Linux and Unix tput command

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About tput
Syntax
Examples
Related commands
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About tput

Initialize a terminal or query terminfo database.

Syntax

tput [-T Type] capname [parm]

tput -S <<

-T Type Indicates the type of terminal. Normally this option is unnecessary, because the default is
taken from the environment variable TERM. If -T is specified, then the shell variables LINES and COLUMNS and the layer size will not be referenced.
capname Indicates the capability attribute from the terminfo database. 

The following strings will be supported as operands by the implementation in the "C" locale:

clear Display the clear-screen sequence.
init If the terminfo database is present and an entry for the user's terminal exists (see -TType, above), the following will occur:
  1. if present, the terminal's initialization strings will be output (is1, is2, is3, if , iprog),
  2. any delays (for instance, newline) specified in the entry will be set
    in the tty driver,
  3. tabs expansion will be turned on or off according to the specifica tion in the entry, and
  4. if tabs are not expanded, standard tabs will be set (every 8 spaces). If an entry does not contain the information needed for any of the four above activities, that activity will silently be skipped.
reset Instead of putting out initialization strings, the terminal's reset strings will be output if present (rs1, rs2, rs3, rf). If the reset strings are not present, but initialization strings are, the initialization strings will be output. Otherwise, reset acts identically to init .
If the terminfo database is present and an entry for the user's terminal exists (see -TType above), then the long name of the terminal will be put out. The long name is the last name in the first line of the terminal's description in the terminfo database.
parm If the attribute is a string that takes parameters, the argument parm will be instantiated into the string. An all numeric argument will be passed to the attribute as a number.
-S << Allows more than one capability per invocation of tput . The capabilities must be passed to tput from the standard input instead of from the com mand line (see the example in the Examples section). Only one capname is allowed per line. The -S option changes the meaning of the 0 and 1 boolean and string exit statuses (see the EXIT STATUS section).

Examples

In the below example, the screen would be cleared and move down 10 lines and over 10 spaces and should bold the prompt if supported.

tput -S <<!
> clear
> cup 10 10> bold
> !

Related commands

clear
sh
stty
tabs