Why does the terminal show “^[[A” “^[[B” “^[[C” “^[[D” when pressing the arrow keys in macos apple silicon m1 for c++?

Question

I have refered previous questions but none of those helped. Issue is similar as mentioned here: Why does the terminal show "^[[A" "^[[B" "^[[C" "^[[D" when pressing the arrow keys in Ubuntu?

Executing g++(gcc11) and running it. Cannot move cursor using arrows.

Interestingly, while taking input in python does not have this issue.

Able to move cursor in Python3 input()

I have tried various things including using "bash" shell (3.2), using iTerm2 instead, running macos 11.4 in safe mode. Terminal app's key bindings are as default settings. None of the mentioned helped.

How can this be avoided?

Edit: C++ Code:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    string s;
    cin>>s;
    return 0;
}

Python and bash use line editing components. Your C++ program does not. If you want to add line editing capability to your program, you need to add it. Don't expect it will appear out of thin air just because some other programs have it. Fortunately it is not hard. Look up libraries such as *GNU readline* or *editline*. — n. m. could be an AI, Jul 11 '21 at 18:17
well OP tried bash shell. so OP is not implementing the text input. And no library should be necessary. — apple apple, Jul 11 '21 at 18:22
and @ Magic105 please show your `c++` code (just so we can make sure your code doesn't cause this) — apple apple, Jul 11 '21 at 18:25
"Bash shell did not work". Not sure what this means. Can you line edit at the bash prompt? If not, you have a misconfigured installation. — n. m. could be an AI, Jul 11 '21 at 18:55
"Added c++ code screenshot" Please **never** add code screenshots here. Code is text. If you want to post code, copy and paste it as text. Make sure it is a [mcve], or it will get downvoted and closed. — n. m. could be an AI, Jul 11 '21 at 18:56
@n.1.8e9-where's-my-sharem. My bad. Added code as text in question. — Harsh Patel, Jul 11 '21 at 19:04
@Magic105 I'd suggest add the console you use as tag. so the problem would shift from code to console configuration. — apple apple, Jul 11 '21 at 19:44

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 11 '21 at 19:30

Python and bash use line editing components. Your C++ program does not. If you want to add line editing capability to your program, you need to add it. Don't expect it will appear out of thin air just because some other programs have it.

Fortunately it is not hard. There are several libraries that implement just that. One is GNU readline. There are several others, variously called "editline" or "libedit". You need to choose one of those and use it in your project.

Another possibility is to use a separate program called rlwrap which wraps your program, adding readline capabilities.

Why does the terminal show “^[[A” “^[[B” “^[[C” “^[[D” when pressing the arrow keys in macos apple silicon m1 for c++?

1 Answers1