How to avoid pressing enter in a portable context to empty the input buffer?

Question

The Problem

I usually use fgets() or getchar(), but now I need to use getch(), because I don't want to press enter to send a char to the input buffer.

What I tried

When I used fgets() and getchar() I also used:

int c;
while ((r = getchar()) != '\n' && r != EOF){}

But now if I use it before getch() it requires me to press enter, which I don't want.

Is there any portable solution to empty the input buffer?

If you want to use `getch` then you're not writing portable code to begin with. There is no standard C `getch` function. — Some programmer dude, Jul 23 '18 at 10:20
@Some programmer dude Oh snap you're right. Thanks for the help, gotta come with something else up. — ropeFullOfHope, Jul 23 '18 at 10:24

blkpingu · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-23T15:14:24.663

You can't use getch() in a portable context because it's a conio.h, not a stdio.h function. There are lengthy threads on this topic and the overall assumption is that it can't be done, only worked around in a dodgy manner.

I suggest you revise your code and application to check weather or not you need to input with a getch() like function, or if there are other ways to do achieve the same goal. Depending on the use case it's often only cosmetic not to press Enter.

How to avoid pressing enter in a portable context to empty the input buffer?

The Problem

What I tried

1 Answers1