What is the clear
program?
Typing clear
at the terminal clears your screen. How does this program work? The implementation is tiny:
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
printf("\033c");
return 0;
}
This magic string is composed of two bytes: 27, then 'c'
. Byte 27 is ESC
in the ACSII table, and it’s understood by the terminal as an escape sequence. It then expects further characters to specify the command; we give it 'c'
which clears the screen.
Tagged . All content copyright James Fisher 2017. This post is not associated with my employer.