Arduino-ParallaxDisplay

A library for interfacing a Parallax Display module with Arduino.

To-do

The following is a list of planned but still un-implemented features:

• Sound
• Scrolling text
• Custom characters
• Centering is broken on strings > 16 characters

Use

Getting Started

Start the module by including the header, and creating an instance of the class passing in a reference of the serial port (on most Arduinos, this will be &Serial, but on the Mega it could be any port):

#include "ParallaxDisplay.h"
ParallaxDisplay display(&Serial);

Make sure your display is configured at 19,200 baud; there are some DIP switches on the back.

Writing to the Display

You have several ways to write to the display:

• write_centered(int,char*) takes a line number, and the string to write. It clears the line, and writes the text centered.
• write(char*) takes a string to write at the current location, and advances the current location
• write_at(int,int,char*) takes a row, column, and string of text to write at that location.
• clear() clears the display
• clear_line(int) clears a line on the display
• move_down(), move_up(), move_left(), and move_right() move the cursor location a single step.
• move_to(int,int) moves the cursor to a specific location.

write and write_at will wrap, while write_centered does not. Support for scrolling text is planned in a future release. write is the only method which moves the cursor after writing.

Configuring the Display

• light_on() and light_off() turn on and off the display backlight
• cursor_on() and cursor_off() turn on and off the cursor display
• blink_on() and blink_off() turn on and off cursor character blinking
• screen_on() and screen_off() turn on and off the screen. While the screen is off, you can still write to it, but nothing will be displayed until you turn it back on.

Sound

Not yet implemented