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[on:]

Hi,

Before we go any further I am a beginner and still finding my feet.

Below is the code i have written to create a simple menu in the serial monitor where i want the user to make choices etc.

Firstly, the int's at the beginning...is this the best way to go when creating a menu or should i be using #define. As i'm a beginner i'm not even sure if this is te correct thing to do.

Secondly, now that i have printed all the text i need to, to the serial monitor, how do i write an if statement in the void loop that takes the user input from the serial monitor and takes them to where they want to be. How could i test this is working? Logically if they select option one I want to perhaps print something in the serial monitor to confirm they are where they want to be. I will get onto the actual conversions later.

I hope that makes sense.

Many thanks.

Code:

int menuoption1 = 1;
int menuoption2 = 2;
int menuoption3 = 3;
int menuoption4 = 4;
int menuoption5 = 5;
int menuoption6 = 6;
int menuoption7 = 7;
int menuoption8 = 8;
int menuoption9 = 9;
int menuoption10 = 10;
int menuoption11 = 11;
int menuoption12 = 12;

void setup() {
 //Initialize serial and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
   // prints text and menu options for user to select from
  Serial.println("Welcome to my Bin, Dec, Oct, Hex Converter");
  delay(2000);
  Serial.println(" ");
  Serial.println("Please select a number from the options available");
  delay(2000);
  Serial.println(" ");
  Serial.println("Main Menu");
  Serial.println("---------");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("1. 2's comp Binary to Hex,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("2. 2's comp Binary to Octal,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("3. 2's comp Binary to Decimal,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("4. Octal to 2's comp Binary,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("5. Octal to Hex,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("6. Octal to Decimal,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("7. Hex to 2's comp Binary,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("8. Hex to Octal,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("9. Hex to Decimal,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("10. Decimal to 2's comp Binary,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("11. Decimal to Hex,");
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println("12. Decimal to Octal.");
}

void loop() {
   
}

[Reply #1 on:]

Bump

[Reply #2 on:]

Code:

Serial.println("1. 2's comp Binary to Hex,");

This is quite wasteful of precious RAM.
Better would be:

Code:

Serial.println(F("1. 2's comp Binary to Hex,"));

[Reply #3 on:]

Code:

  delay(1000);

This is wasteful of precious TIME
Better would be

Code:

 

[Reply #4 on:]

For user input, read up on Serial.available() and Serial.read().

-br

[Reply #5 on:]

Thanks for pointing these issues out. Excuse my ignorance but what is the 'F' in your Serial.println bit of code? Basically why does that save RAM?

[Reply #6 on:]

The "F" macro puts your strings in flash memory, and more importantly, keeps them there.

[Reply #7 on:]

As simple as that. Thanks.

[Reply #8 on:]

Hi,

Below is refreshed code.

Code:

int menuselect;

void setup() {
 //Initialize serial and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
   // prints text and menu options for user to select from
  Serial.println(F("Welcome to my Bin, Dec, Oct, Hex Converter"));
  delay(1000);
  Serial.println(F(" "));
  Serial.println(F("Please select a number from the options available"));
  Serial.println(F(" "));
  Serial.println(F("Main Menu"));
  Serial.println(F("---------"));
  Serial.println(F("1. 2's comp Binary to Hex,"));
  Serial.println(F("2. 2's comp Binary to Octal,"));
  Serial.println(F("3. 2's comp Binary to Decimal,"));
  Serial.println(F("4. Octal to 2's comp Binary,"));
  Serial.println(F("5. Octal to Hex,"));
  Serial.println(F("6. Octal to Decimal,"));
  Serial.println(F("7. Hex to 2's comp Binary,"));
  Serial.println(F("8. Hex to Octal,"));
  Serial.println(F("9. Hex to Decimal,"));
  Serial.println(F("10. Decimal to 2's comp Binary,"));
  Serial.println(F("11. Decimal to Hex,"));
  Serial.println(F("12. Decimal to Octal."));
}

void loop()
 {
   char ch;
   if (Serial.available())  //Constantly checks to see if anything has been sent over the USB Connection and if it needs to be processed
   
   {
     menuselect = Serial.read(); //Reads a single letter
     if (menuselect = '1')
     {
       Serial.flush();//Try to clear the serial monitor and then go to conversion
       delay(1000);
       Serial.println("2's comp Binary to Hex");
     }}}

I havent tested this yet, but if a user selects an option from the menu, i then need to clear the serial monitor and make it look to the user they are in that option. How do I do that?

Thanks in advance.

[Reply #9 on:]

i then need to clear the serial monitor

If you're using the serial monitor from IDE, you can't, but you could use a terminal emulator like PuTTY, and use a VT52 (or similar) clear screen escape sequence to do all kinds of fancy stuff.

[Reply #10 on:]

Ok. I will read up on this.

Thanks again.

[Reply #11 on:]

but you could use a terminal emulator like PuTTY, and use a VT52

Gosh that reminds me so much of things back in the '80's, using VT52 terminals from DEC.

Paul

[Reply #12 on:]

Below is the code i have written to create a simple menu in the serial monitor where i want the user to make choices etc.

If you like, take a look at the attached ZIP file. It's the source code from a project I recently did. It's a valve controller that has a lot of menu items and selections. You may get some ideas from it.

Hope this helps you.

[Reply #13 on:]

Brilliant thanks.

[Reply #14 on:]

Ive just used the switch case for the users input and that works fine thanks.