parallax rfid code please help

Projects Programming
1

First of all I would like to start by saying i am an arduino nooby but have found the community very helpful!
I found the code to read RFID codes online and that works great however when i try to turn a led on when a certain card is read my program does not work. this seems as though it should be simple however i am not seeing why my code doesnt work please help if you can.

// Modified by Worapoht K.
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

int  val = 0; 
char code[10]; 
int bytesread = 0; 
char stephen[11]="8400338A85";

#define rxPin 5
#define txPin 9
// RFID reader SOUT pin connected to Serial RX pin at 2400bps to pin8

void setup()
{ 
  Serial.begin(2400);  // Hardware serial for Monitor 2400bps

  pinMode(2,OUTPUT);       // Set digital pin 2 as OUTPUT to connect it to the RFID /ENABLE pin 
pinMode(13,OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(2, LOW);    // Activate the RFID reader 
}


void loop()
{ 
  SoftwareSerial RFID = SoftwareSerial(rxPin,txPin); 
  RFID.begin(2400);

  if((val = RFID.read()) == 10)
  {   // check for header 
    bytesread = 0; 
    while(bytesread<10)
    {  // read 10 digit code 
      val = RFID.read(); 
      if((val == 10)||(val == 13))
      {  // if header or stop bytes before the 10 digit reading 
        break;                       // stop reading 
      } 
      code[bytesread] = val;         // add the digit           
      bytesread++;                   // ready to read next digit  
    } 

    if(bytesread == 10)
    {  // if 10 digit read is complete 
      Serial.print("TAG code is: ");   // possibly a good TAG 
      Serial.println(code);            // print the TAG code 
    }
    bytesread = 0; 
    delay(500);                       // wait for a second
  } 
  if(code==stephen)
  {
    digitalWrite(13,HIGH);
  }
}

thank you in advance for any help!

2

I take it you've already read this: Arduino Playground - PRFID

Replace the Serial.print in the example with an IF statement to see if it's the right tag code, and then do digitalWrite(13, HIGH); or something.

3

thank you very much for the quick reply! yes i have read the tutorial. i tried placing

  if(code==stephen){
      digitalWrite(13,HIGH);
      delay(1200);
      digitalWrite(13,LOW);
    }

where you said and this did not work either.
i am beginning to wonder if char stephen[11]="8400338A85";
is the problem. I have verified that i have the correct code for the card multiple times any suggestions?

4 
char code[10];

Array to hold tag read.

char stephen[11]="8400338A85";

Array to hold known tag.

The arrays aren't even the same size. How can they possibly ever match?

  if(code==stephen)

This tests if the address of code and the address of stephen are the same. You know that they are not. Comparing the contents of an array requires a function, like strcmp() for NULL terminated arrays of chars or memcmp() for other arrays.