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Nintendo DS Development Tutorial :: Day 8 :: Keyboard

Okay, let's take a break from all those sprites and backgrounds and test out the touchscreen keyboard that comes with PA_Lib.

// Includes
#include <PA9.h>       // Include for PA_Lib
#include "ctype.h"
#include <String>

// Graphics Includes
// *** Backgrounds ***
// gfx2gba -fsrc -m -pBackground.pal -t8 Background.bmp
#include "gfx/Background.map.c"
#include "gfx/Background.pal.c"
#include "gfx/Background.raw.c"

// Function: main()
int main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
    // Variables
    char curr_key;         // Gets letter from keyboard
    std::string name = ""; // Stores Player Name

    PA_Init();    // Initializes PA_Lib
    PA_InitVBL(); // Initializes a standard VBL

    PA_InitText(1, 0);  // Text system for top screen
    PA_InitKeyboard(3); // Keyboard system

    //PA_LoadSplash();  // PA_Lib splash screen

    // Setup top screen
    PA_LoadPal(PAL_BG1, Background_Palette);
    PA_LoadSimpleBg(1, 3, Background_Tiles,
                    Background_Map, BG_256X256, 0, 1);

    PA_SetTextCol(1, 0, 31, 0);  // Set text color to white

    // Setup bottom screen
    BG_PALETTE[0] = PA_RGB(0,0,31); // Set bottom screen to blue
    PA_ScrollKeyboardXY(25, 103); // Initial keyboard location

    // Infinite loop to keep the program running
    while (1)
    {
        PA_UpdatePad();

        curr_key = PA_CheckKeyboard(); // Input from keyboard

        // If there is an open slot in the name & the character is printable...
        if ((name.length() != 20) && (isprint(curr_key))) {
            name.append(&curr_key); // put the character in the open slot...
        }

        // Handle the Backspace key
        if ((!name.empty()) && (curr_key == PA_BACKSPACE))
        {
            name.erase(name.length()-1, 1);
        }

        PA_OutputSimpleText(1, 6, 14, "                    "); // Clear the text
        PA_OutputSimpleText(1, 6, 14, name.c_str()); // Output current name

        PA_WaitForVBL();
    }

    return 0;
} // End of main()

Code Explanation

#include "ctype.h"
This is needed for isprint().

PA_InitKeyboard(...);
Create the keyboard on the background you pass it.

BG_PALETTE[0] = PA_RGB(...);
This is one way to set the background color of the bottom screen.  You can use BG_PALETTE[512] to set the top screen's color.

PA_ScrollKeyboardXY(...);
Move the keyboard to the specified location.

PA_CheckKeyboard();
Make sure to call this every VBL.  It returns the last character pressed.

PA_BACKSPACE
Non-printable characters include PA_BACKSPACE, PA_CAPS, PA_ENTER, and PA_SHIFT.

NOTE: Some characters don't display properly on the screen.  For instance, the & and * are kind of weird and { and } don't show at all.

Download

Day8_Keyboard

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Last Update: 10/31/2005