Here are some capabilities of the tput command:
- Return the number of columns and rows in a terminal:
tput cols
tput lines
- Return the current terminal name:
tput longname
- Move the cursor to a 100,100 position:
tput cup 100 100
- Set the terminal background color:
tput setb n
The value of n can be a value in the range of 0 to 7
- Set the terminal foreground color:
tput setf n
The value of n can be a value in the range of 0 to 7
Some commands including the common color ls may reset the foreground and background color.
- Make text bold, using this command:
tput bold
- Perform start and end underlining:
tput smul
tput rmul
- To delete from the cursor to the end of the line, use the following command:
tput ed
- A script should not display the characters while entering a password. The following example demonstrates disabling character echo with the stty command:
#!/bin/sh
#Filename: password.sh
echo -e "Enter password: "
# disable echo before reading password
stty -echo
read password
# re-enable echo
stty echo
echo
echo Password read.
The -echo option in the preceding command disables the output to the terminal, whereas echo enables output.