Project 7.01 Writing Text to the Screen

In this project you’ll learn how to write text to the OLED, change its size, and about printing variables.

Project Code:

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// 7.01 - Writing Text to The Screen

#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>
#include <splash.h>

byte screenWidth = 128;
byte screenHeight = 64;
byte screenAddress = 0x3C;
byte numberToPrint = 123;

Adafruit_SSD1306 display(screenWidth, screenHeight, &Wire);

void setup() {
  display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, screenAddress);
  display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE); 
}

void loop() {
  display.clearDisplay();
  display.setCursor(0,0); 

  display.setTextSize(3); 

  display.println("Hello!");
  display.print(numberToPrint); 
  display.display();
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

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*If you’re copying and pasting the code, or typing from scratch, delete everything out of a new Arduino sketch and paste / type in the above text.

First, we have to include the correct libraries, declare our standard variables, and include the constructor.

#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>
#include <splash.h>

byte screenWidth = 128;
byte screenHeight = 64;
byte screenAddress = 0x3C;
byte numberToPrint = 123;

Adafruit_SSD1306 display(screenWidth, screenHeight, &Wire);

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In the setup() function, we need to set the OLED up. The only two things that you absolutely need to do are use the begin and setTextColor functions.

void setup() {
  display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, screenAddress);
  display.setTextColor(SSD1306_WHITE); 
}
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In the loop() function, the first thing we want to do is clear any text that is currently on the screen and reset the cursor to (0,0).

void loop() {
  display.clearDisplay();
  display.setCursor(0,0);    

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Next, we need to set the text size that we would like. Good options are 1-3, but you can go bigger.

display.setTextSize(3); 

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Then we can print some text! First, we print “Hello!” and then we print a variable. You can use the print and println functions to print all of the same things that you can print using the Serial functions.

  display.println("Hello!");
  display.print(numberToPrint); 
  display.display();
}
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

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