How can I write (put) a character in a specific spot on a dos console?

[Randall Sturgis]

I am coding a fun little text base game to get back into programming. Most of the code is in python but I'm only designing it for a dos console so I'm occasionally using dos commands via Pythons "os" module.

I want to be able to put a character to the console without "redrawing" the current screen line by line. I hoped there would be a command like "print []" but where it would not just create a new line, but instead let me specify exactly where on the screen I want to write a character or a string.

Scenario:
I print 3 options for the user to select. The first option has "*" by it to show that it is selected. If the user hits the down arrow key, the second option should now be selected. Instead of clearing the whole screen and re-printing all three options, but with the "*" now by the second option, I want to just "erase" the "*" by the first option, and "move" it to the second one, leaving everything else on the screen as it was.

[Mariostg]

Did you look at python curses

[dwblas]

A canvas widget, which is in every GUI is probably a good option here. Something kind of similar is a menu which you can look at and adapt. Note that button #1 is the only one that changes when any button is pressed.

from Tkinter import *
 
class MenuTest():
    def __init__(self, top):
        ##---  always place in upper left corner ( +10+10 )
        ##     size = 150x150 = minimum size so it's big enough to be seen
        top.geometry("150x150+10+10" )
 
        label1 = Label( top, text = "Test Menu" )
        label1.pack()
 
        label2 = Label( top, text = "" )          ## blank line = spacer
        label2.pack()
 
        self.button1_lit = StringVar()
        self.button1_lit.set("Option 1")
        option1 = Button(top, textvariable=self.button1_lit,
                  command=self.callback1, bg='blue', fg='white' )
        option1.pack(fill=X, expand=1)
 
        option2 = Button(top, text='Option 2',
                  command=self.callback2, bg='green', fg='white' )
        option2.pack(fill=X, expand=1)
 
        option3 = Button(top, text='Option 3 - No Exit',
                  command=self.callback3, bg='black', fg='white' )
        option3.pack(fill=X, expand=1)
 
        exit=  Button(top, text='EXIT',
                  command=top.quit, bg='red', fg='white' )
        exit.pack(fill=X, expand=1)
 
 
    def callback1(self) :
        print "Callback #1"
        self.button1_lit.set("SELECTED")
 
    def callback2(self) :
        self.button1_lit.set("Button 1")
        print "Callback #2"
 
    def callback3(self) :
        self.button1_lit.set("Button 1")
        print "Callback #3"
 
##===============================================================
top = Tk()
MT=MenuTest(top)
 
top.mainloop() 

Also consider using radio buttons. This example is from effbot's site http://effbot.org/tkinterbook/radiobutton.htm

from Tkinter import *
 
master = Tk()
master.geometry("100x50")
 
v = IntVar()
 
Radiobutton(master, text="One", variable=v, value=1).pack(anchor=W)
Radiobutton(master, text="Two", variable=v, value=2).pack(anchor=W)
 
mainloop()