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First WinForms App

This guide builds a small WinForms point panel: load a virtual Modbus slave from zeus.json, then show channel state, temperature, and alarms.

Use dotnet new zeus-winforms for the full skeleton. The repository sample Zeus.Samples.WinForms.QuickStart follows the same path. For a byte echo, see the console sample.

Run the Sample​

From the repository code directory:

dotnet run --project samples/Zeus.Samples.WinForms.QuickStart

The window should show Open, a live temperature (0.0 C on an empty virtual slave), and High after you click Simulate high temperature.

Required Packages​

dotnet add package Zeus.Communications
dotnet add package Zeus.Configuration
dotnet add package Zeus.Presentation.WinForms
dotnet add package Zeus.Protocols.Modbus
<TargetFramework>net8.0-windows</TargetFramework>
<UseWindowsForms>true</UseWindowsForms>

Copy zeus.json to the output directory.

Minimal Form Code​

Put the layout in MainForm.Designer.cs. The code-behind only attaches Zeus:

using Zeus;

public partial class MainForm : Form
{
    public MainForm()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        var attachment = this.AttachZeus(builder =>
            builder.AddJsonFile(Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "zeus.json")));
        attachment.Host.Channels.Get("bus").BindState(stateLabel);
        attachment.Host.Points.BindText("temperature", temperatureLabel, value => $"{value:0.0} C");
    }
}

stateLabel and temperatureLabel are declared by the designer.

Use a Real Serial Port​

Change the channel in zeus.json. Leave the form code alone:

{
  "name": "bus",
  "type": "serial",
  "options": {
    "portName": "COM3",
    "baudRate": 9600
  }
}

Parity, data bits, and stop bits are not JSON fields yet. Set them in code with AddSerialPort(name, options => …).

Next: WinForms Adapter or Serial Port.