'Specific' Double buffering with this code?

Question

For this code I am trying to implement double buffering so that it does not blink when updating the std::cout on my console window in windows 10. What is the best way to implement this into my current code? I am looking at some Microsoft documentation but I can't figure out a way to merge it so to speak?

void ClearScreen()
{
    HANDLE                     hStdOut;
    CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbi;
    DWORD                      count;
    DWORD                      cellCount;
    COORD                      homeCoords = { 0, 0 };

    homeCoords.X = 0;
    homeCoords.Y = 0;

    hStdOut = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
    if (hStdOut == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) return;

    /* Get the number of cells in the current buffer */
    if (!GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(hStdOut, &csbi)) return;
    cellCount = csbi.dwSize.X * csbi.dwSize.Y;

    /* Fill the entire buffer with spaces */
    if (!FillConsoleOutputCharacter(
        hStdOut,
        (TCHAR) ' ',
        cellCount,
        homeCoords,
        &count
    )) return;

    /* Fill the entire buffer with the current colors and attributes */
    if (!FillConsoleOutputAttribute(
        hStdOut,
        csbi.wAttributes,
        cellCount,
        homeCoords,
        &count
    )) return;

    /* Move the cursor home */
    SetConsoleCursorPosition(hStdOut, homeCoords);
}

Answer 1

The basic idea is to call CreateConsoleScreenBuffer to create an off-screen buffer. Then clear/fill it as needed by passing the handle to that screen buffer when you do your calls to FillConsoleOutputCharacter , FillConsoleOutputAttribute , etc. When it's ready for the user to view, call SetConsoleActiveScreenBuffer to make it the active buffer for the console.

Note that in most cases you won't want to create a new screen buffer every time you clear the screen--rather you'll probably want to create two screen buffers when you start your program, and alternate between the two as you write and display output.