@dhaval/uart-gui

A simple Electron-based desktop application to visually test and monitor serial connections using the @dhaval/uart.js module.

Features

• Visual Interface: Easy-to-use form to configure your serial port connection.
• Real-time Monitoring: View incoming UART data in a scrolling text area.
• Configurable: Set your specific Port Path, Baud Rate, Data Bits, and Parity.
• Cross-Platform: Works on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Installation

You can install this GUI globally using npm. Ensure you have Node.js installed on your machine.

npm install -g @dhaval/uart-gui

Usage

Once installed globally, you can launch the application from anywhere in your terminal by simply typing:

uart-gui

This will open the Electron desktop application.

1. Port Path: Enter your hardware path (e.g., /dev/ttyUSB0 for Linux, COM3 for Windows).
2. Baud Rate: Enter the baud rate for your device (e.g., 9600, 115200).
3. Data Bits & Parity: Configure as needed for your specific hardware.
4. Click "Connect & Listen" and watch the output area for incoming serial data!

Testing Without Hardware (Linux/Ubuntu)

If you don't have physical hardware to test with, you can mock a hardware serial port using socat to create a virtual "loopback" cable.

1. Install socat

sudo apt update && sudo apt install socat

2. Create Virtual Serial Ports

Run the following command to create two linked pseudo-terminals (PTYs):

socat -d -d pty,raw,echo=0 pty,raw,echo=0

Leave this terminal running! It will output two paths, something like:

2026/08/01 22:30:00 socat[12345] N PTY is /dev/pts/2
2026/08/01 22:30:00 socat[12345] N PTY is /dev/pts/3

3. Connect via the GUI

1. Open the uart-gui application.
2. In the Port Path field, enter the first virtual port (e.g., /dev/pts/2).
3. Click Connect & Listen.

4. Send Mock Data

Open a new terminal window and send data to the other virtual port (e.g., /dev/pts/3):

echo "Hello from the virtual hardware!" > /dev/pts/3

Look at your GUI window—you will see the data successfully appear in the text area!

Local Development

If you want to clone this repository and modify the GUI:

1. Clone the repository and navigate into the folder.
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Run the app locally (disables the Linux sandbox for easy local testing):

npm start