Executing Code for as long as

Hi :)

I was wondering how I could make a program that executes a piece of code for as long as a key is being touched?

So for example:

Code:

---

while A is pressed down
cout<<"You are typing A"<<endl;

---

With the input of A, the output would be "you are typing A".

I can't use

Code:

---

std::string key;
while(1){
cin >> key;
if (key == "a"){
cout<<"You are typing A"<<endl;
}

---

since the "cin" would require I press Enter/Return.


When I type text on my computer, the keyboard will output the letter "a" as I type it.
I need something similar to that - which doesn't require Enter/Return.

Thanks in advance :)

There is no portable way to do this, so it depends which OS you want to run it on. The easiest ways to do it on Windows and Linux are probably conio.h and curses, respectively.

The OP never mentioned portable code was one of his requirements. What OS are you using?

Hello, thanks for your answers!

I am currently using Windows 6, Vista.
I checked my Include folder, and did see conio.h

How can I use it to do this?
Thanks :)

With a loop using kbhit() and getch(). Look up the documentation for these 2 functions.

Also I should mention that there is a curses library for Windows called pdcurses, so if you ever might want to port to Linux or Apple, you might want to go that route.

Or you can trap the keydown event and continue doing what you are doing until you get a keyup event (and it is your 'A' char or whatever). Different way to skin the cat, so so speak.