial-ToASCII function, which takes one or more numbers and converts them to their ASCII characters.
  • Fixed a bug on Mac OS machines, which caused parameters to parse incorrectly. For example with the Serial-open command, settings parameters like “-baud=1200” would not to be interpreted right, causing to default it to 9600 baud.
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