Digital Scale integration with .NET (like a postal scale)

[John Bonds]

I'm looking for some sort of digital scale to integrate into .NET.

Does anybody know of anything (like a postal scale) that attaches to USB,
serial or whatever that comes with a DLL or an API that I could integrate
into .NET?

Thanks,

John

 

[Robert Jacobson]

Interesting question -- could be fun to automate something like that. A
search on Google for "digital scale usb" turned up some useful products,
like this one:
http://www.ohaus.bz/ohaus_scout_pro_balance.htm

However, there isn't any USB support built into .Net. Hopefully the scale
would ship with the necessary device drivers (check with the manufacturer),
bud you'd have to wrote the .Net USB code to connect with the drivers.
These threads might get you started:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=...-8&q=usb&meta=group=microsoft.public.dotnet.*

 

[John Bonds]

yah, I actually found that one and did some research on it. I will probably
end up getting it and writing a .NET interface for it (if I can).

Also, if anyone has info on how to send commands to a device through USB,
let me know.

Thanks,

John

 

[Dick Grier]

Hi,

Interfacing serial devices is straight forward. You can download
NETComm.ocx from my homepage, or use any one of several .NET classes that
wrap the Windows serial APIs, using P/Invoke.

I have several scale examples in my book. See below. Scales have no
standard communications protocol, so you have to write code that uses the
data furnished by the scale manufacturer. Usually, this amounts to only a
few lines of code that parse receive data.

USB devices use whatever API is provided by the manufacturer. There isn't
any USB support in .NET (USB is a bus, like PCI or ISA -- the API is defined
by the device, not the bus).

Dick

--
Richard Grier (Microsoft Visual Basic MVP)

See www.hardandsoftware.net for contact information.

Author of Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications, 3rd
Edition ISBN 1-890422-27-4 (391 pages) published February 2002.

 

[bliebb]

USB Postal scale API Bill Redirect Solution

Hi John,

To interfacing any USB scale like ...
Mettler Toledo, Pitney Bowes, Fairbanks, X.J., CHARDER, Pelouze, SANFORD, DYMO, Endicia, ELANE XM, UNITED STATES POSTAL SCALES PS30USB/PS311 30-LB DIGITAL USB POSTAL SCALE

You can use the software BillRedirect like a driver ! This software can send the weight directly in any application .NET or can also support:
- Output weight to a Virtual Serial Port that you can use in your .NET source code.
- Output weight to an ASCII file that you can use in your .NET source code.
- Output weight to a TCP connection (client or server) that you can use in your .NET source code.
- Output weight to a UDP Broadcast packet that you can use in your .NET source code.
- Turn your USB scale to a wedge keyboard emulation.
...

It's very difficult to get the API from manufacturing scale company ! Often they must buy SDK kit which was very expensive with a license agreement Grrrr. Right now I think that BillProduction is the only company that offer a compatibility with USB scales like a driver.

To try this solution you can visit this web page: http://www.billproduction.com/billscalebalance/

Best regards,

Stuart