dos screens in c

[Rick]

In linux if you press alt+f1 Alt+f2 etc you get a different virtual screen
and can do so up to f6. Is it possible to write a program in c to do the
same in Dos? If so is it very difficult and what roughly is required.

Thanks Rick

 

[Keith Thompson]

In linux if you press alt+f1 Alt+f2 etc you get a different virtual screen
and can do so up to f6. Is it possible to write a program in c to do the
same in Dos? If so is it very difficult and what roughly is required.

It's not possible to do that in standard C on Linux, DOS, or any other
system. A program that does such a thing has to use system-specific
extensions. Try asking in a system-specific newsgroup.
comp.os.msdos.programmer *might* be a good place to ask, but I don't
read it myself; take a look at the newsgroup before posting.

 

[Grumble]

In linux if you press alt+f1 Alt+f2 etc you get a different virtual screen
and can do so up to f6. Is it possible to write a program in c to do the
same in Dos? If so is it very difficult and what roughly is required.

<Waaay off-topic>
You might want to check http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/

 

[Jack Klein]

In linux if you press alt+f1 Alt+f2 etc you get a different virtual screen
and can do so up to f6. Is it possible to write a program in c to do the
same in Dos? If so is it very difficult and what roughly is required.

Thanks Rick

You could probably do it in non-standard, platform-specific, off-topic
C in some horribly complicated way, but there is a much, much easier
way.

[very off-topic from here on down]
Make a directory somewhere. Create a shortcut to cmd.exe. Name the
short cut "F1". Copy the shortcut and paste 5 copies. Name the
copies "F2" through "F6".

Then do the following for each shortcut:

Highlight it. On the file menu, select Properties. On the "shortcut"
tab, put the cursor in the "shortcut key" box. For the shortcut named
"F1", press the three key combination Ctrl-Alt-F2, Ctrl-Alt-F2 for
"F2", and so on.

This might not take effect until you reboot. But then pressing
Ctrl-Alt-F1 will bring up a console windows with a command prompt.

I find Ctrl-Alt plus function key combination a better choice than
just Alt function key on Windows because a lot of Windows programs use
Alt function key shortcuts.

[ok, off-topic all done]