The tput command enables you to initialize the screen and position the cursor and text i...

The tput command enables you to initialize the screen and position the cursor and text in an appealing way. This project introduces you to tput. First, you enter the command directly from the command line. Next,you create a sample shell script and menu to understand more about this command’s capabilities.

To use tput directly from the command line:

1. Type the following command sequence, and press Enter:

In the results of this command sequence, the screen clears; the cursor is positioned at row 10,column 15,on the screen; the word“Hello”is printed;and the prompt’s position is row 20, column 0.

To create a sample input menu in a shell script:

1. Use the vi or Emacs editor to create a screen-management script, scrmanage, containing the following lines:

2. Save the file and exit the editor.

3. Give the file execute permission, and then test it. (See Figure 6-15.) Clear the screen for the next project.