No way to control data bits on serial interface

[ElZeeBee]

There doesn't seem to be a way to control the data bits sent on a serial interface. There's not even a field for it. In other words, in the classic "8-N-1" serial example, there's no way to control the "8" part.

[ghost]

You're correct. We only allow the following parameters: http://cosmosrb.com/docs/interfaces/#serial-interface

[ghost]

@ryanatball it seems like we could pass data_bits down (5, 6, 7, or 8) to the underlying driver but this new field would break existing serial driver definitions. We could put data_bits at the end but it doesn't really belong there. Here's the current list:

    # @param write_port_name [String] The name of the serial port to write
    # @param read_port_name [String] The name of the serial port to read
    # @param baud_rate [Integer] The serial port baud rate
    # @param parity [Symbol] The parity which is normally :NONE.
    #   Must be one of :NONE, :EVEN, or :ODD.
    # @param stop_bits [Integer] The number of stop bits which is normally 1.
    # @param write_timeout [Integer] The number of seconds to attempt the write
    #   before aborting
    # @param read_timeout [Integer] The number of seconds to attempt to read
    #   data from the serial port before aborting
    # @param protocol_type [String] Combined with 'Protocol' to resolve
    #   to a COSMOS protocol class
    # @param protocol_args [Array] Arguments to pass to the protocol constructor

I feel like it belongs after baud_rate and before parity. Thoughts?

[ghost]

Non-standard data sizes could potentially be supported using OPTION.

http://cosmosrb.com/docs/system/#option

[ElZeeBee]

So without a parameter to change the data bits, how does the command actually get sent? Is it fixed at 8 bits internally?

[ghost]

The serial framing is fixed at 8 data bits. Parity and stop bits are configurable. I have never seen anything modern that didn't use 8 data bits.

[ElZeeBee]

A device I'm interfacing with is 7-N-2 by default. I can change it, but I hope you can make this fix in a future release. One never knows what devices one will encounter.