The mikroPascal PRO for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24 provides a library for communication with Lcd (with HD44780 compliant controllers) in 8-bit mode via SPI interface.

For creating a custom set of Lcd characters use Lcd Custom Character Tool.

  Important :

• When using this library with dsPIC33 and PIC24 family MCUs be aware of their voltage incompatibility with certain number of Lcd modules.
  So, additional external power supply for these modules may be required.
• Library uses the SPI module for communication. The user must initialize the appropriate SPI module before using the SPI Lcd8 Library.
• For MCUs with multiple SPI modules it is possible to initialize all of them and then switch by using the SPI_Set_Active() routine. See the SPI Library functions.
• This Library is designed to work with the mikroElektronika's Serial Lcd/Glcd Adapter Board pinout, see schematic at the bottom of this page for details.

Library Dependency Tree

External dependencies of SPI Lcd Library

The implementation of SPI Lcd Library routines is based on Port Expander Library routines.

External dependencies are the same as Port Expander Library external dependencies.

Library Routines

• SPI_Lcd8_Config
• SPI_Lcd8_Out
• SPI_Lcd8_Out_CP
• SPI_Lcd8_Chr
• SPI_Lcd8_Chr_CP
• SPI_Lcd8_Cmd

SPI_Lcd8_Config

// Port Expander module connections
var SPExpanderRST : sbit at LATF0_bit;
var SPExpanderCS  : sbit at LATF1_bit;
var SPExpanderRST_Direction : sbit at TRISF0_bit;
var SPExpanderCS_Direction  : sbit at TRISF1_bit;
// End Port Expander module connections
...
// If Port Expander Library uses SPI1 module
SPI1_Init();                                // Initialize SPI module used with PortExpander
SPI_Lcd8_Config(0);                         // intialize Lcd in 8bit mode via SPI

SPI_Lcd8_Out

// Write text "Hello!" on Lcd starting from row 1, column 3:
SPI_Lcd8_Out(1, 3, 'Hello!');

SPI_Lcd8_Out_Cp

// Write text "Here!" at current cursor position:
SPI_Lcd8_Out_Cp('Here!');

SPI_Lcd8_Chr

// Write character "i" at row 2, column 3:
SPI_Lcd8_Chr(2, 3, 'i');

SPI_Lcd8_Chr_Cp

// Write character "e" at current cursor position:
SPI_Lcd8_Chr_Cp('e');

SPI_Lcd8_Cmd

// Clear Lcd display:
SPI_Lcd8_Cmd(_LCD_CLEAR);

Available SPI Lcd8 Commands

Library Example

This example demonstrates how to communicate Lcd in 8-bit mode via the SPI module, using serial to parallel convertor MCP23S17.

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program Spi_Lcd8;

var text : array[16] of char;
var counter : byte;

// Port Expander module connections
var SPExpanderRST : sbit at LATF0_bit;
var SPExpanderCS  : sbit at LATF1_bit;
var SPExpanderRST_Direction : sbit at TRISF0_bit;
var SPExpanderCS_Direction  : sbit at TRISF1_bit;
// End Port Expander module connections

procedure Move_Delay();                  // Function used for text moving
  begin
    Delay_ms(500);                       // You can change the moving speed here
  end;

  begin
    text := 'mikroE';

    SPI1_Init();                               // Initialize SPI interface

    //  If Port Expander Library uses SPI2 module
    //  SPI2_Init();                           // Initialize SPI module used with PortExpander
    Spi_Lcd8_Config(0);                        // Intialize LCD in 8bit mode via SPI
    Spi_Lcd8_Cmd(_LCD_CLEAR);                  // Clear display
    Spi_Lcd8_Cmd(_LCD_CURSOR_OFF);             // Turn cursor off
    Spi_Lcd8_Out(1,6, text);                   // Print text to LCD, 1st row, 6th column...
    Spi_Lcd8_Chr_CP('!');                      // Append '!'
    Spi_Lcd8_Out(2,1, 'mikroelektronika');     // Print text to LCD, 2nd row, 1st column...

    //    Spi_Lcd8_Out(3,1, text);             // For LCD modules with more than two rows
    //    Spi_Lcd8_Out(4,15, text);            // For LCD modules with more than two rows

    Delay_ms(2000);

    // Moving text
    for counter := 0 to 3 do                   // Move text to the right 4 times
      begin
        Spi_Lcd8_Cmd(_LCD_SHIFT_RIGHT);
        Move_Delay();
      end;

    while TRUE do                              // Endless loop
      begin
        for counter := 0 to 6 do               // Move text to the left 7 times
          begin
            Spi_Lcd8_Cmd(_LCD_SHIFT_LEFT);
            Move_Delay();
          end;

        for counter := 0 to 6 do               // Move text to the right 7 times
          begin
            Spi_Lcd8_Cmd(_LCD_SHIFT_RIGHT);
            Move_Delay();
          end;

      end;
  end.

SPI Lcd8 HW connection

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