Arduino uint8_t variables - c++

Question

I'm having trouble with some arduino code. im using an Ethernet tutorial code i found and some IR emitter and receiver code i found, and im trying to combine them.
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/sensors/ir.html
http://g33k.blogspot.com/2010/09/arduino-data-webserver-sample-web.html
Both codes work fine by themselves.
The code compiles but when i call the following void IRDetector() , it doesn't work. I have debugged it and so far ive found when i use the variable uint8_t or uint16_t (ive tried replacing them with ints and longs). Do i have to import and libraries to use uint8_t ? Any thoughts?
Any help would be appreciated.
uint16_t pulses[100][2]; // pair is high and low pulse
uint8_t currentpulse = 0; // index for pulses we're storing
uint8_t highpulse, lowpulse; // temporary storage timing
void IRDetectCode(void)
{
while(true){
highpulse = lowpulse = 0; // start out with no pulse length
while (IRpin_PIN & (1 << IRpin)) {
// pin is still HIGH
// count off another few microseconds
highpulse++;
delayMicroseconds(RESOLUTION);
// If the pulse is too long, we 'timed out' - either nothing
// was received or the code is finished, so print what
// we've grabbed so far, and then reset
if ((highpulse >= MAXPULSE) && (currentpulse != 0)) {
Serial.print(" usec, ");
// printpulses();
//currentpulse=0;
return;
}
}
// we didn't time out so lets stash the reading
pulses[currentpulse][0] = highpulse;
// same as above
while (! (IRpin_PIN & _BV(IRpin))) {
// pin is still LOW
Serial.print(" usec, ");
lowpulse++;
delayMicroseconds(RESOLUTION);
if ((lowpulse >= MAXPULSE) && (currentpulse != 0)) {
// printpulses();
// currentpulse=0;
return;
}
}
//pulses[currentpulse][1] = lowpulse;
// we read one high-low pulse successfully, continue!
currentpulse++;
}
}
void printpulses(void) {
Serial.println("\n\r\n\rReceived: \n\rOFF \tON");
for (uint8_t i = 0; i < currentpulse; i++) {
Serial.print(pulses[i][0] * RESOLUTION, DEC);
Serial.print(" usec, ");
Serial.print(pulses[i][1] * RESOLUTION, DEC);
Serial.println(" usec");
}
// print it in a 'array' format
Serial.println("int IRsignal[] = {");
Serial.println("// ON, OFF (in 10's of microseconds)");
for (uint8_t i = 0; i < currentpulse-1; i++) {
Serial.print("\t"); // tab
Serial.print(pulses[i][1] * RESOLUTION / 10, DEC);
Serial.print(", ");
Serial.print(pulses[i+1][0] * RESOLUTION / 10, DEC);
Serial.println(",");
}
Serial.print("\t"); // tab
Serial.print(pulses[currentpulse-1][1] * RESOLUTION / 10, DEC);
Serial.print(", 0};");
}

Answer 1

The uint8_t is a unsigned integer on 8 bits. In Arduino, it's called a "byte", so you can use it like that:
for (byte i = 0; i < currentpulse; i++) {....
It's far better than using the Arduino's "int" type (== int16_t) or "unsigned int" (== uint16_t) because the ATmega328 is 8-bit. So handling an 8-bit var is faster (a lot).
I hope it can help.