AaronLiddiment
commented
9 years ago Hi, The first thing I would say is that you should always use 'unsigned char' or 'unit8_t' for the array passed to SetText(), this is important for any control codes that may be incorporated into the text. I would imagine that 'String' only expects chars and may well be having trouble with the control codes, I have never used string so cannot be of more help with this at the moment. Have you come across the sprintf() command? You could try this...... unsigned char txtmsg[40]; char name[20]; int score; strcpy(name, "Jimmy"); score = 1234; sprintf((char *)txtmsg, "%s your score is %05d", name, score); ScrollingMsg.SetScrollDirection(SCROLL_LEFT); ScrollingMsg.SetTextColrOptions(COLR_HSV | COLR_GRAD_CH, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0x40, 0xff, 0xff); ScrollingMsg.SetText(txtmsg, sizeof(txtmsg) -1);
I am out of time for now, will check back later and see how you get on. You could also build the string using strcpy() or memcpy() into an unsigned char array.
Regards Aaron
Delphi
bikemule
Hello, first I would like to thank you for creating a great library.
I am fairly new to Ardunio programming with about 6 months experience, so chances are I do not understand C/C++ well enough yet.
I am attempting to display a variable message that would scroll a score and name for a scoreboard I am creating using WS2801 strips, I will soon have some WS2811 strips also.
If I use the following static line of code my message displays just fine:- char ScoreTxt[] = { EFFECT_SCROLL_LEFT EFFECT_HSV_CH "\xff\xff\xff\x40\xff\xff" " wibble " };
Using Serial.print(ScoreTxt[i], HEX); The hex output for this working char array is:- FFFFFF90 FFFFFFCB FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF 40 FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF 20 77 69 62 62 6C 65 20 0 Using sizeof(ScoreTxt) it reports that I have 17 chars.
When I try to use a variable to replace my static message I start to run into some complications adding the variable string into the char array, I suspect this to partly be down to the hex control codes being handled incorrectly.
I have used the following method to generate my string and then convert it to a char array:- char col[] = { "\xff\xff\xff\x40\xff\xff" } ; String varcol = String(col[0]) + col[1] + col[2] + col[3] + col[4] + col[5]; String txt = " wibble "; String str = EFFECT_SCROLL_LEFT EFFECT_HSV_CH + varcol + txt; int len = str.length()+1; char msg[len]; str.toCharArray(msg, len);
Using Serial.print(msg[i], HEX); The hex output for this non-working char array is:- FFFFFF90 FFFFFFCB FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF 40 FFFFFFFF FFFFFFFF 20 77 69 62 62 6C 65 20 0 Using sizeof(msg) it reports that I have 17 chars.
I then send the char array for display using:- ScrollingMsg.SetText((unsigned char )ScoreTxt, sizeof(ScoreTxt) -1); OR ScrollingMsg.SetText((unsigned char )msg, sizeof(msg) -1);
Comparing the 2 char arrays ScoreTxt and msg appear to have the same number of chars in the array and each array item has the same corresponding hex value, unfortunately the message is not displayed correctly via the LED's.
ScoreTxt displays exactly as one would expect it to. msg seems to attempt to display something however the board mainly sits black with the odd LEDs blinking on then off as if the message is corrupted.
If I use the following to create my message:- ScrollingMsg.SetScrollDirection(SCROLL_LEFT); ScrollingMsg.SetTextColrOptions(COLR_HSV, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0x40, 0xff, 0xff); char txtmsg[] = { " message goes here " }; ScrollingMsg.SetText((unsigned char *)txtmsg, sizeof(txtmsg) - 1);
The message does seem to appear although does not seem to follow the colour codes, I also notice some stray pixels at the end of the message, sometimes a '?' is displayed which jumps about the display.
Having got to this point I am now struggling to get this working with variable messages, where the intention is to have the Arduino Mega2560 receive a score and name via serial from another Arduino, however I am taking baby steps by trying to use a variable first.
If anyone can shed any light on what I may be doing wrong, or advise how I can send a variable text message for display it would be highly appreciated.
Many thanks for taking the time to read.
Regards Delphi