How to get the terminal dimensions in C++ code?

Question

I was recently trying to get the size of the terminal in which this program is run.
The problem is that the script + program solution is not handy and it does not support user input or terminal size change.

How can I do that in the C++ code (without messing with the scripts)?
My code:
Bash file (file to be run instead of the C++ program):

cols=`tput cols`
lines=`tput lines`
input="${cols}\n${lines}"
echo -ne "${input}" | [C++ program]

C++ file (the actual program):

#include <iostream>

int main() {
  unsigned lines;
  unsigned cols;
  cin >> cols;
  cin >> lines;
  // some code here
}

[Getting terminal width in C?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1022957/getting-terminal-width-in-c) — 001, Apr 16 '14 at 17:39
`system("tput cols")...` could do the trick I think, but I've never tried. — j-p, Apr 16 '14 at 17:39
I installed it but when I compile code with ncurses I get a message that ncurses is not present. — , Apr 16 '14 at 17:40
It's usually `-lncursesw` or `-lncurses` at the end of your compile command — Duck, Apr 16 '14 at 17:43
I added the -lncursesw option but it did not work. Using g++. — , Apr 16 '14 at 17:51

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

8

As showed in

Getting terminal width in C?

you can get terminal size with ioctl call

#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main (void)
{
    struct winsize w;
    ioctl(0, TIOCGWINSZ, &w);

    printf ("lines %d\n", w.ws_row);
    printf ("columns %d\n", w.ws_col);
    return 0;
}

edited May 23 '17 at 11:50

Community

1
1

answered Apr 16 '14 at 17:52

4pie0

29,204
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score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 16 '14 at 17:47

1

As I commented, you want to use ncurses.

So install the development package (on Debian: aptitude install libncurses5-dev), then :

add
```
#include  <ncurses.h>
```
to your source code.

Link with it, i.e. compile with

g++ -Wall yourcode.cc -lncurses -o yourprog

Call the appropriate functions. Read the ncurses programming HowTo

answered Apr 16 '14 at 17:47

Basile Starynkevitch

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18
296
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1

why not just ioctl to get winsize? – 4pie0 Apr 16 '14 at 17:47
1

Because in general, if you care about the terminal, you want to write in it, and `ncurses` is the right library for that. – Basile Starynkevitch Apr 16 '14 at 17:53

How to get the terminal dimensions in C++ code?

2 Answers2