How to position the input text cursor in C?
If you are under some Unix terminal (xterm
, gnome-terminal
...), you can use console codes:
#include <stdio.h>
#define clear() printf("\033[H\033[J")
#define gotoxy(x,y) printf("\033[%d;%dH", (y), (x))
int main(void)
{
int number;
clear();
printf(
"Enter your number in the box below\n"
"+-----------------+\n"
"| |\n"
"+-----------------+\n"
);
gotoxy(2, 3);
scanf("%d", &number);
return 0;
}
Or using Box-drawing characters:
printf(
"Enter your number in the box below\n"
"╔═════════════════╗\n"
"║ ║\n"
"╚═════════════════╝\n"
);
More info:
man console_codes
In the linux terminal you may use terminal commands to move your cursor, such as
printf("\033[8;5Hhello"); // Move to (8, 5) and output hello
other similar commands:
printf("\033[XA"); // Move up X lines;
printf("\033[XB"); // Move down X lines;
printf("\033[XC"); // Move right X column;
printf("\033[XD"); // Move left X column;
printf("\033[2J"); // Clear screen
Keep in mind that this is not a standardised solution, and therefore your code will not be platform independent.
The C language itself doesn't have any notion of a screen with a cursor. You'll have to use some kind of library that provides this support. curses is the most well-known and widely available library for terminal control.