Linux clear Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, you will learn how to use the Linux clear command to clear the contents of the terminal screen. The lab covers the purpose of the clear command, how to use it to clear the screen, and how to automate the process of clearing the terminal using a Bash script. This lab is designed to help you improve the readability and organization of your terminal output, particularly when working with long-running commands or scripts that generate a lot of output.

The lab includes three main steps: understanding the purpose of the clear command, clearing the terminal screen with the clear command, and automating terminal clearing with a Bash script. By the end of this lab, you will have a better understanding of how to effectively use the clear command to manage your terminal environment.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Skills Graph

Understand the Purpose of the clear Command

In this step, you will learn about the purpose and usage of the clear command in Linux. The clear command is a simple yet useful utility that helps you to clear the contents of the terminal screen, making it easier to read and navigate.

The clear command works by sending the "clear screen" escape sequence to the terminal, which instructs the terminal to clear its display and move the cursor to the top-left corner of the screen. This can be particularly useful when your terminal becomes cluttered with output from previous commands, making it difficult to see the current prompt and input.

Let's try using the clear command:

$ clear

Example output:

[The terminal screen is now cleared]

As you can see, the terminal screen is now cleared, and you can see a clean prompt ready for your next command.

The clear command is often used in shell scripts or aliases to automatically clear the terminal screen before or after performing certain tasks, making the output more readable and organized.

Clear the Terminal Screen with the clear Command

In this step, you will learn how to use the clear command to clear the contents of the terminal screen.

First, let's check the current contents of the terminal:

$ echo "This is some text in the terminal."
This is some text in the terminal.

Now, let's use the clear command to clear the screen:

$ clear

Example output:

[The terminal screen is now cleared]

As you can see, the terminal screen is now cleared, and you can see a clean prompt ready for your next command.

The clear command is often used to improve the readability and organization of the terminal output, especially when working with long-running commands or scripts that generate a lot of output.

Automate Terminal Clearing with a Bash Script

In this step, you will learn how to automate the process of clearing the terminal screen using a Bash script.

First, let's create a new Bash script called clear.sh in the ~/project directory:

$ cd ~/project
$ nano clear.sh

Add the following content to the script:

#!/bin/bash

clear
echo "The terminal has been cleared."

Save and close the file.

Now, make the script executable:

$ chmod +x clear.sh

You can now run the script to clear the terminal screen:

$ ./clear.sh

Example output:

[The terminal screen is now cleared]
The terminal has been cleared.

By creating a Bash script, you can easily automate the process of clearing the terminal screen. This can be particularly useful when you need to clear the screen before or after running a series of commands or scripts, making the output more organized and easier to read.

You can also add this script to your shell's startup configuration (e.g., .bashrc or .zshrc) to automatically clear the terminal screen every time you open a new terminal session.

Summary

In this lab, you first learned about the purpose and usage of the clear command in Linux, which helps to clear the contents of the terminal screen and make it easier to read and navigate. You then practiced using the clear command to clear the terminal screen, and finally, you learned how to automate the process of clearing the terminal screen using a Bash script. The lab provided a comprehensive understanding of the clear command and its practical applications in managing the terminal environment.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet