Overwrite Multiple Terminal Lines

Question

I'm trying to make a simple 16*16 terminal display for a C project that uses something like this loop:

for(i = 1; i <= 256; i++) {
    printf("%c ", output[i-1]);
    if(i % 16 == 0) {
        printf("\n");
    }
}

To display something like this (but twice as big):

* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *

The problem is, this obviously just prints a new display below the previous one each time the display is refreshed, when I need to print over it instead. The carriage return \r only writes over the previous line, while I need to write over the previous 16.

Is there any way to do this in C? I'm using Windows so I don't know if ncurses is an option.

You probably want to work with the actual *terminal*, not just the opaque standard output stream. Terminal control is platform-specific, so consult your vendor documentation (Windows, I suppose). See also https://stackoverflow.com/questions/138153/is-ncurses-available-for-windows. — Kerrek SB, Jan 08 '17 at 03:45
If the Windows console support ANSI escape codes, you can look at the source code pointed to by [this question](http://stackoverflow.com/q/41485511/2564301) - it positions the cursor at the top of the screen without clearing it first. — Jongware, Jan 08 '17 at 12:00

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 08 '17 at 11:49

0

You need to use a library that can handle terminals. One such library is ncurses

answered Jan 08 '17 at 11:49

Ed Heal

59,252
17
87
127

score -2 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 08 '17 at 03:44

-2

Okay I got it: on windows system("cls") clears the terminal. It clears all of it instead of just 16 lines, but it does the job.

answered Jan 08 '17 at 03:44

parallel_resistance

155
10

Overwrite Multiple Terminal Lines

2 Answers2