DotNet-ListComPort/readme.md

DotNet-ListComPort

A simple cli tool that can list COM ports with their full name easily and cleanly.

This tool is intended to replace the tedious task of having to use the mode command, and the Device Manager to find a newly plugged-in device that provides a COM port.

This version of the program is a complete refactoring of my old PB-ListComPort project that also changes from the proprietary and paid PureBasic language and compiler to .NET 6.0.

The latest releases can be found here: "Release page"

Requirements

• Windows
  • Any CPU architecture
• .NET 6.0
  • Can be optional if using the larger "self-contained" builds.

Improvements over PB-ListComPort

• Switched from PureBasic to .NET 6.0.
• Improved a lot of the program's logic.
• Added the -h/--short-help.
• Added support for Windows ARM & ARM64.
• Support for running without a console. (See remarks #3)

Usage

lscom.exe [-a|--show-all] [-d|--show-device] [-D <str>|--divider <str>] [-f|--show-friendly]
          [-h|--help] [-H|--short-help][-n|--show-name-raw] [-P|--no-pretty] [-s|--sort]
          [-S|--sort-reverse] [-t|--tab-padding] [-v|--version] [-V|--version-only]

Launch arguments:
 -a, --show-all             Display the complete port's name (Equal to '-dfn')
 -d, --show-device          Displays the port's device name
 -D <str>, --divider <str>  Uses the given string or char as a separator (Can be empty string !)
 -f, --show-friendly        Displays the port's friendly name
 -h, --help                 Display the help text
 -H, --short-help           Display the short help text
 -n, --show-name-raw        Displays the port's raw name (See remarks section)
 -P, --no-pretty            Disables the pretty printing format (Equal to -D " ")
 -s, --sort                 Sorts the port based on their raw names in an ascending order
 -S, --sort-reverse         Sorts the port based on their raw names in a descending order
 -t, --tab-padding          Use tabs for padding between the types of names (Overrides '-D')
 -v, --version              Shows the utility's version number and other info
 -V, --version-only         Shows the utility's version number only (Overrides '-v')

Remarks

• If '-d' or '-f' is used, the raw name will not be shown unless '-n' is used.
• If '-D', '-t' or '-p' are used, the special separator between the raw and friendly name and the square brackets are not shown.
• If the program is raw without going through a console, the options '-n' and '-f' will be used
• By default, the ports are sorted in the order they are provided by the registry, which is often chronological.
• The 'raw name' refers to a port name. (e.g.: COM1, COM2, ...)
• The 'device name' refers to a port device path. (e.g.: \Device\Serial1, ...)
• The 'friendly name' refers to a port name as seen in the device manager. (e.g.: Communications Port, USB-SERIAL CH340, ...)
• Any result returned with an error code between 1-9 and 30-39 should be considered as invalid.
• Any result returned with another error code is valid but probably not formatted properly.

Output formatting

 *┬> No launch arguments:
  └──> ${Raw name}      => COM1
 *┬> '-d' or '-f'
  ├──> ${Device name}   => \Device\Serial1
  └──> ${Friendly name} => Communications Port
 *┬> '-d' and '-f'
  └──> ${Friendly name} [${Device name}]        => Communications Port [\Device\Serial1]
 *┬> '-n' and '-d'
  └──> ${Raw name} [$DeviceName]        => COM1 [\Device\Serial1]
 *┬> '-n' and '-f'
  └──> ${Raw name} - ${Friendly name}   => COM1 - Communications Port
 *┬> '-ndf' or '-a'
  └──> ${Raw name} - ${Friendly name} [${Device name}]  => COM1 - Communications Port [\Device\Serial1]
 *┬> '-ndfp' or '-ap'
  └──> ${Raw name} ${Friendly name} ${Device name}      => COM1 Communications Port \Device\Serial1
 *┬> '-ndfD ";"' or '-aD ";"'
  └──> ${Raw name};${Friendly name};${Device name}      => COM1;Communications Port;\Device\Serial1

Error codes

Here is a subset of the old error codes that applies to this rewritten version of the program.

• Internal argument parser errors (10-19):
  • 10 - Failed to parse the launch arguments, default options will be used.
• External argument errors (20-29):
  • 20 - No value can be found for the '-D' argument, it will be ignored.
• Application and system errors (30-39):
  • 31 - No COM port could be found.

Cloning & Building

You can simply clone the repository with the following command:

git clone https://github.com/aziascreations/DotNet-ListComPort.git

Once this is done, you can compile it with the make.bat script file.

Please note that you may need to have to edit your PATH or the aforementioned script so that 7-Zip and Wix Toolset v3.14 can be used by it.

Finally, you should be able to find the executables in the "Builds" folder, and the distributable packages in the "Packages" folder.

License

The code in this repository is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) (Public Domain).

Some of the final binaries are covered by additional licenses, they are present in the "NibblePoker.Packaging.ListComPort/Licenses" folder and are automatically packaged with the appropriate builds during the packaging process.

[TODO: Add details]