Serial Port, String to Char Array. Help Please

[MarkJoyce]

Hi everyone,
I have a serial port program, which is working. Basically a micro sends serial data every 3 seconds and the program receives it and displays it in a rich text box. The data is in a String, but I want to manipulate it or remove parts for calculation. The string resembles something like "T4323H2345P4398C6212S7623*"
So the string splits up into T4323 , H2345, P4398 , C6212 , S7623 and *(The * just means this is the end of data).
I'm looking to use the letters as an INDEX (eg between T and H = 4323 or 43 and 23) to get the data into variables so I can do calculations with them.
Alternatively, get the data to a Char[] first and then to a string. The only purpose for the string is to show it in the rich text box.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you.
Regards Mark.

[MarkJoyce]

#pragma once

namespace CppWinForm7 {

	using namespace System;
	using namespace System::ComponentModel;
	using namespace System::Collections;
	using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
	using namespace System::Data;
	using namespace System::Drawing;
	using namespace System::IO::Ports;
	using namespace System::Threading;
	using namespace System::Windows;
	/// <summary>
	/// Summary for MyForm
	/// </summary>
	public ref class MyForm : public System::Windows::Forms::Form
	{
	public:
		MyForm(void)
		{
			InitializeComponent();
			findPorts();

			
			//
			//TODO: Add the constructor code here
			//
		}

	protected:
		/// <summary>
		/// Clean up any resources being used.
		/// </summary>
		~MyForm()
		{
			if (components)
			{
				delete components;
			}
		}
	private: System::IO::Ports::SerialPort^  serialPort1;


	protected:



	private: System::ComponentModel::IContainer^  components;

	private:
		/// <summary>
		/// Required designer variable.
		/// </summary>
		//Global Var///////////////////////////
		String^ Data = "*";
		String^ data1;
		String^ data2;
		
	private: System::Windows::Forms::Button^  btnOpen;
	private: System::Windows::Forms::Button^  btnClose;
	private: System::Windows::Forms::ComboBox^  comboBox1;
	private: System::Windows::Forms::Label^  label1;
	private: System::Windows::Forms::TextBox^  txtTransfer;
	private: System::Windows::Forms::Button^  btnTransfer;
	private: System::Windows::Forms::RichTextBox^  SerialDataBox;

			 
			
#pragma region Windows Form Designer generated code
			 /// <summary>
			 /// Required method for Designer support - do not modify
			 /// the contents of this method with the code editor.
			 /// </summary>
			 void InitializeComponent(void)
			 {
				 this->components = (gcnew System::ComponentModel::Container());
				 this->serialPort1 = (gcnew System::IO::Ports::SerialPort(this->components));
				 this->btnOpen = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button());
				 this->btnClose = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button());
				 this->comboBox1 = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::ComboBox());
				 this->label1 = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Label());
				 this->txtTransfer = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::TextBox());
				 this->btnTransfer = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::Button());
				 this->SerialDataBox = (gcnew System::Windows::Forms::RichTextBox());
				 this->SuspendLayout();
				 // 
				 // serialPort1
				 // 
				 this->serialPort1->DataReceived += gcnew System::IO::Ports::SerialDataReceivedEventHandler(this, &MyForm::serialPort1_DataReceived);
				 // 
				 // btnOpen
				 // 
				 this->btnOpen->Location = System::Drawing::Point(705, 72);
				 this->btnOpen->Name = L"btnOpen";
				 this->btnOpen->Size = System::Drawing::Size(75, 23);
				 this->btnOpen->TabIndex = 2;
				 this->btnOpen->Text = L"Open";
				 this->btnOpen->UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
				 this->btnOpen->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler(this, &MyForm::btnOpen_Click);
				 // 
				 // btnClose
				 // 
				 this->btnClose->Location = System::Drawing::Point(810, 72);
				 this->btnClose->Name = L"btnClose";
				 this->btnClose->Size = System::Drawing::Size(75, 23);
				 this->btnClose->TabIndex = 3;
				 this->btnClose->Text = L"Close";
				 this->btnClose->UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
				 this->btnClose->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler(this, &MyForm::btnClose_Click);
				 // 
				 // comboBox1
				 // 
				 this->comboBox1->BackColor = System::Drawing::SystemColors::WindowFrame;
				 this->comboBox1->DropDownStyle = System::Windows::Forms::ComboBoxStyle::DropDownList;
				 this->comboBox1->FormattingEnabled = true;
				 this->comboBox1->Location = System::Drawing::Point(731, 35);
				 this->comboBox1->Name = L"comboBox1";
				 this->comboBox1->Size = System::Drawing::Size(121, 21);
				 this->comboBox1->TabIndex = 4;
				 // 
				 // label1
				 // 
				 this->label1->AutoSize = true;
				 this->label1->Location = System::Drawing::Point(728, 18);
				 this->label1->Name = L"label1";
				 this->label1->Size = System::Drawing::Size(26, 13);
				 this->label1->TabIndex = 5;
				 this->label1->Text = L"Port";
				 // 
				 // txtTransfer
				 // 
				 this->txtTransfer->Location = System::Drawing::Point(684, 155);
				 this->txtTransfer->Name = L"txtTransfer";
				 this->txtTransfer->Size = System::Drawing::Size(225, 20);
				 this->txtTransfer->TabIndex = 6;
				 // 
				 // btnTransfer
				 // 
				 this->btnTransfer->Location = System::Drawing::Point(758, 117);
				 this->btnTransfer->Name = L"btnTransfer";
				 this->btnTransfer->Size = System::Drawing::Size(75, 23);
				 this->btnTransfer->TabIndex = 7;
				 this->btnTransfer->Text = L"Transfer";
				 this->btnTransfer->UseVisualStyleBackColor = true;
				 this->btnTransfer->Click += gcnew System::EventHandler(this, &MyForm::btnTransfer_Click);
				 // 
				 // SerialDataBox
				 // 
				 this->SerialDataBox->Location = System::Drawing::Point(12, 18);
				 this->SerialDataBox->Name = L"SerialDataBox";
				 this->SerialDataBox->Size = System::Drawing::Size(617, 334);
				 this->SerialDataBox->TabIndex = 8;
				 this->SerialDataBox->Text = L"";
				 this->SerialDataBox->TextChanged += gcnew System::EventHandler(this, &MyForm::SerialDataBox_TextChanged);
				 // 
				 // MyForm
				 // 
				 this->AutoScaleDimensions = System::Drawing::SizeF(6, 13);
				 this->AutoScaleMode = System::Windows::Forms::AutoScaleMode::Font;
				 this->ClientSize = System::Drawing::Size(1020, 402);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->SerialDataBox);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->btnTransfer);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->txtTransfer);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->label1);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->comboBox1);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->btnClose);
				 this->Controls->Add(this->btnOpen);
				 this->Name = L"MyForm";
				 this->Text = L"MyForm";
				 this->Load += gcnew System::EventHandler(this, &MyForm::MyForm_Load);
				 this->ResumeLayout(false);
				 this->PerformLayout();

			 }
#pragma endregion
	

[MarkJoyce]

private: void findPorts(void)
	{
		// get port names
		array<Object^>^ objectArray = SerialPort::GetPortNames();
		// add string array to combobox
		this->comboBox1->Items->AddRange(objectArray);
	}

			
	private: System::Void SetTextCallback(System::Object^ sender, System::EventArgs^ e)
	{	
		this->SerialDataBox->AppendText(data1);
		this->SerialDataBox->AppendText("ffff \n"); // just a marker to show what data we got/are we getting all the data? Debug
		
		
	}

	private: System::Void serialPort1_DataReceived(System::Object^  sender, System::IO::Ports::SerialDataReceivedEventArgs^  e) {

		System::Threading::Thread::Sleep(50);	// There is data so Wait 50ms for the buffer to fill! or we will miss some.
		data1 = serialPort1->ReadExisting();
		
		this->Invoke(gcnew EventHandler(this, &MyForm::SetTextCallback));
	}

	private: System::Void MyForm_Load(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e) {
	}
	private: System::Void btnOpen_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e) {
		if (this->comboBox1->Text == String::Empty)
			this->SerialDataBox->Text = "Please Select Port Settings";
		else {
			try {
				// make sure port isn’t open
				if (!this->serialPort1->IsOpen) {
					this->serialPort1->PortName = this->comboBox1->Text;
					
					//open serial port
					this->serialPort1->Open();
				}
				else
					this->txtTransfer->Text = "Port isn't openned";
			}
			catch (UnauthorizedAccessException^) {
				this->txtTransfer->Text = "UnauthorizedAccess";
			}
		}
	}

private: System::Void btnTransfer_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e) {
	this->serialPort1->Write("THE INVOKING STRING GOES HERE");
}

private: System::Void btnClose_Click(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e) {
	this->serialPort1->Close();
}

private: System::Void SerialDataBox_TextChanged(System::Object^  sender, System::EventArgs^  e) {
	
	String^ dateString = DateTime::Now.ToString("d");
	String^ timeString = DateTime::Now.ToString("T");
	String^ Stamp = ".";

	if (SerialDataBox->Text->EndsWith(Data))
	{	
		this->SerialDataBox->AppendText("    " + timeString + "        " + dateString  );
		
	}


//Scroll to End if text fills box.
	this->SerialDataBox->SelectionStart = SerialDataBox->TextLength;
	this->SerialDataBox->ScrollToCaret();



}
		 ////////////////////////////////////////////End
};
}

[coder777]

Take a look at this:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.string(v=vs.110).aspx

String^ has a rich interface to manipulate data like IndexOf(...) or Split(...)

[MarkJoyce]

Thanks coder777
Came up with this Function.

// Strings.cpp : main project file.

#include "stdafx.h"

using namespace System;

int findPosition(String^ daString, String^ indexMarker) //Find Start Position Of data
{
	String^ str = daString;
	String^ toFind = indexMarker;
	int index = str->IndexOf(toFind);
	Console::WriteLine("DEBUG: Found '{0}' in the string '{1}' at position '{2}'", toFind, str, index); //Debug
	return index;
}

int main()
{
    Console::WriteLine(L"Hello World");
	String^ Data = "T4643H4375P3434C2323S2544*";//The Data String

	String^ FindMarker = "P"; //Find Start Position of required data marked by letter.
	int position = findPosition(Data, FindMarker);

	Console::WriteLine("Function \"findPostion()\" reports the start position is '{0}'", position);//Test

	Console::WriteLine("Press a key to continue");
	Console::ReadLine(); // PAUSE! All I got off the top of my head.

    return 0;
}

Can someone please now help with how to get the data into chars/array please.
Thanks again coder, I just need a bit of direction.
Regards Mark.

[MarkJoyce]

I think I've got it. bit messy but something like,

// StringManipulation.cpp : main project file.

#include "stdafx.h"
#include <iostream>

using namespace System;
using std::cout;

int findPosition(String^ daString, String^ indexMarker) //Find Position Of data
{
	String^ str = daString;
	String^ toFind = indexMarker;
	int index = str->IndexOf(toFind);
	Console::WriteLine("DEBUG: Found '{0}' in the string '{1}' at position '{2}'", toFind, str, index); //Debug
	return index;
}

int main()
{
	Console::WriteLine(L"Hello World");
	String^ Data = "T4643H4375P3434C2323S2544*";//The Data String

	String^ FindStartMarker = "T";
	String^ FindEndMarker = "H";
	int startPosition = findPosition(Data, FindStartMarker);
	int endPosition = findPosition(Data, FindEndMarker);
	Byte Arrayy[8] ;

	int i = (startPosition);
	//int SP = startPosition;
	int EP =( endPosition );
	int J = 0;
	for (i = i + 1; i <= EP; i++)
	{
		Arrayy[J] = Data[i];
		J++;
		if (Data[i] == endPosition)
		{
			break;
		}
	}
	Console::WriteLine("Ascii");
	for (i = 0; i < (EP-1); i++)
	{
		Console::WriteLine(Arrayy[i]);
	}

	
	Console::WriteLine("Start Marker =: '{0}'  End Marker =: '{1}'", FindStartMarker, FindEndMarker);
	Console::WriteLine("Start Position  = : '{0}' End Position = : '{1}'",startPosition,endPosition);//Test

	Console::WriteLine("Press a key to continue");
	Console::ReadLine(); // PAUSE! All I got off the top of my head.

	return 0;
}