Microcontroller human interface using remote printf/scanf

An apparatus comprising of:

• a) an electronic device,
• b) a convex polygon-shaped two-dimensional display used to output information from said electronic device to a human user,
• c) a plurality of switches used to input information from said human user to said device, each switch being disposed near each corner of said display,
• d) such that when a zone adjacent to a convex polygonal display is pressed and held down, two switches are closed, causing an operation to be repeated, in said electronic device or in said display, at a predetermined rate of speed as long as said zone is pressed and held down.

A method of a human controlling an application microcontroller, comprising:

• a) compiling a first and a second procedure, to be executed in a first microcontroller that implements an application and is coupled to application's input-output, said compilation comprising:
• i) compiling a call to said first procedure to accept a first argument to pass a format string, which is essentially a printf( ) format string, and to possibly accept a second argument to pass raw binary data, said format string describing the data-type format for any said data variable passed as a second argument,
• ii) compiling a call to said second procedure to wait for raw binary data to be returned from a second microcontroller, and to replace said raw data in said first microcontroller's memory with associated data received from said second microcontroller,
• b) executing said first procedure in said first microcontroller to output said format string and said raw binary data through a first serial communication channel to said second microcontroller,
• c) executing said second procedure in said first microcontroller, which waits for data from said second microcontroller,
• d) waiting concurrently in said first microcontroller for said data, said second microcontroller executing:
• i) converting said raw binary data into ASCII character strings representing the values of said data variables,
• ii) sending said ASCII character strings to a display,
• iii) editing said displayed character strings to change characters therein as a result of keyboard actions by a human user,
• iv) converting said edited character strings to raw binary data,
• v) sending said raw binary data through said first serial communication channel,
• e) executing said second procedure in said first microcontroller, rewriting said data variables in said first microcontroller memory, and resuming said first microcontroller's program that was waiting for data from said second microcontroller.