Screen

Introduction

The Screen blocks control the V5 Brain’s touchscreen, allowing your robot to show text, numbers, and graphics, and respond to touch input.

By default, the font for printing to the Brain is monospaced small which has 12 rows and 48 columns.

For drawing, the Brain’s resolution is 479 x 239 pixels.

Below is a list of available blocks:

Cursor Print – Display text and manage the print cursor.

• print on screen – Prints text or numbers on the Brain screen.

• set cursor to row column on screen – Moves the cursor to a specific row and column.

• set cursor to next row on screen – Moves the cursor to column 1 of the next row.

• clear row on screen – Clears a specified row of text.

• screen cursor column – Returns the column number where text will be printed.

• screen cursor row – Returns the row number where text will be printed.

Settings – Change the appearance of text and graphics.

• clear screen – Erases all text and drawings from the screen.

• set font on screen – Changes the font type and size for text display.

• set print precision on screen – Adjusts the amount of decimal places for printed numbers.

• set pen width on screen – Controls the thickness of drawn lines.

• set pen/font color on screen – Changes the color of text and outlines.

• set fill color on screen – Sets the color used to fill shapes.

Draw – Create shapes, lines, and graphics on the Brain screen.

• draw pixel on screen – Draws a single pixel at a position.

• draw line on screen – Draws a line between two points.

• draw rectangle on screen – Draws a rectangle using two corner points.

• draw circle on screen – Draws a circle with a defined center and radius.

Touch – Detect touch input on the Brain’s screen.

• screen pressed? – Returns whether the screen is currently being touched.

• screen position – Reports the X coordinate of a touch.

• when screen – Runs attached blocks when the screen is pressed or released.

Cursor Print

print on screen

The print on screen block displays text on the robot’s screen at the current cursor position and font.

Display text on the Brain screen

  when started
  print [VEXcode] on screen ▶

Parameters	Description
value	The text, number, or variable value to display on the screen.
expanding arrow	Expand the block to read and set cursor to next row and make the cursor move to the next row after this block.

Example

When started, displays the message ‘Hello, Robot!’ at the starting cursor position on the screen.

    when started
    [Display a message at the starting cursor position.]
    print [Hello, Robot!] on screen ▶

set cursor to row column on screen

When using the set cursor to row column on screen block, the cursor is placed at a specific row and column on the screen. How many rows and columns can comfortably fit depends on the selected font. With the default monospaced medium font, up to 8 rows and 13 columns can be displayed clearly. Text placed beyond this range may be cut off or become difficult to read.

Monospaced fonts have characters that are all the same width, making text placement consistent. In contrast, proportional fonts vary in character width, so some letters take up more space than others. However, regardless of which type is used, the set cursor to row column block positions the cursor based on row and column size, not font style. The font size can be adjusted using the set font on screen block.

Set cursor stack block

    set cursor to row [1] column [1] on screen

Parameters	Description
row	The row of the cursor.
column	The column of the cursor.

Example

When started, moves the cursor to row 3, column 2 on the screen and prints ‘Row 3, Column 2’.

    when started
    [Display text starting at Row 3 Column 12.]
    set cursor to row [3] column [12] on screen
    print [Row 3, Column 12] on screen ▶

set cursor to next row on screen

The set cursor to next row on screen block moves the cursor to column 1 on the next row on the robot’s screen.

set cursor to next row stack block

    set cursor to next row on screen

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

When started, prints ‘Line 1’ on the screen, moves the cursor to the next row, and then prints ‘Line 2’.

    when started
    [Display two lines of text.]
    print [Line 1] on screen ▶
    set cursor to next row on screen
    print [Line 2] on screen ▶

clear row on screen

The clear row on screen block clears a row of text on the robot’s screen.

Clear row stack block

    clear row [1] on screen

Parameters	Description
row	The row number to clear.

Example

When started, prints text on two rows. The first row remains, while the second row disappears after 3 seconds.

    when started
    [Display text on two rows.]
    print [This text stays] on screen ▶
    set cursor to next row on screen
    print [This text disappears] on screen ▶
    wait [3] seconds
    clear row [2] on screen

screen cursor column

The screen cursor column block returns the column number where text will be printed as an integer.

screen cursor column reporter block

    (screen cursor column)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

When started, moves the cursor to row 3, column 2 on the screen and prints the current cursor column number.

    when started
    [Display the cursor's current column.]
    set cursor to row [3] column [15] on screen
    print (screen cursor column) on screen ▶

screen cursor row

The screen cursor row block returns the row number where text will be printed as an integer.

screen cursor row reporter block

    (screen cursor row)

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

When started, moves the cursor to row 6, column 2 on the screen and prints the current cursor row number.

    when started
    [Display the cursor's current row.]
    set cursor to row [3] column [2] on screen
    print (screen cursor row) on screen ▶

Settings

clear screen

The clear screen block clears all drawings and text from the robot’s screen.

clear screen block

    clear screen

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

Example

When started, draws a circle with center (120,120) and radius 40 pixels. After 2 seconds, the screen is cleared.

    when started
    [Draw a circle, and clear it after 2 seconds.]
    draw circle [120] [120] [40] on screen
    wait [2] seconds
    clear screen

set font on screen

The set font on screen block sets the font and size used for displaying text on the robot’s screen. This font will apply to all subsequently printed text.

set font stack block

    set font to [monospaced v] [medium v] on screen

Parameters	Description
style	The font style: monospaced proportional
size	The font size (examples below): extra small small medium large extra large super large Note: Extra small and small sizes are not available for proportional fonts.

monospaced extra small	monospaced small	monospaced medium
monospaced large	monospaced extra large	monospaced super large
proportional medium	proportional large	proportional extra large
proportional super large

Example

When started, sets the font to ‘monospaced extra large’ and prints ‘VEX’ on the screen.

    when started
    [Display text using a larger font]
    set font to [monospaced v] [extra large v] on screen
    print [VEX] on screen ▶

set print precision on screen

The set print precision on screen block sets the precision formatting used for displaying numbers on the robot’s screen. This print precision will apply to all subsequently printed numbers.

set print precision stack block

    set print precision to [0.1 v] on screen

Parameters	Description
precision	Sets the print precision to: 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 All Digits

Example

When started, sets print precision to two decimal places and prints 1/3 as 0.33 on the screen.

    when started
    [Print 1/3 as 0.33.]
    set print precision to [0.01 v] on screen
    print ([1] [math_division v] [3]) on screen ▶

set pen width on screen

The set pen width on screen block sets the pen width used for drawing lines and shapes.

set pen width block

    set pen width to [10] on screen

Parameters	Description
width	The pen width in pixels in a range from 0 to 32.

Example

When started, sets the pen width to 10 pixels and draws a rectangle with the top-left corner at (50,50), width 130 pixels, and height 60 pixels.

    when started
    [Draw a rectangle with a pen width of 10.]
    set pen width to [10] on screen
    draw rectangle [50] [50] [130] [60] on screen

set pen / font color on screen

The set pen / font color on screen block sets the pen color used for drawing lines, shapes, and text on the robot’s screen.

set pen font color

    set pen / font color to [red v] on screen

Parameters	Description
color	Sets the pen color to: red green blue black white yellow orange purple cyan transparent

Example

When started, sets the pen color to orange and draws a rectangle with the top-left corner at (50, 50), width 130 pixels, and height 60 pixels.

    when started
    [Draw a rectangle with orange borders.]
    set pen / font color to [orange v] on screen
    draw rectangle [50] [50] [130] [60] on screen

set fill color on screen

The set fill color on screen block sets the fill color used when shapes are drawn.

set fill color stack block

    set fill color to [red v] on screen

Parameters	Description
color	Sets the fill color to: red green blue black white yellow orange purple cyan transparent

Examples

When started, sets the fill color to purple and draws a rectangle. It is at (50, 130) with a width of 100 pixels and a height of 60 pixels.

    when started
    [Draw a purple rectangle.]
    set fill color to [purple v] on screen
    draw rectangle [50] [130] [100] [60] on screen

Draw

draw pixel on screen

The draw pixel on screen block draws a pixel at the specified (x, y) screen coordinate in the current pen color.

draw pixel stack block

    draw pixel [0] [0] on screen

Parameters	Description
x	The x-coordinate to draw the pixel from 0 to 479.
y	The y-coordinate to draw the pixel from 0 to 239.

Example

When started, draws a pixel at the center of the screen at coordinates (120, 120).

    when started
    [Draw the pixels marking the corners of a square.]
    draw pixel [250] [100] on screen
    draw pixel [275] [100] on screen
    draw pixel [250] [125] on screen
    draw pixel [275] [125] on screen

draw line on screen

The draw line on screen block draws a line from the first specified screen coordinate (x1, y1) to the second specified screen coordinate (x2, y2) using the current pen width and pen color.

draw line stack block

    draw line [0] [0] [10] [10] on screen

Parameters	Description
x1	The x-coordinate in pixels of the start of the line from 0 to 479.
y1	The y-coordinate in pixels of the start of the line from 0 to 239.
x2	The x-coordinate in pixels of the end of the line from 0 to 479.
y2	The y-coordinate in pixels of the end of the line from 0 to 239.

Example

When started, draws a diagonal line from the top-left corner (0,0) to the bottom-right corner (240,240) of the screen.

    when started
    [Draw a line from the top left to bottom right of the screen.]
    draw line [0] [0] [479] [239] on screen

draw rectangle on screen

The draw rectangle on screen block draws a rectangle using the current pen width, pen color, and fill colors.

draw rectangle block

    draw rectangle [0] [0] [10] [10] on screen

Parameters	Description
x	The x-coordinate in pixels of the top-left corner of the rectangle from 0 to 479.
y	The y-coordinate in pixels of the top-left corner of the rectangle from 0 to 239.
width	The width of the rectangle in pixels.
height	The height of the rectangle in pixels.

Example

When started, draws a rectangle on the screen with the top-left corner at (50,50), width of 130 pixels, and height of 60 pixels.

    when started
    [Draw a rectangle on the screen.]
    draw rectangle [50] [50] [130] [60] on screen

draw circle on screen

The draw circle on screen block draws a circle using the current pen width, pen color, and fill colors.

draw circle stack block

    draw circle [0] [0] [10] on screen

Parameters	Description
x	The x-coordinate in pixels of the center of the circle from 0 to 479.
y	The y-coordinate in pixels of the center of the circle from 0 to 239.
radius	The radius of the circle in pixels.

Example

When started, draws a circle on the screen with the center at (120,120) and a radius of 40 pixels.

    when started
    [Draw a circle on the screen.]
    draw circle [120] [120] [40] on screen

Touch

screen pressed?

The screen pressed? block returns a Boolean indicating whether the Brain’s touchscreen is currently being pressed.

• True – The screen is being pressed.

• False – The screen is not being pressed.

draw circle stack block

    <screen pressed?>

Parameters	Description
	This block has no parameters.

When started, draws a circle on the screen with the center at (120,120) and a radius of 40 pixels.

    when started
    [Change the screen's color after it's pressed.]
    wait until <screen pressed?>
    set fill color to [green v] on screen
    draw rectangle [0] [0] [479] [239] on screen

screen position

The screen position block returns the x or y coordinate of the location where the Brain’s touchscreen was last pressed.

draw circle stack block

    (screen [x v] position)

Parameters	Description
axis	Which axis to return the position of: x – 0 to 479 y – 0 to 239

When started, draws a circle on the screen with the center at (120,120) and a radius of 40 pixels.

    when started
    [Display a circle where the screen is pressed.]
    wait until <screen pressed?>
    set fill color to [white v] on screen
    draw circle (screen [x v] position) (screen [y v] position) [20] on screen

when screen

The when screen block runs the attached stack of blocks when the Brain screen is pressed or released.

draw circle stack block

    when Brain screen [pressed v] :: hat events

Parameters	Description
state	When to run the attached stack of blocks: pressed released

When started, draws a circle on the screen with the center at (120,120) and a radius of 40 pixels.

    when Brain screen [pressed v] :: hat events
    [Color the screen with polka dots by pressing it repeatedly.]
    set fill color to [red v] on screen
    draw circle (screen [x v] position) (screen [y v] position) [20] on screen