Pause screen at program completion in C

Question

I want to be able to do something along the lines of Press any key to exit at program completion, but have no been able to figure out how to.

When I run

Answer 1

Depending on your need and platform, you may use getch() (or _getch()), or ultimately getchar().

The problem with getchar() is that it requires the user to press "enter". The advantage with getchar() is that it is standard and cross-platform.

getch() get all the other property : it just needs a key to be pressed, no display, no "enter" needed. But it's non standard, so support varies depending on platform.

Alternatively, for windows only, there is also :

system("pause");

Answer 2

getchar() is the right way to go, but you'll run into problems caused by scanf leaving '\n' in the input buffer - it will return immediately. See Why doesn't getchar() wait for me to press enter after scanf()?

Answer 3

To do this quick hack, the most common two options are:

/* Windows only */
#include <stdlib.h>

system("pause");

and

/* Cross platform */
#include <stdio.h>

printf("Press enter to continue...\n");
getchar();

I suggest the latter method, though the first method really triggers on "any" key while the bottom one only triggers on enter.

Answer 4

Use getchar():

...program...
printf("press enter to continue...\n");
getchar()

Answer 5

Possible options: 1) system("pause"); 2) getch(); 3) getchar();

Answer 6

It's an old question but thought I'd add a technique I use when testing programs on a Windows box.

Compile program into an exe. And then create a batch script to "wrap" the program along the lines of:

@echo off
foo.exe
pause
exit

which will execute your program as it should be, without any dirty hacks, while allowing you to pause the window and see the output.