console app problem

Hi...

I'm trying to find some code samples that will show me how to capture
non-character keypresses in a console app. I've tried the standard stuff,
such as console.read and console.readline, and I've tried ConsoleEx which
does a great job, but still doesn't handle non-character keys like CTRL and
the arrow keys.

I've read the character mode apps page on MSDN, and couldn't really make
much sense out of it.

So I guess my question is, has ANYONE successfully trapped arrow keys in a
console app, using C#, C++.net, or VB.net? I would really reaaaaally
appreciate any help I can get, thanks.

Finally, if I can't do it, I'll need to write it as a windows app... so the
question is, how do I write to the screen of a windows app, as if it were a
console? (I've seen it done, I just don't know how.)

Thanks,

Chris

--
development journal: http://www.mystictriad.com/dev
Heroic Adventure 0.1.1 (HA! for short)
Probably the first Roguelike written in VB.NET

Chris Williams

In article <e$>,
says...
> Hi...
>
> I'm trying to find some code samples that will show me how to capture
> non-character keypresses in a console app. I've tried the standard stuff,
> such as console.read and console.readline, and I've tried ConsoleEx which
> does a great job, but still doesn't handle non-character keys like CTRL and
> the arrow keys.
>
> I've read the character mode apps page on MSDN, and couldn't really make
> much sense out of it.
>
> So I guess my question is, has ANYONE successfully trapped arrow keys in a
> console app, using C#, C++.net, or VB.net? I would really reaaaaally
> appreciate any help I can get, thanks.

Maybe if you put the console into character mode instead of line mode
you could capture the keystrokes you're looking for. See this post:

http://tinyurl.com/h6nm

--
Patrick Steele
Microsoft .NET MVP
http://weblogs.asp.net/psteele

> Finally, if I can't do it, I'll need to write it as a windows app... so
the
> question is, how do I write to the screen of a windows app, as if it were
a
> console? (I've seen it done, I just don't know how.)

Do I understand this correctly, your trying to make a Windows App
behave/emulate a Console App?

~V


"Chris Williams" <> wrote in message
news:e$...
> Hi...
>
> I'm trying to find some code samples that will show me how to capture
> non-character keypresses in a console app. I've tried the standard stuff,
> such as console.read and console.readline, and I've tried ConsoleEx which
> does a great job, but still doesn't handle non-character keys like CTRL
and
> the arrow keys.
>
> I've read the character mode apps page on MSDN, and couldn't really make
> much sense out of it.
>
> So I guess my question is, has ANYONE successfully trapped arrow keys in a
> console app, using C#, C++.net, or VB.net? I would really reaaaaally
> appreciate any help I can get, thanks.
>
> Finally, if I can't do it, I'll need to write it as a windows app... so
the
> question is, how do I write to the screen of a windows app, as if it were
a
> console? (I've seen it done, I just don't know how.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Chris
>
> --
> development journal: http://www.mystictriad.com/dev
> Heroic Adventure 0.1.1 (HA! for short)
> Probably the first Roguelike written in VB.NET
>
>

character mode does allow me to trap character keys, but I still cant get
the non-character keys like Ctrl and Shift and the arrow keys, etc...

Thanks though,

S.

--
development journal: http://www.mystictriad.com/dev
Heroic Adventure 0.1.1 (HA! for short)
Probably the first Roguelike written in VB.NET


"Patrick Steele [MVP]" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> In article <e$>,
> says...
> > Hi...
> >
> > I'm trying to find some code samples that will show me how to capture
> > non-character keypresses in a console app. I've tried the standard
stuff,
> > such as console.read and console.readline, and I've tried ConsoleEx
which
> > does a great job, but still doesn't handle non-character keys like CTRL
and
> > the arrow keys.
> >
> > I've read the character mode apps page on MSDN, and couldn't really make
> > much sense out of it.
> >
> > So I guess my question is, has ANYONE successfully trapped arrow keys in
a
> > console app, using C#, C++.net, or VB.net? I would really reaaaaally
> > appreciate any help I can get, thanks.
>
> Maybe if you put the console into character mode instead of line mode
> you could capture the keystrokes you're looking for. See this post:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/h6nm
>
> --
> Patrick Steele
> Microsoft .NET MVP
> http://weblogs.asp.net/psteele

"Chris Williams" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> nope, I'm trying to write a console app that captures non-character
> keypresses as part of the program.
>

You need to use native methods to get that level of control. The following
code demonstrates
getting the console's input handle, waiting on an input events and echoing
the scan-code to the
debug output.

static void Main(string[] args){
uint nRead = 0;
INPUT_RECORD iRecord = new INPUT_RECORD();
IntPtr stdIn = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
AutoResetEvent are = new AutoResetEvent(false);
are.Handle = stdIn;
for(;{
are.WaitOne();
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("released");
int ret = ReadConsoleInput(stdIn, ref iRecord, 1, ref nRead);
for(int n=0; n!=nRead; ++n)
if(iRecord.EventType==KEY_EVENT){
ushort vk = iRecord.wVirtualScanCode;
if(vk==0x2A) System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("Left Shift");
else
System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine(vk.ToString());
}
}
}
const uint STD_INPUT_HANDLE = 0xFFFFFFFF-9;
const ushort KEY_EVENT = 0x0001;
[DllImport("Kernel32")]
public static extern IntPtr GetStdHandle(uint nStdHandle);
[DllImport("Kernel32")]
public static extern int ReadConsoleInput(IntPtr hConsoleInput, ref
INPUT_RECORD lpBuffer, uint nLength, ref uint lpNumberOfEventsRead);
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct INPUT_RECORD
{
public ushort EventType;
public uint bKeyDown;
public ushort wRepeatCount;
public ushort wVirtualKeyCode;
public ushort wVirtualScanCode;
public char UnicodeChar;
public uint dwControlKeyState;
}