multiple boolean arrays in a library

Using Arduino Programming Questions
1

Hi,

Trying to figure out how to write a library for numerous boolean arrays. Not sure how to get started or the syntax.
Code we are using is here http://www.instructables.com/id/8-LED-Larson-Scanner-with-Arduino/

Besides the larson array in the above link, we would like to add several more arrays like these :

boolean alternatblink[][NUMBER_OF_LEDS] = {
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
};

boolean chase_right[][NUMBER_OF_LEDS] = {
{ HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{ LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, LOW, HIGH},
};

Been looking at the library toturials but have been having trouble wrapping my head around them. Appreciate any constructive comments.

Thanks,

2

Every one of those booleans will take an entire byte of RAM. If they are constants they could be in flash.

But either way, you don't want that.

Every byte is made of 8 bits and every bit is 0 or 1, false or true, low or high, off or on, etc.
You can use unsigned int and unsigned long to group and operate on bits by 16's and 32's.

There is a whole range of bit commands and operators. Look for Bitwise Operators, Compound Operators and Bits and Bytes in the Reference:

And there's a nice bit math tutorial in the Playground:
http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/BitMath

3

Yeah, found using the boolean took up too much space . Got some of it work using for with loops

4 
boolean alternatblink[][NUMBER_OF_LEDS] = {
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW,HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
{LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH, LOW, HIGH},
   };

can be compacted to 8 ints == 16 bytes
uint16_t alternatblink[] = { 0x02AA, 0x02AA, 0x02AA, 0x02AA, 0x0155, 0x0155, 0x0155, 0x0155};

a these pattern repeat it can go down to

uint16_t alternatePattern[] = {0x02AA, 0x01AA};

another alternative might be placing the arrays in PROGMEM (see reference & playground)
no need to compact them...

but solving it with a for loop is better.