Minitel/README.md

#Minitel library for Arduino

This library provides a way to create screens for the Minitel without having to dig into the complexity of the system.

##Schematic A DIN 45º plug is required to plug the Arduino to the Minitel

##External libraries This library is using SoftwareSerial, please install it prior to compiling any Minitel sketch.

##Constructor

Default constructor, using Arduino PINs 6 and 7 for TX/RX

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <Minitel.h>
Minitel minitel;

void setup() {
}
...

Custom constructor using other Arduino PINs for TX/RX

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <Minitel.h>
Minitel minitel(10, 11);

void setup() {
}
...

##Graphic and Text modes

Here is how you can switch between text and graphic mode

minitel.graphicMode();
minitel.textMode();

Cursor positionning

Moving the cursor to a certain position

Move the cursor to a certain location

minitel.moveCursorTo(HOME);

Other possible positions are :

Cursor related

• HOME : beginning of the current line
• LINE_END : end of the current line

Screen related

• TOP_LEFT : top left of the screen
• TOP_RIGHT : top right of the screen
• BOTTOM_LEFT : bottom left of the screen
• BOTTOM_RIGHT : bottom right of the screen
• CENTER : center of the screen

Moving the cursor to an XY position

Move the cursor to a given positioni (x,y), anywhere in the screen x has a max of 40 y has a max of 24

minitel.moveCursorTo(10, 2);

Moving the cursor in a certain direction

Move the cursor based on its current position You can specify how many times you the cursor should be moved this direction

minitel.moveCursor(UP);
minitel.moveCursor(RIGHT, 10);

Available directions :

• LEFT
• RIGHT
• DOWN
• UP

Show/hide the cursor

You can show (white square) or hide the cursor

minitel.cursor();
minitel.noCursor();

Clear the screen

Clear all characters and move the cursor to the top-left of the screen

minitel.clearScreen();

Sound

You can trigger a bip by calling this function with a duration (in milliseconds)

minitel.bip(1000);

Colors

You can change the text or graphics color and background color

minitel.bgColor(WHITE);
minitel.textColor(BLUE);

Available colors are (grayscale on most Minitels)

• BLACK
• RED
• GREEN
• YELLOW
• MAGENTA
• BLUE
• CYAN
• WHITE

You can reset colors to their default values (white characters, black background) using

minitel.useDefaultColors();

Display text

Single characters

Write a single char at the cursor position or at a given position (x,y) Return boolean (true/false) depending if the character is supported on Minitels

minitel.textChar('c');
minitel.textChar('z', 1, 1);

Special characters

The Minitel's special characters can be typed by using the corresponding constants

minitel.specialChar(SPE_CHAR_CIRCLE);
minitel.specialChar(SPE_CHAR_CIRCLE, 2, 10);

Available special characters are :

• SPE_CHAR_BOOK
• SPE_CHAR_PARAGRAPH
• SPE_CHAR_ARROW_LEFT
• SPE_CHAR_ARROW_UP
• SPE_CHAR_ARROW_RIGHT
• SPE_CHAR_ARROW_DOWN
• SPE_CHAR_CIRCLE
• SPE_CHAR_MINUS_PLUS
• SPE_CHAR_1_4
• SPE_CHAR_1_2
• SPE_CHAR_3_4
• SPE_CHAR_UPPER_OE
• SPE_CHAR_LOWER_OE
• SPE_CHAR_BETA

Text

Write a text at the cursor position or at the given position (x,y)

Text orientation can be horizontal (default) or vertical

minitel.text("Hello France");
minitel.text("Hello France", 2, 10);
minitel.text("Hello France", VERTICAL);
minitel.text("Hello France", 1, 1, VERTICAL);

Orientation can be set using

• HORIZONTAL
• VERTICAL

Text size

Text size can be set using

minitel.charSize(SIZE_DOUBLE);

Other options are

• SIZE_NORMAL
• SIZE_DOUBLE_HEIGHT
• SIZE_DOUBLE_WIDTH
• SIZE_DOUBLE

Graphic characters

When in graphic Mode, the Minitel can display graphic characters.

You can display a graphic char at the cursor position or at a given position as follow:

minitel.graphic("010101");
minitel.graphic("100110", 10, 10);

The String content is split from top to bottom, left to right to fill the 2x3 pseudo-pixel grid. The string has to be 6 characters

Graphic characters are 2 columns by 3 rows. Zeros will be filled with the current background color and other values with the current foreground color.

Repeat

One can repeat a single character or graphic several times

minitel.textChar('X');
minitel.repeat(7);

Blink

You can make a text blink like this

minitel.blink();
minitel.text("Blinking text");
minitel.noBlink();

noBlink(); allows to switch back to the default display.

Pixelated effect

You can enable/disable a pixelated effect as follow

minitel.pixelate();
minitel.noPixelate();

Speed considerations

When writing several times the same character consecutively, calling the repeat(); function will allow to display it much faster.