Using a thread to stop an action - c++

Question

I am working on a program for the game Scattegories. In the program there is a table that the player inputs the words while a timer thread is working in the background. I would that when the time is over, the player won't be able to input anymore and for his turn to end.
How can I make that happen?
The table and the timer:
void timer()
{
cout << "You got 2 minutes to finish\n"; //Changing the duration of the timer is done by changing the value of 'i' in the "for" loop
for (int i = 120; i > 0; i--)
{
sleep_for(1s);
}
cout << "DING DONG!!! DING DONG!!! Time's up!!!\n";
}
void table(int plr)
{
string ctr[12] = { "A cuntry", "A city", "An animal", "A plant", "An object", "A name", "Food", "Drink", "A game", "A movie", "A book", "A famous person" };
string lst[6][12]; //first dimantion: how many players. second dimantion: how many catagories, third dimantion(if added) will be the round
cin.ignore(); //To avoid the "getline" reading the last input
for (int x = 0; x<plr; x++) //the player changes only after the previus player finishes
{
std::thread t1(timer); //gives time to write the words. Optimaly it would finish the round for player when time is up
t1.detach();
cout << "When the timer ends please enter '0' in the remaining catagories\n";
for (int i = 0; i<12; i++) //changing catagory
{
cout << ctr[i] << ": ";
getline(cin, lst[x][i]);
}
system("cls");
cout << "Next player\n";
}
}
Full code:
// A program to keep track of points and time and to give a random letter for the game scattergories
#include<iostream>
#include<ctime>
#include<string>
#include <chrono>
#include <thread>
using std::cout;
using std::cin;
using std::string;
using std::getline;
using namespace std::chrono_literals;
using std::this_thread::sleep_for;
void ltr() //gives a random letter
{
char letter;
letter = rand() % 26 + 65; //assigns a random letter in ascii code to a char (resulting in a random letter)
cout << "The letter is " << letter << "\n";
}
void timer()
{
cout << "You got 2 minutes to finish\n"; //Changing the duration of the timer is done by changing the value of 'i' in the "for" loop
for (int i = 120; i > 0; i--)
{
sleep_for(1s);
}
cout << "DING DONG!!! DING DONG!!! Time's up!!!\n";
}
void table(int plr)
{
string ctr[12] = { "A cuntry", "A city", "An animal", "A plant", "An object", "A name", "Food", "Drink", "A game", "A movie", "A book", "A famous person" };
string lst[6][12]; //first dimantion: how many players. second dimantion: how many catagories, third dimantion(if added) will be the round
cin.ignore(); //To avoid the "getline" reading the last input
for (int x = 0; x<plr; x++) //the player changes only after the previus player finishes
{
std::thread t1(timer); //gives time to write the words. Optimaly it would finish the round for player when time is up
t1.detach();
cout << "When the timer ends please enter '0' in the remaining catagories\n";
for (int i = 0; i<12; i++) //changing catagory
{
cout << ctr[i] << ": ";
getline(cin, lst[x][i]);
}
system("cls");
cout << "Next player\n";
}
for (int x = 0; x<plr; x++) //this part (the whole "for" loop) is for confirming evreything is writen down
{
cout << "Player number " << x + 1 << ": ";
for (int i = 0; i<12; i++)
{
cout << lst[x][i] << " ";
}
cout << "\n";
}
sleep_for(5s);
}
int points() //points gained per round
{
int a, b, c, sum;
cout << "How many sections only you got?\n"; //worth 15 points
cin >> a;
cout << "How many words only you got?\n"; //worth 10 points
cin >> b;
cout << "How many words you and another person got?\n"; //worth 5 points
cin >> c;
sum = a * 15 + b * 10 + c * 5;
return sum; //Note: It doesn't matter how many sections there are.
}
int act() //running the program
{
int Players, Points[6];
cout << "How many people are playing? (Up to six players)";
cin >> Players;
ltr();
table(Players);
//Points = points();
cout << "You have earned " << Points << " this round\n\n";
return 1;
}
int main()
{
auto start = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
srand(time(NULL)); //gives a differant pattern of letters every time
int Points;
Points = act();
for (;;) //inf loop
{
int ph;
cout << "Press 1 to continue or anything else to stop\n";
cin >> ph;
if (ph == 1)
{
Points += act(); //keeping score of the rounds
}
else
{
auto end = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
break;
}
}
cout << "You have earned a total of " << Points << " great job!";
sleep_for(5s); //time to read the last text
return 0;
}
/*
To do list:
-Make timer stop the table when time is up
-Check if words in the table (for differant players) are the same and give points accordingly
-Check if words are actual words (connect an online dictonary?)
-Make interface? (if possible and I have time to learn how)
-Comment rest of the code
*/
P.S
I'm tying to keep this code portable so I preffer sugestions that will keep it this way. But I would appreciate any suggestion.
I'm using windows 10 (but I'm writing console aplications) I have access to c++11 and c++14

Answer 1

A non-portable solution
bool getUserInput(string &result, Time deadline) // pick a timer, any timer
{
while(deadline > Time::now()) // assuming your timer has a now function
{
if(kbhit()) // THIS IS NOT PORTABLE. On windows it's called _kbhit()
{
char key = getch(); //read the key (also non-portable)
if(key == '\n' or key == '\r')
{
return true;
}
else
{
string += key;
}
}
}
return false;
}