Locate

calling form	description
locate `, `	Sets the cursor position within the current text window.

locate moves the cursor to the coordinates (in character spacing) provided.

Uses

This is useful for drawing floating boxes like those in Boxdraw.h or drawing maps like in the Automap library contribution. It can even be used within menus to move the cursor to a corner where it is not a distraction.

Keep In Mind

Be aware of where your cursor is after you’re done with it. Sometimes you’ll need to move it back to where it was. Also, in glk clients like Gargoyle, locate only works in the status window. Trying to do it in the main window will be trouble.

Example Code

Let’s pretend that you are the sort of chap who is slightly bothered when he opens up a Hugo game, just to see the game text start scrolling from the bottom of the screen. locate can fix that! First, you’d need to #include the Glk.h library contribution, and then you can add this to the init routine:

! first, we'll follow Glk.h's advice and run 'glkcheck'
      glkcheck

! now, if the game is being played on an official, non-glk interpreter, we'll move the cursor up
      if not glk
              locate 1 , 3
! (staying in the first column but moving three rows down from top so the game text starts up there)

In glk clients, text is drawn from the top anyway, so now, all of our games look GREAT!