>Is there abnything provided with VFP 7.0 to read inputs from a serial port, or must an Activex control be purchased to achieve this functionnality?

You can use Mscomm control for serial communications. See
- file #9336 Basic Serial Communication with MSCOMM
- file #9636 Good practice in using MSCOMM.OCX in VFP
- faq #7807 Serial communications with a COM port using MSCOMM
- faq #7943 How do I determine the Comm ports available to MSCOMM