> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michiel De Hoon > Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 5:58 PM > To: cygwin@cygwin.com > Subject: Re: _kbhit > > > On Sun, Feb 05, 2006 at 01:17:33PM -0500, Michiel De Hoon wrote: > > >For one of my software projects, I need the _kbhit > function to check > > >the console for keyboard input. While this function is present in > > >msvcrt.dll, > it > > >is missing from cygwin1.dll, so I started writing this function > > >myself > (I'm > > >hoping to contribute it to Cygwin if it works well). > > > > I really appreciate the sentiment of submitting code but > _kbhit is not > > a linux function (or <echo on>POSIX, POSIX, POSIX...</echo > off>) so it > > really isn't a candidate for inclusion in the Cygwin DLL. > > > > cgf > > > Even though _kbhit is not a POSIX function, I think a valid > argument can be made to include it in Cygwin anyway. > > First, some Cygwin programs will need this function to be > able to interact with the Windows OS.
That's simply not true. They may *want* it so that they can interact with cmd.exe, in which case they're not a "Cygwin program". > Second, as the Cygwin > DLL is a replacement for msvcrt It isn't intended to be that. It's intended to be a POSIX-compliant C runtime. Sorry, I meant "Linux compliant". > (and msvcrt.dll and > cygwin1.dll cannot be used together), developers may expect > to find the same functionality in cygwin1.dll as in msvcrt.dll. They shouldn't expect that. Even Microsoft agrees; that's why they put the "_" on there. > Whereas it is possible for each developer to add needed > functions missing in cygwin1.dll to their own source code, it > will lead to ugly #ifdef __CYGWIN__ statements and complicate > porting Windows programs to Cygwin (which is what I am > effectively doing). Finally, coding the _kbhit function is > not entirely > straightforward: simply doing a select() on file descriptor 0 > is inconsistent with _kbhit in msvcrt if stdin is redirected. > If you're using _kbhit, I have to assume what you're trying to port is some sort of DOS or Windows app with one of those glorious text-mode "GUI"s to Cygwin. If so, you're in luck: The Unix world has obsessively perfected the Frankensteinian paradox of the Text-Mode GUI. You want to look into ncurses. Using it, your app's TMGUI(tm) will run on everything from an ancient VT05 terminal to the very latest multi-bajigahertz quad-banger double-headed workstation running a VT05 terminal emulator! WE CALL THIS "PROGRESS"! (Note: I am not making fun of your app, but rather 21st-century text-mode GUIs in general) > So, .... if I was able to convince you, I'd be happy to > submit a patch. If not, ... well for my own project a kbhit() > function based on select() is sufficient, so that'll work for > me at least. > You may also want to look at MinGW. They actually link with the real msvcrt.dll. > --Michiel. > > Michiel de Hoon > Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Columbia > University 1150 St Nicholas Avenue New York, NY 10032 -- Gary R. Van Sickle -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
