How do you clear the screen and move the cursor in a console app?

[CCurl]

How do you clear the screen and move the cursor in a console app?

I did a search and I got a bunch of hits that were windows related.

Thanks for all your patience with me.

[hutch--]

There are library modules in MASM32 to do this.

[anta40]

Try to study this C code

Code Select Expand


#include <windows.h>

void gotoxy(int x, int y){
    HANDLE hnd = NULL;
    COORD coord;

    coord.X = x;
    coord.Y = y;

    if (!hnd) hnd = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);

    SetConsoleCursorPosition(hnd, coord);
}

void clrscr(void){
    HANDLE hnd = NULL;
    CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbi;
    COORD coord = {0,0};
    DWORD dummy;

    if (!hnd){
        hnd = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
        GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(hnd, &csbi);
    }

    FillConsoleOutputCharacter(hnd,' ', csbi.dwSize.X * csbi.dwSize.Y, coord, &dummy);

    gotoxy(0,0);
}

The very rough translation of gotoxy in MASM32 will be something like this:

Code Select Expand


include \masm32\include\masm32rt.inc

.data?
hStdOut HANDLE ?

.code

start:
        invoke GetStdHandle,STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE
        mov  hStdOut, eax
        invoke SetConsoleCursorPosition, eax, 0A0027h       
        print chr$('X')
        invoke SetConsoleCursorPosition, hStdOut, 0C0000h 
        inkey
        exit

end start

Not sure how to translate the clrscr part though  :redface:

[jj2007]

Put an int 3 before the Print At and launch Olly 8)

include \masm32\MasmBasic\MasmBasic.inc      ; download
  Init
  .While 1
      For_ ct=0 To 15
            Print At(ct+1, Locate(y)+1) CColor(cBlue, cYellow) Str$("Line %i", ct)
      Next
      Inkey CrLf$, "hit any key to continue, c for CLS, Escape to exit"
      .Break .if eax==VK_ESCAPE
      .if eax=="c"
            Cls
            PrintLine "Cleared"       ; documentation
            Delay 500
      .endif
  .Endw
EndOfCode

[Neil]

Have a look at the  cls & loc macros in the masm32 library

[TouEnMasm]

Full translate (?) of the c code

Code Select Expand


;@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
gotoxy PROC x:DWORD,y:DWORD
local hnd:HANDLE,coord:COORD
mov hnd,0
mov eax,x
mov coord.X,ax
mov eax,y
mov coord.Y,ax

invoke GetStdHandle,STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE
mov hnd,eax
.if eax != 0
invoke SetConsoleCursorPosition,hnd, coord
.endif
ret
gotoxy ENDP

clrscr PROC
local hnd:HANDLE,NumberOfChar:DWORD
local csbi:CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO
local coord:COORD
local dummy:DWORD
mov hnd,0
mov dword ptr [coord],0   
invoke GetStdHandle,STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE   
mov hnd,eax
.if eax
invoke GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo,hnd, addr csbi
mov edx,0
movzx ecx,csbi.dwSize.Y
movzx eax,csbi.dwSize.X
mul ecx
mov NumberOfChar,eax
invoke FillConsoleOutputCharacter,hnd,32,NumberOfChar , coord,addr dummy
invoke gotoxy,0,0
.endif

ret
clrscr endp

main PROC C argc:DWORD,pargv:DWORD
invoke InitInstance,1
;---- code here --------
invoke printf_s,TXT(13,10,13,10,13,10,"hello,This string must be erased if you press a key",13,10)
invoke _getch
invoke clrscr
invoke printf_s,TXT(13,10,"Press a key to quit",13,10)
invoke _getch
invoke InitInstance,0
mov eax,0
ret
main endp


It's a code who use the Windows 10 crt.If :
"Vcruntime140.dll not found"
You need the "redistributables packages  Visual C++ 2015",search MSDN for them.It's a free download

[dedndave]

clear screen is not as simple as it should be - lol

moving the cursor is simple - SetConsoleCursorPosition

[jj2007]

clear screen is not as simple as it should be - lol

I agree

But a n-100 MB download to get Vcruntime140.dll is perhaps a little overkill ::)

It can be done with a 53 bytes macro (push/pop ecx included):

Code Select Expand

include \masm32\include\masm32rt.inc ; plain Masm32 for the fans of pure assembler
include Cls.asm
.code
start:
xor ebx, ebx
.Repeat
print "line "
inc ebx
print str$(ebx), " xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx", 13, 10
.Until ebx>20
inkey "hit any key"
Cls   ; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 53 bytes <<<<<<<<<<<<<<
print "screen cleared!"
MsgBox 0, "Cute", "Hi", MB_OK or MB_SETFOREGROUND
exit

end start

P.S.: For fans of special effects, Cls takes an optional parameter, e.g. Cls "."

[dedndave]

this one allows you to clear individual screen buffers
it can easily be modified to clear the main buffer

Code Select Expand

        OPTION  PROLOGUE:None
        OPTION  EPILOGUE:None

ConCls  PROC    hConsole:HANDLE

;Clear Console Screen Buffer, DednDave 12-2011
;
;  This function allows the use of multiple screen buffers, clearing
;only the buffer specified by hConsole. Space characters and the current
;foreground/background attributes for the specified buffer are used.
;
;Call With: hConsole = handle of console screen buffer to clear
;
;  Returns: EAX = screen position (0,0)
;           ECX = total number of characters in screen buffer
;           EDX = buffer character attributes used to clear
;           all other registers preserved

        push    ebx
        push    edi
        mov     ebx,[esp+12]                  ;EBX = hConsole
        xor     edi,edi
        sub     esp,(sizeof CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO+3) and -4
        INVOKE  GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo,ebx,esp
        movzx   eax,word ptr [esp].CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO.dwSize.x
        movzx   edx,word ptr [esp].CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO.dwSize.y
        mul     edx
        push    edx
        INVOKE  FillConsoleOutputCharacter,ebx,32,eax,edi,esp
        pop     eax
        movzx   edx,word ptr [esp].CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO.wAttributes
        push    edx
        push    eax
        INVOKE  FillConsoleOutputAttribute,ebx,edx,eax,edi,esp
        INVOKE  SetConsoleCursorPosition,ebx,edi
        pop     ecx
        pop     edx
        xchg    eax,edi
        add     esp,(sizeof CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO+3) and -4
        pop     edi
        pop     ebx
        ret     4

ConCls  ENDP

        OPTION  PROLOGUE:PrologueDef
        OPTION  EPILOGUE:EpilogueDef

[CCurl]

geez .. you guys are awesome!

thanks again for all your patience with me