Closing the input stream after a certain time

Hello, I am a fairly experienced C programmer and now I am trying my hand at C++.
Is there any way to close the input stream in a program after a certain amount of time has passed? Also, is there any way to indicate that the time is passing?
Thank you very much.

AFAIK there are only non-standard ways of doing this that depend on your OS and compiler. Normally cin waits for the user to enter their input before returning control to the program. A function like kbhit() might be available on your platform that returns true only if the user hit a button. You can use Sleep or sleep in a loop to check periodically and after a certain amount of time stop checking.

Probably the same way you would do it in C, and that would depend on which OS and Compiler you have.

well, there's a kinda semi-standard way of getting around what you want... you can't really close the input stream, but you can use your own input stream and cut it off, and AFAIK, the only way to time something and accept input at the same time is system-dependant (like others have said)

Code:

---

#include <iostream>        //for I/O
#include <ctime>        //for standard time functions

void timeAndSpin(const int seconds);        //a timer with a spinner

int main()
{
        char*line=new char[20];                //to hold the input
        std::istream*input=&std::cin;        //assign the standard input to your
                                        //stream
        std::cout<<"Enter your name: ";        //ask for input       
        input->get(line,20,'\n');        //get it with your stream
        std::cout<<"You Entered: "<<line<<std::endl;        //confirmation
       
        input=0;        //"close" your stream
        delete[]line;        //free up the memory
       
        timeAndSpin(5);        //run the timing function

        return 0;
}

void timeAndSpin(const int seconds)       
{
        char*spinner="|/-\\";        //use a spinner to time
        int i=0;                //for the position in the spinner
        int time=seconds*CLOCKS_PER_SEC;        //use a standard constant
        int start=clock();        //start the timer
        int end;                //save memory for the end of the timer

        //here we create an interval - how often the spinner moves.  I set it
        //to every 10th of a second
        const int INTERVAL=static_cast<int>(CLOCKS_PER_SEC*0.1f);
       
        //start the spinner
        std::cout<<'|';
       
        do
        {
                //set 'end' variable to now
                end=clock();
                //if it's time to update the spinner
                if(end%INTERVAL==0)
                {
                        //update the 'i' variable
                        i=(i<4?++i:0);
                        //output some backspaces, the spinner, and the time
                        //NOTE: I/O functions take ALOT of time and processing
                        //power - try not to keep this in a tight loop
                        std::cout<<"\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b"
                                <<spinner[i]<<' '<<end<<std::flush;
                }
        }while(end-start<=time);        //keep doing it until time runs out
}

---

of course putting the timing and input together right is up to you, and that method is pretty processor-intensive (using clock() with a loop)... basically you'll need to find a way to time something and accept input at the same time, and a way to, when you get the input or time runs out, break out of that routine.