WinWedge Quick Start Guide

WinWedge is for collecting data from serial devices—such as RS232 or RS232-to-USB scales, balances, meters, and gauges—directly into any Windows application, spreadsheet, document, or web form. For data collection from serial devices over a network connection (Ethernet or TCP/IP), please see the TCP-Wedge Quick Start Guide.
This guide is a basic outline of the most common setup flow for most WinWedge users.
- For more detailed information and features, see the full manual or our support pages.
- You can download this guide as a PDF. We also have a video demonstration of WinWedge that covers many of the steps in this guide.

Step 1: Select Port Settings

Go to “Port” > “Settings” from the WinWedge main menu.

To communicate properly, the settings in WinWedge must match the parameters used by the device that you want to collect data from (Baud rate, Parity, Data Bits, Stop Bits, and Flow Control). These settings should be outlined in your device’s manual or may be found through your device’s menu system if your device is configurable.

To select the right COM port under “Connector,” you can confirm your device’s COM port number using the Windows Device Manager. Right-click on the Windows Start Button and select “Device Manager.” Then, click on the arrow next to “Ports (COM & LPT)” to see a list of all available COM ports. Your RS232 device should appear here with its port number labeled “(COM#).”

Windows Device Manager COM Ports and LPT Section

Notes:

If your device does not appear here or if you need more information on using the Device Manager, please see Identify your device’s COM port with Device Manager for more details.
If you see a COM Port listed as “Intel(R) Active Management Technology -SOL (COMn)”, this is not an actual RS232 COM Port and should be ignored when configuring WinWedge.

Step 2: Analyze the Input Data (from your scale or device)

Next, you need to verify that the data is sent properly and identify anything you might want to filter or separate when you transmit to your target app.

Go to “Port” > “Analyze” from the WinWedge main menu, then have your device transmit a reading.

Common troubleshooting scenarios

If no data appears in the “Input Data” field and “Total Byte Count” is 0:

The device may not be sending data.
1. Make sure the device is turned on and connected, then try pressing the “Print” or “Transmit” button on your device.
2. If there is no Print or Transmit button, you may need to send a command from WinWedge to the device to request data. Check the device manual for a “Print” or “Transmit” command you can enter in the Output box.
3. Use the ASCII Chart button to include special characters in your command (e.g., carriage returns or control codes). Common special characters include a music note (meaning Carriage Return, ASCII 13) or a box with a circle (meaning Linefeed, ASCII 10).
The data might not be reaching WinWedge. Make sure the device is connected to the COM port that you selected in Port Settings in Step 1.

If you receive unreadable or invisible data in the “Input Data” field

This indicates that the device is sending data to the selected COM port, but one or more settings in the Port Settings window from Step 1 is incorrect.

To find your device’s RS232 communication settings, check its manual, contact the manufacturer, or ask an AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT) for common configurations.
If you receive the correct number of characters but some are unreadable (e.g., symbols or gibberish): The Baud rate is correct, but the Parity and/or Data Bits setting in WinWedge does not match your device.
If all received characters are unreadable: The Baud rate setting in WinWedge is incorrect.

Understanding your device’s raw data

Once you have readable data in the Input Data textbox, make note of its format, including ASCII characters (such as musical notes), the starting & ending characters, and any separators (delimiters such as commas or spaces). If the data consists of fixed-length fields, you can select these fields in the Input Data textbox to see the length of each.

Write down this complete Input Data and decide how you would like it to appear in your target application (i.e., Excel). You will need this for Step 4.

Step 3: Select the Mode

The mode determines how WinWedge sends data to Excel or any other Windows application.

“Send Keystrokes To…” sends data by simulating keystrokes, acting as if someone were manually typing the data.
The more advanced “DDE Server…” option uses Window’s Dynamic Data Exchange feature to send data within the operating system. See our DDE Server Mode Setup Guide for more info.
(Pro version only) “Log to disk…” sends data directly to a text file with a .log file extension.

If you want your scale or device data to appear at the cursor location within any open application, leave the “Application Title Bar Text” and “Command Line” fields blank.
If you want WinWedge to automatically launch an application before sending data to it, fill these fields with the name of your application and its executable file, respectively (i.e., “EXCEL” and “EXCEL.exe”).
The default “1 ms” works for most situations.
Click “OK” to save and dismiss this window.

Step 4: Define the Input Data Structure

The settings under the Define menu let you configure WinWedge’s behavior and treatment of the data when sending to your target application. Go to “Define” > “Input Data Record Structure…” to configure WinWedge to parse and filter the device data for your needs.

A wizard will walk you through various steps and options. If you’re using a scale, balance, or gauge to send a single field of data, you can closely follow the screenshots below.

First, you specify what the incoming data looks like and how it is structured, based on your observations from the “Analyze” window in Step 2.
- Defining the Start and End of Record Events tells WinWedge what the start and end of each data record is.
- Next, select if the data is single field or multiple fields. Separating your data into “fields” allows WinWedge to handle them differently, such as entering them in different places or with different keystrokes. If you select “Each record contains multiple delimited data fields”, you would then tell WinWedge the delimiter that separates them. For instance, if the record is “123 oz,” you could say that the record is 2 fields with a space delimiter. Alternatively, you could leave the weight and unit as “single field data” if you have no need to separate them.
Then, the Input Record Definition Editor has options for manipulating each field in a way that works best for you. For instance, if you have used the previous steps to separate a record like “123 oz” into two fields, then the options here for Field 1 would apply to “123.” The “Next Field” and “Previous Field” buttons allow you to move between different fields for configuration.
- For “Input Filter,” most users select “None,” “Ignore this field,” or “Numeric Data Only.”
- You can learn more about the Format and Math Expressions available in WinWedge Professional Edition the WinWedge User’s Manual.
- “Field Postamble Keystrokes” are the keystrokes that WinWedge will “press” after entering your data in the target application (ex. “Enter” or “Tab”).
- If you are using DDE mode with WinWedge Professional Edition, you will be prompted to enter a DDE command instead. You can learn more about using the DDE mode in our DDE Server Mode Setup Guide.

For more information on interpreting your device data, visit this article.

Optional: Define Output Strings

Some devices require a serial command to send data. You can set up WinWedge to send these commands in “Define” > “Serial Output Strings…” and in “Define” > “Hotkeys and …”. Options include “clicking” a button, mapping keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys) to device commands, and automatically sending a command to your device on a timed interval.

Step 5: Activate and Capture Data

The final step is to activate WinWedge and start logging device data.

Important: Go to “File” > “Save” and save the configuration file you have just created.
Go to “Activate” > “Test Mode”. Test Mode automatically reopens the WinWedge Setup window after deactivating, allowing you to quickly make any adjustments to your configuration. After finalizing your settings, you should use Normal mode.
Open Excel or any Windows application and the real-time scale or device data will “pop in” at the cursor.

Trial versions of WinWedge or TCP-Wedge will only stay active for 20 minutes (in Test or Normal mode). After that, you will have to restart the software. In addition, the About window will always remain open.

If something doesn’t look right or if you aren’t getting data, double check these steps. If you need more help, contact support@taltech.com or call +1 215-496-0222 during EST business hours.