Please point me toward any applicable FAQs or other groups if I am breaking protocol or in the wrong place, thanks. :)
That said, I am trying to find some information on building a very simple circuit that combines a momentary contact switch and my PC's serial port. I have a very basic understanding of electronics, generally speaking, but I am definitely a "software guy." ;) Once connected, I'd like to be able to open the serial port and query (or receive) the current state of the switch. The rest of my project can be handled in software (for now) so I'd like to keep everything on the hardware side as simple as possible.
Googling, I find a good number of circuits involving using the PC serial port to control the state of LEDs/relays/etc. but not much in the way of simple receiving of data. I'm not opposed to using the parallel port, I'd just prefer to use serial for this project, unless there is a significant advantage (lower cost, simpler design). I'm also not against using a USB port, but I am assuming that involves more complexity on the hardware side as well as the software side.
Anyway, thanks for any links or information you can provide. I'd be glad to provide the final design and example C code for my project when I get it going, if that is useful to anyone. :)
oz