Serial Communication Resources?

I've read with great interest what others on this forum have done interfacing with devices with serial ports using the network module.

I'm about to try having ISY communicate with a device I have that has a serial port - in baby steps. Can someone point me to an online resource which can explain how to take a command to be sent to a serial port and convert the string to what I could send through a PC-based terminal emulation program?

For example, I have the string taken from a specification:

0100232<1><2>

where <1> is a 3 digit parameter, <2> is another 3 digit parameter, and CHK is the checksum

After establishing the proper comm parameters between the PC serial port and device (say, 19200,n,8,1), what would I actually send from the terminal program?

Sorry about the basic question, but most of the resources I've looked at so far don't really delve into this question.