Need help with grabbing data

[cpak]

I desperately need help trying to use the netburner SBL2E.

I believe I can do the following:
- Telnet via Serial: I can type v and it displays version information
- Telnet via IP: same as above
- Open Web Browser: I setup a static IP
- Ping the device: gets reply

The only info I get when telneting via serial is "Waiting to 2 seconds to start "A" to abort" and nothing else. No demo menu.

All I want to do is telnet (or anything; TFPT) to the device and grab what ever data is on it. Is there a simple way to send a command to grab whatever it has such as a "get" command?

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. Thanks ahead of time.

[rnixon]

Its very hard to determine what you are trying to do.

- Are you trying to do serial to ethernet? If so, what is on each end of the connection?

- If you see the "waiting" message, then you must have that particular serial port configured as debug rather than data in the serial config page of the web interface. The user manual will describe what settings you can do there. If you are using a port for data, it must be set to data, not debug.

- Have you tried the test setup using telnet and mttty in the quick start guide?

- Are you on the dev board? If so, is the serial rx set up for usb or the db9? If you get that wrong you will see transmitted chars from the sbl2e, but it will be unable to receive your chars since rx line is not connected to the right place.

[cpak]

Thank you rnixon for your quick reply.

I am so new at this you would probably laugh if you knew how much I know.

Either way, in the web it says RS-232 in the drop down. It also has Debug, RS-485 full and half duplex (I have it on 232).

I am doing one at a time, not at the same time in terms of network vs serial. I have either the network connected or the serial at one time. Should I have both at the same time?

I tried MTTTY and that's where I'm getting that waiting message, tried to follow the document to the "T" with no luck. This is only when I have the serial connected.

How do I tell if I'm on the dev board?

Sorry for the confusion but anything you tell me would be helpful since I have not a clue what to do. I have read a few PDF's from the start up guide to other programming ones, but I can't seem to understand where to begin if I can't even read the device.

[rnixon]

Both network and serial have to be connected at the same time. There is not enough memory to buffer data in the SBL2e. So if you don't have a network connection the serial chars will be discarded.

What is the full model number of your device? There are many devices that start with SBL2e.

If you were following the test setup in the quick start guide you would not be connecting one at a time. If you are new to this that is the best way. So why are you unable to set it up per the test in the quick start guide?

[cpak]

Gotcha. I was wondering how the output would get to the device if I am only connecting one at a time. So I will be trying this here shortly.

So how do I grab data off the device on a telnet session?

Do you happen to have an email address I can contact you through? I am willing to compensate?

[rnixon]

Telnet is intended to be an interactive terminal, as opposed to a program to gather data, so it would not be a good choice. What type of data do you need to gather, from where, how much, how do you need to store it, etc.

[cpak]

The unit will be storing vending machine data. For instance; candy bar sold 10 x $.50 = $5.00, gum sold 50 x $.25 = $12.50... so on and so forth.

So I want to grab that data and pull into a my database to display online.

[rnixon]

In that case you will want to create a program on the computer that is running your database. One way to do this is:

1. Write a program for your computer that always listens for an incoming TCP connection from the SBL2e. You will need to pick a specific port number to listen on, and use that in the outgoing config of the SBL2e (see below).

2. Configure the SBL2e to create an outgoing tcp connection when serial data is available (see manual). You will need to specify the IP address or name of your computer as well as the listening port number. This way the tcp connection is only created when necessary.

If you need something more scalable or have firewall issues you might want to consider a cloud service such as the one from Sparkfun. Here's a link to a NetBurner article: http://www.netburner.com/learn/141-how- ... ta-service
But this would require that you write your own application to run on the SBL2e.

Is this just for one unit as an experiment or for fun, or are you making a product that might potentially have thousands of nodes that need to report data?

[cpak]

It is really an experiment that could grow into a larger area of nodes. I want to prove to someone that it can be done.

So I will:
- Pick a port and create something to always listen for the incoming TCP connection on that specified port
- Try to find the manual you are referring to (I downloaded so many) that will help me create an outgoing tcp connection when serial data is available.
- I have a WIN2008 server which will host IIS and SQL, so hopefully I can keep everything internal
- I have a firewall that is capable to handle the requests that I need

I guess if I can just follow your lead, I will have something working here shortly.

Thanks again for your help with this. I am beginning to see the light hopefully?

[cpak]

Oh, I forgot to ask. How do I get the data off the device? So I see that you need two devices (one can be the netburner and other my server) that connect to each other via network:port but I don't see how to push or pull the data into a database?