Introduction into ParaPort

Overview

ParaPort is a software system providing a Windows kernel driver following the Microsoft's Windows Driver Model (WDM) to access pin by pin to the parallel port hardware of a personal computer. Client applications written in C or C++ do not use the driver directly (via "DeviceIoControl( )" from Windows application programming interface "API"), but use a Windows dynamic link library ("ParaPort.Dll") to communicate with this driver. The Dll is accessed from the applications via the API of ParaPort.

Features

• The parallel port is selected by its "friendly name", e.g.: "LPT1", "lpt2".
• The timing model can be customized with a "sleeping" interval.
• Client applications do not need to access the driver directly ( via "::DeviceIoControl( )" ), but uses an easy API of a dynamic link library.
• ParaPortUtility application to control the parallel port.

Supported Platforms

ParaPort has been developed and tested on Windows 2000.

It has been validated "OK" on Windows 98 SE and Windows XP.

Since ParaPort follows Microsoft's Windows Driver Model, it should also work on Windows ME.

Windows NT4 is not supported as its drivers do not follow the WDM.

Installation

The following steps must be executed:

1. The different files of the distribution releases of ParaPort are compressed in a "*.zip" file, which can be downloaded from the "Download Area". This file must be unzipped ( e.g.: with "WinZip" ) in a temporary directory. By executing the "setup.exe" application contained in the "*.zip" file, Paraport is installed on the hard disk ( e.g.: into the directory "c:\Program Files\ParaPort" ).
2. To install the driver, launch the "Add/Remove Hardware Wizard" and follow the instructions:
• You must have administration rights on the computer.
• You must select the setup information file "ParaPort.inf" to install the driver.
• The installation on Windows 98 for v1.3, Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems is described in details ( also Windows 2000 simplified chinese ).
• During the installation, the file "ParaPort.sys" is copied into the subdirectory "drivers" of the Windows system directory ( e.g.: "c:\WinNT\system32" ) and the file "ParaPort.inf" into the subdirectory "inf" ( may be with another name "oem?.inf" ).
3. Launch the "ParaPortUtility.exe" to access the parallel port.

Each distribution contains a "ReadMe.txt" file with last minute information, the list of the files and their role.

Uninstallation

ParaPort can be uninstalled from the system by following the two steps:

1. The driver must be uninstalled in the device manager ( Windows 98 for v1.3, Windows 2000, Windows 2000 simplified chinese or Windows XP ): Click with the right mouse button on the ParaPort entry to display the pop up menu. In the pop up menu, choose "Remove" or "Uninstall..." and follow the instructions of the dialog box.
2. The software can be removed from the computer with the "Add/Remove Programs Wizard" ( click on "Windows Start Menu" -> "Settings" -> "Control Panel" -> "Add/Remove Programs" ) as any Windows application.

Using ParaPort

To use ParaPort in C/C++ applications, the folloging steps must be done:

• Add the directory "[Program Files]\ParaPort\include" to the include paths of your project/make file
• Make visible the file "ParaPort.dll" to your application. This can be done by:
  • copy the file "ParaPort.dll" into windows system directory ( e.g.: "c:\WinNT\system" )
  • copy the file "ParaPort.dll" into the same directory as your application
  • add the path "[Program Files]\ParaPort\bin" to the environment variable "path"

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