Edit

Low-Level Console I/O

  • Article

Important

This document describes console platform functionality that is no longer a part of our ecosystem roadmap. We do not recommend using this content in new products, but we will continue to support existing usages for the indefinite future. Our preferred modern solution focuses on virtual terminal sequences for maximum compatibility in cross-platform scenarios. You can find more information about this design decision in our classic console vs. virtual terminal document.

The low-level console I/O functions expand an application's control over console I/O by enabling direct access to a console's input and screen buffers. These functions enable an application to perform the following tasks:

  • Receive input about mouse and buffer-resizing events
  • Receive extended information about keyboard input events
  • Write input records to the input buffer
  • Read input records without removing them from the input buffer
  • Determine the number of pending events in the input buffer
  • Flush the input buffer
  • Read and write strings of Unicode or ANSI characters at a specified location in a screen buffer
  • Read and write strings of text and background color attributes at a specified screen buffer location
  • Read and write rectangular blocks of character and color data at a specified screen buffer location
  • Write a single Unicode or ANSI character, or a text and background color attribute combination, to a specified number of consecutive cells beginning at a specified screen buffer location

For more information, see the following topics: