Can access communicate with hardware?

[mejia.j88]

I have created a database that records the quantity in and quantity out, of our part numbers. this is a really tough estimate because we have thousands of pieces per part, and it's too time consuming to actually sit an count.

my company has purchased a high readability analytic scale with a rs-232c port and im wondering if access has the ability to communicate with the scale.

what i want to do is simply: weigh the part on the scale, send that number to access, reweigh the part after rejects are taken out, and also send that number to access, where i will have a code that will determine how many pieces are left.

is this a possibility with access?

thanks,


Jorge

[ajetrumpet]

the "communication" that you speak of, my friend, happens because of software. I doubt that scales have software in them.

software = anything written in a computer language and/or signals transmitted via radio waves/other waves.

[mejia.j88]

that's funny, because we've done something similar with labview, just not with access; pal.

[ajetrumpet]

that's funny, because we've done something similar with labview, just not with access; pal.

OK, so the labview thing must be more than a piece of hardware, eh PAL? if this is it: http://www.ni.com/labview/

looks to me like it's SOFTWARE. ???

[John_G]

ajetrumpet - why don't you be a little less condescending, and a little more helpful? Attitudes like yours we can do without.

meija - I suggest that you first consult the user guide that came with the scale to determine what it expects from and puts out to the rs232 port. Since the scale is a peripheral device (same as printer, for example), it should have a device driver that you install on the PC to enable programs to communicate with that device.

See if you can find this out and post back.

John.

[boblarson]

See if this helps at all:
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/serialport.htm

[AdventureBob]

We read bar codes into access and/or sql backends. The BC scanner is an input device just like the keyboard. The thing that makes it work is the driver from the device. For our scanners there was nothing done to our DBs. Conversly if your in the wrong field on the form, it will stick the number in that field when you scan. The numbers are linked to the products tbl and it then populates the form with the product data.

[hertfordkc]

Apologies. Misguided. Ignore.

We read bar codes into access and/or sql backends. The BC scanner is an input device just like the keyboard. The thing that makes it work is the driver from the device. For our scanners there was nothing done to our DBs. Conversly if your in the wrong field on the form, it will stick the number in that field when you scan. The numbers are linked to the products tbl and it then populates the form with the product data.

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In your original post, a scale was mentioned. The last post suggests several devices. In either case, my first thought was "How is everything synchronized?" In other words, does the device(s) trigger a "sample", is the sampling on a timer, or does the user push a button? It seems that you may need a buffer routine which collects the data, and then presents the buffer to Access by triggering an event.
Alternatively, Access could sample the buffer on a set cycle and store all of the data to be grouped somehow. As long as each device had a particular slot in the buffer and table, a record could be populated with a single device reading.

Not on point.

[AdventureBob]

hertfordkc
You kinda missed...Im not the OP.
I was posting an example of an external device feeding a DB.
I think he only cares about the scale.

The question I have for him is: are there any two parts that weigh the same? Are there any combinations of parts that weigh the same as a single part? Are there any groups of parts that could weigh the same as another different group of parts? Is there enough variance on the weights that any of these two conditions could be possible? If the answer to any of these is yes then your method wont be accurate. Weighing things usually works with homogenous objects like money, bullets, meat.