Tera Term (console emulator)
Introduction
Tera Term is a free terminal emulator for Windows. It can be used to communicate with target hardware using a serial port or a telnet connection.
Download
There are several versions of the software available on the internet. Curiously, the web page of the original project doesn't have the latest version of the package, it can be downloaded from LogMeTT site.
Tera Term macros
Tera Term includes a language called Tera Term Language which has the capability of controlling the communications and adds support for a lot of features like getting the time and date, prompt the user for information, among others.
Using this language is possible to create macros: basic programs that execute a series of commands (.TTL files). For instance, a macro can be created to connect to a hardware running Linux and send shell commands.
ttpmacro.exe is the application used to execute a macro (included on the Tera Term package). To execute a macro just double click on the ttpmacro icon and select your .TTL file.
Macro editors
There are several editors available all of them with different features. If you're downloading Tera Term from the LogMeTT site the package will include a nice editor called TTLEditor, which features syntax highlighting and macro execution from the same window.
Logging
One important advantage of this terminal emulator is that it allows you to start a log file once the communication has started.
On a macro you'll be using the command connect to start commnucation, the '/L=<path>' parameter will indicate the name of the log file. Check Tera Term command line for more specific details.
Support
Support for Tera Term terminal emulator as well as some example macros are available at LogMeTT forums