Table of Contents
.NET (C# & VB.Net)
COMFILE Technology does not provide technical support for Visual Studio. Contact the Microsoft directly.
Using .NET 8
.NET 8 brings a professional .NET runtime to Linux-based PCs like the ComfilePi. The Blazor and Web Assembly technologies can be used to build GUI applications for the ComfilePi's modern web browser.
Blazor allows both client and server to be programmed almost entirely in C#. The System.Devices.Gpio namespace provides just about everything one would need to do IO on the ComfilePi. Blazor also includes support for real-time web applications that can be viewed and interacted with from multiple local or remote clients as demonstrated in the video above.
Visit .NET Development on the ComfilePi for a detailed introduction.
Other GUI Frameworks that may also work, but have not been thoroughly evaluated:
Using the .NET Framework 4.x with Mono
Mono can only be used with .NET 4.x. It cannot be used with .NET 6. However, Mono provides the ability to create Winforms applications on Linux, something that is not currently possible with .NET 6.
- Running .NET WinForms Applications with Mono - .Net applications can run on Linux by utilizing the Mono framework. WinForms applications can be developed and debugged on a Windows host PC using Visual Studio, and simply copied to the ComfilePi and executed; no re-compiling required!
- Modbus with NModbus4 - A demonstration using the ComfilePi as a Modbus RTU master, with NModbus4, to control a PLC.
- Hiding the Mouse Cursor - There is typically no need for a mouse cursor in a touch application, but the ComfilePi and Mono give you one anyway. This explanation will show how to hide the mouse cursor.
- Programming the SerialPort - A few considerations to keep in mind when using programming the serial ports.
- Programming the GPIO - An demonstration illustrating how to program the ComfilePi's GPIO using the CP-IO22 add-on board.
AdvancedHMI
The AdvancedHMI software allows you to create HMI's that are not possible with other off the shelf packages. The software is based on the .NET framework 4.x and uses the popular Visual Studio as it's designer. When developing with AdvancedHMI, you are creating a true executable that is quite fast for the Linux-based ComfilePi. Don't let Visual Studio mislead you into thinking it requires code writing experience because most HMIs are created without writing a single line of code.
Download the AdvancedHMI Visual Studio solution which contains a Modbus RTU driver and test project specifically for the ComfilePi.