Drivers and Modes
Drivers & Modes in graphics.h
This page explains graphics driver and mode basics in simple terms. Each topic has a short snippet, and one full program is provided at the end.
On This Page
DETECT Driver
DETECT asks graphics.h to auto-detect the best available graphics driver and mode.
int gd = DETECT, gm;
initgraph()
Initializes graphics mode. This must be called before drawing functions.
initgraph(&gd, &gm, "");
getmaxx() / getmaxy()
Returns maximum valid X and Y screen coordinates in current mode.
int maxX = getmaxx(); int maxY = getmaxy();
closegraph()
Shuts down graphics mode and restores text mode.
closegraph();
Full Program
#include <graphics.h>
#include <conio.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int gd = DETECT, gm;
char msg[80];
initgraph(&gd, &gm, "");
sprintf(msg, "Mode size: %d x %d", getmaxx(), getmaxy());
setcolor(WHITE);
outtextxy(20, 20, "Graphics initialized using DETECT");
outtextxy(20, 45, msg);
rectangle(60, 80, 260, 220);
getch();
closegraph();
return 0;
}