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Adding the LCD Component

<^< LCD Displays | Course Index | Writing Messages >^>

Before you can use the LCD you need to add one to the Flowcode panel.

Start a new program and then click on the Outputs and select LCD component in the menu to add an LCD. An LCD display will now appear on the panel.

The selected component's name at top of the properties pane allows you to know which particular component you are using. By default the LCD is added to Port B. You could change this, but we will keep it on Port B for now. Ok now we have an LCD display added to the program - now what? Is it ready to use? How do we use it?

LCD displays require 5 connections on a port and are programmed to display letters and numbers using serial information on the 5 wire bus. The actual technique that this uses is beyond this tutorial, and fortunately Flowcode has some embedded routines that take care of these complexities for you.

Drag a 'Component Macro' icon onto the flowchart and open up the macro dialogue box by double clicking the Component Macro box.

Now scroll through the 'LCD' section and select the macro called 'Start'.

'Start' initiates the LCD, clears the display and gets it ready for action. We will look at the others in the next couple of sections, but for now why not scroll through the available macros and have a quick look at each one to see if you can work out what they each do?

<^< LCD Displays | Course index | Writing Messages >^>