attachInterrupt()

Used to specify a function to call when an external interrupt occurs.

Library Documentation

void attachInterrupt(uint8 pin, voidFuncPtr handler, ExtIntTriggerMode mode)

Registers an interrupt handler on a pin.

The interrupt will be triggered on a given transition on the pin, as specified by the mode parameter. The handler runs in interrupt context. The new handler will replace whatever handler is currently registered for the pin, if any.

Parameters

• pin - Maple pin number
• handler - Function to run upon external interrupt trigger. The handler should take no arguments, and have void return type.
• mode - Type of transition to trigger on, e.g. falling, rising, etc.

ExtIntTriggerMode enum

The kind of transition on an external pin which should trigger an interrupt.

Values:

• RISING -

  To trigger an interrupt when the pin transitions LOW to HIGH.

• FALLING -

  To trigger an interrupt when the pin transitions HIGH to LOW.

• CHANGE -

  To trigger an interrupt when the pin transitions from LOW to HIGH or HIGH to LOW (i.e., when the pin changes).

typedef void(* voidFuncPtr)(void)

Discussion

Because the function will run in interrupt context, inside of it, delay() won’t work, and the value returned by millis() will not increment. Serial data received while in the function may be lost. You should declare as volatile any global variables that you modify within the attached function.

There are a few limits you should be aware of if you’re using more than one interrupt at a time; the External Interrupts page has more information.

Example

volatile int state = LOW; // must declare volatile, since it's
                          // modified within the blink() handler

void setup() {
  pinMode(BOARD_LED_PIN, OUTPUT);
  attachInterrupt(0, blink, CHANGE);
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(BOARD_LED_PIN, state);
}

void blink() {
  state = !state;
}

Arduino Compatibility

Most Arduino boards have two external interrupts: numbers 0 (on digital pin 2) and 1 (on digital pin 3). The Arduino Mega has an additional four: numbers 2 (pin 21), 3 (pin 20), 4 (pin 19), and 5 (pin 18). On the Maple, you don’t have to remember which interrupt number goes with which pin – just tell attachInterrupt() the pin you want.

See Also

• detachInterrupt()
• External Interrupts

License and Attribution

Portions of this page were adapted from the Arduino Reference Documentation, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.