Settings

Enabled - check this box to enable the GetSerial interface. If the PageGate server is already running before you check this box, you will need to manually start this interface by right-clicking on 'GetSerial' and choosing 'Start' from the popup menu. The next time the PageGate server is started, this interface will startup automatically.

Serial Port - choose a serial port (COM port) for the GetSerial module to monitor for incoming data.

Baud Rate - choose a baud rate to use for this connection. This setting must match the baud rate that the sending device uses.

Parity - choose the parity to be used for this connection. This settings must match the parity setting used by the sending device.

Data Bits - choose the number of data bits to be used on this connection. This settings must match the number of data bits used by the sending device.

Stop Bits - choose the number of stop bits to be used with this connection. This settings must match the data bits setting used by the sending device.

Handshaking - if handshaking is used by the sending device for flow control, you must set GetSerial to use the same handshaking method.

Init String - init strings are not typically used with a direct serial connection, but may be used if a modem is attached to the port that GetSerial is set to use.


Symbols - These are characters that have special meanings and are used to help extract message information from the incoming data.

Single Character Wildcard - when searching for pattern matches in the data, this character can be used to stand for any single character

Multiple Character Wildcard - when searching for pattern matches in the data, this character can be used to stand for any character or group of characters.

End Of Record Symbol - when extracting data from the data, this character stands for the end of the record. It is usually used as an ending pattern if the data being extracted always goes to the end of the current record.

ASCII Value Delimiter - this symbol is used to help represent characters that normally can't be typed. This character is always followed three numbers which represent the decimal ascii value for the character. For example (assuming that the \ character is the ASCII Value Delimiter) these strings represents a carriage-return, linefeed, tab and backslash respectively: \013 \010 \009 \092

Record - These settings are used to define how a record (which typically contains the recipient, sender, and message data) is to be recognized in the incoming data.

Start Pattern - this is a pattern of text that is looked for in the incoming data, that will designate the beginning of a new record

Start Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the start pattern, is where the actual record starts. A value of -999 always means that the beginning of the record is one character after the start pattern. This is helpful when the start pattern contains an * and you don't always know the length of the matching pattern.

End Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the incoming data, that will designate the end of a new record.

End Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the end pattern is where the actual record ends. A value of -999 always means that the end of the record is one character after the end pattern. This is helpful when the end pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

Recipient - These settings are used to define who the recipient of the message should be.

Static Recipient - when this option is chosen, all messages read in will be sent to the same recipient or group.

Recipient - when the Static Recipient option is chosen, this is the name of the recipient or group that will receive all the messages that are read in.

Dynamic Recipient - when this option is chosen, the recipient of the message is extracted from the data read in by the GetSerial interface.

Start Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the record text, that will designate the beginning of the recipient text.

Start Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the start pattern, is where the actual recipient text starts. A value of -999 always means that the beginning of the recipient text is one character after the start pattern. This is helpful when the start pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

End Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the record text, that will designate the end of recipient text. If this pattern is set to the End Of Record symbol, the end of the recipient text will be assumed to be everything up to the end of the record.

End Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the end pattern, is where the actual recipient text ends. A value of -999 always means that the end of the recipient text is one character after the end pattern. This is helpful when the end pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

Use Lookup Table - check this box if you want pre-set text substituted for the actual text read in by the interface. This is especially useful if codes are used in the text. For example, if the text that is read in contains numbers to signify what pager should get the message, the lookup table could have a list of these numbers, and automatically use the actual recipient name instead of the numeric code.

Edit Table - click on this button to edit the lookup table to be used by the GetSerial interface.

Sender - These settings are used to define who the sender of the message should be.

Static Sender - when this option is chosen, all messages read in will use the same text for the sender field.

Sender - when the Static Sender option is chosen, this is the name of the sender that will be used with each message.

Dynamic Sender - when this option is chosen, the sender of the message is extracted from the text read in by the GetSerial interface.

Start Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the record text, that will designate the beginning of the sender text.

Start Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the start pattern, is where the actual sender text starts. A value of -999 always means that the beginning of the sender text is one character after the start pattern. This is helpful when the start pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

End Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the record text, that will designate the end of sender text. If this pattern is set to the End Of Record symbol, the end of the sender text will be assumed to be everything up to the end of the record.

End Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the end pattern, is where the actual sender text ends. A value of -999 always means that the end of the sender text is one character after the end pattern. This is helpful when the end pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

Use Lookup Table - check this box if you want pre-set text substituted for the actual text read in by the interface. This is especially useful if codes are used in the text. For example, if the text that is read in contains codes to specify a piece of equipment that the message is from, the lookup table could have a list of the numbers, and automatically substitute the equipment name as the sender instead of the number.

Edit Table - click on this button to edit the lookup table to be used by the GetSerial interface.

Message - These settings are used to define the actual message text that should be sent.

Static Message - this option is used when the same message should be sent each time the GetSerial interface reads in a new record

Message - when the Static Message option is chosen, this is the message that will be sent each time.

Dynamic Message - when this option is chosen, the message is extracted from the text read in by the GetSerial interface.

Start Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the record text that will designate the beginning of the message text.

Start Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the start pattern, is where the actual message text starts. A value of -999 always means that the beginning of the message text is one character after the start pattern. This is helpful when the start pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

End Pattern - this is a pattern that is looked for in the record that will designate the end of message text. If this pattern is set to the End Of Record symbol, the end of the message text will be assumed to be everything up to the end of the record.

End Offset - this value tells how many characters before or how many characters after the beginning of the end pattern, is where the actual message text ends. A value of -999 always means that the end of the message text is one character after the end pattern. This is helpful when the end pattern contains an * and you don't always know what the length of the matching pattern will be.

Use Lookup Table - check this box if you want pre-set text substituted for the actual text read in by this interface. This is especially useful if codes are used in the text. For example, if the text that is read in contains numbers to signify different alerts, the lookup table could have a list of these numbers, and automatically substitute the actual alert text for the code.

Edit Table - click on this button to edit the lookup table to be used by the GetSerial interface.