AG> AFAICT, there is a problem when it writes a prompt to the user -
 AG> the buffer is not flushed after the write, so the user 
 AG> never sees the prompt.

Cset, by default,  buffers stdout.  It only flushes stdout when a \n is
encountered,  or when you call fflush(stdout).


 AG> I want a solution which will not mean 50,000 edits to 12 source files

The easiest way,  without adding a fflush() after each printf() that does
not end in \n,  would be to turn buffering off.  This will slow output
down,  but will work.

    setvbuf(stdout, NULL, _IONBF, 0);


 AG> Also, does anyone know what values the command line 
 AG> switches take. I can't
 AG> find any documentation on this.

Which program's command line switches are you asking about?

--- Maximus/2 2.02p1