[Interest] Is there a way to simulate serial port data?

[Murphy, Sean]

> I have to ask, why is it such a sin to have a stand alone program with a
> null modem cable and mini-tester as a testing tool. I have been working
> with serial ports off and on since the days of DOS 3.x and have always
> tested in this manner. The first piece of code one writes on a project
> which needs external inputs is the test tool to generate 1-N pre-defined
> inputs. There "should" be one laying around at the shop which was
> originally used to validate the product.

There's nothing wrong with having a standalone program at all from a 
technical standpoint. The question arose because of the bug showing up a 
little more often recently, and a work deadline to release a version soon - so 
I was looking for a quick method to verify that my fix for the issue works. 
I have a log of the data that produced the problem. I thought if I had a 
way to playback that log without changing any of my serial port / parsing 
code, that would be the quickest way to test the fix, without risking generating 
new bugs, by either having to modify my existing code, or having to write a 
separate sender program.

And I can guarantee there wasn't a tool laying around the shop, but as of 
yesterday, there's now one in development!
Sean