hi everyone...
im working on vb(visual basic) for making a interface to arduino. i have a question about that.
i want to see some messages on serialport of ide when i click a button on vb's form. while im using vb form then when i open up serial port monitor on IDE , its not working. i mean ,for example im using COM4, i get message on IDE like " COM4 is busy".
how can i use them all at the same time? is it possible?
thanks in advance..
Serial Monitor uses the one and only hardware serial port on the Arduino Uno.
You'll need to use one of the software serial libraries such as AltSoftSerial GitHub - PaulStoffregen/AltSoftSerial: Software emulated serial using hardware timers for improved compatibility
for communicating with VB
.
Serial monitor can actually use any port 
But a single port on a PC can only be used by one application. So you need two ports (e.g. using a FTDI adapter and software serial on the arduino code).
Why don't you just modify the VB application so it can also receive (and display)?
sterretje:
Serial monitor can actually use any port
It can?
That news to me, because it has always been set up to use D0 & D1 on my Arduino Uno.
How do I change it to use a different pins on the Arduino Uno?
.
All serial ports show in the IDE. So after an upload, you can change to another one and open serial monitor.
It's not the most convenient way because you have to change back before the upload. Easier to use an additional terminal program for that.
sterretje:
All serial ports show in the IDE. So after an upload, you can change to another one and open serial monitor.It's not the most convenient way because you have to change back before the upload. Easier to use an additional terminal program for that.
Ah, got it.
The Serial Monitor by default uses the 1 hardware serial port on the Arduino Uno.
That is what I should have written.
The rest of what I wrote remains valid.
.
thx for advices. i have a new question for you guys..
now im loooking a code which i can send data to visual basic from arduino. i searched on the internet and i found this;
Function ReceiveSerialData() As String
' Receive strings from a serial port.
Dim returnStr As String = ""
Dim com1 As IO.Ports.SerialPort = Nothing
Try
com1 = My.Computer.Ports.OpenSerialPort("COM1")
com1.ReadTimeout = 10000
Do
Dim Incoming As String = com1.ReadLine()
If Incoming Is Nothing Then
Exit Do
Else
returnStr &= Incoming & vbCrLf
End If
Loop
Catch ex As TimeoutException
returnStr = "Error: Serial Port read timed out."
Finally
If com1 IsNot Nothing Then com1.Close()
End Try
Return returnStr
End Function
but i dont know how to use this code. i tried couple of times but it didnt work fine. this code is from microsoft official websites. i want to read temprature from ide with visual basic interface.
can u please explain me how can i use this code. thanks.. 
In Vb.Net the following is a good tool to have on hand for serials testing, as is it is set up to display text.
Its up to you to set the port up and open it, The project has a Form with a Rich Text Box.
Imports System.IO.Ports
Public Class Form1
Public Delegate Sub myDelegate(ByVal myData As Byte)
Private Sub data_display(ByVal s As Byte)
RichTextBox1.AppendText(Chr(s.ToString))
End Sub
Private Sub SerialPort1_DataReceived(sender As Object, e As SerialDataReceivedEventArgs) Handles SerialPort1.DataReceived
Dim myData As Byte
SerialPort1.ReadTimeout = 20
Do While SerialPort1.BytesToRead > 0
Try
myData = CByte(SerialPort1.ReadByte)
Me.BeginInvoke((New myDelegate(AddressOf data_display)), myData)
Catch ex As Exception
End Try
Loop
End Sub
End Class
example of a terminal emulator in VB