[SOLVED] Why no cls or some other clear screen command for the shell?

Arcosanti · 08-20-2012, 09:39 PM

I have always wondered why there is no cls or a similar clear screen command available for the shell in Linux, liker there is in DOS.

evo2 · 08-20-2012, 09:43 PM

Hi,

have you tried, "reset" or "clear"?

Evo2.

AlucardZero · 08-20-2012, 09:43 PM

There is, it is called "clear"

Arcosanti · 08-20-2012, 10:46 PM

Thanks for that info. I tried both and they worked. I think I'll make a symlink called cls and point it at clear since it is faster.

suicidaleggroll · 08-20-2012, 11:10 PM

You don't need a symlink, just set up an alias. Why go for three characters anyway? Just set an alias so that c=clear.

towheedm · 08-20-2012, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcosanti

Thanks for that info. I tried both and they worked. I think I'll make a symlink called cls and point it at clear since it is faster.

Note that while both will clear the terminal screen, they are indeed two very different commands.

reset initializes the terminal, part of which is to clear the screen.
clear simply clears the terminal screen.

If you simply want to clear the screen, use clear. If your screen becomes garbled and chars are not displayed properly, then use the reset command.

See the manpages of both commands for more info.