Writing Virtual RS232 Port Emulator that runs in user code

Question

Is there any way to write a virtual RS232 Port Emulator that doesn't have to be installed as a device driver?

What I'd like to have is a program that emulates a physical hardware device. It tells the OS that it is port COM1. Other programs see COM1 and open it using code like the .NET SerialPort class. Once the connection is established, the emulator begins emulating the device.

I know there are virtual COM port drivers out there that can do this, but my boss does not want to use them.

Can this be done?

Answer 1

There is a sample UMDF Virtual serial port driver sample that Microsoft provides. It's not kernel mode, so this might get past the reasoning for not wanting to be a "driver" (which I read as "kernel driver" here). At some point you need to interact with the IO subsystem to make your exposed COM port a device (even if it's just a software device) so I think this is about as high of level as you'll get from what you are describing.