What does backslash n 033 means in echo -e "\033[1m linux"?

mohit_parihar · 12-01-2009, 02:52 AM

can any body tell me the complete meaning of the above command.

evo2 · 12-01-2009, 02:59 AM

Looks like it could be new line and setting the text colour to yellow.

Hang on there is no "backslash n": so no new line.

Evo2.

Whyte · 12-01-2009, 06:46 AM

That is the so-called "Escape character", it can also be written (at least in Bash) as \e. It is used to signify the start of a lot of terminal codes, such as setting foreground/background colors, moving the cursor to another position, clearing the screen, and so on.

See man console_codes (or click here) for a list of these codes.

rdgreenlaw · 07-25-2010, 08:21 PM

This one was easy -- It makes everything after the m bright white (Bold)

To see it in action try this in a terminal window (cli):

echo -e "Normal Text\033[1mBold Text"

You will be able to see the escape character in action.