Cursor up on Console

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Do you know of a simple way to move the cursor one line up by program on a console application (Command Prompt window) ?

In the old days, there were ANSI Escape sequences for this purpose, but they don't seem to be recognized.

The ASCII codes for Cursor up/Cursor down do not work either.

I have tried the Curses library, but couldn't find a way to access the already existing application console. And, frankly speaking, I'd prefer something simpler.

Cursor home and clear screen are also welcome, but I can do without them.

Posted 17-Oct-13 22:59pm

YvesDaoust

Updated 17-Oct-13 23:01pm

v3

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Comments

Jochen Arndt 18-Oct-13 11:56am

Have you tried SetConsoleCursorPosition()?

YvesDaoust 18-Oct-13 12:35pm

Interesting. I think I once had a look at the Console API and couldn't find a way to get the handle to the application console.

YvesDaoust 18-Oct-13 12:40pm

Hurray, by searching better, I found the GetStdHandle call which does the trick, and now it works !

Thanks alot. You can enter your comment as a solution, I'll validate it.

Jochen Arndt 19-Oct-13 4:12am

Thank you for your feedback. I have added a solution.

YvesDaoust 19-Oct-13 6:13am

I have been looking for such an easy solution for months (no daily :) ), and it was in front of my eyes !

2 solutions

Solution 1

Try to use ESC [ A, like this:

cout << "\x1b[A";

to move the cursor up one line.

Posted 18-Oct-13 4:26am

Leo Chapiro

Comments

YvesDaoust 18-Oct-13 11:00am

This IS an ANSI escape sequence. They don't work in a Command Prompt window. Thanks for the attempt...

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Jochen Arndt · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-18T22:13:00

Solution 2

You may use SetConsoleCursorPosition()[^]. Example code can be found at Using the High-Level Input and Output Functions[^].

Posted 18-Oct-13 22:13pm

Jochen Arndt