The WinBuf Class

The WinBuf class is designed to provide a Windows-based interface for cout and cin, thereby easing the task of porting non-Windows code. Using the code with the Microsoft Foundation Classes, you can redefine cout, cin, and cerr to interact with a window instead of a console-based interface. It can be used with a few lines at the beginning and end of your code, and a few more files.

This implementation supports buffering of input and output. Right now the input and output are split into two fields, and maybe I'll fix this later. If you can suggest any changes or improvements, email me at david@coppit.org. For background, please see Google's archive regarding my initial post to news and the responses I got. There is a tutorial with step-by-step instructions on how to use the class. You are free to peruse the files:

promptdialog.h, the header file for the dialog window.
promptdialog.cpp, the implemetation of the dialog window.
winbuf.h, the header file for the winbuf class.
winbuf.cpp, the implemetation of the winbuf class.
ported.cpp, example code showing how to use the winbuf class by augmenting your cout, cin, and cerr laden code (externalcode.cpp).

I could not get the assignment of cout restored to its original value. Microsoft's implementation of rdbuf() does not allow assignment. Instead they have ostream_withassign, which doesn't allow me to restore the old value of cout. I have a copy of a news post that describes the problem more. If anyone can help we with this, it would be extremely appreciated.

Example screenshots are below. The unix-style console is on the left, and the Windows dialog box is on the left.

Unix I/O Windows I/O