Hi

I'm studying Electronics, I'm not going class(jus' through books), so I cant ask anyone for help.

I used to program alot, but these days its all electrons and protons .

Does anyone here know how to communicate with the serial port.
What I mean is, how can I send a "1" or a "high" to, say, pin 1(or any pin for that matter) of the serial port ?

I know C\C++, a bit of API(mostly forgot all commands), a scratch of PERL and also PASCAL(long time ago).
If you know how to communicate with the serial port, please help me for I would do anything(I'm on my knees 'cauze Mr.Google was feeling like a long "chat" ) .
The above named languages are only preference, so if you know another way to solve this prob I would sincerely appreciate it.

I know this is not the right place to ask this question but here goes:
Does anyone know what is the voltage and current rating of a serial port's "high" or "1" ?

I have learnt(a long time ago) how to use the serial port ,in C, to communicate with the PRINTER, actually I have written a tutorial about it here at AO(named:C\C++: Printing To Paper), but I still have absalutely no idea how to send info through the serial port for further usage(amplifying,switching,etc).


Cheers
HANDz