Configuring a port for infra-red operation

The API supports serial devices that are capable of dual operation in either standard RS232 or infra-red mode. TCommCaps provides an iSIR element that allows you to find out whether the port has infra-red as well as standard RS232 capabilities. Where a port is identified as having this capability it can be configured to be an infra-red port by setting TCommConfigV01.iSIREnable. As with using the port in RS232 mode, the precise infra-red characteristic of the ports can be determined by the value TCommCapsV01.iSIRSettings.

Using the TCommCaps and TCommConfig packages with Caps() and SetConfig() remains the recommended way of accessing and using these structures. However, the infra-red elements that they contain are not intended to be used as a way of providing data transfer over an infra-red link. This is because there is more to infra-red communications than simply configuring a port to output raw infra-red wavelengths rather than RS232 voltages. To send or receive data to another infra-red device the IrDA protocol is used.