Control Sequence Introducer w/ NewSoftSerial

Projects Programming
1

I'm Trying to send (0x1B) and [2J (clear screen command) from the serial monitor to softserial.
With the program below:
Sending with a terminal program (Terra Term) works fine.
The commented out soft0.print also works.
I'm happy enough to use terra term but I would like to know what it, and the commented out print,
are doing that my byte c is not and what I should be looking at to fix it.

#include <NewSoftSerial.h>
NewSoftSerial soft0(2, 3);
String serialString;
void setup()
{
delay (1500);
Serial.begin(9600);
soft0.begin(9600);
}
void loop()
{
//soft0.print("\x1B[2J");
while(Serial.available())
{
byte c=(Serial.read());
soft0.print (c);
}
}

Thanks
Rob

2

I'm Trying to send (0x1B) and [2J (clear screen command) from the serial monitor to softserial.

A screen shot of the Serial Monitor just before you press the Send button would be useful. Whatever text you type in the input field is sent one letter at a time to the serial port.

Whether what you type in the serial monitor looks like "\x1B[2J", or not, can not be determined from your post.

     byte c=(Serial.read());

Why is the Serial.read() call in parentheses?

3

Thanks for your reply and comments.

A screen shot of the Serial Monitor just before you press the Send button would be useful.

Whatever I type in, before Send, is what is sent out (one char at a time as you stated).
So,
\x1B[2J hit Send sends \x1B[2J
"\x1B[2J" --> "\x1B[2J"
1B[2J --> 1B[2J
In Tera Term the in/out is the same as above.
I am, however, able to hit the Esc key then [2J which clears the screen. ctrl-[ [2J also works.
The Esc key or Ctrl-[ have no effect in the serial monitor (they don't show up on in or out).

Why is the Serial.read() call in parentheses?

I only have a poor excuse for that. Rest assured it has been dealt with in a harsh way.

The soft0.print("\x1B[2J"); seems to be smart enough to convert 1B (hex) to the Esc symbol then just send the Ascii [2J.
Using soft0.print("\x1B" "[2J"); makes more sense to me but either works.

What about?
creating an array from serial.read
if statement to see if first two bytes are 1B (or whatever I choose to use)
if ==1B then soft0.print("\x1B" );
else just print whatevers there

Any suggestions/comments appreciated.
Regards
Rob

4

The following seems to work.
Type *2J in the serial monitor, hit Send, it sends and 2J (which clears the screen) out the softserial.
Used with the Bob-4 osd from Decade Eng. (www.decadenet.com)

#include <NewSoftSerial.h>
NewSoftSerial soft0(2, 3);

void setup()
{
  delay (1500);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  soft0.begin(9600);
}
void loop()
{
  while(Serial.available())
  {
    byte c=Serial.read();
    if (c=='*')
    {
      soft0.print("\x1B[");
    }
    else
    {
      soft0.print (c);
    }
  }
}

Comments/suggestions welcomed.
Thanks
Rob