CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++unix
user6918191
user6918191

Reputation:

How do I move the console cursor to (x, y) on unix?

I have used <windows.h> and <conio.h> on windows for this kind of thing, but on unix the only thing I can find is <ncurses.h>, which uses a lot of C and doesn't support a lot of C++ functions. How can I move the console cursor to (x, y), while also being able to do object-oriented programming?

Edit: I'm trying to make simple games in C++ using the console as a display. I know it's not ideal to do so, but this is for a project that can't use Visual C++ or any other graphics. Think something like snake or minesweeper. I need to be able to cout in different locations, without updating the entire screen in the process. It needs to be compatible with unix systems.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1991

Answers (1)

mindriot
mindriot

Reputation: 5668

One very simple way is through ANSI escape codes:

#include <iostream>

void moveCursor(std::ostream& os, int col, int row)
{
  os << "\033[" << col << ";" << row << "H";
}

int main()
{
  moveCursor(std::cout, 1,1);
  std::cout << "X (1,1)";
  moveCursor(std::cout, 13,8);
  std::cout << "X (13,8)" << std::endl;

  return 0;
}

The sequence <ESC>[ row , col H (the escape character is ASCII 27 or octal '\033') performs absolut cursor positioning. On most common terminals this should place one "X" in the top-left corner, and the second in column 13, row 8 (counts are 1-based).

Edit: hvd’s comment is of course spot-on: This is very simple, but ncurses is complex for a reason. It is guaranteed to work more reliably and in a much wider variety of settings than a plain escape code. Depending on what you actually want to achieve, I agree with hvd that you should be very careful before picking this simple hack as the solution to your problem.

Upvotes: 2

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