LiquidCrystal - createChar()

Description

Create a custom character (glyph) for use on the LCD. Up to eight characters of 5x8 pixels are supported (numbered 0 to 7). The appearance of each custom character is specified by an array of eight bytes, one for each row. The five least significant bits of each byte determine the pixels in that row. To display a custom character on the screen, write() its number.

NB : When referencing custom character “0”, if it is not in a variable, you need to cast it as a byte, otherwise the compiler throws an error.

Syntax

lcd.createChar(num, data)

Parameters

lcd: a variable of type LiquidCrystal

num: which character to create (0 to 7)

data: the character’s pixel data

Example

#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);

byte smiley[8] = {
  B00000,
  B10001,
  B00000,
  B00000,
  B10001,
  B01110,
  B00000,
};

void setup() {
  lcd.createChar(0, smiley);
  lcd.begin(16, 2);  
  lcd.write(byte(0));
}

void loop() {}