MOTM

My vote is still for USB, but I have coded MIDI in java.  Got an Oxygen8 
controlling some software oscillators I was experimenting with. 
Obviously, we'll be sending data more than receiving, but it's not too 
tough.

There are open source (LGPL) libraries for talking USB on *nix systems 
and win32.  They're libusb and libusb-win32.  There is also a Java 
wrapper already written which is also LGPL so it would be no problem to 
use those libraries.

Dave


strohs56k wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> If the intent is for the PC side to be Java (which is smart as you can
> get the same app running on PC and Mac) then Ethernet or MIDI is the
> right choice for the target device. Java has built in support for
> UDP/TCP sockets (Ethernet) and also has built in MIDI capabilities.
> (However, I have no idea how good the Java MIDI class is so far as
> "will it work with the specific MIDI interface hooked up to my PC"
> issues.)
> 
> I know that talking to a regular old serial port from Java looks
> painful. (Sun provides an optional serial communication class but
> they only provide a system level driver for Solaris. For PC or Mac or
> Linux you have to use this funky open source driver = confusing extra
> stuff you have to figure out how to install and make work.) I think
> the same would be true of USB from Java *unless* the target USB device
> was made to look like a MIDI interface. (But again, I am not an
> expert as to how well Java can see various MIDI devices.)
> 
> -seth
> 
>