Print (and store) high ASCII character (╔) in C++ in console - c++

I'm making a small program in C++ and I would like to have this character stored in a variable: ╔. However, I can only do it in a string, and if I use the ' notation it just shows this: �.
Is there anything I can do?
BTW, I use:
Linux (Mint)
Visual Studio Code (integrated terminal)
The console shows the characters correctly if I use the " notation, so probably it's not a problem with the console itself.

You can use the hex notation:
char border = '\xcd';
Small program:
#include <iostream>
using std::cout;
using std::cin;
int main()
{
cout << "border: \xcd\n";
const char corner = '\xc9';
cout << "Upper left corner: " << corner << "\n";
cout << "Paused. Press ENTER to continue.\n";
cin.ignore(100000, '\n');
return 0;
}
There are many charts that show an extending ASCII encoding. Use the hexadecimal value for the character that you need.
Here's a chart from Wikipedia about DOS extended ASCII table.

Related

Why do I obtain this strange character?

Why does my C++ program create the strange character shown below in the pictures? The picture on the left with the black background is from the terminal. The picture on the right with the white background is from the output file. Before, it was a "\v" now it changes to some sort of astrological symbol or symbol to denote males. 0_o This makes no sense to me. What am I missing? How can I have my program output just a backslash v?
Please see my code below:
// SplitActivitiesFoo.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application.
//
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
string s = "foo:bar-this-is-more_text#\venus \"some more text here to read.\"";
vector<string> first_part;
fstream outfile;
outfile.open("out.foobar");
for (int i = 0; i < s.size(); ++i){
cout << "s[" << i << "]: " << s[i] << endl;
outfile << s[i] << endl;
}
return 0;
}
Also, assume that I do not want to modify my string 's' in this case. I want to be able to parse each character of the string and work around the strange character somehow.This is because in the actual program the string will be read in from a file and parsed then sent to another function. I guess I could figure out a way to programmatically add backslashes...
How can I have my program output just a backslash v?
If you want a backslash, then you need to escape it: "#\\venus".
This is required because a backslash denotes that the next character should be interpreted as something special (note that you were already using this when you wanted double-quotes). So the compiler has no way of knowing you actually wanted a backslash unless you tell it.
A literal backslash character therefore has the syntax \\. This is the case in both string literals ("\\") and character literals ('\\').
Why does my C++ program create the strange character shown below in the picture?
Your string contains the \v control character (vertical tab), and the way it's displayed is dependent on your terminal and font. It looks like your terminal is using symbols from the traditional MSDOS code page.
I found an image for you here, which shows exactly that symbol for the vertical tab (vt) entry at value 11 (0x0b):
Also, assume that I do not want to modify my string 's' in this case. I want to be able to parse each character of the string and work around the strange character somehow.
Well, I just saw you add the above part to your question. Now you're in difficult territory. Because your string literal does not actually contain the character v or any backslashes. It only appears that way in code. As already said, the compiler has interpreted those characters and substituted them for you.
If you insist on printing v instead of a vertical tab for some crazy reason that is hopefully not related to an XY Problem, then you can construct a lookup-table for every character and then replace undesirables with something else:
char lookup[256];
std::iota( lookup, lookup + 256, 0 ); // Using iota from <numeric>
lookup['\v'] = 'v';
for (int i = 0; i < s.size(); ++i)
{
cout << "s[" << i << "]: " << lookup[s[i]] << endl;
outfile << lookup[s[i]] << endl;
}
Now, this won't print the backslashes. To undo the string further check out std::iscntrl. It's locale-dependent, but you could utilise it. Or just something naive like:
const char *lookup[256] = { 0 };
s['\f'] = "\\f";
s['\n'] = "\\n";
s['\r'] = "\\r";
s['\t'] = "\\t";
s['\v'] = "\\v";
s['\"'] = "\\\"";
// Maybe add other controls such as 0x0E => "\\x0e" ...
for (int i = 0; i < s.size(); ++i)
{
const char * x = lookup[s[i]];
if( x ) {
cout << "s[" << i << "]: " << x << endl;
outfile << x << endl;
} else {
cout << "s[" << i << "]: " << s[i] << endl;
outfile << s[i] << endl;
}
}
Be aware there is no way to correctly reconstruct the escaped string as it originally appeared in code, because there are multiple ways to escape characters. Including ordinary characters.
Most likely the terminal that you are using cannot decipher the vertical space code "\v", thus printing something else. On my terminal it prints:
foo:bar-this-is-more_text#
enus "some more text here to read."
To print the "\v" change or code to:
String s = "foo:bar-this-is-more_text#\\venus \"some more text here to read.\"";
What am I missing? How can I have my program output just a backslash v?
You are escaping the letter v. To print backslash and v, escape the backslash.
That is, print double backslash and a v.
\\v

C++ (g++) special characters encoding ('\a', '\b', etc.)

I am using g++ version 4:4.8.2-1ubuntu6 with Eclipse 3.8 on Linux Mint.
Following example from my C++ book does not work as expected:
//bondini.cpp -- using escape sequences
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
using namespace std;
cout << "\aOperation \"HyperHype\" is activated\n";
cout << "enter sercret code:________\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b";
long code;
cin >> code;
cout << "\aYou entered: " << code << "...\n";
cout << "\aCode OK! Commencing Z3!\n";
return 0;
}
I get following result when running the program:
In Eclipse and directory I am using UTF-8 encoding. Why does not '\a' play sound as it should and '\b' does not move the cursor one space back, while '\n' works properly.
edit: As I understand it, it is the compiler that makes the mess of it. --> I was wrong, in terminal it works fine, but eclipse 'terminal' does not work.
Wherever you are sending your output. What the destination does with it is entirely in its own hands. So while eclipse might not support these special characters your terminal should.

Trying to output everything inside an exe file

I'm trying to output the plaintext contents of this .exe file. It's got plaintext stuff in it like "Changing the code in this way will not affect the quality of the resulting optimized code." all the stuff microsoft puts into .exe files. When I run the following code I get the output of M Z E followed by a heart and a diamond. What am I doing wrong?
ifstream file;
char inputCharacter;
file.open("test.exe", ios::binary);
while ((inputCharacter = file.get()) != EOF)
{
cout << inputCharacter << "\n";
}
file.close();
I would use something like std::isprint to make sure the character is printable and not some weird control code before printing it.
Something like this:
#include <cctype>
#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
std::ifstream file("test.exe", std::ios::binary);
char c;
while(file.get(c)) // don't loop on EOF
{
if(std::isprint(c)) // check if is printable
std::cout << c;
}
}
You have opened the stream in binary, which is good for the intended purpose. However you print every binary data as it is: some of thes characters are not printable, giving weird output.
Potential solutions:
If you want to print the content of an exe, you'll get more non-printable chars than printable ones. So one approach could be to print the hex value instead:
while ( file.get(inputCharacter ) )
{
cout << setw(2) << setfill('0') << hex << (int)(inputCharacter&0xff) << "\n";
}
Or you could use the debugger approach of displaying the hex value, and then display the char if it's printable or '.' if not:
while (file.get(inputCharacter)) {
cout << setw(2) << setfill('0') << hex << (int)(inputCharacter&0xff)<<" ";
if (isprint(inputCharacter & 0xff))
cout << inputCharacter << "\n";
else cout << ".\n";
}
Well, for the sake of ergonomy, if the exe file contains any real exe, you'd better opt for displaying several chars on each line ;-)
Binary file is a collection of bytes. Byte has a range of values 0..255. Printable characters that can be safely "printed" form a much narrower range. Assuming most basic ASCII encoding
32..63
64..95
96..126
plus, maybe, some higher than 128, if your codepage has them
see ascii table.
Every character that falls out of that range may, at least:
print out as invisible
print out as some weird trash
be in fact a control character that will change settings of your terminal
Some terminals support "end of text" character and will simply stop printing any text afterwards. Maybe you hit that.
I'd say, if you are interested only in text, then print only that printables and ignore others. Or, if you want everything, then maybe write them out in hex form instead?
This worked:
ifstream file;
char inputCharacter;
string Result;
file.open("test.exe", ios::binary);
while (file.get(inputCharacter))
{
if ((inputCharacter > 31) && (inputCharacter < 127))
Result += inputCharacter;
}
cout << Result << endl;
cout << "These are the ascii characters in the exe file" << endl;
file.close();

C++ Printing special ascii characters to the Windows console

After 2 hours of searching and trying various methods, I'm pulling my hair out trying to print special ascii characters to the console! (C++)
typedef unsigned char UCHAR;
int main()
{
UCHAR c = '¥';
cout << c;
return 0;
}
Why does this code print Ñ (209) instead of ¥ (165)???
I've tried:
SetConsoleCP(CP_UTF8);
SetConsoleOutputCP(CP_UTF8);
but neither seems to do anything, no matter which values I pass to it.
Someone else suggested that the console's font needed to be changed through the registry. But that's ridiculous. I don't want my end users to have to start changing registry values simply to run my program...
the really odd thing is that if I print all the ascii characters to a file (using ofstream), they show up correctly both in notepad, and the visual studio editor (2012 professional).
ofstream file("ASCII.txt");;
if (file.is_open())
{
UCHAR c = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++)
{
c++;
file << c << "\t|\t" << (int)c << endl;
}
}
file.close();
Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks!
Welcome to the pain of encoding :(
#include <iostream>
#include <windows>
int main() {
SetConsoleCP(437);
SetConsoleOutputCP(437);
std::cout << (char)157 << "\n";
}
Generates:
The problem is that your source file is not in CP437 and therefore the character has a different value than the one you are trying to print (as you noted, in your source value is is 165 which is a different character in CP437).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_page_437

How do I make my previous messages disappear in Visual Studio 2013 console applications? (C++)

So if I write a piece of code like this:
string name, feeling;
cout << What is your name?" << endl;
cin >> name;
cout << "Hello, " << name << "!"<<endl;
cout << "So how are you feeling today?" << endl;
cin >> feeling;
I get the output:
What is your name?
James (input from user)
Hello, James!
So how are you feeling today?`
But I want it to remove the first message and the input, so the user will get just this on the console window:
Hello, James!
So how are you feeling today?
As long as you stay on the same line, it's usually pretty easy to use a combination of \b (back-space) and/or \r (carriage return without new-line) and some spaces to go back to the beginning of a line and write over what's displayed there.
If you need to do (much) more than that, you can use the Windows console functions such as SetConsoleCursorPosition and FillConsoleOutputCharacter to write data where you want it, overwrite existing data, etc.
If you care about portability to Linux and such, or already know how to program with curses, you might prefer to use PDCurses instead. This is basically a re-implementation of the ncurses programming interface on top of the Windows console functions.
If you work on windows environment, try this
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
std::cout << "This is the first line";
system("cls");
std::cout << "This is the line on clear console" << std::endl;
return 0;
}