Serial RS-232 interface settings

A list of all valid configuration settings for the config.txt file, which relate to sending pass information over the Serial, RS-232 interface on the VTAP50 or VTAP100 J1 connector.

Note: The Serial RS-232 port is available on VTAP50, or on VTAP100 v3a hardware onwards.

If SerialMode=1 and SerialSource is set, you can open an application on the computer connected to the VTAP reader, and pass or card data that is read will be sent over the Serial RS-232 interface. SerialSource determines whether the Serial RS-232 interface is used to send mobile pass reads only, or cards/tag reads too.

You might need SerialSettings to change the standard parameters for data transfer from the 9600, n, 8, 1 default. SerialStartup can be used to set a message to transfer when the Serial interface is first enabled.

SerialPrefix and SerialPostfix can be optionally used to add extra characters before or after a pass read, to suit your application.

When SerialPassMode=1 you can use all of the other settings beginning SerialPass... to extract only part of the mobile pass data. To do this you have to start by identifying a separator character in the data as SerialPassSeparator. This allows the data to be regarded as a set of sections that can be identified by number. By identifying a SerialContentSeparator this process can be repeated at a lower level, within a section. There is a simple example in the section Extract only part of the pass data.

If you want to receive serial QR/barcode scanner input (assumed to be an ASCII sequence) on this interface set SerialScannerMode, and adjust SerialScannerDelimiter if scanner inputs are terminated by something other than a new line character.

SerialMode

Definition:

Activate the Serial RS-232 interface for receiving mobile pass data.

Options:

=1 (default) if you want VTAP data sent over the Serial RS-232 interface,
=0 switches it off

Default value: =1

Example value: =0

SerialPassContentMode

Definition:

Turns on a subdivision of a data section into content sections.

Options:

=0 off (default),
=1 on.

To use this mode you must also supply SerialPassContentSeparator if the default % is not the separator you want to use and SerialPassContentSection.

Default value: =0

Example value: =1

SerialPassContentSection

Definition:

Identifies the content section of interest, based on finding SerialPassContentSeparator characters. The first content section, before the first separator, is numbered 0.

Options:

Only used if SerialPassContentMode=1.

Default value: =0

Example value: =1

SerialPassContentSeparator

Definition:

Identifies the content separator character in the data which bounds content sections.

Options:

Only used if SerialPassContentMode=1 and SerialPassContentSection is set.

Default value: =%

Example value: =%

SerialPassLength

Definition:

Number of characters of data to extract, used in conjunction with SerialPassStart.

Options:

Defaults to 0 meaning do not truncate data, send all available characters from the pass data, or extracted section of pass data.

Default value: =0

Example value: =10

SerialPassMode

Definition:

Sets whether to extract parts of the data from the mobile NFC pass.

Options:

=0 does not extract a character delimited section of the pass payload (SerialPassSection is ignored).
=1 uses the SerialPassSection value to extract a character delimited section of the pass payload.

Default value: =0

Example value: =1

SerialPassSection

Definition:

Identifies the section of interest, based on finding SerialPassSeparator characters. The first section, before the first separator, is numbered 0.

Options:

Used only if SerialPassMode=1.

Default value: =0

Example value: =2

SerialPassSeparator

Definition:

Identifies the separator character in the data which bounds sections.

Options:

Only used if SerialPassMode=1 and SerialPassSection is set.

Default value: =|

Example value: =|

SerialPassStart

Definition:

Number of characters into string to start extracting data, where first character is 0.

Options:

May be used with SerialPassLength.

Default value: =0

Example value: =5

SerialPostfix

Definition:

Adds special characters after data, if needed.

Options:

Use standard ASCII hex characters to describe the keystrokes to append.

%0D in the example adds a carriage return after the data,
%0A adds a new line after every pass or tag entry.
$t would include the pass type.
$$t would append '$t' to the output.
$t$n will follow the pass type character with a digit for VAS merchant ID/ST collector ID index (1 to 6) and a digit for keyslot used (1 to 6).
$u adds the UID as 8, 14 or 16 hex ASCII digits.

(For a Pass type explainer - click here)

Default value: =%0D

Example value: =end%0D

SerialPrefix

Definition:

Adds special characters before the data, if needed.

Options:

Use standard ASCII hex characters to describe the keystrokes to append.

%0A in the example adds a new line linefeed before the data.
$t would include the pass type .
$$t would prefix the output with '$t'.
$t$n will follow the pass type character with a digit for VAS merchant ID/ST collector ID index (1 to 6) and a digit for keyslot used (1 to 6).
$u adds the UID as 8, 14 or 16 hex ASCII digits.

(For a Pass type explainer - click here)

Default value: [Empty]

Example value: =%0Astart

SerialScannerMode

Definition:

Controls whether a serial QR/barcode scanner input is expected on the serial RS‑232 interface.
(Note: If this is enabled the serial RS‑232 interface cannot be used for commands or OSDP.)

Options:

=0 (default) serial QR code/barcode scanner input not permitted on the serial RS‑232 interface
=1 enable serial QR code/barcode scanner input on the serial RS‑232 interface

Default value: =0

Example value: =1

SerialScannerDelimiter

Definition:

Controls which character is expected to terminate each serial QR/barcode scanner input on the serial RS‑232 interface

Options:

Uses standard ASCII hex characters to describe the keystroke to expect.

=%0d (default) will treat a carriage return character as indicating the end of scanner input
=%0a would treat a new line as indicating the end of scanner input

Default value: =%0d

Example value: =%0a

SerialSettings

Definition:

Optional setting used to control the transfer of data over a serial connection.

Options:

Port settings: baud rate, parity, data bits, stop bits.

=9600,n,8,1 is the default if not specified

Baud rate can be set to 115200 instead of 9600.
Parity could be o for odd, e for even or n for no parity.
8 data bits means that groups of 10 data bits will be sent over the serial link, a start bit, 8 data bits and a stop bit.
The stop bit can be transferred for 1, 1.5 or 2 times the period used to transfer a normal bit.

Default value: =9600,n,8,1

Example value: =9600,n,8,1

SerialSource

Definition:

SerialSource controls which types of event data (pass reads, card/tag reads, serial commands, scanner inputs) go to the serial interface.

Options:

The values are determined from a bitwise combination of the following hexadecimal values. Source options include these bit values for mobile passes and tag UIDs:
Bit 7 (0x80) = Mobile Pass (Apple VAS/Google Wallet Smart Tap)
Bit 6 (0x40) = STUID
Bit 5 (0x20) = Write to card emulation mode (CardEmulationMode=1 see VTAP NFC tag emulation settings)
Bit 4 (0x10) = RFU
Bit 3 (0x08) = RFU
Bit 2 (0x04) = Scanners
Bit 1 (0x02) = Command interface messages (>interface:type:message see Dynamic configuration commands)
Bit 0 (0x01) = Card/Tag UID

Default value: =A5

Example value:

=80 (hex) will send only mobile NFC pass data
=A1 to send data from NFC passes and NFC cards/tags and card emulation
=83 to send passes, cards/tags and serial commands

SerialStartup

Definition:

Optional setting for transfer of data over a serial connection.

Options:

="VTAP100/<version>\r" is default. May be disabled by setting it to empty.

Default value: ="VTAP100/<version>\r"

Example value: =startup message