1. Incrementing a variable on Mono

This is a brief example of how to show a incrementing number on Mono’s display, using the Arduino IDE.

When Mono (and some Arduino models) runs a program there is more going on than what you can see in the setup() and loop(). Every time the loop is starting over, Mono will do some housekeeping in between. This include such tasks as updating the screen and servicing the serial port.

This means if you use wait / sleep functions or do long running ntensive tasks, Mono will not have time to update the screen or listening on the serial port. This will also affect Monos ability to receive a reset request, which is important every time you are uploading a new sketch or app.

Hint

If you find your Mono ended up in a while(1) loop or something similar, see our brief tutorial on [Resetting Mono](resetting_mono.md).

To periodically increment a variable, and avoid doing wait or sleep calls, the following example uses an alternative approach to the wait function. To slow down the counting, we use a variable to count loop iterations and an if statement to detect when it reaches 1000 and then increment the counter and update the label on the screen.

Caution

When using this method the timing will be highly dependent on what mono is doing for housekeeping.

    /***
     * 
     * This is a small example of how to show a counting variable on mono's screen.
     *
     * Instead of using a delay function to slow down the counting, I here use a variable to count loop iterations
     * and an if() to detect when it reaches 1000 and then increment the counter and update the label on the screen.
     * 
     ***/
    #include <mono.h>
    
    mono::ui::TextLabelView textLbl;
    
    int loopItererations;
    int counter;
    
    void setup()
    {
      textLbl = mono::ui::TextLabelView(mono::geo::Rect(0,20,176,20),"Hi, I'm Mono");
      textLbl.setTextColor(mono::display::WhiteColor); 
      textLbl.show();
    }
        
    void loop()
    {
      loopItererations++;
    
      if( loopItererations >= 1000 )
      {
        loopItererations = 0;
        counter++;
        textLbl.setText(mono::String::Format("count: %i", counter));
      }
    }