GotoXY source code

This snippet submitted by Stack Overflow on 2005-02-01. It has been viewed 73747 times.
Rating of 5.7 with 496 votes
#include <stdio.h>	/* sprintf */
#include <string.h>	/* strcat */

/*
** gotoxy() Implementation in the *nix environment
**
** Note: I've heard the curses library can be useful 
** when trying to implement the handy DOS-only tools of 
** gotoxy() and clrscr() using move() and initscr().
** Though, there is a way to write your own gotoxy() 
** in the Linux environment. This topic isn't discussed 
** often, so I'd like to bring a few new ideas to the table.
**
** Concept: We will use two ANSI C standard functions 
** to accomplish our task. We will use specific 
** string manuvers, according to the man pages, that 
** will allow us to execute each part of the program.
*/
void gotoxy(int x, int y) {
        char essq[100];		/* String variable to hold the escape sequence */
        char xstr[100];		/* Strings to hold the x and y coordinates */
        char ystr[100];		/* Escape sequences must be built with characters */

        /*
        ** Convert the screen coordinates to strings
        */
        sprintf(xstr, "%d", x);
        sprintf(ystr, "%d", y);

        /*
        ** Build the escape sequence (vertical move)
        */
        essq[0] = '\0';
        strcat(essq, "\033[");
        strcat(essq, ystr);

        /*
        ** Described in man terminfo as vpa=\E[%p1%dd
        ** Vertical position absolute
        */
        strcat(essq, "d");

        /*
        ** Horizontal move
        ** Horizontal position absolute
        */
        strcat(essq, "\033[");
        strcat(essq, xstr);
        /* Described in man terminfo as hpa=\E[%p1%dG */
        strcat(essq, "G");

        /*
        ** Execute the escape sequence
        ** This will move the cursor to x, y
        */
        printf("%s", essq);
}
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