Hi,  we are looking for a simple USB device - a red light/green light
sort of thing that we can control from Filemaker 8.  We're looking for
a simple and bombproof installation where a user can scan a barcode at
an omnidirectional reader, have FM8 validate the code against some
business logic and then return a status signal to a USB device.  A
light, a buzzer or something.  Since we can pass a signal to a USB
printer we presume we can pass a signal to a much simpler device but we
can't locate one.  We plan to have the computer and monitor out of
sight - just need a simple two device setup - one for input and one for
output.

Stephen

I do not know about the USB device, but you could always script your
result to play a sound - one sound for "accepted input" another sound
for an "error".  Of course that would require computer speakers in the
vacinity of the barcode reader for the user to hear the result...

Hopefully, someone here knows of something closer to what you are
looking for.  Good Luck!


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
VoicesInMyHead
a.k.a. The Voices
                  No, we're not... Yes, we are...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

On 29 Mar 2006 04:19:22 -0800, wonfuji@gmail.com wrote:

>Hi,  we are looking for a simple USB device - a red light/green light
>sort of thing that we can control from Filemaker 8.  We're looking for
>a simple and bombproof installation where a user can scan a barcode at
>an omnidirectional reader, have FM8 validate the code against some
>business logic and then return a status signal to a USB device.  A
>light, a buzzer or something.  Since we can pass a signal to a USB
>printer we presume we can pass a signal to a much simpler device but we
>can't locate one.  We plan to have the computer and monitor out of
>sight - just need a simple two device setup - one for input and one for
>output.
>
>Stephen

VoicesInMyHead wrote:
> I do not know about the USB device, but you could always script your
> result to play a sound - one sound for "accepted input" another sound
> for an "error".  Of course that would require computer speakers in the
> vacinity of the barcode reader for the user to hear the result...

This is typically what I do.

But if you insist on being able to control an external device, check out 
the Troi Serial plug-in, at www.troi.com.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg              (818) 883-2846
FM Professional Solutions, Inc.    Los Angeles

FileMaker 8 Certified Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance

> But if you insist on being able to control an external device, check out 
> the Troi Serial plug-in, at www.troi.com.

Unfortunately - I checked - Troi did not make that plugin work with FM7-8 
....
At least it does not say so.
Remi-Noel 

A device such as the one you are asking about can be found at:

http://www.delcom-eng.com/products_USBSLMP.asp

As for getting FileMaker to work with it, that would depend on the driver 
software supplied. It would likely be possible using FileMaker's ability to 
send messages to other applications

Bill

<wonfuji@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1143634762.424520.235430@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,  we are looking for a simple USB device - a red light/green light
> sort of thing that we can control from Filemaker 8.  We're looking for
> a simple and bombproof installation where a user can scan a barcode at
> an omnidirectional reader, have FM8 validate the code against some
> business logic and then return a status signal to a USB device.  A
> light, a buzzer or something.  Since we can pass a signal to a USB
> printer we presume we can pass a signal to a much simpler device but we
> can't locate one.  We plan to have the computer and monitor out of
> sight - just need a simple two device setup - one for input and one for
> output.
>
> Stephen
> 

Thanks for that.  Cool little doodad.  Funny isn't it - I can send a
print file to a printer via USB but it seems more difficult to send an
On/Off to a little light.  I'll report back if we utilize it.

<wonfuji@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1143676612.798387.114020@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for that.  Cool little doodad.  Funny isn't it - I can send a
> print file to a printer via USB but it seems more difficult to send an
> On/Off to a little light.  I'll report back if we utilize it.
>

Should not be too hard to make the speaker sound light a lamp.
I know that is not USB but it might be easier.
-- 
John G

Wot's Your Real Problem?

> Should not be too hard to make the speaker sound light a lamp.

I am curious to understand how you see that : how on earth a speaker could 
light a lamp ?
Nothing important : just curious.
Remi-Noel 

It's a simple question of wiring.

The internal speaker is running off of a couple of pins on the computer's main 
board. If you replace the speaker with an LED, the signal to the pins will deliver 
voltage to the lamp instead. Depending on the nature of the signal, there might 
need to be something in between to amplify or impede the voltage levels to a 
usable level. It might also require a carefully selected sound in order for the 
voltage to be stable enough for the light to be a solid display, rather than a 
flicker.

Kent

Remi-Noel Menegaux wrote:
>> Should not be too hard to make the speaker sound light a lamp.
> 
> I am curious to understand how you see that : how on earth a speaker could 
> light a lamp ?
> Nothing important : just curious.
> Remi-Noel 
> 
> 

wonfuji@gmail.com wrote:
> Funny isn't it - I can send a
> print file to a printer via USB....

Unless I am mistaken, you can do nothing of the sort.

While you could communicate directly with parallel printers in the old days, there 
is no longer much interaction between end user software and hardware. What 
Filemaker does is tell the operating system that it wants to print to a particular 
device. The operating system receives the data and passes it through the hardware 
abstraction layer to the device. Despite what you see in the printer selection 
window, the program itself has no idea whether you are printing to a USB printer, 
or a file, or a modem. Its sole connection with the hardware is that it relies on 
the Operating System's driver to tell it what kind of information it needs to send 
to get useful results out of the device. If (via a driver) you tell Filemaker that 
your modem is a postscript printer, it will happily pass a postscript page to the 
OS and tell it to send it to the modem.

Kent

Kent wrote:
> wonfuji@gmail.com wrote:
> 
>> Funny isn't it - I can send a
>> print file to a printer via USB....
> 
> 
> Unless I am mistaken, you can do nothing of the sort.
> 
> While you could communicate directly with parallel printers in the old 
> days, there is no longer much interaction between end user software and 
> hardware. What Filemaker does is tell the operating system that it wants 
> to print to a particular device. The operating system receives the data 
> and passes it through the hardware abstraction layer to the device. 
> Despite what you see in the printer selection window, the program itself 
> has no idea whether you are printing to a USB printer, or a file, or a 
> modem. Its sole connection with the hardware is that it relies on the 
> Operating System's driver to tell it what kind of information it needs 
> to send to get useful results out of the device. If (via a driver) you 
> tell Filemaker that your modem is a postscript printer, it will happily 
> pass a postscript page to the OS and tell it to send it to the modem.
> 
> Kent
> 
> 
Couldn't this guy send a signal to the com port and use it to switch a 
device on or off...I know that plugin is available. N

"Remi-Noel Menegaux" <rnmenegaux@free.fr> wrote in message 
news:442b30c8$1$9446$626a54ce@news.free.fr...
>
>> Should not be too hard to make the speaker sound light a lamp.
>
> I am curious to understand how you see that : how on earth a speaker 
> could light a lamp ?
> Nothing important : just curious.
> Remi-Noel
The link below was the top of Google search but I am sure there are 
hundreds more, many that could connect directly to the speaker terminal 
without a microphone etc. etc.

http://electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/k126.htm
-- 
John G

Wot's Your Real Problem?

Thanks, John and Kent, yes indeed you answered my curiosity. I learnt 
something today !
Remi-Noel

"John G" <Greentest@ozemail.com.au> a �crit dans le message de news: 
442b66ce$0$21312$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au...
>
> "Remi-Noel Menegaux" <rnmenegaux@free.fr> wrote in message 
> news:442b30c8$1$9446$626a54ce@news.free.fr...
>>
>>> Should not be too hard to make the speaker sound light a lamp.
>>
>> I am curious to understand how you see that : how on earth a speaker 
>> could light a lamp ?
>> Nothing important : just curious.
>> Remi-Noel
> The link below was the top of Google search but I am sure there are 
> hundreds more, many that could connect directly to the speaker terminal 
> without a microphone etc. etc.
>
> http://electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/k126.htm
> -- 
> John G
>
> Wot's Your Real Problem?
>
>
> 

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 21:07:29 +0200, Remi-Noel Menegaux wrote :

>> But if you insist on being able to control an external device, check out 
>> the Troi Serial plug-in, at www.troi.com.
> 
> Unfortunately - I checked - Troi did not make that plugin work with FM7-8 
> ...
> At least it does not say so.
> Remi-Noel

It does work in 7 and 8 though. Have been using it without problems. Only
thing is that bi-directional communication has its limitations with
runtimes (limited ActiveX support from Filemaker), but if you only need to
send data to the USB (serial) device it shouldn't be a problem. 

Regards,

Peter

Sorry, I wasn't saying he couldn't control a light, merely that he was not 
actually sending anything to the USB port when he prints.

Kent

Bignoel wrote:
> Kent wrote:
>> wonfuji@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>>> Funny isn't it - I can send a
>>> print file to a printer via USB....
>>
>>
>> Unless I am mistaken, you can do nothing of the sort.
>>
>> While you could communicate directly with parallel printers in the old 
>> days, there is no longer much interaction between end user software 
>> and hardware. What Filemaker does is tell the operating system that it 
>> wants to print to a particular device. The operating system receives 
>> the data and passes it through the hardware abstraction layer to the 
>> device. Despite what you see in the printer selection window, the 
>> program itself has no idea whether you are printing to a USB printer, 
>> or a file, or a modem. Its sole connection with the hardware is that 
>> it relies on the Operating System's driver to tell it what kind of 
>> information it needs to send to get useful results out of the device. 
>> If (via a driver) you tell Filemaker that your modem is a postscript 
>> printer, it will happily pass a postscript page to the OS and tell it 
>> to send it to the modem.
>>
>> Kent
>>
>>
> Couldn't this guy send a signal to the com port and use it to switch a 
> device on or off...I know that plugin is available. N

wonfuji@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi,  we are looking for a simple USB device - a red light/green light
> sort of thing that we can control from Filemaker 8.  We're looking for
> a simple and bombproof installation where a user can scan a barcode at
> an omnidirectional reader, have FM8 validate the code against some
> business logic and then return a status signal to a USB device.  A
> light, a buzzer or something.  Since we can pass a signal to a USB
> printer we presume we can pass a signal to a much simpler device but we
> can't locate one.  We plan to have the computer and monitor out of
> sight - just need a simple two device setup - one for input and one for
> output.

Rather than looking for a USB device that can be controlled via FileMaker,
I'd suggest looking for one controllable via applescript or the OSX command
line, which can be invoked by a FM script.

FM_script -> AppleScript

FM_script -> AppleScript -> command_line

A quick google search "applescript USB relay interface" turns up

<http://www.bkohg.com/service_e.html>

which is massive overkill for your needs, but will do what you want.

National Instruments is a high-end supplier of these sorts of devices:

<http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/202028>

Here's one that probably would work:

<http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/14604>

Other leads:

<http://www.codecomments.com/message541578.html>

and

<http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2005/01/21/embedded.html>

and

<http://www.hexten.net/2005/09/19/control-stuff-with-your-mac>

but much more DIY-oriented.

There used to be a couple other plug-and-play serial and/or USB
controllers, but I couldn't find them and assume they have fallen
by the wayside.

Finally, I did a search on "Data Acquisition for USB Mac" and found

http://psychtoolbox.org/usb.html

and

http://www.perfsci.com/hardware.htm