Screen

Introduction

The screen class is a derived class of the controller class. It provides functions for displaying text, numbers, and values on the V5 Controller screen.

A screen object is accessed through a controller object. It is not constructed directly.

The V5 Controller screen has 3 rows and 19 columns for displaying text and numbers.

Access

The controller class provides a Screen object. It is an instance of the screen class.

Object	Example Usage	Description
Screen	Controller.Screen.print(“Hello”);	The V5 Controller screen.

Notes

• Before using a screen member function, create a controller object.

• The Controller screen has 3 rows and 19 columns.

• The cursor position determines where the next printed value appears.

// Create a Controller object
controller Controller = controller();

Member Functions

The screen class includes the following member functions:

Actions — Display text or clear the Controller screen.

• print — Displays formatted text, numbers, or values on the Controller screen.

• setCursor — Moves the cursor to a specified row and column.

• newLine — Clears the rest of the current row and moves the cursor to the next row.

• clearScreen — Clears the Controller screen.

• clearLine — Clears one row on the Controller screen.

Getters — Read the current cursor position.

• row — Returns the current cursor row.

• column — Returns the current cursor column.

Actions

print

print displays formatted text, numbers, or values on the V5 Controller screen at the current cursor position.

Available Functions

void print(
  const char* format,
  ...
);

void print(
  char* format,
  ...
);

Parameter	Type	Description
format	const char*	A format string provided as a string literal or read-only C-style string, such as “Score: %d”.
format	char*	A format string provided as a modifiable character array.
…		Optional. One or more additional values inserted into the format string, separated by commas.

Return Value

This function does not return a value.

Notes

• Output begins at the current cursor position on the Controller screen.

• When using a format string, the number and types of values passed must match the format specifiers in the string.

Example

// Display a message at the starting cursor position
Controller.Screen.print("Hello, Robot!");

// Display a formatted number
Controller.Screen.print("Score: %d", 25);

setCursor

setCursor moves the cursor to a specified row and column on the V5 Controller screen. The next printed value will appear at that position.

Available Function

void setCursor(
  int32_t row,
  int32_t col
);

Parameter	Type	Description
row	int32_t	The row number where the cursor will be placed, from 1 to 3.
col	int32_t	The column number where the cursor will be placed, from 1 to 19.

Return Value

This function does not return a value.

Example

// Display text starting at row 2, column 3
Controller.Screen.setCursor(2, 3);
Controller.Screen.print("Row 2, Column 3");

newLine

newLine clears the rest of the current row and moves the cursor to column 1 on the next row of the V5 Controller screen.

Available Function

void newLine();

Parameters

This function does not have parameters.

Return Value

This function does not return a value.

Example

// Display two lines of text
Controller.Screen.print("Line 1");
Controller.Screen.newLine();
Controller.Screen.print("Line 2");

clearScreen

clearScreen clears all text from the V5 Controller screen.

Available Function

void clearScreen();

Parameters

This function does not have parameters.

Return Value

This function does not return a value.

Example

// Clear the Controller screen after 2 seconds
Controller.Screen.print("VEXcode");
wait(2, seconds);
Controller.Screen.clearScreen();

clearLine

clearLine clears one row on the V5 Controller screen.

Available Functions

void clearLine(
  int line
);

void clearLine();

Parameter	Type	Description
line	int	Optional. The row to clear, from 1 to 3. If no row is provided, the current row is cleared.

Return Value

This function does not return a value.

Notes

• Clearing a row does not change the current cursor position.

Example

// Display text on two rows
Controller.Screen.print("This text stays");
Controller.Screen.newLine();
Controller.Screen.print("This disappears");

// Wait 3 seconds before clearing row 2
wait(3, seconds);
Controller.Screen.clearLine(2);

Getters

row

row returns the current cursor row on the V5 Controller screen.

Available Function

int32_t row();

Parameters

This function does not have parameters.

Return Value

Returns an int32_t representing the current cursor row. Row numbering starts at 1.

Example

// Display the cursor's current row
Controller.Screen.setCursor(3, 2);
Controller.Screen.print(Controller.Screen.row());

column

column returns the current cursor column on the V5 Controller screen.

Available Function

int32_t column();

Parameters

This function does not have parameters.

Return Value

Returns an int32_t representing the current cursor column. Column numbering starts at 1.

Example

// Display the cursor's current column
Controller.Screen.setCursor(3, 2);
Controller.Screen.print(Controller.Screen.column());