What is Equivalent to getch() & getche() in Linux?

Question

I am not able to find equivalent header file for conio.h in Linux.

Is there any option for getch() & getche() function in Linux?

I want to make a switch case base menu where the user will give his option just by pressing one key & process should be moved ahead. I don't want to let user to press ENTER after pressing his choice.

Answer 1

You can use the curses.h library in linux as mentioned in the other answer.

You can install it in Ubuntu by:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ncurses-dev

I took the installation part from here.

Answer 2

char getch(){
    /*#include <unistd.h>   //_getch*/
    /*#include <termios.h>  //_getch*/
    char buf=0;
    struct termios old={0};
    fflush(stdout);
    if(tcgetattr(0, &old)<0)
        perror("tcsetattr()");
    old.c_lflag&=~ICANON;
    old.c_lflag&=~ECHO;
    old.c_cc[VMIN]=1;
    old.c_cc[VTIME]=0;
    if(tcsetattr(0, TCSANOW, &old)<0)
        perror("tcsetattr ICANON");
    if(read(0,&buf,1)<0)
        perror("read()");
    old.c_lflag|=ICANON;
    old.c_lflag|=ECHO;
    if(tcsetattr(0, TCSADRAIN, &old)<0)
        perror ("tcsetattr ~ICANON");
    printf("%c\n",buf);
    return buf;
 }

copy this function and use it, dont forget the includes

remove the last printf if you dont want the char to be displayed

Answer 3

There is a getch() function in the ncurses library. You can get it by installing the ncurses-dev package.

Answer 4

The replacement for getch() is getchar() declared in stdio.h. getchar() is available on Windows and Linux.

Answer 5

As said above getch() is in the ncurses library. ncurses has to be initialized, see i.e. getchar() returns the same value (27) for up and down arrow keys for this

Answer 6

I suggest you use curses.h or ncurses.h these implement keyboard management routines including getch(). You have several options to change the behavior of getch (i.e. wait for keypress or not).