Hi Forum,
this is my first post, so be merciful ....... 
A brief description of the project I'm working on:
With 2 pushbuttons (UP and DOWN) I can scroll between 4 different screens, each one of them showing a different message on the LCD, and activating at the same time a dedicated digital output.
This is the part that is working fine.
What I would like to implement (and I'm struggling with) is a splash screen, that should show some text on the LCD for few seconds after the board is powered up.
I can't get it working, for some (unknown to me) mistakes in the code, the splash screen message is not clearing after the timer is up, but it gets "partially overlapped" with the text of the next screen.
I've commented out the offending lines in the attached code, could you guys please have a look at it and let me know?
thanks
G
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7); //To lcd (RS,E,D4,D5,D6,D7)
#define LED1 13 // OUTPUT 1
#define LED2 12 // OUTPUT 2
#define LED3 11 // OUTPUT 3
#define LED4 9 // OUTPUT 4
//Counter to change positions of pages
int page_counter=1 ; //To move beetwen pages
//-------Pins-----//
int up = 8; //Up button
int down = 10; //Down button
//---------Storage debounce function-----//
boolean current_up = LOW;
boolean last_up=LOW;
boolean last_down = LOW;
boolean current_down = LOW;
void setup() {
lcd.begin(16,2);
pinMode(LED1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(LED2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(LED3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(LED4, OUTPUT);
}
//---- De-bouncing function for all buttons----//
boolean debounce(boolean last, int pin)
{
boolean current = digitalRead(pin);
if (last != current)
{
delay(100); // DEBOUNCE DELAY BUTTON
current = digitalRead(pin);
}
return current;
}
// BEGINNING OF OFFENDING CODE
//SPLASH SCREEN AT STARTUP
// lcd.setCursor(0,0);
//lcd.print(" splash");
//lcd.setCursor(0,1);
//lcd.print(" screen");
//delay(5000);
//lcd.clear();
// END OF OFFENDING CODE
void loop() {
current_up = debounce(last_up, up); //Debounce for Up button
current_down = debounce(last_down, down); //Debounce for Down button
//----Page counter function to move pages----//
//Page Up
if (last_up== LOW && current_up == HIGH){ //When up button is pressed
lcd.clear(); //When page is changed, lcd clear to print new page
if(page_counter <4){ //Page counter never higher than 3(total of pages)
page_counter= page_counter +1; //Page up
}
else{
page_counter= 4;
}
}
last_up = current_up;
//Page Down
if (last_down== LOW && current_down == HIGH){ //When down button is pressed
lcd.clear(); //When page is changed, lcd clear to print new page
if(page_counter >1){ //Page counter never lower than 1 (total of pages)
page_counter= page_counter -1; //Page down
}
else{
page_counter= 1;
}
}
last_down = current_down;
if(page_counter == 1){
digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH); //on out 1
}
else {
digitalWrite(LED1, LOW); //off out 1
}
if(page_counter == 2){
digitalWrite(LED2, HIGH); //on out 2
}
else {
digitalWrite(LED2, LOW); //off out 2
}
if(page_counter == 3){
digitalWrite(LED3, HIGH); // on out 3
}
else {
digitalWrite(LED3, LOW); //off out 3
}
if(page_counter == 4){
digitalWrite(LED4, HIGH); // on out 4
}
else {
digitalWrite(LED4, LOW); // off out 4
}
//------- Switch function ---//
switch (page_counter) {
case 1:{ //screen 1
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("screen");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" 1 ");
}
break;
case 2: { //screen 2
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print(" screen");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" 2 ");
}
break;
case 3: { //screen 3
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print(" screen");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" 3 ");
}
break;
case 4:{ //screen 4
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print(" screen");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" 4 ");
}
break;
} //switch end
} //loop end