How to make a timer that outputs on one line

Question

At the moment I have made a timer that outputs on multiple lines like this:

However, if the user chooses 1000 seconds that would take too much space.

I need a way so that it changes the first line to the number below automatically.

Here is my timer code:

public class TimerExample
{
    static int UserInputs()
    {
        int numberOfSeconds;
        do
        {
            Console.WriteLine("How many seconds would you like the test to be? Please type a number divisible by 10!");
            int.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out numberOfSeconds);
        } while (numberOfSeconds % 10 != 0);
        return numberOfSeconds;
    }
    public class TimerClass
        {
            public static int Timers(int timeLeft)
            {
                do
                {
                    Console.WriteLine($"timeLeft: {timeLeft}");
                    timeLeft--;
                    Thread.Sleep(1000);
                } while (timeLeft > 0);
                return timeLeft;
            }
        }
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int numberOfSeconds = UserInput();
        TimerClass.Timers(numberOfSeconds);
    }
}

Here is my full code if you need it: https://github.com/CrazyDanyal1414/mathstester

@bradbury9 `Console.Write()` will provide an output such as `10987654321` if user enters 10 — Cid, May 05 '20 at 09:06

Pankaj N · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-06T05:36:28.930

1

If you want the count down to be shown on the same line then you can change the below line

Console.WriteLine($"timeLeft: {timeLeft}");

to

Console.Write("\rtimeLeft: {0}   ", timeLeft);

Hopefully that does the trick for you. \r will re-write the same line

edited May 06 '20 at 05:36

answered May 05 '20 at 09:13

Pankaj N

26
2

Thanks for your first answer. I've just indented your code with 4 spaces to enable the syntax coloring. – Iain M Norman May 05 '20 at 09:54
You can also format it nicely using: ```cs – Cleptus May 05 '20 at 10:37

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 05 '20 at 09:16

The key is to use:

Console.Write and not Console.WirteLine
Use "\r" at the start of your print so you override the line instead of append the data to the line

Here some code to test:

for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
{
    Console.Write("\r" + i);
    Thread.Sleep(100);
}

How to make a timer that outputs on one line

2 Answers2