This codestring interpreter prototype demonstrates a new way of using existing keyboard emulation devices to achieve greater control over functions in the computer's operating system. It was possible to design this application because the Windows operating system supports the monitoring and swallowing of keystrokes. As well, Windows' heavy use of dynamic link libraries means that a codestring facility can be applied to devices and system services that were not yet designed when the codestring application was written. The prototype designed here is only useful for sending strings through a serial port. A more general utility would be able to make arbitrary DLL calls so that any number of low-level system functions could be controlled.
Environmental control is only one application.
Anything with a DLL interface could become an extension of the user's access system. This idea is certainly not without limitations though. The primary usability problem is configuration. Before any new DLL function can be accessed, the user must configure the access system with an unintuitive codestring representing the desired DLL function call. Furthermore, the inner section of the codestring would need to come from the DLL's documentation.