Issue IPAddress by Serial.read()

I would like to be able to type in a specific IP address into the serial monitor and have that number be used as the NTP website IP address to get the time from. I took the NTP example that came pre-loaded with the arduino library, and combined it with Robins example in post #1

#include <SPI.h>         
#include <Ethernet.h>
#include <EthernetUdp.h>

// Enter a MAC address for your controller below.
// Newer Ethernet shields have a MAC address printed on a sticker on the shield
byte mac[] = {  
  0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };

unsigned int localPort = 8888;      // local port to listen for UDP packets

IPAddress timeServer(132, 163, 4, 101); // time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov NTP server
// IPAddress timeServer(132, 163, 4, 102); // time-b.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov NTP server
// IPAddress timeServer(132, 163, 4, 103); // time-c.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov NTP server

const int NTP_PACKET_SIZE= 48; // NTP time stamp is in the first 48 bytes of the message

byte packetBuffer[ NTP_PACKET_SIZE]; //buffer to hold incoming and outgoing packets 

// A UDP instance to let us send and receive packets over UDP
EthernetUDP Udp;
//-----------------------------From Robins Example----------------------
const byte numChars = 32;
char receivedChars[numChars];

boolean newData = false;
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
void setup() 
{
 // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
   while (!Serial) {
    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for Leonardo only
  }


  // start Ethernet and UDP
  if (Ethernet.begin(mac) == 0) {
    Serial.println("Failed to configure Ethernet using DHCP");
    // no point in carrying on, so do nothing forevermore:
    for(;;)
      ;
  }
  Udp.begin(localPort);
}

void loop() {
	recvWithStartEndMarkers();
	showNewData();
}

void recvWithStartEndMarkers() {
	static boolean recvInProgress = false;
	static byte ndx = 0;
	char startMarker = '<';
	char endMarker = '>';
	char rc;
	
	// if (Serial.available() > 0) {
        while (Serial.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
		rc = Serial.read();

		if (recvInProgress == true) {
			if (rc != endMarker) {
				receivedChars[ndx] = rc;
				ndx++;
				if (ndx >= numChars) {
					ndx = numChars - 1;
				}
			}
			else {
				receivedChars[ndx] = '\0'; // terminate the string
				recvInProgress = false;
				ndx = 0;
				newData = true;
			}
		}

		else if (rc == startMarker) {
			recvInProgress = true;
		}
	}
}

void showNewData() {
	if (newData == true) {
//sendNTPpacket(timeServer); // send an NTP packet to a time server
sendNTPpacket(receivedChars);
    // wait to see if a reply is available
  delay(1000);  
  if ( Udp.parsePacket() ) {  
    // We've received a packet, read the data from it
    Udp.read(packetBuffer,NTP_PACKET_SIZE);  // read the packet into the buffer

    //the timestamp starts at byte 40 of the received packet and is four bytes,
    // or two words, long. First, esxtract the two words:

    unsigned long highWord = word(packetBuffer[40], packetBuffer[41]);
    unsigned long lowWord = word(packetBuffer[42], packetBuffer[43]);  
    // combine the four bytes (two words) into a long integer
    // this is NTP time (seconds since Jan 1 1900):
    unsigned long secsSince1900 = highWord << 16 | lowWord;  
    Serial.print("Seconds since Jan 1 1900 = " );
    Serial.println(secsSince1900);               

    // now convert NTP time into everyday time:
    Serial.print("Unix time = ");
    // Unix time starts on Jan 1 1970. In seconds, that's 2208988800:
    const unsigned long seventyYears = 2208988800UL;     
    // subtract seventy years:
    unsigned long epoch = secsSince1900 - seventyYears;  
    // print Unix time:
    Serial.println(epoch);                               


    // print the hour, minute and second:
    Serial.print("The UTC time is ");       // UTC is the time at Greenwich Meridian (GMT)
    Serial.print((epoch  % 86400L) / 3600); // print the hour (86400 equals secs per day)
    Serial.print(':');  
    if ( ((epoch % 3600) / 60) < 10 ) {
      // In the first 10 minutes of each hour, we'll want a leading '0'
      Serial.print('0');
    }
    Serial.print((epoch  % 3600) / 60); // print the minute (3600 equals secs per minute)
    Serial.print(':'); 
    if ( (epoch % 60) < 10 ) {
      // In the first 10 seconds of each minute, we'll want a leading '0'
      Serial.print('0');
    }
    Serial.println(epoch %60); // print the second
  }
  
}
}

// send an NTP request to the time server at the given address 
unsigned long sendNTPpacket(IPAddress& address)
{
  // set all bytes in the buffer to 0
  memset(packetBuffer, 0, NTP_PACKET_SIZE); 
  // Initialize values needed to form NTP request
  // (see URL above for details on the packets)
  packetBuffer[0] = 0b11100011;   // LI, Version, Mode
  packetBuffer[1] = 0;     // Stratum, or type of clock
  packetBuffer[2] = 6;     // Polling Interval
  packetBuffer[3] = 0xEC;  // Peer Clock Precision
  // 8 bytes of zero for Root Delay & Root Dispersion
  packetBuffer[12]  = 49; 
  packetBuffer[13]  = 0x4E;
  packetBuffer[14]  = 49;
  packetBuffer[15]  = 52;

  // all NTP fields have been given values, now
  // you can send a packet requesting a timestamp: 		   
  Udp.beginPacket(address, 123); //NTP requests are to port 123
  Udp.write(packetBuffer,NTP_PACKET_SIZE);
  Udp.endPacket(); 
}

The error message is

UdpNtpClient.ino: In function 'void showNewData()':
UdpNtpClient:89: error: invalid initialization of non-const reference of type 'IPAddress&' from a temporary of type 'char*'
UdpNtpClient:13: error: in passing argument 1 of 'long unsigned int sendNTPpacket(IPAddress&)'

The problem is here, I just don't know what I need to fix it to make it work. Can it be done?

//sendNTPpacket(timeServer); // send an NTP packet to a time server
sendNTPpacket(receivedChars);

THe function is looking for something of type IPAddress. You are sending it characters. Those aren't the same.

It's looking for something like this:

IPAddress timeServer(132, 163, 4, 101); // time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov NTP server

Judging from how that IPAddress object is created, the constructor can take 4 integers. So you're going to have to parse the integers out of your string and use them to create an IPAddress object. Then you can pass that object to sendNTPpacket.

I did as you suggested, but it still didn't work. I then thought maybe I had to add the comma's into the number thing so I tried that as well. In the end I did this

void showNewData() {
if (newData == true) {
//sendNTPpacket(timeServer); // send an NTP packet to a time server
sendNTPpacket(132,163,4,101); //receivedChars);
// wait to see if a reply is available

Where I put in directly into the code. I recieved the following error message

UdpNtpClient.ino: In function 'void showNewData()':
UdpNtpClient:89: error: invalid initialization of non-const reference of type 'IPAddress&' from a temporary of type 'int'
UdpNtpClient:13: error: in passing argument 1 of 'long unsigned int sendNTPpacket(IPAddress&)'

I also tried to create an IPAddress there like this

void showNewData() {
if (newData == true) {
//sendNTPpacket(timeServer); // send an NTP packet to a time server
sendNTPpacket (IPAddress(132, 163, 4, 101)); //(receivedChars);
// wait to see if a reply is available

I then received this error message

UdpNtpClient.ino: In function 'void showNewData()':
UdpNtpClient:89: error: invalid initialization of non-const reference of type 'IPAddress&' from a temporary of type 'IPAddress'
UdpNtpClient:13: error: in passing argument 1 of 'long unsigned int sendNTPpacket(IPAddress&)'

You gotta create it the line before. You can't create it in the function call like you do in java. You're going to have to pull your numbers out into four int variables, use them to create an IPAddress and then pass that in.