Console.Read() - need string output, not numbers

Question

So I am making an application and I have to use Console.Read because I want at a certain event to rewrite the line, so I can't use Console.ReadLine(). Problem is that my application doesn't output string, instead it outputs multiple lines of numbers. I tried with this line of code. If you need more code sample, comment.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;

namespace einuorg_console
{
    class UDPserver
    {
        private static string DatePattern = "HH:mm:ss";

        public static void Initialize(string IPaddress, int port)
        {
            Boolean done = false;
            Boolean exception_thrown = false;
            Socket sending_socket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Dgram, ProtocolType.Udp);
            IPAddress sendto_address = IPAddress.Parse(IPaddress);
            IPEndPoint sending_endpoint = new IPEndPoint(sendto_address, port);

            Console.Write("[" + DateTime.Now.ToString(DatePattern) + "]  ");
            Console.WriteLine("einuorg.UDPserver Initialized on address " + IPaddress + ":" + port.ToString());
            while (!done)
            {
                Console.Write("[********]");

                string text_to_send = Console.Read().ToString();

                if (text_to_send.Length == 0)
                {
                    done = true;
                }
                else
                {
                    byte[] sendbuffer = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(text_to_send);
                    try
                    {
                        sending_socket.SendTo(sendbuffer, sending_endpoint);
                    }

                    catch (Exception send_exception)
                    {
                        exception_thrown = true;
                        Console.WriteLine(" Exception {0}", send_exception.Message);
                    }

                    if (exception_thrown == false)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("\r");
                        Console.Write("[" + DateTime.Now.ToString(DatePattern) + "]  ");
                        Console.WriteLine(text_to_send);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        exception_thrown = false;
                        Console.WriteLine("The exception indicates the message was not sent.");
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Terminal is similar to Console class, but haves more options, something I built.

Answer 1

Console.Read returns an Int32: "[t]he next character from the input stream, or negative one (-1) if there are currently no more characters to be read." You're just calling ToString on that value when you write, so you'll see nothing but numbers. You'd need to check whether the return is -1, and cast to a char if not.

There's also a Console.ReadKey method that gives you an object containing a KeyChar property. It might be easier to work with.

Based on your comments, you might get by with something like:

    public static string ReadLine()
    {
        bool done = false;
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        while (!done)
        {
            ConsoleKeyInfo key = Console.ReadKey(true);
            switch(key.Key)
            {
                case ConsoleKey.Enter:
                    done = true;
                    break;
                case ConsoleKey.Backspace:
                    sb.Length -= 1;
                    Console.Write(key.KeyChar);
                    Console.Write(" ");
                    Console.Write(key.KeyChar);
                    break;
                default:
                    sb.Append(key.KeyChar);
                    Console.Write(key.KeyChar);
                    break;
            }
        }
        }
        return sb.ToString();
    }

That function could probably be cleaned up a bit. It probably won't work for arrow keys. It would replace your Console.Read line as:

string text_to_send = ReadLine();

That would leave you on the current line after the user input because the Enter key is never echoed to the Console. After that, you can carry out your overwrite logic and move to the next line at your leisure.

As an alternative, you could use Console.ReadLine, and adjust the cursor back up one line afterward:

    public static string ReadLine2()
    {
        string input = Console.ReadLine();
        Console.CursorTop -= 1;
        return input;
    }