QSerialPort Class▲
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Header: QSerialPort
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Since: Qt 5.1
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CMake:
find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS SerialPort)
target_link_libraries(mytarget PRIVATE Qt6::SerialPort)
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qmake: QT += serialport
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Inherits: QIODevice
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Group: QSerialPort is part of serialport-main
Detailed Description▲
You can get information about the available serial ports using the QSerialPortInfo helper class, which allows an enumeration of all the serial ports in the system. This is useful to obtain the correct name of the serial port you want to use. You can pass an object of the helper class as an argument to the setPort() or setPortName() methods to assign the desired serial device.
After setting the port, you can open it in read-only (r/o), write-only (w/o), or read-write (r/w) mode using the open() method.
The serial port is always opened with exclusive access (that is, no other process or thread can access an already opened serial port).
Use the close() method to close the port and cancel the I/O operations.
Having successfully opened, QSerialPort tries to determine the current configuration of the port and initializes itself. You can reconfigure the port to the desired setting using the setBaudRate(), setDataBits(), setParity(), setStopBits(), and setFlowControl() methods.
There are a couple of properties to work with the pinout signals namely: QSerialPort::dataTerminalReady, QSerialPort::requestToSend. It is also possible to use the pinoutSignals() method to query the current pinout signals set.
Once you know that the ports are ready to read or write, you can use the read() or write() methods. Alternatively the readLine() and readAll() convenience methods can also be invoked. If not all the data is read at once, the remaining data will be available for later as new incoming data is appended to the QSerialPort's internal read buffer. You can limit the size of the read buffer using setReadBufferSize().
QSerialPort provides a set of functions that suspend the calling thread until certain signals are emitted. These functions can be used to implement blocking serial ports:
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waitForReadyRead() blocks calls until new data is available for reading.
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waitForBytesWritten() blocks calls until one payload of data has been written to the serial port.
See the following example:
int
numRead =
0
, numReadTotal =
0
;
char
buffer[50
];
for
(;;) {
numRead =
serial.read(buffer, 50
);
// Do whatever with the array
numReadTotal +=
numRead;
if
(numRead ==
0
&
amp;&
amp; !
serial.waitForReadyRead())
break
;
}
If waitForReadyRead() returns false, the connection has been closed or an error has occurred.
If an error occurs at any point in time, QSerialPort will emit the errorOccurred() signal. You can also call error() to find the type of error that occurred last.
Programming with a blocking serial port is radically different from programming with a non-blocking serial port. A blocking serial port does not require an event loop and typically leads to simpler code. However, in a GUI application, blocking serial port should only be used in non-GUI threads, to avoid freezing the user interface.
For more details about these approaches, refer to the example applications.
The QSerialPort class can also be used with QTextStream and QDataStream's stream operators (operator<<() and operator>>()). There is one issue to be aware of, though: make sure that enough data is available before attempting to read by using the operator>>() overloaded operator.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPortInfo
Member Type Documentation▲
enum QSerialPort::BaudRate▲
This enum describes the baud rate which the communication device operates with.
Only the most common standard baud rates are listed in this enum.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::Baud1200 |
1200 |
1200 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud2400 |
2400 |
2400 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud4800 |
4800 |
4800 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud9600 |
9600 |
9600 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud19200 |
19200 |
19200 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud38400 |
38400 |
38400 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud57600 |
57600 |
57600 baud. |
QSerialPort::Baud115200 |
115200 |
115200 baud. |
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::baudRate
enum QSerialPort::DataBits▲
This enum describes the number of data bits used.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::Data5 |
5 |
The number of data bits in each character is 5. It is used for Baudot code. It generally only makes sense with older equipment such as teleprinters. |
QSerialPort::Data6 |
6 |
The number of data bits in each character is 6. It is rarely used. |
QSerialPort::Data7 |
7 |
The number of data bits in each character is 7. It is used for true ASCII. It generally only makes sense with older equipment such as teleprinters. |
QSerialPort::Data8 |
8 |
The number of data bits in each character is 8. It is used for most kinds of data, as this size matches the size of a byte. It is almost universally used in newer applications. |
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::dataBits
enum QSerialPort::Direction▲
flags QSerialPort::Directions
This enum describes the possible directions of the data transmission.
This enumeration is used for setting the baud rate of the device separately for each direction on some operating systems (for example, POSIX-like).
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::Input |
1 |
Input direction. |
QSerialPort::Output |
2 |
Output direction. |
QSerialPort::AllDirections |
Input | Output |
Simultaneously in two directions. |
The Directions type is a typedef for QFlags<Direction>. It stores an OR combination of Direction values.
enum QSerialPort::FlowControl▲
This enum describes the flow control used.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::NoFlowControl |
0 |
No flow control. |
QSerialPort::HardwareControl |
1 |
Hardware flow control (RTS/CTS). |
QSerialPort::SoftwareControl |
2 |
Software flow control (XON/XOFF). |
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::flowControl
enum QSerialPort::Parity▲
This enum describes the parity scheme used.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::NoParity |
0 |
No parity bit it sent. This is the most common parity setting. Error detection is handled by the communication protocol. |
QSerialPort::EvenParity |
2 |
The number of 1 bits in each character, including the parity bit, is always even. |
QSerialPort::OddParity |
3 |
The number of 1 bits in each character, including the parity bit, is always odd. It ensures that at least one state transition occurs in each character. |
QSerialPort::SpaceParity |
4 |
Space parity. The parity bit is sent in the space signal condition. It does not provide error detection information. |
QSerialPort::MarkParity |
5 |
Mark parity. The parity bit is always set to the mark signal condition (logical 1). It does not provide error detection information. |
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::parity
enum QSerialPort::PinoutSignal▲
flags QSerialPort::PinoutSignals
This enum describes the possible RS-232 pinout signals.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::NoSignal |
0x00 |
No line active |
QSerialPort::DataTerminalReadySignal |
0x04 |
DTR (Data Terminal Ready). |
QSerialPort::DataCarrierDetectSignal |
0x08 |
DCD (Data Carrier Detect). |
QSerialPort::DataSetReadySignal |
0x10 |
DSR (Data Set Ready). |
QSerialPort::RingIndicatorSignal |
0x20 |
RNG (Ring Indicator). |
QSerialPort::RequestToSendSignal |
0x40 |
RTS (Request To Send). |
QSerialPort::ClearToSendSignal |
0x80 |
CTS (Clear To Send). |
QSerialPort::SecondaryTransmittedDataSignal |
0x100 |
STD (Secondary Transmitted Data). |
QSerialPort::SecondaryReceivedDataSignal |
0x200 |
SRD (Secondary Received Data). |
The PinoutSignals type is a typedef for QFlags<PinoutSignal>. It stores an OR combination of PinoutSignal values.
See Also▲
enum QSerialPort::SerialPortError▲
This enum describes the errors that may be contained by the QSerialPort::error property.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::NoError |
0 |
No error occurred. |
QSerialPort::DeviceNotFoundError |
1 |
An error occurred while attempting to open an non-existing device. |
QSerialPort::PermissionError |
2 |
An error occurred while attempting to open an already opened device by another process or a user not having enough permission and credentials to open. |
QSerialPort::OpenError |
3 |
An error occurred while attempting to open an already opened device in this object. |
QSerialPort::NotOpenError |
10 |
This error occurs when an operation is executed that can only be successfully performed if the device is open. This value was introduced in QtSerialPort 5.2. |
QSerialPort::WriteError |
4 |
An I/O error occurred while writing the data. |
QSerialPort::ReadError |
5 |
An I/O error occurred while reading the data. |
QSerialPort::ResourceError |
6 |
An I/O error occurred when a resource becomes unavailable, e.g. when the device is unexpectedly removed from the system. |
QSerialPort::UnsupportedOperationError |
7 |
The requested device operation is not supported or prohibited by the running operating system. |
QSerialPort::TimeoutError |
9 |
A timeout error occurred. This value was introduced in QtSerialPort 5.2. |
QSerialPort::UnknownError |
8 |
An unidentified error occurred. |
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::error
enum QSerialPort::StopBits▲
This enum describes the number of stop bits used.
Constant |
Value |
Description |
---|---|---|
QSerialPort::OneStop |
1 |
1 stop bit. |
QSerialPort::OneAndHalfStop |
3 |
1.5 stop bits. This is only for the Windows platform. |
QSerialPort::TwoStop |
2 |
2 stop bits. |
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::stopBits
Property Documentation▲
baudRate : qint32▲
This property holds the data baud rate for the desired direction
If the setting is successful or set before opening the port, returns true; otherwise returns false and sets an error code which can be obtained by accessing the value of the QSerialPort::error property. To set the baud rate, use the enumeration QSerialPort::BaudRate or any positive qint32 value.
If the setting is set before opening the port, the actual serial port setting is done automatically in the QSerialPort::open() method right after that the opening of the port succeeds.
Setting the AllDirections flag is supported on all platforms. Windows supports only this mode.
Returns equal baud rate in any direction on Windows.
The default value is Baud9600, i.e. 9600 bits per second.
Access functions:
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qint32 baudRate( directions = AllDirections) const
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bool setBaudRate(qint32 baudRate, directions = AllDirections)
Notifier signal:
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void baudRateChanged(qint32 baudRate, directions)
[bindable, since 5.5] breakEnabled : bool▲
This property supports QProperty bindings.
This property holds the state of the transmission line in break
Returns true on success, false otherwise. If the flag is true then the transmission line is in break state; otherwise is in non-break state.
The serial port has to be open before trying to set or get this property; otherwise returns false and sets the NotOpenError error code. This is a bit unusual as opposed to the regular Qt property settings of a class. However, this is a special use case since the property is set through the interaction with the kernel and hardware. Hence, the two scenarios cannot be completely compared to each other.
This property was introduced in Qt 5.5.
[bindable] dataBits : DataBits▲
This property supports QProperty bindings.
This property holds the data bits in a frame
If the setting is successful or set before opening the port, returns true; otherwise returns false and sets an error code which can be obtained by accessing the value of the QSerialPort::error property.
If the setting is set before opening the port, the actual serial port setting is done automatically in the QSerialPort::open() method right after that the opening of the port succeeds.
The default value is Data8, i.e. 8 data bits.
dataTerminalReady : bool▲
This property holds the state (high or low) of the line signal DTR
Returns true on success, false otherwise. If the flag is true then the DTR signal is set to high; otherwise low.
The serial port has to be open before trying to set or get this property; otherwise false is returned and the error code is set to NotOpenError.
Access functions:
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bool isDataTerminalReady()
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bool setDataTerminalReady(bool set)
Notifier signal:
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void dataTerminalReadyChanged(bool set)
See Also▲
See also pinoutSignals()
[bindable read-only] error : SerialPortError▲
This property supports QProperty bindings.
This property holds the error status of the serial port
The I/O device status returns an error code. For example, if open() returns false, or a read/write operation returns -1, this property can be used to figure out the reason why the operation failed.
The error code is set to the default QSerialPort::NoError after a call to clearError()
[bindable] flowControl : FlowControl▲
This property supports QProperty bindings.
This property holds the desired flow control mode
If the setting is successful or set before opening the port, returns true; otherwise returns false and sets an error code which can be obtained by accessing the value of the QSerialPort::error property.
If the setting is set before opening the port, the actual serial port setting is done automatically in the QSerialPort::open() method right after that the opening of the port succeeds.
The default value is NoFlowControl, i.e. no flow control.
[bindable] parity : Parity▲
This property supports QProperty bindings.
This property holds the parity checking mode
If the setting is successful or set before opening the port, returns true; otherwise returns false and sets an error code which can be obtained by accessing the value of the QSerialPort::error property.
If the setting is set before opening the port, the actual serial port setting is done automatically in the QSerialPort::open() method right after that the opening of the port succeeds.
The default value is NoParity, i.e. no parity.
requestToSend : bool▲
This property holds the state (high or low) of the line signal RTS
Returns true on success, false otherwise. If the flag is true then the RTS signal is set to high; otherwise low.
The serial port has to be open before trying to set or get this property; otherwise false is returned and the error code is set to NotOpenError.
An attempt to control the RTS signal in the HardwareControl mode will fail with error code set to UnsupportedOperationError, because the signal is automatically controlled by the driver.
Access functions:
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bool isRequestToSend()
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bool setRequestToSend(bool set)
Notifier signal:
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void requestToSendChanged(bool set)
See Also▲
See also pinoutSignals()
[bindable] stopBits : StopBits▲
This property supports QProperty bindings.
This property holds the number of stop bits in a frame
If the setting is successful or set before opening the port, returns true; otherwise returns false and sets an error code which can be obtained by accessing the value of the QSerialPort::error property.
If the setting is set before opening the port, the actual serial port setting is done automatically in the QSerialPort::open() method right after that the opening of the port succeeds.
The default value is OneStop, i.e. 1 stop bit.
Member Function Documentation▲
[explicit] QSerialPort::QSerialPort(QObject *parent = nullptr)▲
Constructs a new serial port object with the given parent.
[explicit] QSerialPort::QSerialPort(const QString &name, QObject *parent = nullptr)▲
Constructs a new serial port object with the given parent to represent the serial port with the specified name.
The name should have a specific format; see the setPort() method.
[explicit] QSerialPort::QSerialPort(const QSerialPortInfo &serialPortInfo, QObject *parent = nullptr)▲
Constructs a new serial port object with the given parent to represent the serial port with the specified helper class serialPortInfo.
[virtual] QSerialPort::~QSerialPort()▲
Closes the serial port, if necessary, and then destroys object.
void QSerialPort::baudRateChanged(qint32 baudRate, QSerialPort::Directions directions)▲
This signal is emitted after the baud rate has been changed. The new baud rate is passed as baudRate and directions as directions.
Notifier signal for property baudRate.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::baudRate
[override virtual] qint64 QSerialPort::bytesAvailable() const▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::bytesAvailable() const.
Returns the number of incoming bytes that are waiting to be read.
See Also▲
See also bytesToWrite(), read()
[override virtual] qint64 QSerialPort::bytesToWrite() const▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::bytesToWrite() const.
Returns the number of bytes that are waiting to be written. The bytes are written when control goes back to the event loop or when flush() is called.
See Also▲
See also bytesAvailable(), flush()
[override virtual] bool QSerialPort::canReadLine() const▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::canReadLine() const.
Returns true if a line of data can be read from the serial port; otherwise returns false.
See Also▲
See also readLine()
bool QSerialPort::clear(QSerialPort::Directions directions = AllDirections)▲
Discards all characters from the output or input buffer, depending on given directions directions. This includes clearing the internal class buffers and the UART (driver) buffers. Also terminate pending read or write operations. If successful, returns true; otherwise returns false.
The serial port has to be open before trying to clear any buffered data; otherwise returns false and sets the NotOpenError error code.
[override virtual] void QSerialPort::close()▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::close().
The serial port has to be open before trying to close it; otherwise sets the NotOpenError error code.
See Also▲
See also QIODevice::close()
void QSerialPort::dataBitsChanged(QSerialPort::DataBits dataBits)▲
This signal is emitted after the data bits in a frame has been changed. The new data bits in a frame is passed as dataBits.
Notifier signal for property dataBits.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::dataBits
void QSerialPort::dataTerminalReadyChanged(bool set)▲
This signal is emitted after the state (high or low) of the line signal DTR has been changed. The new the state (high or low) of the line signal DTR is passed as set.
Notifier signal for property dataTerminalReady.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::dataTerminalReady
[since 5.8] void QSerialPort::errorOccurred(QSerialPort::SerialPortError error)▲
This signal is emitted when an error occurs in the serial port. The specified error describes the type of error that occurred.
Notifier signal for property error.
This function was introduced in Qt 5.8.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::error
void QSerialPort::flowControlChanged(QSerialPort::FlowControl flow)▲
This signal is emitted after the flow control mode has been changed. The new flow control mode is passed as flow.
Notifier signal for property flowControl.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::flowControl
bool QSerialPort::flush()▲
This function writes as much as possible from the internal write buffer to the underlying serial port without blocking. If any data was written, this function returns true; otherwise returns false.
Call this function for sending the buffered data immediately to the serial port. The number of bytes successfully written depends on the operating system. In most cases, this function does not need to be called, because the QSerialPort class will start sending data automatically once control is returned to the event loop. In the absence of an event loop, call waitForBytesWritten() instead.
The serial port has to be open before trying to flush any buffered data; otherwise returns false and sets the NotOpenError error code.
See Also▲
See also write(), waitForBytesWritten()
[since 5.2] QSerialPort::Handle QSerialPort::handle() const▲
If the platform is supported and the serial port is open, returns the native serial port handle; otherwise returns -1.
This function is for expert use only; use it at your own risk. Furthermore, this function carries no compatibility promise between minor Qt releases.
This function was introduced in Qt 5.2.
[override virtual] bool QSerialPort::isSequential() const▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::isSequential() const.
Always returns true. The serial port is a sequential device.
[override virtual] bool QSerialPort::open(QIODeviceBase::OpenMode mode)▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::open(QIODeviceBase::OpenMode mode).
Opens the serial port using OpenMode mode, and then returns true if successful; otherwise returns false and sets an error code which can be obtained by calling the error() method.
The method returns false if opening the port is successful, but could not set any of the port settings successfully. In that case, the port is closed automatically not to leave the port around with incorrect settings.
The mode has to be QIODeviceBase::ReadOnly, QIODeviceBase::WriteOnly, or QIODeviceBase::ReadWrite. Other modes are unsupported.
See Also▲
See also QIODeviceBase::OpenMode, setPort()
void QSerialPort::parityChanged(QSerialPort::Parity parity)▲
This signal is emitted after the parity checking mode has been changed. The new parity checking mode is passed as parity.
Notifier signal for property parity.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::parity
QSerialPort::PinoutSignals QSerialPort::pinoutSignals()▲
Returns the state of the line signals in a bitmap format.
From this result, it is possible to allocate the state of the desired signal by applying a mask "AND", where the mask is the desired enumeration value from QSerialPort::PinoutSignals.
This method performs a system call, thus ensuring that the line signal states are returned properly. This is necessary when the underlying operating systems cannot provide proper notifications about the changes.
The serial port has to be open before trying to get the pinout signals; otherwise returns NoSignal and sets the NotOpenError error code.
See Also▲
QString QSerialPort::portName() const▲
Returns the name set by setPort() or passed to the QSerialPort constructor. This name is short, i.e. it is extracted and converted from the internal variable system location of the device. The conversion algorithm is platform specific:
Platform |
Brief Description |
---|---|
Windows |
Removes the prefix "\\.\" or "//./" from the system location and returns the remainder of the string. |
Unix, BSD |
Removes the prefix "/dev/" from the system location and returns the remainder of the string. |
See Also▲
See also setPortName(), setPort(), QSerialPortInfo::portName()
qint64 QSerialPort::readBufferSize() const▲
Returns the size of the internal read buffer. This limits the amount of data that the client can receive before calling the read() or readAll() methods.
A read buffer size of 0 (the default) means that the buffer has no size limit, ensuring that no data is lost.
See Also▲
See also setReadBufferSize(), read()
[override virtual protected] qint64 QSerialPort::readData(char *data, qint64 maxSize)▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::readData(char *data, qint64 maxSize).
[override virtual protected] qint64 QSerialPort::readLineData(char *data, qint64 maxSize)▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::readLineData(char *data, qint64 maxSize).
void QSerialPort::requestToSendChanged(bool set)▲
This signal is emitted after the state (high or low) of the line signal RTS has been changed. The new the state (high or low) of the line signal RTS is passed as set.
Notifier signal for property requestToSend.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::requestToSend
void QSerialPort::setPort(const QSerialPortInfo &serialPortInfo)▲
Sets the port stored in the serial port info instance serialPortInfo.
See Also▲
See also portName(), QSerialPortInfo
void QSerialPort::setPortName(const QString &name)▲
Sets the name of the serial port.
The name of the serial port can be passed as either a short name or the long system location if necessary.
See Also▲
See also portName(), QSerialPortInfo
void QSerialPort::setReadBufferSize(qint64 size)▲
Sets the size of QSerialPort's internal read buffer to be size bytes.
If the buffer size is limited to a certain size, QSerialPort will not buffer more than this size of data. The special case of a buffer size of 0 means that the read buffer is unlimited and all incoming data is buffered. This is the default.
This option is useful if the data is only read at certain points in time (for instance in a real-time streaming application) or if the serial port should be protected against receiving too much data, which may eventually cause the application to run out of memory.
See Also▲
See also readBufferSize(), read()
void QSerialPort::stopBitsChanged(QSerialPort::StopBits stopBits)▲
This signal is emitted after the number of stop bits in a frame has been changed. The new number of stop bits in a frame is passed as stopBits.
Notifier signal for property stopBits.
See Also▲
See also QSerialPort::stopBits
[override virtual] bool QSerialPort::waitForBytesWritten(int msecs = 30000)▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::waitForBytesWritten(int msecs).
This function blocks until at least one byte has been written to the serial port and the bytesWritten() signal has been emitted. The function will timeout after msecs milliseconds; the default timeout is 30000 milliseconds. If msecs is -1, this function will not time out.
The function returns true if the bytesWritten() signal is emitted; otherwise it returns false (if an error occurred or the operation timed out).
[override virtual] bool QSerialPort::waitForReadyRead(int msecs = 30000)▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::waitForReadyRead(int msecs).
This function blocks until new data is available for reading and the readyRead() signal has been emitted. The function will timeout after msecs milliseconds; the default timeout is 30000 milliseconds. If msecs is -1, this function will not time out.
The function returns true if the readyRead() signal is emitted and there is new data available for reading; otherwise it returns false (if an error occurred or the operation timed out).
See Also▲
See also waitForBytesWritten()
[override virtual protected] qint64 QSerialPort::writeData(const char *data, qint64 maxSize)▲
Reimplements: QIODevice::writeData(const char *data, qint64 maxSize).