Serial Monitor

Overview

The Serial Monitor allows users to configure, monitor, and communicate with serial ports.

Visual Studio

The window is split into two sections. The top section shows the monitoring mode (serial), Port (virtual COM port COM3), baud rate (115200), line ending (None), and a Stop monitoring button. The bottom section shows the messages, consisting of four lines of the text Hello, World!

Capabilities

• Monitor a serial port: Choose the Start Monitoring or Stop Monitoring button to control whether to monitor data coming from the port.
• Send data to a serial port: Enter text into the text field at the bottom of the view. Use the Enter key or choose the Send Message arrow button to send the data.
• Clear the Serial Monitor output: Choose the Clear Output button to clear the incoming data text field.
• Send preset control signals: Use the split-button next to the input field to send preset control signals (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+Z).
• Configure Serial Monitor and port connection settings: See the following table to learn about the settings that the Serial Monitor provides.

Configurable settings

Settings	Description	Usage	Available options
Port	Ports that are actively connected to a device	Use the Port dropdown	Serial port compatible devices connected to the machine
Baud Rate	Frequency at which the monitor attempts to communicate with the connected device	Use the Baud Rate dropdown	300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 74880, 115200, 230000, 250000
Line Ending	The line ending to use in messages sent to the connected device	Use the Line Ending dropdown	None, LF, CR, CRLF
Timestamp	Adds timestamps to the output of data received from the connected port	Use the timestamp toggle button	On/Off
Autoscroll	Whether to auto-scroll new content that comes from the connected port	Use the autoscroll toggle button	On/Off
Automatic Reconnection	Allows for automatic reconnection and monitoring of disconnected selected ports	Use the automatic reconnection toggle button in Serial mode	On/Off
Message Encoding	Can select type of encoding for messages sent to serial port	Use the message encoding dropdown in Serial mode	Text (utf8), Hex, Binary
Data bits	Can select how many data bits are used for the serial port connection	Use the Data bits dropdown in the additional settings	5, 6, 7, 8
Stop bits	Can select how many stop bits are used for the serial port connection	Use the Stop bits dropdown in the additional settings	1, 1.5, 2
Parity	Can select what parity is used for the serial port connection	Use the Parity dropdown in the additional settings	None, Odd, Even, Mark, Space
File Logging	Allows the ability to log output to a file	Use the file logging toggle button, as well as the Choose Log File Directory button to choose the desired directory in the additional settings	On/Off

Visual Studio Code

The window is split into two sections. The top section shows the monitoring mode (serial), Port (virtual COM port COM3), baud rate (115200), line ending (None), and a Stop monitoring button. The bottom section where messages are displayed is empty.

The window is split into two sections. The top section shows the monitoring mode (TCP), Host (::1), Port (1234), and a Start monitoring button. The bottom section shows the messages, starting with "Opening the TCP connection on ::1:1234. Then Connected to ::1:1234. Then five lines of the text Hello, World!. Then Closed the TCP connection ::1:1234.

Capabilities

• Toggle the serial monitor mode: Choose Serial or TCP from the Monitor Mode dropdown.
• Monitor a serial/tcp port: Choose the Start Monitoring or Stop Monitoring button to control whether to monitor data coming from the port.
• Monitor multiple serial/tcp ports at a time: Press the Open an additional Monitor button to open another monitor.
• Send data to a serial/tcp port: Enter text into the text field at the bottom of the view. Use the Enter key or choose the Send Message arrow button to send the data. When sending hex or binary data, bytes are automatically separated by spaces.
• Clear the Serial Monitor output: Choose the Clear Output button to clear the incoming data text field.
• Send preset control signals: Use the split-button next to the input field to send preset control signals (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+Z).
• Configure Serial Monitor and connection settings: See the following table to learn about the settings that the Serial Monitor provides.
• Clear the Serial Monitor output: Choose the Clear Output button to clear the incoming data text field.
• Send preset control signals: Use the split-button next to the input field to send preset control signals (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+Z).

Configurable settings

Settings	Description	Usage	Available options
Port	Ports that are actively connected to a device	Use the Port dropdown in Serial mode	Serial port compatible devices connected to the machine
Baud Rate	Frequency at which the monitor attempts to communicate with the connected device	Use the Baud Rate dropdown in Serial mode	300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 74880, 115200, 230000, 250000
Host	Name of your host address	Use the Host text box to enter your host name in TCP mode	Any string that matches a valid host
Port	The port number of your address	Use the Port text box in TCP mode	Any valid TCP port
Line Ending	The line ending to use in messages sent to the connected device	Use the Line Ending dropdown in Serial mode	None, LF, CR, CRLF
DTR	Allows the DTR COM output line to be manually set	Use the DTR checkbox	True/False
RTS	Allows the RTS COM output line to be manually set	Use the RTS checkbox	True/False
Timestamp	Adds timestamps to the output of data received from the connected port	Use the timestamp toggle button	On/Off
Autoscroll	Whether to auto-scroll new content that comes from the connected port	Use the autoscroll toggle button	On/Off
Automatic Reconnection	Allows for automatic reconnection and monitoring of disconnected selected ports	Use the automatic reconnection toggle button	On/Off
Message Echoing	Allows the ability to echo/not echo messages you send	Use the message echoing toggle button	On/Off
Message Encoding	Can select type of encoding for messages sent to serial port	Use the message encoding dropdown	Text (utf8), Hex, Binary
Data bits	Can select how many data bits are used for the serial port connection	Use the Data bits dropdown in the additional settings	5, 6, 7, 8
Stop bits	Can select how many stop bits are used for the serial port connection	Use the Stop bits dropdown in the additional settings	1, 1.5, 2
Parity	Can select what parity is used for the serial port connection	Use the Parity dropdown in the additional settings	None, Odd, Even, Mark, Space
File Logging	Allows the ability to log output to a file	Use the file logging toggle button, as well as the Choose Log File Directory button to choose the desired directory in the additional settings	On/Off
Serial Wire Output (SWO)	Can enable Serial Wire Output (SWO) decoding	Use the Serial Wire Output toggle in the additional settings in TCP mode	On/Off