Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!njin!princeton!udel!burdvax!emerald!dave
From: dave@emerald.PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: How do I read a line?
Message-ID: <10387@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM>
Date: 23 May 89 16:47:38 GMT
Sender: news@PRC.Unisys.COM
Organization: Unisys Corporation, Paoli Research Center; Paoli, PA
Lines: 48
References:

Dumb question time.

I'm writing a program that interacts with the user via text
input/output (no flames, please!).  Logically, the program looks like:

    repeat
        write(Question);
        read(Answer);
        checkAnswer
    until done

Now in reality, my program is an event loop, just like it should be.
I have the windows & menus & mousing all working correctly, as well as
the output.  But how do I *read* the input line??

I don't want to use a Pascal "read" statement, because this stops the
event loop until the read is completed.  This prevents the user from
using the menus, moving windows, and the like.  Since the program will
then do another "read" almost immediately, the Mac interface would be
severely disabled.  I don't want a modal dialog for the same reasons.

My preference would be to have the user input (typing) go into the
same text window that the program uses for output--just like on a
terminal--and I'd get the line when the user hit Return.  I think I
could almost do this, if the user never backspaced, or used cut&paste.
Maybe I'm making the problem to hard by trying to allow these things?

It seems that I should be able to use a modeless dialog (just leaving
it permanently on the screen).  If I do, it would contain no text or
anything, just a text entry field.  I can't seem to figure out how to
do this, either, and it would mean that the user had to continually
look back and forth between two windows; but it would be better than
nothing.

It can't be this hard, can it?  I worked through volume II of
Chernikoff (old edition), and I typed in his editor and understood it
and got it to work.  So I know how to make random changes in the
middle of a document.  Somehow, though, I can't generalize enough to
figure out how to READ IN A SINGLE LINE!  What am I missing?

Sample code would be wonderful, if you have something that does this
(I'm using LSP, but I think I can read C well enough to translate).
Suggestions would be gratefully accepted.

-- Dave Matuszek (dave@prc.unisys.com)
-- Unisys Corp. / Paoli Research Center / PO Box 517 / Paoli PA  19301
-- Any resemblance between my opinions and those of my employer is improbable.
     ** Fusion now!  Remember the Exxon Valdez! **