LiquidCrystal Library

This library is for character LCDs based on the HD44780 controller. Derived from the Arduino LiquidCrystal library v1.8.0.

API

This library is a singleton library, it is not possible to use more than one instance per sketch.

The API syntax is very similar to the original C++ syntax, thanks to some c preprocessor macro magic.

Apart from the usual name mangeling for polymorph functions (mostly the different variants of the Print::print method) moving the opening bracket at the class declarator line and replacing the dots in the method names for underscores is all it needs.

Arduino syntax	sduino syntax
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs,en,d0,d1,d2,d3)	LiquidCrystal (lcd,rs,en,d0,d1,d2,d3)
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs,rw,en,d0,d1,d2,d3)	LiquidCrystal (lcd,rs,rw,en,d0,d1,d2,d3)
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs,en,d0,d1,d2,d3,d4,d5,d6,d7)	LiquidCrystal (lcd,rs,en,d0,d1,d2,d3,d4,d5,d6,d7)
LiquidCrystal lcd(rs,rw,en,d0,d1,d2,d3,d4,d5,d6,d7)	LiquidCrystal (lcd,rs,rw,en,d0,d1,d2,d3,d4,d5,d6,d7)
lcd.init(rs,rw,en,d0,d1,d2,d3,d4,d5,d6,d7)	lcd_init(mode,rs,rw,en,d0,d1,d2,d3,d4,d5,d6,d7)
lcd.begin(cols,lines)	lcd_begin(cols,lines)
lcd.begin(cols,lines,charsize)	lcd_begin_charsize(cols,lines,charsize)
lcd.clear()	lcd_clear()
lcd.home()	lcd_home()
lcd.noDisplay()	lcd_noDisplay()
lcd.display()	lcd_display()
lcd.noBlink()	lcd_noBlink()
lcd.blink()	lcd_blink()
lcd.noCursor()	lcd_noCursor()
lcd.cursor()	lcd_cursor()
lcd.scrollDisplayLeft()	lcd_scrollDisplayLeft()
lcd.scrollDisplayRight()	lcd_scrollDisplayRight()
lcd.leftToRight()	lcd_leftToRight()
lcd.rightToLeft()	lcd_rightToLeft()
lcd.noAutoscroll()	lcd_noAutoscroll()
lcd.autoscroll()	lcd_autoscroll()
lcd.setRowOffsets(row0,row1,row2,row3)	lcd_setRowOffsets(row0,row1,row2,row3)
lcd.createChar(number, data[])	lcd_createChar(number, data[])
lcd.setCursor(col,row)	lcd_setCursor(col,row)
result = lcd.write(value)	result = lcd_write(value)
lcd.command(value)	lcd_command(value)

The LCD interface mode can be changed at run time by calling the lcd_init(...) function.

Example

Output some Text and count the time since the last reset. Notice the slightly different position of the opening parenthesis at the “class constructor” function LiquidCrystal compared to the C++ instatiation.

#include <Arduino.h>
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins
// The instance name "lcd" is *within* the brackets
LiquidCrystal (lcd,PA1,PA2, PA3,PD2,PD3,PD4);

void setup() {
  lcd_begin(16, 2);
  lcd_print_s("hello, world!");
}


void loop() {
  lcd_setCursor(0, 1);
  lcd_print_u(millis() / 1000);
}

Compare it to the original Arduino C++-Sytax:

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins
// The instance name "lcd" is *before* the brackets
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);

void setup() {
  lcd.begin(16, 2);
  lcd.print("hello, world!");
}

void loop() {
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
  lcd.print(millis() / 1000);
}

Possible improvements

This is not a to-do-list, just brainstorming and a collection of random thoughts.

Direct port access

As long as the pin numberings are known at compile time it would be possible use direct port register access and the access pattern could be optimized if all data pins are on the same port.

Auto-detect 4-bit mode

The parameter fourbitmode of the init() function/method is not needed. It would be sufficient to check d5 for a valid value. If it is not valid, assume 4-bit mode.

As init() is not called very frequently the possible advantage would be small compared to the downside of breaking the Arduino compatibility.