reading keystrokes

Hi I am a newbie when it comes to C++ but I have learned basic. What I want to know is how to make it so that right when you press whatever key you press it reacts not when you press enter but that second. In basic it is

Code:

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print #(whatever you have the thing you use as), "when characterInput [letter]"
wait

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waht it does is it will wait and then if you press a key it will jump to [letter]. So how can I do this in C++ and another thing that I need wich is tied into this is how to set a varible to the button pressed. In basic it is x$ = inkey$ "in basic the strings have a $ at the end).

thanks in advanced,
h3ckf1r3

It can be done, but you have to use some non-standard functions [As you are probably aware, the Basic programming language is fairly well "unstandard" in itself, so you can't easily take a piece of Basic code written for an Atari 600 and run it on a PC, for example].

So you will have to tell us what OS (and compiler) you are using, and we should be able to point you in the right direction.

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Mats

I am using windows xp and I am using tha Dev-C++ compiler

And is this a console or Window application?

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Mats

I am not sure what you mean

There's a FAQ entry to show you how to read a key without pressing enter, when using the win32 API.

I will give it a shot

it told me to use the command getchar() but how do I use that to set it to a variable?

Code:

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char ch;

ch = getChar();

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Perhaps?

I'm assuming you are using the last of the listed examples.

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Mats

yeah I tried that but it said that getchar() or getChar() was undeclared. Maybe I dont have the right includes or the wrong namespace please tell me wich are necessary.

In that example getChar is a user-defined function using functions from <windows.h>

Well, getChar() is part of the example-code, so you need to include the 15-20 lines BEFORE main in that example to make it work - did you do that?

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Mats

I am probably reading the wrong thing so please be more explicit where the thread on this is

It's not a thread, but a FAQ entry: http://faq.cprogramming.com/cgi-bin/...&id=1043284392

It has three bits of sample code: I think you are looking at the last section, which begins with

Quote:

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And now for a Windows specific solution:

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.

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Mats

waht is up with all that extra stuff at the top?

It's not "extra stuff", it's part of the code you need. It's not just one line to do this - it's about 15-20 lines. So you need all of this:

Code:

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// Code supplied by LuckY

#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>

bool keyHit(void)
{
  HANDLE  stdIn = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);

  DWORD  saveMode;
  GetConsoleMode(stdIn, &saveMode);
  SetConsoleMode(stdIn, ENABLE_PROCESSED_INPUT);

  bool  ret = false;

  if (WaitForSingleObject(stdIn, 1) == WAIT_OBJECT_0) ret = true;

  SetConsoleMode(stdIn, saveMode);

  return(ret);
}

bool getChar(TCHAR &ch)
{
  bool    ret = false;

  HANDLE  stdIn = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);

  DWORD  saveMode;
  GetConsoleMode(stdIn, &saveMode);
  SetConsoleMode(stdIn, ENABLE_PROCESSED_INPUT);

  if (WaitForSingleObject(stdIn, INFINITE) == WAIT_OBJECT_0)
  {
    DWORD num;
    ReadConsole(stdIn, &ch, 1, &num, NULL);

    if (num == 1) ret = true;
  }

  SetConsoleMode(stdIn, saveMode);

  return(ret);
}

TCHAR getChar(void)
{
  TCHAR ch = 0;
  getChar(ch);
  return(ch);
}

int main(void)
{
  std::cout << "Press a key" << std::endl;
  getChar();
  std::cout << "Done" << std::endl;
}

---

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Mats

you were almost right it was getchar(x) but you were really close

Quote:

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Originally Posted by h3ckf1r3

you were almost right it was getchar(x) but you were really close

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Since the code is C++, it implements two functions:
bool getChar(TCHAR &ch);
TCHAR getChar(void);

The latter will work with what I wrote, whilst the former will work as you write it. Obvioulsy, calling just getChar() without assigning the return value to anything will not work.

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Mats

Thanks for all the help you have been for me