Virtual Serial Port Tools Release Notes

Release Changes for Version 5.27

Bug Fixes

Fixed race condition in shared port
Shared port driver may crash when it is quickly opened and closed from multiple threads.

Release Changes for Version 5.25

New Features

New compatibility option
A new compatibility option that forces ignoring of TX CLEAR purge commands has been added.

Release Changes for Version 5.22

Updated Features

Bridge baud rate emulation is now OFF by default
This release changes the default behavior: now by default local bridges do not provide baud rate emulation. To turn baud rate emulation ON, a corresponding option needs to be set on a virtual serial port.

Bug Fixes

Port lock on concurrent requests
Fixed a bug that could cause a virtual port lock if several concurrent requests were executed. Affects all kind of virtual ports.

Release Notes for Version 5.20

Bug Fixes

Reported bugs fixed
This release fixes a number of reported bugs.

Release Notes for Version 5.16

Bug Fixes

Reported bugs fixed
This release fixes a number of reported bugs.

Release Notes for Version 5.15

Bug Fixes

Invalid handling of some COM timeout configurations
Certain specific serial port timeout configurations were not handled correctly.
Invalid processing of purge request
Virtual serial port handled some combination of purge request flags incorrectly.

Release Notes for Version 5.10

New Features

ARM64 Support
This release adds native support for Windows on ARM64.

Release Notes for Version 5.05

Bug Fixes

Reported bugs fixed
This release fixes a number of reported and internally discovered bugs.

Release Notes for Version 5.03

Bug Fixes

Reported bugs fixed
This release fixes a number of reported and internally discovered bugs.

Release Notes for Version 5.01

This is a new major version release. The following features are new or have been significantly improved compared with the previous version:

TCP/IP Ports

This update introduces new type of virtual serial port configuration. Now it is possible to create a virtual serial port that will work in one of the following modes:

Connecting mode
The virtual port device is configured with remote host name or address and TCP port. All data sent to the virtual COM port will be redirected to a given remote TCP/IP endpoint. Responses sent by the remote host are provided as incoming virtual port data.
Listening mode
The virtual port device is configured with a local address and TCP port. It will open a listening TCP/IP socket and wait for incoming network connections. After the connection is established, it will continue to work as described in the previous paragraph.

The user may select the data transfer protocol. RFC2217 and RAW protocols are implemented by the Virtual Serial Port Tools. A pair of virtual TCP/IP serial ports may be used to create a serial bridge, which communicates over TCP/IP network. This adds one more bridge configuration, in addition to previous Local Bridge and Remote Bridge modes.

Sharing of Local COM Ports over TCP/IP Network

This update also includes the new component that is capable of sharing any local COM port (no matter if it is a physical, PnP or virtual serial port) over the TCP/IP network. The same RFC2217 and RAW protocols are supported.

Inclusion of Sharing Server Components

Virtual Serial Port Tools installer now integrates the following components: a virtual serial port driver, API, configuration utilities, documentation and language bindings as well as Remote Serial Port and TCP/IP Serial Port servers. It provides seamless “all-in-one” experience, while supporting separate component installations. This allows, for example, the user to install only sharing servers on designated computers.

Also, a separate “redistributable” version installer is provided.

As before, both Remote Serial Port Server and TCP/IP Serial Port Server components support simple “copy&paste” deployment scenarios.

Configuration Utility Improvements

Configuration utility has been updated with a new visual look, better user experience and improved support for:

Port sharing components integration
Remote Serial Port and TCP/IP Serial Port server configuration utilities are now integrated in the VSPT configuration utility.
High-DPI displays
All user elements, including fonts, graphics, icons and commands are automatically scaled on modern high-DPI and retina displays. Scaling is always smooth and crisp-free on any screen resolution.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 “Dark Mode” and accessibility improvements
Configuration utility automatically recognizes if the user has configured a “dark mode” in his environment and switches to the dark theme. In addition, accessibility high-contrast themes are now fully supported.
Support for various input methods
In addition to mouse, full keyboard and touch support is now provided. User interface items are now automatically adjusted if being used with touch.

IMPORTANT: Upgrading to this release will require the license upgrade as well. Existing users with Lifetime Upgrades will need to download new license file.

Release Notes for Version 4.27

New Features

Security descriptor for pipe-connected ports
It is now possible to specify security descriptor for pipe-connected port.

Bug Fixes

Reported bugs fixed
This release fixes a number of reported and internally discovered bugs.

Release Notes for Version 4.26

Bug Fixes

Unable to create ports in free edition
A regression in previous build made impossible creation of shared, alias or split ports in free edition.

Updated Features

Improved compatibility with Windows 7
VSPT API can now be used on all Windows 7 installations. Previously API calls could fail depending on OS configuration.

Release Notes for Version 4.25

New Features

Improved support for legacy applications
This release introduces the concept of compatibility flags. Setting various flags will enable non-standard virtual serial port behavior to suit legacy applications. This version adds a flag that disables check for valid special serial port characters.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a crash in API methods
Fixed a crash when calling several API methods.

Release Notes for Version 4.20

New Features

Serial timeouts override
The user may now specify serial timeout overrides for shared, alias and split ports, in addition to previously supported overrides of baud rate, line parameters and flow control.

Bug Fixes

Incorrect port operation
Shared port did not function properly under some conditions.
Serial timeouts support
This release improves compatibility and proper serial port timeout emulation.

Release Notes for Version 4.12

Updated Features

Pipe-connected ports are powered by new driver
We have ported pipe-connected ports to the new universal virtual serial port driver. In addition, full flow control emulation, serial timeouts as well as wait masks are now supported for these kind of virtual ports. This is a breaking change as the API to create pipe-connected ports has also changed.

Bug Fixes

Fixed ISerialPortLibrary.getPorts API
ISerialPortLibrary.getPorts returned incorrect data. This has been fixed.
Fixed memory leaks
This release also fixes a number of memory leaks in library.

Release Notes for Version 4.10

Updated Features

Local bridges are powered by new driver
We have ported local bridges to the new universal virtual serial port driver. Remote bridges are still currently powered by a legacy driver and will be migrated in the future releases.

Release Notes for Version 4.02

This release fixes a number of reported and internally discovered bugs.

Release Notes for version 4.01

Initial release.

Release Notes for Version 3.33

This release fixes a regression introduced in the previous release: permanent bridges now work as expected.

Release Notes for Version 3.32

Multiple bug fixes
Several reported bugs, including application crashes, have been fixed.

Release Notes for Version 3.31

Hang during device creation
Application hung during device creation on some outdated Windows 7 installations.

New Features

New built-in command-line utility provides simple API to create and manage virtual serial ports, local or remote bridges.

This version brings back support for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

Release Notes for Version 3.22

Data not transferring over bridges
It was impossible to successfully transfer any data over the bridge in some situations.
Bridge creation failure on single-processor computers
It was impossible to create a local bridge on single-processor computer.

Release Notes for Version 3.21

This release fixes inability to create permanent local bridges (regression in the previous build).

Release Notes for Version 3.20

Changed sharing mode for output file
Previously, virtual serial port in file input/output mode opened output file with exclusive access. Now it specifies Read sharing mode allowing other processes to open the output file with Read access mask.

Release Notes for Version 3.14

Multiple bug fixes
Several reported bugs, including application crashes, have been fixed.
Line noise emulation
This release introduces a configurable line noise emulation.

Release Notes for Version 3.12

Multiple bug fixes
Several reported bugs, including application crashes, have been fixed.

Release Notes for Version 3.11

New Features

Buffer Overflow Emulation
Added configurable buffer overflow emulation.
Flow Control Emulation
Added full hardware and software flow control emulation.

Fixed Bugs

Permanent Bridge Fix
Virtual Serial Ports sometimes could not re-create permanent bridges after reboot.

Release Notes for Version 3.06

Multiple bug fixes
Several reported bugs, including application crashes, have been fixed.

Release Notes for Version 3.05

Custom Pin-outs
This release adds custom wiring support to local and remote bridges. Custom pin-out may be configured during local bridge creation or modified for any existing bridge.
Redistributable package
A separate redistributable package is provided starting from this release. It is a stripped-down version of installation package with configuration utility and documentation removed. Unattended installation is also supported.
Fixed memory leak
A memory leak in Virtual Serial Ports library has been fixed.
Inability to create a permanent remote bridge
An attempt to create a permanent remote bridge always failed.

Release Notes for Version 3.02

DateReceived event fix
This release fixes a bug that prevented .NET SerialPort.DateReceived event from being fired.

Release Notes for Version 3.01

Various bugs fixed
A number of reported and internally found bugs have been fixed.
Port renaming
It is now possible to change the system assigned COM port name.
Remote bridges
Two virtual serial ports, created on different computers, may now be connected to each other (like virtual null-modem cables).
API
Virtual Serial Ports now provides convenient application programming interface, allowing user code to create and manage virtual serial ports. Both native and scripting clients are supported. Typescript definition file is included.
Licensing change
In addition to free license, Virtual Serial Ports is now available as a commercial product. All features of previous free versions remain free, new features are available only in full version.

Release Notes for Version 2.11

Fixed bugs

Bridge re-creation after restart
Created bridges are now automatically re-created after system restart. Note: there are still may be cases when bridges cannot be re-created.
Crash on bridge deletion
Configuration utility could crash after bridge had been deleted.

New Features

Wait mask support
Virtual ports, created by application, now support wait masks.
Baud rate emulation
Virtual port now tries to limit its bandwidth according to selected baud rate.
Limited support for flow control
This release adds limited support for flow control emulation.

Release Notes for Version 2.0

Configuration is automatically restored after the computer is restarted.
Virtual Serial Ports now saves the configuration (the number and types of ports) and restores it when the computer is restarted.
License type changed.

Virtual Serial Ports is now a free product.