删除当前终端输入行

Question

I am trying to code a little console chat-program in C on linux.

So far I coded it in a way that both chatting partners are only able to alternately send/recv, because these function calls are blocking by default.

Now I would like to modify that program, so that both are able to send and receive simultaneously.

The problem that I find is, that once you typed some input to the terminal, I don't know how to output received messages, without messing up the current input line of the terminal.

If there was a way to delete that current input line, you could temporarily save that line, print the new message and put the input line right back.

However, I was not able to find a solution for this problem on the internet.

Is it possible to delete the current input line, and if not, how else could I achieve what I want?

Answer 1

I think you should look into ncurses as Edd said in his comment. It would allow you to easily manage contents in your terminal window, which sounds like a good idea for your chat program. All you'd need to do is store your messages in 2 character arrays:

char incoming[MSG_MAX]
and
char outgoing[MSG_MAX]

Then you can output those messages wherever you want in your terminal window, since ncurses allows you to specify x,y coordinates on where to put your text. Then a simple wrapper for one of ncurses erase() family functions would allow you to delete characters from specify x,y coordinates in your terminal window.

Edit: MSG_MAX is not an actual ncurses macro.