Hey all you CompSci guys out there, I need a bit of help. I've got a PC that's going to be sitting by my door running Win2k to control relays that open and close the door. I'm trying to read input from my parallel port hooked to a few limit switches into a C++ program to tell the relays when to turn on and off.

Correction, Tried. I can't get any decisive input data from grounding the shown input only pins, and I don't think I really understand how statuses should be pulled from pins. As far as I can tell, the input function just gets passed a port, and that port returns a byte, and somehow I have to pull some data out of there....?

I've gotten all of my output to work great using one of these: http://www.electronickits.com/kit/complete/elec/ck1601.htm I'm just having input woes now...

My first question(s): Is this possible with the board I'm using? If not, could I use a gameport to read switch values instead?

My second question(s): Where am I going wrong here? Is there a better way to go about reading inputs from switches into a program?

I have a fair knowledge of C++ and a pretty damn good understanding of computers, so, don't feel like you have to talk totally dumb to me (although, I am a freshman, so I expect it anyway, heh).

Thanks in advance for the help!

Ron