[Feature Request] Add support for UDP data input

[kaedros]

Description

Currently, SerialAnalyzer only accepts real-time data through a serial (UART) port. This limits its use in wireless or mobile sensor scenarios—such as analyzing data from Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers, drones, or wearable devices—that transmit telemetry over UDP instead of a physical serial connection.

Solution

Add a UDP input mode alongside the existing serial option, allowing users to:

• Switch between Serial and UDP as the data source.
• Configure a listen IP address (e.g., 0.0.0.0) and port number.
• Receive raw UDP packets and feed them into the same parsing/visualization pipeline used for serial data.
• The rest of the app’s functionality (recording, protocol decoding, plotting, etc.) should remain unchanged—only the data source would differ.

The rest of the app’s functionality (recording, protocol decoding, plotting, etc.) should remain unchanged—only the data source would differ.

Additional context

UDP is widely used in embedded IoT systems due to its low overhead and suitability for time-sensitive, loss-tolerant sensor data (e.g., IMU readings). Supporting UDP would significantly expand the tool’s applicability in robotics, motion analysis, and field testing—while keeping its simple, focused UI intact.

Example use case:

An ESP32-based accelerometer sends 100 Hz sensor data over Wi-Fi to 192.168.1.100:5005. The user selects UDP mode, sets port 5005, and immediately sees live plots—just as they would with a USB-connected device.

I’d like to contribute!

I’m already working on an implementation and plan to open a pull request soon.
If you’re open to external contributions, I’d be glad to:

• Help implement this feature.
• Assist with other open issues.
• Participate more actively in the project’s development.

As a small suggestion: enabling standard GitHub labels (enhancement, help wanted, etc.) would make community collaboration even smoother.

[fryktoria]

Hello @kaedros . Have you created a Windows release on your development? I will be happy to test.

[kaedros]

Hello @kaedros . Have you created a Windows release on your development? I will be happy to test.

Hi @fryktoria. Yes, I definitely have! I’ve created a Windows release in my fork of this repository, covering this issue and several others I've been working on. I have already submitted a Pull Request #14 with these changes. Now we just need @curiores to review and merge the code. In the meantime, you are more than welcome to access my fork and test it https://github.com/kaedros/SerialAnalyzer/tree/dev!

[fryktoria]

Hello @kaedros . Thank you for the quick reply. I had already checked your repository. I am looking for a complete Windows release, since I have some issues in building the software from scratch. It would be most helpful if you could make available a pre-compiled installation file, similar to https://www.curiores.com/files/SerialAnalyzer/Serial%20Analyzer%20Setup%201.1.0.exe. Thank you.

[kaedros]

Hello @kaedros . Thank you for the quick reply. I had already checked your repository. I am looking for a complete Windows release, since I have some issues in building the software from scratch. It would be most helpful if you could make available a pre-compiled installation file, similar to https://www.curiores.com/files/SerialAnalyzer/Serial%20Analyzer%20Setup%201.1.0.exe. Thank you.

I understand that a pre-compiled installer is more convenient. However, I don't have a dedicated website to host binary files like @curiores does, and GitHub issues aren't the best place to distribute .exe files for security and storage reasons.

The build process is actually quite straightforward and you shouldn't run into any issues. You just need to follow these steps in the source directory:

1. Install Node.js (to have npm available).
2. Install Yarn.
3. Run yarn install to download the dependencies.
4. Run yarn electron:package:win to generate your own Windows release.

Once @curiores reviews and merges my Pull Request, an official installer will likely be made available on his website/repository.

[fryktoria]

Exactly the response I was afraid of :-(, especially after succeding to stay away from Node.js for many years Anyway, I installed Linux on a VM, faced some problems at the "yarn install" step, but finally managed to build a .deb package which runs. I did not try the functionality since I am focusing on creating the win build. Unfortunately this failed, probably because "wine" is a prerequisite. I will try again in the following days.

[fryktoria]

Yes, it was "wine" that is also a prerequisite in building for win on Linux machine. The "Serial Analyzer Setup 1.2.0.exe" was created and installed in "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\serialanalyzer", overwriting the previous version.

First impression: UDP data are received and presented as usual at port 5000. But changing the port number, either at the text box or via the arrow buttons, has no effect at all. The change event needs to be caught and the server should start listening on the new port.

[kaedros]

Thank you for the feedback, @fryktoria . You were right about the change event. I have now implemented a fix: whenever the UDP port is modified, the system automatically terminates the current connection ecb0c25.

After changing the port, you will need to click the 'play' button to start the connection again on the new port. This ensures the server correctly binds to the updated configuration.