Macos Coolterm 1.9.0 clears the port on save

[kurts]

I have the latest CoolTerm, and I have a config file copied from a Windows PC. Obviously the port is not the same, so I open CoolTerm, open the options dialog and change the port. Then I save the settings. There are no errors shown at any point in this process. When I load that config, it will use the default port (first in the list). The config file has no port setting at all; setting the port removes the port setting.

Is this a known problem? Or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks!

[roger]

Hi Kurt,

when you load a settings file from a PC, or any settings file with the port set to something that is not available on you computer, it should present you with a dialog telling you that the currently selected port is not available. That dialog will give you the following options:

• Select a different port
• Use the first available port
• Cancel

The first 2 options will result in a different selection, and when you save the settings after that, the new selection will be saved in the settings file.
If, however, you chose to "Cancel", CoolTerm will not select another port. This means that there won't be a valid port selection, and you won't be able to connect or do anything until you select a valid port. If you chose to save the settings without selecting a valid port, CoolTerm will save the settings without a port setting.

Whenever a specific setting is missing from a settings file, CoolTerm will assume the default for that setting. This is normal behavior. For example, if the port setting is missing, CoolTerm will select the default port. However, if you save the setting again after that without making any changes, the saved settings should reflect the default port since CoolTerm now has a valid port selection. I hope that make sense.

From your description it sounds like you may have saved the settings from the Windows PC after selecting "Cancel" the first time you opened it. This is the only way (I can think of) the port setting could have disappeared from the settings file. Do you think this is what may have happened?

Roger

[kurts]

Thanks for your response.

I don't think that's it. Here's the sequence.

Copy *.stc from the Windows PC to the Mac
Start CoolTerm on the Mac
Open one of the stc files and set the port
Connect and test the connection
Disconnect
Save (click the floppy icon)
Quit CoolTerm
grep the stc file for "Port"
There is no "Port" in the file

When I open an stc file that has no port, I do not see a dialog. It just opens and chooses the default (the first port in the list).

When I open an stc file that has a non-existent port, I do see the dialog you mentioned.

[roger]

When you open the .stc file your bringing over from the PC with a text editor, what is the port setting? Is it possible that the port setting is missing from the file before you even open it on the Mac?

[kurts]

Port = COM11

The setting is present in the stc file and the port doesn't exist on the Mac.

When opening that file I get the port dialog, and I choose 'cancel'. The I go to Options and choose the correct port, exit the options dialog and click the disk icon to save. I can connect to that port, but as soon as I quit, the port setting is no longer in the stc file. I just went through it again and that's probably the smallest number of steps that will reproduce the problem.

Thanks again for your help.

[roger]

Thanks for the steps. I was able to reproduce the problem, and I believe I was able to fix it.

I just uploaded a new beta that includes the fix. Please sign up to the betas mailing list to get access to the CoolTerm betas here: http://the-meiers.org/mailman/listinfo/ ... meiers.org

Roger

[kurts]

I discovered an interesting thing; I don't know if this is intentional, but at startup there is no distinction between a port that doesn't exist and one that isn't available. Not a big deal, but the message in the dialog says both things, "The serial port "/dev/cu.usbserial-FTBB99VP" is not available." and then "The specified serial port could not be found."

The beta does fix the "missing port" bug. Thanks again!