Port Windows USB API to C#?

This is more of a general Windows USB programming issue than anything MSP430 specific, since the same USB host program can be used to communicate with an MSP430F55xx, a Stellaris, or a C5xxx if they all implement the same application protocol and the program recognizes their VID/PIDs.

There are library wrappers that interface various Windows USB APIs with C# (and other .Net managed code). Here are some resources to get you started:

http://code.google.com/p/winusbnet/

http://libusbdotnet.sourceforge.net/V2/Index.html

http://www.ti.com/litv/pdf/slaa453

Tony

Tony,

Thanks for the references, but I was under the impression that the TI HID "datapipe" (which is what I want to implement) required a special form of communication from the PC-app. The excerpts below, taken from the API Programmer Guide,  are what I am referring to. Please let me know if I am mistaken.

• HID-Datapipe Interface: HID interfaces in this API can either be datapipe or traditional.
Datapipe eases the creation of general-purpose applications over HID. A defining feature is
its usage of the API’s default report descriptor, which defines a report with a “size/data” field
format. The distinction between datapipe and traditional is made only by which function calls
the application uses to access the HID interface.

...and 

The HID datapipe function calls implement an unformatted datastream, just like the CDC calls.
It defines a very simple report, consisting of a size byte and a large data field. At the level of the
MSP430 application, there’s essentially no difference in how the CDC and HID-Datapipe calls
operate. The call sets are identical, except for their prefix (USBCDC_ vs. USBHID_). Programs
written for one can be quickly migrated to the other. The engineer who learns one of these APIs
already knows the other.

The datapipe calls are not an industry standard protocol, but rather something created by TI.
However, this type of approach is commonly used among USB engineers.

Tony,

Yes. Very clear. Thanks. I'll take a look at these other libraries you've pointed out. The Signal11 looks encouraging.

I'm just about to look at doing something similar. Did you make any progress that might save me some time?

Fred,

I gave up. But you would be the hero of many people here if you can make it happen!! 

Keep us posted if you do give it a try. 

I spent a couple of hours last night with very little success. I can see the HID device and connect, but can't send a report to it.

If I get something working then I'll definitely post it here, but I may just go with a fallback of using a CDC serial port instead.

Fred,

My apologies. I mis-read your original post. I thought you were referring to a C# port of the BSL, which I had previously given up on.

However, I am able to communicate with the MSP430 API using Jan Axleson's Generic HID for C# v4.6 (http://www.lvr.com/hidpage.htm). One of the key technical gotcha's is to use report type=63 (outputReportBuffer[0]=63). Otherwise the TI API will not recognize the transaction.

Good luck!!

Thanks. I thought it'd be something like that, as I could send messages but they were being ignored. I must admit that time pressures meant I gave up and went with CDC serial instead of HID.