Sure. Here’s a way we can approach this:
As a developer, you might often face scenarios where you need to program graphical user interfaces. One such case could involve hiding the cursor. While it might seem daunting, don’t worry. C++ offers a very simple way of achieving this.
By using a specific Windows API function, we can easily manipulate the cursor. In Windows, the console cursor’s visibility can be toggled using the `ShowConsoleCursor()` function, which is declared in the windows.h header file. Let’s see the solution in detail.
#include
void ShowConsoleCursor(bool showFlag){
HANDLE out = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
CONSOLE_CURSOR_INFO cursorInfo;
GetConsoleCursorInfo(out, &cursorInfo);
cursorInfo.bVisible = showFlag;
SetConsoleCursorInfo(out, &cursorInfo);
}
In the function `ShowConsoleCursor`, we pass a Boolean value representing the cursor’s visibility status. `true` indicates visibility, `false` indicates it should be hidden.
About the Windows.h Header
- The windows.h is a Windows-specific header file for the C and C++ programming languages which contains declarations for all of the functions in the Windows API
- It’s necessary to include windows.h library to have access to a wide range of functionalities including manipulating console properties.
GetStdHandle Function
GetStdHandle is a Windows API function used to retrieve a handle to the specified standard device (standard input, standard output, or standard error). It retrieves a handle to the active console screen buffer, allowing us to perform various operations like setting console cursor visibility, colors, and more.
SetConsoleCursorInfo Function
After obtaining the cursor info with GetConsoleCursorInfo, we set the `bVisible` property to the desired value. Lastly, we call SetConsoleCursorInfo to apply our changes, effectively hiding or showing the console cursor.
In conclusion, manipulating GUI elements like cursors using C++ and Windows API is a straightforward process. Once you understand the basic functions and their functionalities, it opens doors to many other possibilities. So don’t be afraid to experiment and add these useful tricks to your developer toolkit.
