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NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Port

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:22 pm
by Parappa
Hi all,

I am trying to work out how to control a Serial Port on a Windows XP PC (which is on a LAN) with a PHP Script which is on a NAS box with a built in Web Server (on the same LAN).

The idea is to have a web page with radio buttons which, when pressed, will send control data to a device connected on the PC's Serial Port.

For example, to be able to switch a light on and off or to read some basic data like temperature back to the web site.

So far I have managed to get my device to talk to the PC, but I am stuck when it comes to the PHP side of things - especially how to get a PHP Script on the NAS Web Server to talk to the networked PC.

If anyone can help I would be grateful. My level of skill is quite limited at this stage as PHP is quite new to me and I want to learn as I go and understand what is happening.

Thanks all,

Re: NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Po

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:05 pm
by djlex1928
I think you're probably stepping outside of PHP's capabilities here. (I could be wrong)

If I were doing the same thing I'd look into talking to the serial port with a desktop based language such as Visual Basic. VB can also connect directly to MySQL databases on a PHP server which you could then use to display info such as temperature on your website.

Re: NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Po

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:12 pm
by Jonah Bron
Yeah, you probably need to communicate with the device with another program written in a language with facilities for this type of thing with exec().

Re: NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Po

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:47 pm
by Parappa
djlex1928
Thanks for the reply!

I totally agree. After reading up on PHP I do not think it is suitable or within what it is designed for. Everything I have found points to a desktop app that outputs to a MySql DB that PHP reads from and to.

However, I am really struggling with putting this together as I am overwhelmed with the first step of trying to create an app in VB!

If yo have any pointers on the best way to get an app up and running that can feed in to a mySql DB that would be great!

Jonah Bron
Thanks for the reply!

Helped me confirm that I was asking too much of PHP.

Not sure how to solve this with the level of knowledge I have...

Re: NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Po

Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:19 pm
by Jonah Bron
If you are just reading data/sending commands right there on the spot, I would skip the database and just call a (in this case VB) program with shell_exec() or exec() from PHP.

Re: NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Po

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 3:36 am
by djlex1928
If you've never worked with VB before then jumping straight in communicating with the serial port is going to be a bit of a task. There are some examples out there, I've looked at a few before but never gone in too deep.

I used to run a webcam website with some user controlled lights, quite simple to setup using an interface called X10. I bought several X10 controlled sockets and an X10 serial interface connected to a standalone pc, ebay is probably the best place to look for cheap X10 controls. HomeSeer was the server software I used and it ran it's own web server, you can edit HomeSeer's index page to work with your website allowing users to turn on lights etc. (not sure if there is anything available for temperature at the minute)

You may still want to go down the route of building your own software but I'm afraid it's a bit out of my league, I've never touched serial programming. Just providing an easier option that I have experience with and when I used it, worked very well.

Re: NAS Server - PHP Script - Control Networked PC Serial Po

Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:59 pm
by Parappa
djlex1928

Thanks for the reply.

I have not had any luck getting anything to work in VB and find coding to be beyond me.

I decided to simplify this and go for a box that connects the serial device directly to the LAN, so I will be skipping the PC.

This means the web server would need to read data from an IP:Port address. But I don't know how to write the software on the web server :(

Jonah

Thanks for the reply.

I don't know where to start with VB, or how to use a shell_exec() or exec() in PHP.

I wish I could understand this stuff and be able to write little apps, but I just can' get my head around programming.