These routines read and write on your console or on the specified port. The console I/O routines are not compatible with stream I/O or low-level I/O library routines. The console or port does not have to be opened or closed before I/O is performed, so there are no open or close routines in this category. In Windows NT and Windows 95, the output from these functions is always directed to the console and cannot be redirected.
Console and Port I/O Routines
| Routine | Use |
| _cgets | Read string from console |
| _cprintf | Write formatted data to console |
| _cputs | Write string to console |
| _cscanf | Read formatted data from console |
| _getch | Read character from console |
| _getche | Read character from console and echo it |
| _inp | Read one byte from specified I/O port |
| _inpd | Read double word from specified I/O port |
| _inpw | Read 2-byte word from specified I/O port |
| _kbhit | Check for keystroke at console; use before attempting to read from console |
| _outp | Write one byte to specified I/O port |
| _outpd | Write double word to specified I/O port |
| _outpw | Write word to specified I/O port |
| _putch | Write character to console |
| _ungetch | “Unget” last character read from console so it becomes next character read |