user4389: I have two Arduinos on a RS-485 line, one acting as a Master and the other as a Slave.  The Master simply transmits information to the Slave, which parses it. 
They work fine when the Master is turned on first and then the Slave is turned on.  However, I'd like to  make it so that the Slave can be disconnected and reconnected to the line and re-discover the connection (ideally without resetting either Arduino). 
Here's the code from the Slave's loop 
  void loop()
     {

       if (RS485Serial.available() >0 )  //Look for data from other Arduino
       {   
        char byteSend = RS485Serial.read();    // Read received byte
        String str = String(byteSend);
         if (str == "<")  {      //  beginning of the transmission
       // does stuff here
      }
   }

}
Here is the relevant section of Master's loop:
  output_value ="<1,1,1,1,1,1,1>";
 RS485Serial.print(output_value);
 delay(250);
 RS485Serial.flush();

Any advice is appreciated...

user10794:     char byteSend = RS485Serial.read();    // Read received byte
    String str = String(byteSend);
     if (str == "<")  {      //  beginning of the transmission
   // does stuff here
  }

This is an extremely inefficient way of testing for one character. Much better would be:
    char byteSend = RS485Serial.read();    // Read received byte
    if (byteSend == '<')  {      //  beginning of the transmission
   // does stuff here
  }



However, I'd like to make it so that the Slave can be disconnected and reconnected to the line and re-discover the connection (ideally without resetting either Arduino). 

I know I'm not supposed to ask questions here, but what is stopping you?

4389: <p>I have two Arduinos on a RS-485 line, one acting as a Master and the other as a Slave.  The Master simply transmits information to the Slave, which parses it. </p>

<p>They work fine when the Master is turned on first and then the Slave is turned on.  However, I'd like to  make it so that the Slave can be disconnected and reconnected to the line and re-discover the connection (ideally without resetting either Arduino). </p>

<p>Here's the code from the Slave's loop </p>

<pre><code>  void loop()
     {

       if (RS485Serial.available() &gt;0 )  //Look for data from other Arduino
       {   
        char byteSend = RS485Serial.read();    // Read received byte
        String str = String(byteSend);
         if (str == "&lt;")  {      //  beginning of the transmission
       // does stuff here
      }
   }
</code></pre>

<p>}</p>

<p>Here is the relevant section of Master's loop:</p>

<pre><code>  output_value ="&lt;1,1,1,1,1,1,1&gt;";
 RS485Serial.print(output_value);
 delay(250);
 RS485Serial.flush();
</code></pre>

<p>Any advice is appreciated...</p>
 10794: 

<pre class="lang-C++ prettyprint-override"><code>    char byteSend = RS485Serial.read();    // Read received byte
    String str = String(byteSend);
     if (str == "&lt;")  {      //  beginning of the transmission
   // does stuff here
  }
</code></pre>

<p>This is an extremely inefficient way of testing for one character. Much better would be:</p>

<pre class="lang-C++ prettyprint-override"><code>    char byteSend = RS485Serial.read();    // Read received byte
    if (byteSend == '&lt;')  {      //  beginning of the transmission
   // does stuff here
  }
</code></pre>

<hr>

<blockquote>
  <p>However, I'd like to make it so that the Slave can be disconnected and reconnected to the line and re-discover the connection (ideally without resetting either Arduino). </p>
</blockquote>

<p>I know I'm not supposed to ask questions here, but what is stopping you?</p>
