Mathew,

I'm really looking to get away from the textbox entirely. Right now, the VFP bar code application has to be the active application, and the focus has to be in the text box. I don't think it would help to hide the textbox. I'd like to be able to start the application, and let it run minimized on the taskbar, and let a user do other things on the machine without interfering with the collection of bar code data. You need to understand that the data is being collected by a Radio Frequency (RF) bar code scanner out on the factory floor, not by a person who is sitting in front of the computer.

>>I am developing a bar code application. The application does not have a user interface. Data comes in from an RF scanner to the serial port. There is a program called Portkey that converts the serial port data to keyboard input. So the recorded scan comes in as a string of characters with a carriage return. Right now the application has a single textbox on a vfp 6 form. The focus always stays in the text box. When a scan is recorded the textbox's valid fires, and the valid calls a method that processes the scan data.
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>>The problem is that this method relies on the focus staying in the textbox. If a user hits the keyboard, or clicks the mouse to another application, etc. the application obviously stops working.
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>>So, ideally I need a way to directly record the serial port data. The VFP help says that fgets() records bytes directly from a file or communication port opened with low-level file i/o. But I don't know the syntax for opening the port with fopen() - assuming that is what I am supposed to do.
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>>Can what I am trying to do be accomplished simply with fopen() and fgets(), or do I need some sort of communication library or control? How would I poll the port? Fgets() in a loop, or on a timer?
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>>TIA for any suggestions.
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>Could the textbox be a hidden field? Is the scanner just reading barcodes as an item passes by on a line?