---
title: "system.serial.readLine"
description: "Attempts to read a line from a serial port."
---

# system.serial.readLine

> Attempts to read a line from a serial port.

This function is used in **Python Scripting**.

## Description
Attempts to read a line from a serial port. A "line" is considered to be terminated by either a line feed ('\n'), a carriage return ('\r'), or a carriage return followed immediately by a line feed.

The function will wait until the timeout period for a terminator. If the timeout is reached before the line is properly terminated, then the buffer will be dumped, possibly resulting in data loss.

## Client Permission Restrictions
This scripting function has no [Client Permission](projects\project-properties\project-properties.md#client---permissions) restrictions.

## Syntax
`system.serial.readLine(port [, timeout] [, encoding])`

### Parameters

|Type|Parameter|Description|
|--|--|--|
|String |`port` |The previously configured serial port to use.|
|int| `timeout`| Maximum amount of time, in milliseconds, to block before returning. Default is 5000. [optional]|
|String |`encoding` | The String encoding to use. Default is UTF8. [optional]|
### Returns
**String** - A line of text.
### Scope
All