Pins are not switching

Question

I am trying to make pins 13, 12, 10 and 9 to switch between high and low. That is, when pin 13 is high, pin 12 should be low, then pin 10 should be high and pin 9 should be low.

Code:

 unsigned char driver[4] ={13, 12, 10, 9};
 String mystring = "";
 void setup() {
   // put your setup code here, to run once:
   Serial.begin(9600);
   for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++){
     pinMode(driver[i], OUTPUT);
   }
 }

 void backward(){
   digitalWrite(driver[0], HIGH);
   digitalWrite(driver[1], LOW);
   digitalWrite(driver[2], HIGH);
   digitalWrite(driver[3], LOW);
 }

 void forward(){
   digitalWrite(driver[0], LOW);
   digitalWrite(driver[1], HIGH);
   digitalWrite(driver[2], LOW);
   digitalWrite(driver[3], HIGH);  
 }

 void STOP(){
   digitalWrite(driver[0], LOW);
   digitalWrite(driver[1], LOW);
   digitalWrite(driver[2], LOW);
   digitalWrite(driver[3], LOW);   
 }

 void loop() {
   // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
   while(Serial.available()){
     delay(10);
     char mychar = Serial.read();
     if(mychar == '\0')
       break;
     mystring += mychar;
   }

   if(mystring == "F" || mystring == "f"){
     forward();
     mystring = "";
     Serial.println("moving forward!");
   }

   else if(mystring == "B" || mystring == "b"){
     backward();
     mystring = "";
     Serial.println("moving backward!");
   }

   else if(mystring == "S" || mystring == "s"){
     STOP();
     mystring = "";
     Serial.println("stopped!");
   }

   else
     mystring = "";
   }

When I test it, there is no switching, that is when moving backward, pin 13 is high throughout, pin 12 is low throughout, pin 10 is high throughout, and pin 9 is low throughout

Answer 1

What line ending are you using in your IDE? Because if it is other than 'no line ending', you are also sending a new line, carriage return or both. Those control caracter get included in mystring.

Better to be safe and filter out control caracter. Try this:

String mystring = "";

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {

  while (Serial.available()) {
    delay(10);
    char mychar = Serial.read();
    if (mychar == '\0')
      break;

    if (isAlpha(mychar)) {
      //  Doesn't include control caracters in mystring
      mystring += mychar;
    }
  }

  if (mystring != "") {
    Serial.print("***"); Serial.print(mystring); Serial.println("***");
    if (mystring == "F") {
      Serial.println("mystring is equal to 'F'");
    } else {
      Serial.println("mystring is not equal to 'F'");
    }
    mystring = "";
  }
}