Character Manipulation Function

int _getch(void);

wint_t _getwch(void);

_TINT _gettch(void);

Internationalization (I18n) Function Overview

The _getch function reads a character from the console without echoing.

_getwch is the wide-character version of _getch, returning a wide-character wint_t.

_gettch is the Generic version of the function; with the _MBCS or _UNICODE compiler flags determining its mapping to either _getch or _getwch.

These functions cannot be used to read CTRL+C. In addition, _getch will need to be called twice when reading a function key or an arrow key, with the first call returning 0 or 0xE0, and the second call returning the actual key code.

See Character I/O for a discussion on non-ASCII character input/output in an internationalized application.

I18n Issues

Use the appropriate version of the function as required for internationalization support.

Recommended Replacements*

Microsoft Windows MBCS	_getch
Microsoft Windows Unicode	_getwch
Microsoft Windows Generic	_gettch

Character Manipulation Functions