Basic Arduino Question. Trying to turn off leds turned on through the serial monitor by using a push button

Question

I'm new to using the serial monitor. I have a code set up so that LEDs turn on when I type an input on the keyboard. I know how to turn them off using a keyboard but I and can't figure out why the leds won't turn off when I press a push button.

    #define led1 10 //10th,  
    #define led2 11 //11th
    #define led3 12 //12th
    #define led4 13 //13th
    #define ButtonA 9

    int ButtonState;
    int ButtonState2;
    int state;
    int StateNow;
    int PreviousState = HIGH;

    void setup(){
      pinMode(led1,OUTPUT);
      pinMode(led2,OUTPUT);
      pinMode(led3,OUTPUT);
      pinMode(led4,OUTPUT);
      pinMode(ButtonA,INPUT_PULLUP);
      Serial.begin(9600);
      Serial.println("Enter ch a, b, c, or d:");
    }

    void loop() {
    if (Serial.available()) 
    {
      ButtonState = digitalRead(ButtonA);
      delay(10);
      ButtonState2 = digitalRead(ButtonA);  //debounce
      if (ButtonState != ButtonState2)
      {
        StateNow = ButtonState2;
      }
      else
      {
        StateNow = ButtonState;
      }
      if(StateNow == LOW && PreviousState == HIGH) 
  {
    digitalWrite(led1,LOW);
    digitalWrite(led2,LOW);
    digitalWrite(led3,LOW);
    digitalWrite(led4,LOW);
    Serial.println("Turned off all LEDs");
    PreviousState = LOW;
  }
  else if(StateNow == HIGH && PreviousState == LOW) 
  {
    PreviousState = HIGH;
  }
  state = Serial.read();
  if (state == 'a' || state == 'A') 
  {
    digitalWrite(led1,HIGH);
    Serial.println("Turned on led 1");
  }
  else if (state == 'b' || state == 'B') 
  {
    digitalWrite(led2,HIGH);
    Serial.println("Turned on led 2");
  }
  else if (state == 'c' || state == 'C') 
  {
    digitalWrite(led3,HIGH);
    Serial.println("Turned on led 3");
  }
  else if (state == 'd' || state == 'D') 
  {
    digitalWrite(led4,HIGH);
    Serial.println("Turned on led 4");
  }
}

}

The LEDs turn on properly and I know the circuit is wired correctly so it's definitely something I'm missing in the software

Answer 1

To turn off all leds when button is pressed, you must detect a rising or falling in the button signal.

In your code you detect the change only if serial is available, but you should do it in the loop.

The simple way to detect the change is doing this in every loop:

if (StateNow != PreviousState) {
  if (StateNow == LOW && PreviousState == HIGH) //button pushed
  {
    digitalWrite(led1, LOW);
    digitalWrite(led2, LOW);
    digitalWrite(led3, LOW);
    digitalWrite(led4, LOW);
    Serial.println("Turned off all LEDs");
  }
  PreviousState = StateNow;
}

I simplify your code and add some comments:

#define led1 10 //10th,  
#define led2 11 //11th
#define led3 12 //12th
#define led4 13 //13th
#define ButtonA 9

int state;
int StateNow;
int PreviousState;

void setup() {
  pinMode(led1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(led2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(led3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(led4, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ButtonA, INPUT_PULLUP);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Enter ch a, b, c, or d:");
  PreviousState = digitalRead(ButtonA);
}

void loop() {
  //detect changes in button signal to turn off leds
  StateNow = digitalRead(ButtonA);
  if (StateNow != PreviousState) {
    if (StateNow == LOW && PreviousState == HIGH) //button pushed
    {
      digitalWrite(led1, LOW);
      digitalWrite(led2, LOW);
      digitalWrite(led3, LOW);
      digitalWrite(led4, LOW);
      Serial.println("Turned off all LEDs");
    }
    PreviousState = StateNow;
  }

  //check serial biffer to turn on leds
  if (Serial.available())
  {
    state = Serial.read();
    if (state == 'a' || state == 'A')
    {
      digitalWrite(led1, HIGH);
      Serial.println("Turned on led 1");
    }
    else if (state == 'b' || state == 'B')
    {
      digitalWrite(led2, HIGH);
      Serial.println("Turned on led 2");
    }
    else if (state == 'c' || state == 'C')
    {
      digitalWrite(led3, HIGH);
      Serial.println("Turned on led 3");
    }
    else if (state == 'd' || state == 'D')
    {
      digitalWrite(led4, HIGH);
      Serial.println("Turned on led 4");
    }
  }
}