LED matrix alternitive text

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi

I am trying to get an LED 5 off 8 x 8 matrix display to scroll text selected by two switches

I have got the text to change and display on the serial monitor "alt 1, alt2 and default text" but the LED just displays the original string "this text scrolls fine"

What am I doing wrong

#include <MaxMatrix.h>
#include <avr/pgmspace.h>


PROGMEM const unsigned char CH[] = {
3, 8, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // space
1, 8, B01011111, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // !
3, 8, B00000011, B00000000, B00000011, B00000000, B00000000, // "
5, 8, B00010100, B00111110, B00010100, B00111110, B00010100, // #
4, 8, B00100100, B01101010, B00101011, B00010010, B00000000, // $
5, 8, B01100011, B00010011, B00001000, B01100100, B01100011, // %
5, 8, B00110110, B01001001, B01010110, B00100000, B01010000, // &
1, 8, B00000011, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // '
3, 8, B00011100, B00100010, B01000001, B00000000, B00000000, // (
3, 8, B01000001, B00100010, B00011100, B00000000, B00000000, // )
5, 8, B10011000, B01001100, B11111111, B01001100, B10011000, // *
5, 8, B00001000, B00001000, B00111110, B00001000, B00001000, // +
2, 8, B10110000, B01110000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // ,
4, 8, B00001000, B00001000, B00001000, B00001000, B00000000, // -
2, 8, B01100000, B01100000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // .
4, 8, B01100000, B00011000, B00000110, B00000001, B00000000, // /
4, 8, B00111110, B01000001, B01000001, B00111110, B00000000, // 0
3, 8, B01000010, B01111111, B01000000, B00000000, B00000000, // 1
4, 8, B01100010, B01010001, B01001001, B01000110, B00000000, // 2
4, 8, B00100010, B01000001, B01001001, B00110110, B00000000, // 3
4, 8, B00011000, B00010100, B00010010, B01111111, B00000000, // 4
4, 8, B00100111, B01000101, B01000101, B00111001, B00000000, // 5
4, 8, B00111110, B01001001, B01001001, B00110000, B00000000, // 6
4, 8, B01100001, B00010001, B00001001, B00000111, B00000000, // 7
4, 8, B00110110, B01001001, B01001001, B00110110, B00000000, // 8
4, 8, B00000110, B01001001, B01001001, B00111110, B00000000, // 9
2, 8, B01010000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // :
2, 8, B10000000, B01010000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // ;
3, 8, B00010000, B00101000, B01000100, B00000000, B00000000, // <
3, 8, B00010100, B00010100, B00010100, B00000000, B00000000, // =
3, 8, B01000100, B00101000, B00010000, B00000000, B00000000, // >
4, 8, B00000010, B01011001, B00001001, B00000110, B00000000, // ?
5, 8, B00111110, B01001001, B01010101, B01011101, B00001110, // @
4, 8, B01111110, B00010001, B00010001, B01111110, B00000000, // A
4, 8, B01111111, B01001001, B01001001, B00110110, B00000000, // B
4, 8, B00111110, B01000001, B01000001, B00100010, B00000000, // C
4, 8, B01111111, B01000001, B01000001, B00111110, B00000000, // D
4, 8, B01111111, B01001001, B01001001, B01000001, B00000000, // E
4, 8, B01111111, B00001001, B00001001, B00000001, B00000000, // F
4, 8, B00111110, B01000001, B01001001, B01111010, B00000000, // G
4, 8, B01111111, B00001000, B00001000, B01111111, B00000000, // H
3, 8, B01000001, B01111111, B01000001, B00000000, B00000000, // I
4, 8, B00110000, B01000000, B01000001, B00111111, B00000000, // J
4, 8, B01111111, B00001000, B00010100, B01100011, B00000000, // K
4, 8, B01111111, B01000000, B01000000, B01000000, B00000000, // L
5, 8, B01111111, B00000010, B00001100, B00000010, B01111111, // M
5, 8, B01111111, B00000100, B00001000, B00010000, B01111111, // N
4, 8, B00111110, B01000001, B01000001, B00111110, B00000000, // O
4, 8, B01111111, B00001001, B00001001, B00000110, B00000000, // P
4, 8, B00111110, B01000001, B01000001, B10111110, B00000000, // Q
4, 8, B01111111, B00001001, B00001001, B01110110, B00000000, // R
4, 8, B01000110, B01001001, B01001001, B00110010, B00000000, // S
5, 8, B00000001, B00000001, B01111111, B00000001, B00000001, // T
4, 8, B00111111, B01000000, B01000000, B00111111, B00000000, // U
5, 8, B00001111, B00110000, B01000000, B00110000, B00001111, // V
5, 8, B00111111, B01000000, B00111000, B01000000, B00111111, // W
5, 8, B01100011, B00010100, B00001000, B00010100, B01100011, // X
5, 8, B00000111, B00001000, B01110000, B00001000, B00000111, // Y
4, 8, B01100001, B01010001, B01001001, B01000111, B00000000, // Z
2, 8, B01111111, B01000001, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // [
4, 8, B00000001, B00000110, B00011000, B01100000, B00000000, // \ backslash
2, 8, B01000001, B01111111, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // ]
3, 8, B00000010, B00000001, B00000010, B00000000, B00000000, // hat
4, 8, B01000000, B01000000, B01000000, B01000000, B00000000, // _
2, 8, B00000001, B00000010, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // `
4, 8, B00100000, B01010100, B01010100, B01111000, B00000000, // a
4, 8, B01111111, B01000100, B01000100, B00111000, B00000000, // b
4, 8, B00111000, B01000100, B01000100, B00101000, B00000000, // c
4, 8, B00111000, B01000100, B01000100, B01111111, B00000000, // d
4, 8, B00111000, B01010100, B01010100, B00011000, B00000000, // e
3, 8, B00000100, B01111110, B00000101, B00000000, B00000000, // f
4, 8, B10011000, B10100100, B10100100, B01111000, B00000000, // g
4, 8, B01111111, B00000100, B00000100, B01111000, B00000000, // h
3, 8, B01000100, B01111101, B01000000, B00000000, B00000000, // i
4, 8, B01000000, B10000000, B10000100, B01111101, B00000000, // j
4, 8, B01111111, B00010000, B00101000, B01000100, B00000000, // k
3, 8, B01000001, B01111111, B01000000, B00000000, B00000000, // l
5, 8, B01111100, B00000100, B01111100, B00000100, B01111000, // m
4, 8, B01111100, B00000100, B00000100, B01111000, B00000000, // n
4, 8, B00111000, B01000100, B01000100, B00111000, B00000000, // o
4, 8, B11111100, B00100100, B00100100, B00011000, B00000000, // p
4, 8, B00011000, B00100100, B00100100, B11111100, B00000000, // q
4, 8, B01111100, B00001000, B00000100, B00000100, B00000000, // r
4, 8, B01001000, B01010100, B01010100, B00100100, B00000000, // s
3, 8, B00000100, B00111111, B01000100, B00000000, B00000000, // t
4, 8, B00111100, B01000000, B01000000, B01111100, B00000000, // u
5, 8, B00011100, B00100000, B01000000, B00100000, B00011100, // v
5, 8, B00111100, B01000000, B00111100, B01000000, B00111100, // w
5, 8, B01000100, B00101000, B00010000, B00101000, B01000100, // x
4, 8, B10011100, B10100000, B10100000, B01111100, B00000000, // y
3, 8, B01100100, B01010100, B01001100, B00000000, B00000000, // z
3, 8, B00001000, B00110110, B01000001, B00000000, B00000000, // {
1, 8, B01111111, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, B00000000, // |
3, 8, B01000001, B00110110, B00001000, B00000000, B00000000, // }
4, 8, B00001000, B00000100, B00001000, B00000100, B00000000, // ~
};

int data = 8;    // DIN pin of MAX7219 module
int load = 9;    // CS pin of MAX7219 module
int clock = 10;  // CLK pin of MAX7219 module
const int sw1 = 6; // switch one
const int sw2 = 4; // switch two

int  valsw1 = digitalRead(sw1);
int  valsw2 = digitalRead(sw2);

int maxInUse = 5;  //how many MAX7219 are connected

MaxMatrix m(data, load, clock, maxInUse); // define Library




byte buffer[10];

char string1[] = "   This text scrolls fine     "; // Scrolling Text




void setup(){

Serial.begin(9600);
 
 m.init(); // module MAX7219
 m.setIntensity(5); // LED Intensity 0-15
 
pinMode (sw1, INPUT); // sets switch 1 as an input
pinMode (sw2, INPUT); // sets switch 2 as an input
 

Serial.println(valsw1);
Serial.println(valsw2);

if (valsw1 == 1){
char string1[] = "   Alt 1  ";
Serial.println(string1);


  }else {
   if (valsw2 == 1){
 char string1[] ="   Alt 2     ";
 Serial.println(string1);

  
   }else {
char string1[] ="   Default text     ";
Serial.println(string1);
    } 
   }
}


void loop(){
 
 byte c;
 delay(50);
 m.shiftLeft(false, true);



 printStringWithShift(string1, 50);  // Send scrolling Text

}

// Put extracted character on Display
void printCharWithShift(char c, int shift_speed){
 if (c < 32) return;
 c -= 32;
 memcpy_P(buffer, CH + 7*c, 7);
 m.writeSprite(maxInUse*8, 0, buffer);
 m.setColumn(maxInUse*8 + buffer[0], 0);
 
 for (int i=0; i<buffer[0]+1; i++) 
 {
   delay(shift_speed);
   m.shiftLeft(false, false);
 }
}

// Extract characters from Scrolling text
void printStringWithShift(char* s, int shift_speed){
 while (*s != 0){
   printCharWithShift(*s, shift_speed);
   s++;
 }
}
2

Hi and welcome.

First of all, if you had read the "read this first" post at the top of the forum, you would know that you should use code tags. Please edit your post above and put them in using the </> icon so it lookslike this.

Your problem is called "variable scope". When you put

char string1[] = "   Alt 1  ";

because you put "char" in front of the variable name "string1" an the "[]" after it, you are not assigning a new value to the variable string1 declared at the top of your sketch. What you are doing is declaring a completely new variable, also called "string1". But it only exists inside the else {...} block. When that ends, the new "string1" ceases to exist and its value is lost. Inside the else {...} block, if your code refers to "string1", this means the new, local variable. Hence your Serial.print() works as expected. Outside the else {...} block, any use of "string1" refers to the original, global variable.

But you can't just take out the "char" and "[]". If you try it you will just get an error message. Instead, have a look at strcpy().

Paul

3

PaulRB:
Hi and welcome.

First of all, if you had read the "read this first" post at the top of the forum, you would know that you should use code tags. Please edit your post above and put them in using the </> icon so it looks

like this.

Your problem is called "variable scope". When you put

char string1[] = "   Alt 1  ";

because you put "char" in front of the variable name "string1" an the "[]" after it, you are not assigning a new value to the variable string1 declared at the top of your sketch. What you are doing is declaring a completely new variable, also called "string1". But it only exists inside the else {...} block. When that ends, the new "string1" ceases to exist and its value is lost. Inside the else {...} block, if your code refers to "string1", this means the new, local variable. Hence your Serial.print() works as expected. Outside the else {...} block, any use of "string1" refers to the original, global variable.

But you can't just take out the "char" and "[]". If you try it you will just get an error message. Instead, have a look at strcpy().

Paul

Thank you for your quick response, Paul, I have fixed the code formatting. Unfortunately it's dinner-time so I will check this later :smiley: