Component: LCD Base (Alphanumeric)

Author	Matrix Ltd
Version	2.5
Category	Alphanumeric

LCD Base component

Generic configurable alphanumeric LCD display component based on the standard Hitachi HD44780 controller IC wiith selectable 4/8 bit interface

Detailed description

No detailed description exists yet for this component

Examples

Connections

For the LCDs to work with the Flowcode LCD component they need to be connected up in 4-bit data mode.

The 4 data signals actually go to the upper data nibble on the LCD as shown below.

Displaying a numeric value

The LCD will retain the contents of the display, for high speed data we only want to have to write to the portion of the display that can change. LCD Demo

Macro reference

Clear

	Clear
Clears the entire contents of the display.
- VOID	Return

ClearLine

	ClearLine
Clears a single line on the display and then moves the cursor to the start of the line to allow you to start populating the line with data.
- BYTE	Line
The line to clear, zero being the first (top) line of the display
- VOID	Return

Command

	Command
Use this method/macro to send a specific command to the LCD. Refer to the Matrix Multimedia EB006 datasheet for a list of supported instructions. For Non-Matrix LCD's refer to the manufacturers datasheet.
- BYTE	instruction
Send a defined command to the LCD Screen. See datasheet for supported commands.
- VOID	Return

Cursor

	Cursor
Moves the cursor on the LCD Display
- BYTE	x
Set the cursor position in the X plane, 0 is the left most cell
- BYTE	y
Set the cursor position in the Y plane, 0 is the top most cell
- VOID	Return

PrintAscii

	PrintAscii
Takes the ascii value for a character and prints the character
- BYTE	character
Holds an ascii value.
- VOID	Return

PrintFloat

	PrintFloat
Print a Float number rounded up to a specified amount of decimal places.
- FLOAT	Number
Enter the number or variable to print to the LCD
- BYTE	DecimalPlaces
Enter how many decimal places to round up to (1 - 6)
- VOID	Return

PrintFormattedNumber

	PrintFormattedNumber
Will allow you to print a number up to 32-bits with signed or unsigned formatting. Signed = -2147483648 to 2147483647 Unsigned = 0 to 4294967295
- ULONG	Number
Enter the number or variable to print to the LCD
- BOOL	Format
0=Signed, 1=Unsigned
- VOID	Return

PrintNumber

	PrintNumber
Based on v5 macro, will allow you to print a number. This is limited to a signed-INT, -32768 to 32767
- INT	Number
Enter the number or variable to print to the LCD
- VOID	Return

PrintString

	PrintString
Breaks down a string of text and sends it to the LCD via the private RawSend(byte, mask) macro
- STRING	Text
Enter the text or variable to print to the LCD
- VOID	Return

RAMWrite

	RAMWrite
Modifies the internal memory of the LCD to allow for up to 8 customised characters to be created and stored in the device memory
- BYTE	Index
Values 0 to 7
- BYTE	d0
- BYTE	d1
- BYTE	d2
- BYTE	d3
- BYTE	d4
- BYTE	d5
- BYTE	d6
- BYTE	d7
- VOID	Return

RawSend

	RawSend
Sends data to the LCD display
- BYTE	data
The data byte to send to the LCD
- BOOL	type
A boolean to indicate command type: true to write data, false to write a command
- VOID	Return

RemapCharacter

	RemapCharacter
Assigns a remap character allowing the PrintString function to automatically swap between pre-defined characters. The characters can be custom (in the range 0-9) or can point to an existing character in the LCD character map.
- BYTE	RemapIdx
Remap Index, Range: 0 to (Remap Characters - 1)
- BYTE	SearchCharacter
Character to look for a replace
- BYTE	ReplacementCharacter
New character value to use in place of the search character.
- VOID	Return

ScrollDisplay

	ScrollDisplay
Scrolls the display left or right by a number of given positions.
- BYTE	Position
Holds the number of positions to shift the display
- BYTE	Direction
0 = left, 1 = right
- VOID	Return

Start

	Start
Startup routine required by the hardware device. Automatically clears the display after initialising.
- VOID	Return

Property reference

	Properties
	Connections
	Interface mode
Choose between 4-bit mode, 8-bit mode and 8-bit mode using a port instead of individual pins to improve code efficiency.
	Data 0 (11 / 7)
Data pin 0 - Connects to Data 4 on the hardware in 4-bit mode or Data 0 in 8-bit mode
	Data 1 (12 / 8)
Data pin 1 - Connects to Data 5 on the hardware in 4-bit mode or Data 1 in 8-bit mode
	Data 2 (13 / 9)
Data pin 2 - Connects to Data 6 on the hardware in 4-bit mode or Data 2 in 8-bit mode
	Data 3 (14 / 10)
Data pin 3 - Connects to Data 7 on the hardware in 4-bit mode or Data 3 in 8-bit mode
	Register Select (4)
Register Select Pin - Informs the display if a command or data is about to be sent.
	Enable (6)
Enable pin - Used to synchronise data writes to the display
	Use Read/Write Pin
Set to "true" if the displays R/W pin is not hard wired. Set to "false" if the R/W pin is wired to ground.
	Remap Characters
Used to allow characters to be replaced with alternate characters. Custom characters or characters from the LCD memory map can be used as replacements. Each replacement consumes two bytes of RAM memory and is applied automatically when printing strings.
	Display Settings
	Rows
Number of lines of characters the LCD can display.
	Columns
Number of characters the LCD can display on a single line.
	Simulation
	Show Background Elements
Show or hide features like the title and background.
	Component Label
	Component Label Scale
The label scale can be change if the amout of text is too wide for the display
	Text Colour
Colour of the font characters drawn on the display
	Text Background
	Display Background

Component Source Code

Please click here to download the component source project: FC_Comp_Source_LCD_Base.fcfx

Please click here to view the component source code (Beta): FC_Comp_Source_LCD_Base.fcfx