- Processing
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- Processing Foundation

This reference is for Processing 3.0+. If you have a previous version, use the reference included with your software in the Help menu. If you see any errors or have suggestions, please let us know. If you prefer a more technical reference, visit the Processing Core Javadoc and Libraries Javadoc.

Class | Serial
Name | ### readBytes()
Examples |
    // Example by Tom Igoe

    import processing.serial.*;

    Serial myPort;  // The serial port

    void setup() {
      // List all the available serial ports
      printArray(Serial.list());
      // Open the port you are using at the rate you want:
      myPort = new Serial(this, Serial.list()[0], 9600);
    }

    void draw() {
      // Expand array size to the number of bytes you expect
      byte[] inBuffer = new byte[7];
      while (myPort.available() > 0) {
        inBuffer = myPort.readBytes();
        myPort.readBytes(inBuffer);
        if (inBuffer != null) {
          String myString = new String(inBuffer);
          println(myString);
        }
      }
    }
Description | Reads a group of bytes from the buffer or null if there are none available. The version with no parameters returns a byte array of all data in the buffer. This is not efficient, but is easy to use. The version with the byteBuffer parameter is more memory and time efficient. It grabs the data in the buffer and puts it into the byte array passed in and returns an int value for the number of bytes read. If more bytes are available than can fit into the byteBuffer, only those that fit are read.
Syntax |
    serial.readBytes()
    serial.readBytes(max)
    serial.readBytes(dest)
Parameters |
serial | Serial: any variable of type Serial
max | int: the maximum number of bytes to read
Returns | byte[] or int

Updated on July 4, 2018 11:56:46am EDT