After Effects scripting: Serial port access?

Hi,
Does any one know if it's possible to access the computer's serial port using an After Effectsc script?
I'm building a motion control script and I'm wondering if I can use a script to read the values of a keyframed parameter(e.g. a slider effect on a solid layer) to send serial port commands to move my rig.
Regards,
Ihab Ali

I don't think that ExtendScript for AE ships with a way to do that out of the box, but in the Javascript Tools Guide for CS5, there is a section titled "Integrated External Libraries" which reads:
You can extend the JavaScript DOM for an application by writing a C or C++ shared library, compiling it for the platform you are using, and loading it into JavaScript as an ExternalObject object. A shared library is implemented by a DLL in Windows, a bundle or framework in Mac OS, or a SharedObject in UNIX.
You can access the library functions directly through the ExternalObject instance, or you can define an interface that allows your C/C++ code to create and access JavaScript classes and objects.
All Adobe Creative Suite 4 applications support this feature.
So you can probably write an app in C or C++ which communicates directly to the machine's port, and then call functions you declare in that code via ExtendScript.  Sorry I couldn't be of much help here, but that's where I would start.
--Arie

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