Icon of block

Advanced Display Text Block

Use this block to write some text using different fonts on the NXT’s display screen.

The screen measures 100 pixels wide by 64 pixels high.

Image of Display block, default settings, draw a box around the closed data hub and identify as item 2

  1. You can change values dynamically by connecting data wires to this block’s data hub. (See the Data Hub section below for more information.)

Configuring the Advanced Display Text Block:

Image of the configuration pane for the Display block set to display an image

  1. The Text property will allow you to enter the text to be displayed on screen.
  2. Select the Wrap? checkbox if you want to wrap the text to the next line if it reaches the end of the NXT's display.
  3. The X and Y position let you precisely position the text on the screen. Alternativly, use the pull-down menu to choose the line number that you would like your text displayed on. Notice that the number of lines on the NXT's display depands on the selected font height.
  4. Use the listbox to select one the available fonts.

Configuring the Advanced Display Text block’s Data Hub

You can control the Display block dynamically by connecting data wires (from other blocks’ data hubs) to the Display block’s data hub.

Open a block’s data hub by clicking the tab at the lower left edge of the block after it has been placed on the work area.

Image showing unopened tab on a generic block

Data wires carrying input information to a block are connected to the plugs on the left side of its data hub. Data wires carrying output information are connected to the plugs on the right side.

Image of data wires

[A] Input plug
[B] Output plug
[C] Number data wire (yellow)
[D] Logic data wire (green)
[E] Text data wire (orange)
[F] Broken data wire (gray)

Passing data from the input plug to the output plug

If an input plug has a corresponding output plug (see A above), the input data will pass through from the input plug to the output plug without being changed. In this case, you can only use the output plug if the input plug is connected to an input data wire; connecting an output data wire to such an output plug without a connected input data wire will cause the output data wire to be “broken” (and colored gray).

Data wires carry specific types of data

Each data wire carries a specific type of data between blocks. For example, if a data wire is dragged from a logic plug on a block’s data hub, it can only be connected to a logic plug on another block’s data hub. The chart below shows what kind of data each plug can accept or send out.

Data wire colors

Data wires are identified with specific colors: wires carrying number data are colored yellow, wires carrying logic data are colored green, and wires carrying text data are colored orange.

“Broken” data wires

If you try to connect a data wire to a plug of the wrong data type, the data wire will be broken (and colored gray). You will not be able to download your program if a data wire is broken.

If you click a broken wire you can read why it is broken in the small help window in the lower right corner of the work area.

Data must be within the possible range of the plug

If an input data wire transmits a value outside the possible range of the plug it is connected to, the block will either ignore the value or change it to a value within its range. For plugs that allow just a few input values (example: just 0, 1, or 2), the plug will ignore the input if a value arrives outside its range.

For plugs that accept larger input ranges (example: 0 – 100), the plug will force any input outside its range to fit. For example, if a Move block’s Power plug receives an input value of 150, the block will change the input value to 100 (i.e., a number within the Power plug’s range).

This chart shows the different characteristics of the plugs on the Advanced Display Text block’s data hub:

  Plug Data Type Possible Range What the Values Mean This Plug is Ignored When...
Max/Min Text Text   Text  
Max/Min X Number 0 - 99 X coordinate  
Max/Min Y Number 0 - 63 Y coordinate