#971 – Reading a Line of Input from the Console

November 11, 2013 1 Comment

For testing purposes, you may create a simple console application that allows writing to and reading from a console window.

The Console.ReadLine method reads the next line’s worth of characters, storing the result in a string.  The user can enter some text and then press the Enter key.  When the user presses Enter, whatever they typed on that line is stored in a variable of type string.

            while (true)
            {
                Console.Write(": ");
                string nextLine = Console.ReadLine();

                Console.WriteLine("[{0}]", nextLine);
            }

971-001

You can also use the Console.Read method to read a single character. The characters are not read until the user presses Enter.

In the example below, the user types the letters a, and b and then presses Enter.  The two calls to Console.Read are then executed, storing the ASCII values of the characters entered.

            int char1 = Console.Read();
            int char2 = Console.Read();

            Console.Write("{0} {1}",
                char1.ToString(),
                char2.ToString());

971-002

Advertisement

Filed under Basics Tagged with , , , ,

#969 – Creating a Simple Console Application

November 7, 2013 2 Comments

You’ll most often create applications that have some sort of user interface, e.g. web applications, Windows Store apps, or desktop applications.  You may also create components using C# that have no user interface at all, e.g. class libraries.

For testing purposes, however, it’s helpful to create a simple application that can read from or write to a console window.  The console window appears as a window with a dark background when you run the application.  It can display text one line at a time, or read text entered by the user.  As new text is added to the bottom of the window, earlier text scrolls off the top.

969-002

You create a console application using Visual Studio by selecting the Console Application template when creating a new project.

969-001

You read from or write to the console using methods in the Console class, e.g. ReadLine and WriteLine.

Filed under Basics Tagged with , , , ,

#7 – Reading and Writing from the Console

June 24, 2010 1 Comment

To read and write from the console, use Console.Read, Console.ReadLine, Console.Write, Console.WriteLine.

namespace ReadWriteConsole
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            Console.Write("This ");
            Console.WriteLine("is all on one line.");
            Console.Write("Enter your name: ");
            string name = Console.ReadLine();
            Console.WriteLine(name);
            Console.Read();     // pause
        }
    }
}

Filed under Input/Output Tagged with , , , ,