Serial Chat

A Serial Port Communication Tool with Chat-like Interface

中文文档

Overview

Serial Chat is an innovative serial port communication tool that transforms the traditional serial debugging experience into a chat-like interface. Each serial port is treated as a "user" that can send and receive messages, just like in a messaging application.

Features

🔌 Serial Port as Users

• Each serial port is represented as a "friend" in your friend list
• Online status indicates connection state
• Preserve offline ports with custom remarks

💬 Chat-like Interface

• Messages displayed as chat bubbles
• Sent messages on the right (green)
• Received messages on the left (white)
• Timestamp and port name for each message

👥 Chat Groups

• Create custom groups with multiple serial ports
• Message forwarding between group members
• Monitor communication between different devices

📝 Additional Features

• Text and Hexadecimal display modes
• Custom remarks for serial ports
• Persistent friend list and message history
• Search functionality
• Data export

Screenshots

+------------------------------------------+
|  Menu Bar                                 |
+------------------------------------------+
|          |                               |
|  Friend  |     Chat Area                 |
|  List    |  +-------------------------+  |
|          |  |  Chat Bubbles           |  |
|  Online  |  |  ...                    |  |
|  Offline |  +-------------------------+  |
|  Groups  |  |  Input Area             |  |
|          |  +-------------------------+  |
+------------------------------------------+
|  Status Bar                              |
+------------------------------------------+

Requirements

• Qt 5.12 or Qt 5.15
• CMake 3.14+
• C++17 compatible compiler
• Google Test (for unit tests)

Building

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/Serial-Chat.git
cd Serial-Chat

Build with CMake

# Create build directory
mkdir build && cd build

# Configure
cmake .. -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/Qt

# Build
cmake --build .

# Run
./SerialChat

Build Options

Option	Default	Description
BUILD_TESTS	ON	Build unit tests

Running Tests

cd build
ctest --output-on-failure

# Or run directly
./SerialChat_tests

Project Structure

Serial-Chat/
├── CMakeLists.txt          # CMake configuration
├── README.md               # This file
├── README_CN.md            # Chinese documentation
├── src/
│   ├── main.cpp            # Entry point
│   ├── core/               # Core business logic
│   ├── models/             # Data models
│   ├── ui/                 # User interface components
│   └── utils/              # Utility classes
├── tests/                  # Unit tests
├── resources/              # Resource files
└── docs/                   # Documentation

Usage

Adding a Serial Port

1. Click "Add Port" button
2. Select the port and configure settings
3. Click OK to add to friend list

Connecting

1. Click on a port in the friend list
2. The port will automatically connect
3. Green indicator shows online status

Sending Messages

1. Select a port from the friend list
2. Type your message in the input area
3. Click "Send" or press Enter
4. Toggle "Hex Mode" to send hexadecimal data

Creating a Chat Group

1. Click "Group" button
2. Enter group name and description
3. Select at least 2 members
4. Enable "Message Forwarding" to relay messages between ports
5. Click "Create"

Setting Port Remarks

1. Right-click on a port in the friend list
2. Select "Set Remark"
3. Enter a custom name for the port

Configuration

Serial Port Settings

Setting	Options	Default
Baud Rate	1200 - 921600	115200
Data Bits	5, 6, 7, 8	8
Stop Bits	1, 1.5, 2	1
Parity	None, Even, Odd, Mark, Space	None
Flow Control	None, Hardware, Software	None

Data Storage

Application data is stored in:

• Windows: %APPDATA%/SerialChat/
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/SerialChat/
• Linux: ~/.local/share/SerialChat/

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
F5	Refresh port list
Ctrl+N	Add new port
Ctrl+Q	Quit
Enter	Send message

Development

See Development Documentation for:

• Architecture overview
• Code conventions
• API documentation
• Testing guidelines

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Qt Framework for the excellent cross-platform GUI toolkit
• Google Test for the testing framework