The mikroC PRO for dsPIC30/33 and PIC24 provides a library for communication with Lcd (with HD44780 compliant controllers) in 4-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 Lcd 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 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_Lcd_Config
• SPI_Lcd_Out
• SPI_Lcd_Out_Cp
• SPI_Lcd_Chr
• SPI_Lcd_Chr_Cp
• SPI_Lcd_Cmd

SPI_Lcd_Config

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

// If Port Expander Library uses SPI1 module
SPI1_Init();                           // Initialize SPI module used with PortExpander
SPI_Lcd_Config(0);                     // initialize Lcd over SPI interface

SPI_Lcd_Out

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

SPI_Lcd_Out_Cp

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

SPI_Lcd_Chr

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

SPI_Lcd_Chr_Cp

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

SPI_Lcd_Cmd

// Clear Lcd display:
SPI_Lcd_Cmd(_LCD_CLEAR);

Available SPI Lcd Commands

Library Example

Default Pin Configuration

Use SPI_Lcd_Init for default pin settings (see the first figure below).

Copy Code To Clipboard

char *text = "mikroElektronika";

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

char i;                              // Loop variable

void Move_Delay() {                  // Function used for text moving
  Delay_ms(500);                     // You can change the moving speed here
}

void main() {

  ADPCFG = 0xFFFF;                               // initialize AN pins as digital

  // If Port Expander Library uses SPI1 module
  SPI1_Init();                                   // Initialize SPI module used with PortExpander

  SPI_Lcd_Config(0);                     // Initialize Lcd over SPI interface
  SPI_Lcd_Cmd(_LCD_CLEAR);               // Clear display
  SPI_Lcd_Cmd(_LCD_CURSOR_OFF);          // Turn cursor off
  SPI_Lcd_Out(1,6, "mikroE");            // Print text to Lcd, 1st row, 6th column
  SPI_Lcd_Chr_CP('!');                   // Append '!'
  SPI_Lcd_Out(2,1, text);                // Print text to Lcd, 2nd row, 1st column

  // SPI_Lcd_Out(3,1,"mikroE");          // For Lcd with more than two rows
  // SPI_Lcd_Out(4,15,"mikroE");         // For Lcd with more than two rows

  Delay_ms(2000);

  // Moving text
  for(i=0; i<4; i++) {               // Move text to the right 4 times
    Spi_Lcd_Cmd(_LCD_SHIFT_RIGHT);
    Move_Delay();
  }

  while(1) {                         // Endless loop
    for(i=0; i<8; i++) {             // Move text to the left 7 times
      Spi_Lcd_Cmd(_LCD_SHIFT_LEFT);
      Move_Delay();
    }

    for(i=0; i<8; i++) {             // Move text to the right 7 times
      Spi_Lcd_Cmd(_LCD_SHIFT_RIGHT);
      Move_Delay();
    }
  }

}

Lcd HW connection by default initialization (using SPI_Lcd_Init)

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