Hi All,

     After working with the PIC for a while I thought it would be neat to
     display stuff on a character LCD. (Easier said than done, of course.)
     I bought an Optrex HD44780-based display and the data sheet by mail
     order, and when they arrived, the problems started. First of all, the
     data sheet read like a Chinese had translated the Japanese original
     into some sort of psuedo-English. The text itself acted like the LCD
     interface was common knowledge, so it only provided tips on such
     things as how the glookamoort starts when fizzinacked by the
     voltakork, which made it basically useless. So I gave up on the data
     sheet and looked into the Microchip Application Handbook, and found an
     app note describing how to interface of one of these little LCDs to a
     PIC. Cool, I thought. Just what I need. Unfortunately, this was the
     second problem. The app note was for a different PIC and the source
     code did not work. The article itself didn't explain much; the charts
     and tables were taken directly from the data sheet, except the decimal
     point in key timing values had moved around, which only added to the
     confusion. Despite this, I managed to get the 8-bit transfer mode
     working fine.

     After building several neat projects with the LCD, I realized that 11
     I/O lines for the LCD doesn't leave much room for other gadgets to
     connect to the PIC, which only has 13 I/O lines. I looked back at the
     data sheet and the app note again, but they told me nothing. Now
     (Hoping that this won't be the third problem) for the question:  Can
     anyone out there help me get this @%$#% thing working in the 4-bit
     transfer mode? I would like source code for the 16F84.

     Thanks in advance,

     Eric