Nuts & Volts - September 2006

PROGRAM 1

‘Simple BetaBrite Priority Message Sample
func main()

‘Open the ComPort
  Const Ch1 1  ‘Zues Channel 1
  ComOpen(Ch1,baud=9600,port=1,parity=2,bits=7,stop=2)

‘Tell the Sign we are ready to comunicate
  ComOutput Ch1,chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)+chr(0)
  ComOutput Ch1,chr(1)
  ComOutput Ch1,”Z00”

‘Send Priority Text Message
  ComOutput Ch1,chr(2)+”A0”
  ComOutput Ch1,”Nuts and Volts”
  ComOutput Ch1,chr(4)

CloseCom Ch1

endfunc

WEBLINKS ■ KronosRobotics website www.kronosrobotics.com

■ KRMicros website www.krmicros.com

■ Adaptive website www.adaptivedisplays.com

■ BetaBrite website www.BetaBrite.com

Zeus will automatically shut down the comport for you but it’s always smart to do it yourself with the CloseCom command.

need to set the time once; then you can comment the code out. The clock will keep the current time even when new commands are sent. Once power is removed, the clock will stop. When power is restored, the clock will start again where it left off and the last message you sent will be displayed.

You will notice that now all we need to do is use the BBSendText along with various pause commands and we can display whatever we want to in real time.

Notice the second BBSendText function call just after the Loop label in Program 2. Change it to:

BBSendText(1,chr( 19))

“A” and a File label of “0.”

CloseCom Ch1

ComOutput Ch1,chr(2)+”A0”

This tells the sign that we are sending a Priority Message.

You then send your message text followed by an EOT (End of Transmission, Value = 4)

ComOutput Ch1,”Nuts and Volts”

ComOutput Ch1,chr( 4)

Once the EOT character has been sent, the message will display. By default, the colors and display modes will be in auto format so you will see the message change. We will change this setting later.

Now, wasn’t that simple? Program 1 shows the complete code example we just discussed.

We are going to add a few new features to the program, so in order to simplify the code, let’s take all the current code and place it in a function called BBSendText. We will set the function up so that we can pass the com port and the text of the message to be displayed. Then all we have to do is call this function each time we want to send new data.

We are also going to add a function called BBSetTime. This function lets you send a four-character string to set the current clock located inside the sign. Yep, that’s right, the sign has its own clock. There is even a control code that you can insert into your text and the current time will be substituted for that code. BBSetTime will open the com port, send a Special Function command, and the four-digit time string ( 24 hour format). The function will then send the EOT code and close the com port. Note that you only

What we are doing is sending a control code that will tell the sign to display the time. In this instance, the control code is 19. Other commands may require more than one sequence of control characters.

Now for Program 3. We will add a very powerful function to the previous program. This function is called ConvertCodes and will take our text message, along with special commands, and create some rather cool effects. You can now control the colors and scrolling effects of the messages.