Many great answers, here is my 2 cents with exact functionality as requested in the question.
Plus it should be a bit easier to read and debug.
Code is tested up to 128 chars of input.
Tested on Arduino uno r3 (Arduino IDE 1.6.8)
Functionality:
Commands:
Note: Remember to change baud rate based on your board speed.
// Turns Arduino onboard led (pin 13) on or off using serial command input.
// Pin 13, a LED connected on most Arduino boards.
int const LED = 13;
// Serial Input Variables
int intLoopCounter = 0;
String strSerialInput = "";
// the setup routine runs once when you press reset:
void setup()
{
// initialize the digital pin as an output.
pinMode(LED, OUTPUT);
// initialize serial port
Serial.begin(250000); // CHANGE BAUD RATE based on the board speed.
// initialized
Serial.println("Initialized.");
}
// the loop routine runs over and over again forever:
void loop()
{
// Slow down a bit.
// Note: This may have to be increased for longer strings or increase the iteration in GetPossibleSerialData() function.
delay(1);
CheckAndExecuteSerialCommand();
}
void CheckAndExecuteSerialCommand()
{
//Get Data from Serial
String serialData = GetPossibleSerialData();
bool commandAccepted = false;
if (serialData.startsWith("LED.ON"))
{
commandAccepted = true;
digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
}
else if (serialData.startsWith("LED.OFF"))
{
commandAccepted = true;
digitalWrite(LED, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
}
else if (serialData != "")
{
Serial.println();
Serial.println("*** Command Failed ***");
Serial.println("\t" + serialData);
Serial.println();
Serial.println();
Serial.println("*** Invalid Command ***");
Serial.println();
Serial.println("Try:");
Serial.println("\tLED.ON");
Serial.println("\tLED.OFF");
Serial.println();
}
if (commandAccepted)
{
Serial.println();
Serial.println("*** Command Executed ***");
Serial.println("\t" + serialData);
Serial.println();
}
}
String GetPossibleSerialData()
{
String retVal;
int iteration = 10; // 10 times the time it takes to do the main loop
if (strSerialInput.length() > 0)
{
// Print the retreived string after looping 10(iteration) ex times
if (intLoopCounter > strSerialInput.length() + iteration)
{
retVal = strSerialInput;
strSerialInput = "";
intLoopCounter = 0;
}
intLoopCounter++;
}
return retVal;
}
void serialEvent()
{
while (Serial.available())
{
strSerialInput.concat((char) Serial.read());
}
}