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You can adjust baud rate, protocol, flow control, and hardware handshaking for serial ports on devices that support these settings.
You should use the fastest available baud rate and the protocol recommended by your device manufacturer. See the documentation that accompanies your device.
Your computer can produce a plot file faster than most plotters can process it. Plotters have a limited amount of memory and as this memory fills up, the plotter must be able to tell your computer to stop sending data temporarily. Then, when plotter memory is freed up as the plot is processed, the plotter must be able to tell the computer to resume sending the plot file. This communication is called flow control or handshaking.
There are two methods of handshaking: hardware and software. Hardware handshaking uses additional wires in the cable between the plotter and computer. These wires are dedicated to handshaking signals or on/off voltages. Software handshaking uses a single wire to send streams of commands that include start/stop handshaking signals. The most common type of software handshaking is XON/XOFF. You must provide different cables for hardware and software handshaking.