Has Microsoft ever considered adding a Pause() method to the Console class for VB/C#?

Question

Has Microsoft ever considered adding a Pause() method to the Console class for VB/C# .NET like that in the following code?
Yes, I know the user can use the following code to create a subroutine, but it would be super-super nice if this were an actual part of the class.

Private Const m_STR_PMPT As System.String = "Please press the [Enter] key to continue . . . " 'Default user prompt.

    Public Sub Pause(Optional Prompt As System.String = m_STR_PMPT, Optional ResumeInterval As System.Int64 = 0)
       Try 'Attempt the following block(s) of code.
          Dim r_hProc As New System.Diagnostics.Process 'An instance of a local system process.
          Dim r_hInfo As New System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo("cmd") 'An instance of the process' StartInfo() property.

          Console.Write(Environment.NewLine & Prompt) 'Display the user prompt.

          If ResumeInterval <= 0 Then 'If the user did not specify a valid timer value.
             With r_hInfo 'Regarding the process start information object.
                .Arguments = " /C pause >nul" 'Pass the argument to pause the process.
                .UseShellExecute = False 'Indicate the process is not to be executed via the OS shell.
                .WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden 'Hide the process' window.
             End With
          Else 'If the user specified a valid timer value.
             With r_hInfo 'Regarding the process start information object.
                .Arguments = " /C timeout /t " & ResumeInterval & " >nul" 'Pass the argument to pause the process along with a timer value. {>nul} suppresses the console's built-in user prompt.
                .UseShellExecute = False 'Indicate the process is not to be executed via the OS shell.
                .WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden 'Hide the process' window.
             End With
          End If

          With r_hProc 'Regarding the process object.
             .StartInfo = r_hInfo 'Get the start information for the process.
          End With

          r_hProc.Start() 'Start the process.
          r_hProc.WaitForExit() 'Instruct the process component to wait for the associated process to exit.
          r_hProc.Close() 'Free all resources associated with the process.

          r_hInfo = Nothing 'Destroy the process start information object.
          r_hProc.Dispose() 'Deinitialize the process object.
          r_hProc = Nothing 'Destroy the process object.
       Catch r_eRntm As System.Exception 'Trap any unexpected errors.
          ' DO ERROR HANDLING HERE
       End Try
    End Sub

An optional timer argument is included to allow the programmer to resume execution of the process if the user doesn't press a key. It is a very handy method for many console applications and not just for tutorials or testing. It is especially handy when you want to convey a message here and there to a user without terminating the program.

Answer 1

You mean something like this?

    static void Pause(int waitinmillsec, string promptText = "Press a key to continue...")
    {
        Console.WriteLine(promptText);
        try
        {
            Thread t = new Thread(x => Console.ReadKey());
            t.Start();
            t.Join(waitinmillsec);
        }
        catch (ThreadAbortException)
        {

        }
    }

Usage:

            Console.WriteLine("Some information");

            Pause(5000, "Press any key or let me rest for 5 seconds...");

            Console.WriteLine("Some other information");

Answer 2

Here is another idea, it's written in C# and usable for both C# and VB.NET. Create a new C# Class project and add the following class.

using System;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using static System.Console;

namespace ConsoleHelpers
{
    public static class ConsoleKeysHelper
    {
        public static void WaitReadLine(string message = "Press any key to terminate.")
        {
            WriteSectionBold(message,false);
            Console.ReadLine();
        }

        public static void WriteSectionBold(string message, bool line = true)
        {
            var originalForeColor = ForegroundColor;

            ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
            WriteLine(message);
            ForegroundColor = originalForeColor;
            if (line)
            {
                WriteLine(new string('-', 100));
            }

        }        

        /// <summary>
        /// Provides an enhanced Console.ReadLine with a time out.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="timeout">Timeout</param>
        /// <param name="message">Optional text to display</param>
        /// <returns>Input from a Task or if no input an empty string</returns>
        /// <remarks>
        /// Example, wait for two seconds and a half
        /// ConsoleReadLineWithTimeout(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(2.5))
        /// 
        /// Example, use default, wait for one second
        /// ConsoleReadLineWithTimeout(TimeSpan.FromSeconds())
        /// </remarks>
        public static string ReadLineWithTimeout(TimeSpan? timeout = null, string message = "")
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
            {
                WriteSectionBold(message, false);
            }

            TimeSpan timeSpan = timeout ?? TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);
            var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(Console.ReadLine);
            var result = (Task.WaitAny(new Task[] { task }, timeSpan) == 0) ? task.Result : string.Empty;

            return result;

        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Read line with timeout and optional message
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="seconds"></param>
        /// <param name="message"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static string ReadLineWithTimeout(int seconds, string message = "")
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(message))
            {
                WriteSectionBold(message, false);
            }

            TimeSpan timeSpan = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(seconds);
            var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(Console.ReadLine);

            var result = (Task.WaitAny(new Task[] { task }, timeSpan) == 0) ? task.Result : string.Empty;

            return result;

        }

        public static string ReadLineFiveSeconds(string message = "") => ReadLineWithTimeout(5, message);
        public static string PauseFiveSeconds(string message = "") => ReadLineWithTimeout(5, message);

        public static string ReadLineTenSeconds(string message = "") => ReadLineWithTimeout(10, message);
        public static string PauseTenSeconds(string message = "") => ReadLineWithTimeout(10, message);
    }
}

Add a reference to a VB.NET for the above to a Console project and use

Module Program
    Sub Main(args As String())
        Dim value = ReadLineFiveSeconds("Please enter your name within the next 5 seconds.")
        Console.WriteLine(value)
    End Sub
End Module

For C#

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var value = ReadLineFiveSeconds( "Please enter your name within the next 5 seconds.");
        Console.WriteLine(value);
    }
}

Both support

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var value = ReadLineWithTimeout(5, "Please enter your name within the next 5 seconds.");
    Console.WriteLine(value);
}

I have full source code for the class project with more goodies.

Note if this was C# we could also have a async Main and use

Console.WriteLine("Enter some text");
var task = Task.Factory.StartNew(Console.ReadLine);
var completedTask = await Task.WhenAny(task, Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)));
var result = ReferenceEquals(task, completedTask) ? task.Result : string.Empty;
Console.WriteLine(result);