Since previous solutions here don't work cross-platform and have trouble with special keys, here is my solution that works on both Windows and Linux and uses a minimum of external libraries (Windows.h
for Windows and sys/ioctl.h
+termios.h
for Linux).
For ASCII characters (newline/tab/space/backspace/delete, !"#$%&'()*+,-./0-9:;<=>?@A-Z[]^_`a-z{|}~üäÄöÖÜßµ´§°¹³²), the ASCII codes (positive numbers) are returned and for special keys (arrow keys, page up/down, pos1/end, escape, insert, F1-F12), the negative of Windows Virtual-Key codes (negative numbers) are returned.
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <thread> // contains <chrono>
using namespace std;
void println(const string& s="") {
cout << s << endl;
}
void sleep(const double t) {
if(t>0.0) this_thread::sleep_for(chrono::milliseconds((int)(1E3*t+0.5)));
}
// ASCII codes (key>0): 8 backspace, 9 tab, 10 newline, 27 escape, 127 delete, !"#$%&'()*+,-./0-9:;<=>?@A-Z[]^_`a-z{|}~üäÄöÖÜßµ´§°¹³²
// control key codes (key<0): -38/-40/-37/-39 up/down/left/right arrow, -33/-34 page up/down, -36/-35 pos1/end
// other key codes (key<0): -45 insert, -144 num lock, -20 caps lock, -91 windows key, -93 kontext menu key, -112 to -123 F1 to F12
// not working: ¹ (251), num lock (-144), caps lock (-20), windows key (-91), kontext menu key (-93), F11 (-122)
#if defined(_WIN32)
#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
#define VC_EXTRALEAN
#include <Windows.h>
int key_press() { // not working: F11 (-122, toggles fullscreen)
KEY_EVENT_RECORD keyevent;
INPUT_RECORD irec;
DWORD events;
while(true) {
ReadConsoleInput(GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE), &irec, 1, &events);
if(irec.EventType==KEY_EVENT&&((KEY_EVENT_RECORD&)irec.Event).bKeyDown) {
keyevent = (KEY_EVENT_RECORD&)irec.Event;
const int ca = (int)keyevent.uChar.AsciiChar;
const int cv = (int)keyevent.wVirtualKeyCode;
const int key = ca==0 ? -cv : ca+(ca>0?0:256);
switch(key) {
case -16: continue; // disable Shift
case -17: continue; // disable Ctrl / AltGr
case -18: continue; // disable Alt / AltGr
case -220: continue; // disable first detection of "^" key (not "^" symbol)
case -221: continue; // disable first detection of "`" key (not "`" symbol)
case -191: continue; // disable AltGr + "#"
case -52: continue; // disable AltGr + "4"
case -53: continue; // disable AltGr + "5"
case -54: continue; // disable AltGr + "6"
case -12: continue; // disable num block 5 with num lock deactivated
case 13: return 10; // enter
case -46: return 127; // delete
case -49: return 251; // ¹
case 0: continue;
case 1: continue; // disable Ctrl + a (selects all text)
case 2: continue; // disable Ctrl + b
case 3: continue; // disable Ctrl + c (terminates program)
case 4: continue; // disable Ctrl + d
case 5: continue; // disable Ctrl + e
case 6: continue; // disable Ctrl + f (opens search)
case 7: continue; // disable Ctrl + g
//case 8: continue; // disable Ctrl + h (ascii for backspace)
//case 9: continue; // disable Ctrl + i (ascii for tab)
case 10: continue; // disable Ctrl + j
case 11: continue; // disable Ctrl + k
case 12: continue; // disable Ctrl + l
//case 13: continue; // disable Ctrl + m (breaks console, ascii for new line)
case 14: continue; // disable Ctrl + n
case 15: continue; // disable Ctrl + o
case 16: continue; // disable Ctrl + p
case 17: continue; // disable Ctrl + q
case 18: continue; // disable Ctrl + r
case 19: continue; // disable Ctrl + s
case 20: continue; // disable Ctrl + t
case 21: continue; // disable Ctrl + u
case 22: continue; // disable Ctrl + v (inserts clipboard)
case 23: continue; // disable Ctrl + w
case 24: continue; // disable Ctrl + x
case 25: continue; // disable Ctrl + y
case 26: continue; // disable Ctrl + z
default: return key; // any other ASCII/virtual character
}
}
}
}
#elif defined(__linux__)
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <termios.h>
int key_press() { // not working: ¹ (251), num lock (-144), caps lock (-20), windows key (-91), kontext menu key (-93)
struct termios term;
tcgetattr(0, &term);
while(true) {
term.c_lflag &= ~(ICANON|ECHO); // turn off line buffering and echoing
tcsetattr(0, TCSANOW, &term);
int nbbytes;
ioctl(0, FIONREAD, &nbbytes); // 0 is STDIN
while(!nbbytes) {
sleep(0.01);
fflush(stdout);
ioctl(0, FIONREAD, &nbbytes); // 0 is STDIN
}
int key = (int)getchar();
if(key==27||key==194||key==195) { // escape, 194/195 is escape for °ß´äöüÄÖÜ
key = (int)getchar();
if(key==91) { // [ following escape
key = (int)getchar(); // get code of next char after \e[
if(key==49) { // F5-F8
key = 62+(int)getchar(); // 53, 55-57
if(key==115) key++; // F5 code is too low by 1
getchar(); // take in following ~ (126), but discard code
} else if(key==50) { // insert or F9-F12
key = (int)getchar();
if(key==126) { // insert
key = 45;
} else { // F9-F12
key += 71; // 48, 49, 51, 52
if(key<121) key++; // F11 and F12 are too low by 1
getchar(); // take in following ~ (126), but discard code
}
} else if(key==51||key==53||key==54) { // delete, page up/down
getchar(); // take in following ~ (126), but discard code
}
} else if(key==79) { // F1-F4
key = 32+(int)getchar(); // 80-83
}
key = -key; // use negative numbers for escaped keys
}
term.c_lflag |= (ICANON|ECHO); // turn on line buffering and echoing
tcsetattr(0, TCSANOW, &term);
switch(key) {
case 127: return 8; // backspace
case -27: return 27; // escape
case -51: return 127; // delete
case -164: return 132; // ä
case -182: return 148; // ö
case -188: return 129; // ü
case -132: return 142; // Ä
case -150: return 153; // Ö
case -156: return 154; // Ü
case -159: return 225; // ß
case -181: return 230; // µ
case -167: return 245; // §
case -176: return 248; // °
case -178: return 253; // ²
case -179: return 252; // ³
case -180: return 239; // ´
case -65: return -38; // up arrow
case -66: return -40; // down arrow
case -68: return -37; // left arrow
case -67: return -39; // right arrow
case -53: return -33; // page up
case -54: return -34; // page down
case -72: return -36; // pos1
case -70: return -35; // end
case 0: continue;
case 1: continue; // disable Ctrl + a
case 2: continue; // disable Ctrl + b
case 3: continue; // disable Ctrl + c (terminates program)
case 4: continue; // disable Ctrl + d
case 5: continue; // disable Ctrl + e
case 6: continue; // disable Ctrl + f
case 7: continue; // disable Ctrl + g
case 8: continue; // disable Ctrl + h
//case 9: continue; // disable Ctrl + i (ascii for tab)
//case 10: continue; // disable Ctrl + j (ascii for new line)
case 11: continue; // disable Ctrl + k
case 12: continue; // disable Ctrl + l
case 13: continue; // disable Ctrl + m
case 14: continue; // disable Ctrl + n
case 15: continue; // disable Ctrl + o
case 16: continue; // disable Ctrl + p
case 17: continue; // disable Ctrl + q
case 18: continue; // disable Ctrl + r
case 19: continue; // disable Ctrl + s
case 20: continue; // disable Ctrl + t
case 21: continue; // disable Ctrl + u
case 22: continue; // disable Ctrl + v
case 23: continue; // disable Ctrl + w
case 24: continue; // disable Ctrl + x
case 25: continue; // disable Ctrl + y
case 26: continue; // disable Ctrl + z (terminates program)
default: return key; // any other ASCII character
}
}
}
#endif // Windows/Linux
Finally, here is an example on how to use it:
int main() {
while(true) {
const int key = key_press(); // blocks until a key is pressed
println("Input is: "+to_string(key)+", \""+(char)key+"\"");
}
return 0;
}