Methods and Properties of Console Class in C#

Now, we are going to discuss the Methods and Properties of Console class in C# with Examples.
Here, we are going to discuss the following pointers.
1. What is Console Class in C#?
2. Properties of Console Class in C#.
3. Methods of Console class in C#.
4. Understanding the use of the Write and WriteLine method in C#.
5. Program to show how to print the value of a variable in a console application.
6. Understanding the use of the ReadLine method in C#.
7. Program to show the use of BackgroundColor, ForegroundColor, and Title properties
of Console class.

What is Console Class in C#?

In order to implement the user interface in console applications, Microsoft provided us with a class
called Console. The Console class is available in the System namespace. This Console class
provides some methods and properties using which we can implement the user interface in a console
application.

In order words, if we want to work with the console window either for taking user input or to show the
output, we are provided with the Console in C#.

According to Microsoft documentation the Console class represents the standard input, output, and
error streams for console applications and this class cannot be inherited because it is a static class
i.e. declared as static as shown in the below image.

The static class in C# contains only static members i.e. all the Properties and Methods available in the
Console class are static. So, we can access all these members by using the Console class name i.e.
we don’t require the Console class instance to access these members.

Properties of Console Class in C#:

There are many properties available in Console class. Some of them are as follows:
1. Title: It gets or sets the title to display in the console title bar. It returns the string to be
displayed in the title bar of the console. The maximum length of the title string is 24500
characters.
2. BackgroundColor: It gets or sets the background color of the console. It returns a value that
specifies the background color of the console; that is, the color that appears behind each
character. The default is black.
3. ForegroundColor: It gets or sets the foreground color of the console. It returns a
ConsoleColor that specifies the foreground color of the console; that is, the color of each
character that is displayed. The default is gray.
4. CursorSize: It gets or sets the height of the cursor within a character cell. It returns the size
of the cursor expressed as a percentage of the height of a character cell. The property value
ranges from 1 to 100.

Methods of Console Class in C#:

There are many methods available in Console class. Some of them are as follows:
1. Clear(): It is used to clears the console buffer and corresponding console window of display
information. In simple word it is used to clear the screen.
2. Beep(): This method plays the sound of a beep through the console speaker. That means it
play a beep sound using a PC speaker at runtime.
3. ResetColor(): This method is used to set the foreground and background console colors to
their defaults.
4. Write("string"): This method is used to write the specified string value to the standard output
stream.
 5. WriteLine("string"): This method is used to write the specified string value, followed by the
current line terminator, to the standard output stream. That means this method same as the
write method but automatically moves the cursor to the next line after printing the message.
6. Write(variable): This method is used to write the value of the given variable to the standard
output stream.
7. WriteLine(variable): This method is used to write the value of the given variable to the
standard output stream along with moving the cursor to the next line after printing the value of
the variable.
8. Read(): This method read a single character from the keyboard and returns its ASCII value.
The Datatype should be int as it returns the ASCII value.
9. ReadLine(): This method reads a string value from the keyboard and returns the entered
value only. As it returns the entered string value so the DataType is going to be a string.
10. ReadKey(): This method reads a single character from the keyboard and returns that
character. The Datatype should be int as it returns the ASCII value.

Example to show the use of the Write and WriteLine method in C#:
The following example code is self-explained, so please go through the comment lines.

//Program to show the use of WriteLine and Write Method

//First Import the System namespace as the
//Console class belongs to System namespace
using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//We can access WriteLine and Write method using class name
//as these methods are static

//WriteLine Method Print the value and move the cursor to the next line
Console.WriteLine("Hello");
//Write Method Print the value and stay in the same line
Console.Write("HI ");
//Write Method Print the value and stay in the same line
Console.Write("Bye ");
//WriteLine Method Print the value and move the cursor to the next line
Console.WriteLine("Welcome");
//Write Method Print the value and stay in the same line
Console.Write("C#.NET ");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Output:

Example to show how to print the value of a variable in C#.

In the below example, I am showing the different ways to print the value of a variable in C# language.

//Program to show how to print the value of a variable

using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
internal class Program
{
 static void Main(string[] args)
{
string name = "Pranaya";
Console.WriteLine(name);
Console.WriteLine("Hello " + name);
Console.Write($"Hello {name}");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Output:

Reading Value from user in C#:

Now, let us understand how to read the value from the user in a console application using C#
language. Here, we are going to use the ReadLine() method to read the values at runtime. The
following example shows how to read the value at runtime in a console application in C# using
ReadLine method.
//Program to show how to read value at runtime
using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Giving one message to the user to enter his name
Console.WriteLine("Enter Your Name");

//ReadLine method reads a string value from the keyboard

string name = Console.ReadLine();

//Printing the entered string in the console

Console.WriteLine($"Hello {name}");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Output:

How to Read Integer Number in C# from the keyword?

Whenever we entered anything whether is a string or numeric values from the keyword, the input
stream is taking it as a string. So, we can directly store the input values in a string variable. If you
want to store the input values in integer variables, then we need to convert the string values to integer
values. For a better understanding, please have a look at the below example. Here, we are asking the
user to enter two integer numbers and then we are taking those integer numbers as string and then
we are converting the string into integer and then we are adding those two integers and showing the
result on the console window.
//Program to show how to read integer values
using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
 internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Eneter two Numbers:");

//Converting string to Integer

int Number1 = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());

//Converting string to Integer

int Number2 = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());

int Result = Number1 + Number2;

Console.WriteLine($"The Sum is: {Result}");
Console.WriteLine($"The Sum is: {Number1 + Number2}");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Output:

Note: The ReadLine method always accepts the value in the form of a string. So, we need to convert
the values to the appropriate type. In the above example, we are converting the values to integer type
by using Convert.ToInt method. We will discuss this method in detail in out upcoming sessions.

Example to understand Console Class Properties:

Now, we will write one program to show the use of BackgroundColor, ForegroundColor, Beep, and
Title properties of Console class in C#. Please have a look at the below example.

//Program to show the use of Console Class Properties

using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Blue;
Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
Console.Title = "Understanding Console Class";
Console.WriteLine("BackgroundColor: Blue");
Console.WriteLine("ForegroundColor: White");
Console.WriteLine("Title: Understanding Console Class");

//It will make Beep Sound

Console.Beep();

Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Output:
Complex Example to Understand Console Class:
Now, we will write one program to accept Employee Details like EmployeeId, Name, Salary, Address,
Department, and then we will print the accepted information on the console window.
//Program to show the use of Console Class
using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Ask User to Enter the Employee Details
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee Details");

Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee ID");

int EmployeeID = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee Name");
string Name = Console.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee Salary");
int Salary = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee Address");
string Address = Console.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine("Enter Employee Department");
string Department = Console.ReadLine();

//Display the Entered Employee Details

Console.WriteLine("\nEntered Employee Details are as Follows:");
Console.WriteLine($"Employee ID Is: {EmployeeID}");
Console.WriteLine($"Employee Name Is: {Name}");
Console.WriteLine($"Employee Salary Is: {Salary}");
Console.WriteLine($"Employee Address Is: {Address}");
Console.WriteLine($"Employee Department Is: {Department}");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
Output:
Example to Show to Student Mark:
Write a Program to enter the student Registration Number, Name, Mark1, Mark2, Mark3 and calculate
the total mark and average marks and then print the student details in the console.
using System;
namespace MyFirstProject
{
internal class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//Ask the user to Enter Student Details
Console.WriteLine("Enter Student Details");
Console.WriteLine("Enter Registration Number");
int RegdNumber = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("Enter Name");
string Name = Console.ReadLine();
Console.WriteLine("Enter Marks of three Subjects:");
Console.WriteLine("Subject1");
int Mark1 = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("Subject2");
int Mark2 = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());
Console.WriteLine("Subject3");
int Mark3 = Convert.ToInt32(Console.ReadLine());

int TotalMarks = Mark1 + Mark2 + Mark3;

int AverageMark = TotalMarks / 3;

//Display the Student Details

Console.WriteLine("\nStudent Details are as Follows:");
Console.WriteLine($"Registration Number: {RegdNumber}");
Console.WriteLine($"Name: {Name}");
Console.WriteLine($"Total Marks : {TotalMarks}");
Console.WriteLine($"Average Mark: {AverageMark}");
Console.ReadKey();
}
 }
}
Output: