I would like to analyze incoming serial data looking for...

If "A" comes in then look at the next 8 numbers

do something to first number,
do something to second number,
etc.

If "B" comes in then look at the next 8 numbers

do something to first number,
do something to second number,
etc.
When there is a line break exit this function and start looking for A's and B's again.

I know this isn't that complex, but I am having a lot of trouble figuring it out.  My background is in max-msp.  Any help would be appreciated.
ChristopherO

I am sending values over serial from max.  I have single chars being handled with if/else statements in arduino.  What I want is a simple messaging/labeling system.  I am aware of the many libraries that do this and much much more for me.  But I just want to know the code of how to do it without an external library, as I am still trying to learn the basics here.  Thanks for the help.

from max these are some example messages
a222
z235
s124

I would like to:
 "if the first char is a then set the value[a] to 222"
if the first char is z then set the value of [z] to 235

etc.

How would I go about achieving this.  To let you know where I am coming from attached is the static version I have running:


   if (Serial.available() > 0){         // Check serial buffer for characters
    char ch = Serial.read();
//Serial.println ('ch');

      if (ch == 'a') {       // If an 'r' is received then run the motor
 dc1.setSpeed (250);    // This is where I would like the value 250 instead to come from a longer input message ie. a250
 dc1.run(FORWARD);      // turn it on going forward
// Serial.println ("Moter one triggered!");
  }
      else if (ch == 'z') {       // If an 's' is received then stop the motor
 dc1.setSpeed (0); 
 dc1.run(RELEASE);      // turn it off

Not very experienced with Java.  I am a maxmsp whiz.  This library seems like what I want (firmata is too bloated), but maybe it can't do this?

I just want to route messages, like in the example but parse numbers that follow the message name.  ie  send a value over max-messanger like this:

dimmer1 $1
dimmer2 $1

Sorry if this is obvious.