Algorithm (Workflow)

This function, readkeyboardchar, is designed for serial robotics terminal communication. It reads a single keyboard key without waiting for input, unlike getkeyboardchar. The function also has the side effect of plotting the key in the command window.

Input Parameters

• cmdarray: An optional parameter that serves as a keyboard buffer. It can be extended with new input or set to false to delete the keyboard buffer.

Output Results

• cc: The last character read from the keyboard or empty if no character is read.
• cmdarray: The updated keyboard buffer, including the last character read.

Algorithm Steps

1. Display the current figure window using shg and pause for a brief moment (0.001 seconds).
2. Check if cmdarray is provided and is a logical value:
   • If true, set the current character of the figure to char(0) and clear cmdarray.
3. If cmdarray is not provided, initialize it as an empty array.
4. Retrieve the current character from the figure window using get(gcf,'CurrentCharacter') and convert it to an unsigned 8-bit integer (uint8).
5. Reset the current character of the figure to char(0).
6. If a character is read (i.e., cc is not empty):
   • Print a backspace character (char(8)) to the command window.
   • Append the character to cmdarray.

Example Usage

The following example demonstrates how to use the function to read characters until the Enter key (character 13) is pressed:

[a,b]=readkeyboardchar(false); 
while ~isequal(a,char(13)); 
  [a,b]=readkeyboardchar(b);
end; 
b, uint8(b)