[C/++] Very Simple Console Program (Input/Output Flow Help)

[rabbit]

I'm trying to find a way to have a simple console program run with a scrolling output section and then a single static input line at the bottom.  I'm not sure how it's done.  I was thinking it was probably not iostream or stdio, but I'm not that familiar with either, really.

[K]

The easiest way would probably be to use the ncurses library, if there is a windows version (I assume there is).

Here's a little sample program:

Code Select Expand

#include <ncurses.h>
#include <string.h>

WINDOW* output_window;
WINDOW* input_window;

WINDOW* create_window(int height, int width, int x, int y)
{
   WINDOW* w = newwin(height, width, y, x);
   box(w, 0, 0);

   // now actually create a new window that is one character smaller around
   // the edges than the other window
   wrefresh(w);

   w = newwin(height - 2, width -2, y + 1, x + 1);

   return w;
}

void destroy_window(WINDOW* w)
{
   // erase the bounding box
   wborder(w, ' ', ' ', ' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ');
   wrefresh(w);
   delwin(w);
}

#define BUFFER_SIZE 512
char buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
   initscr();
   
   output_window = create_window(LINES - 3, COLS, 0, 0);
   input_window  = create_window(3, COLS ,0 , LINES - 3);

   wrefresh(input_window);
   wrefresh(output_window);

   while(true)
   {
      mvwgetnstr(input_window, 0, 0, buffer, BUFFER_SIZE);
      // you should actually just figure out how many characters to print,
      // but i'm lazy..,this mostly clears the input box.
      wprintw(input_window, "                                           ");
     
      if (!strcmp(buffer, "/quit"))
break;
     
      wprintw(output_window, "%s\n", buffer);
     
      wrefresh(output_window);
      wrefresh(input_window);
     
   }

   endwin();

   return 0;
   
}



And the appearance would be:



ncurses is pretty powerful.  If it seems like overkill or won't do for some reason, you could probably accomplish what you want with the Windows console functions.

[Warrior]

No.

[rabbit]

ncurses is a pain to install, but I'll try it.

[Skywing]

If you're using Win32, you might check out the console manipulation APIs like ReadConsoleOutput and ScrollConsoleScreenBuffer.

[rabbit]

A problem I have is this

Code Select Expand

while(true)
{
    output_stuff();
    scanf("%s", in_buf);
}Output only is displayed after the user enters something, but I want output to flow and do its own stuff regardless of whether the user is inputting anything or not.

[Newby]

That's good stuff. Hahahaha.

I didn't know you were smart. Behind all that trolling is a sense of humor and a decent ability to program. Incredible.

[K]

That's good stuff. Hahahaha.

I didn't know you were smart. Behind all that trolling is a sense of humor and a decent ability to program. Incredible.

You know that I posted that first, right? 
Don't give him too much credit for being smart or clever.

[Newby]

That's good stuff. Hahahaha.

I didn't know you were smart. Behind all that trolling is a sense of humor and a decent ability to program. Incredible.

You know that I posted that first, right? 
Don't give him too much credit for being smart or clever.

I knew it was too good to be true.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

Is there an edit or deleted post I missed?

[K]

Is there an edit or deleted post I missed?

No.  tumeria and Newby copied my post, so used internet voodoo to slightly modify the screenshots you can find in their posts

[Newby]

No.  tumeria and Newby copied my post, so used internet voodoo to slightly modify the screenshots you can find in their posts

Maybe there's something horridly wrong with my settings, but tumeria's post came first in this thread.

[K]

Maybe there's something horridly wrong with my settings, but tumeria's post came first in this thread.

He certainly did post first, but he edited his useless post to mirror mine.

[Newby]

Maybe there's something horridly wrong with my settings, but tumeria's post came first in this thread.

He certainly did post first, but he edited his useless post to mirror mine.

Ahhhh. I didn't catch there. And here I thought you were just having fun. I'll edit mine now.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

ohhhh ok