Zeecube Software ParPort2004 Direct I/O Parallel Port Access

products > ParPort 2004

ParPort 2004 delivers the ability to access PC parallel ports from Win32 applications under Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP & Windows Server 2003. Previously, the only way would have been to write an device driver to perform the I/O on behalf of the application.

This package allows Win32 applications to access hardware connected to a parallel port with the same ease as was previously available under Windows 98 and MS-DOS.

Access is coordinated with the standard Windows parallel driver to ensure that the parallel port is only 'claimed' if no other process is currently using it. Once the port is 'claimed', other processes are blocked from using the port. See the sidebar "How does it work?" for more technical details.

Once the application has finished using the parallel port, the parallel port is free for use by any other process again.

There are several versions of ParPort2004 to choose from, with differing features. Please consult the feature comparison chart below for details.


Feature	ParPort 2004 Lite Edition	ParPort 2004 Professional Edition	ParPort 2004 Developer Edition	ParPort 2004 OEM Edition

Price	$19.95	$39.95	$59.95	$995
Allow access to parallel port hardware under Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
Allow access to any hardware device
Allow 16-bit Windows/MS-DOS applications access to parallel port
Windows Explorer Integration allowing parallel port access with just a right click
Process monitor to automatically enable parallel port access when a named application executes
Provides an API callable from any language capable of using a Windows DLL
Allows freely distributable, "no setup required" demo programs to be created

How does it work?

Under Windows 2000 / Windows XP / Windows Server 2003, direct access is not permitted to hardware devices to try and make the operating environment more robust and secure. When an application tries to read or write directly to a hardware device, it triggers a privileged instruction exception which causes Windows to terminate it. Software that used to run fine under Windows 9x fails when run under the newer Windows OSes.

ParPort2004 works by changing the I/O permission map for an application and allows it to read and write a hardware device connected to a parallel port just as it would have under Windows 98. Changing the I/O permission map, allows the application free access to the I/O port range of the parallel port hardware. It also supports additional parallel ports added using expansion cards.

The developer edition allows access to any I/O port not just the parallel port hardware.