Clear multiple lines

Question

Is it possible to clear multiple lines in C and keep others for example.

Code:

Displaysenrsordata
  loop 
    printf("This info stays"); <-stay on screen
    printf("This info stays"); <-stay on screen
    printf("This info Refreshes"); <-update redraw
    printf("This info Refreshes"); <-update redraw
    printf("This info Refreshes"); <-update redraw

Essentially I want to have some text to stay at the same place and redraw the updating data without clearing the whole screen.

You need to specify your environment (Unix terminal/Windows console app/...) as this is beyond ISO C. — ninjalj, Dec 15 '13 at 13:27

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited Dec 16 '13 at 06:50

If you are working on linux then use ncurses.

Example:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <ncurses.h>
  int main (void)
  {
    int a = 0;
    initscr ();
    printw("This info stays \n");
    printw("This info stays\n");
    curs_set (0);
    while (a < 100) {
            mvprintw (3, 4, "%d", a++);
            mvprintw (3, 8, "%d", a++);
            mvprintw (3, 12, "%d", a++);
            refresh ();
            sleep (1);
    }
    endwin();
    return 0;
 }

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 15 '13 at 11:48

3

You can overwrite the current line be printing out a \r, or the last character on the current line by printing a \b.

answered Dec 15 '13 at 11:48

alk

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Babken Vardanyan · Answer 3 · 2013-12-16T17:32:45.263

-5

No, you can't clear only a part of the console window.

edited Dec 16 '13 at 17:32

answered Dec 15 '13 at 11:46

Babken Vardanyan

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You can't even clear the full screen in standard C++. – Benjamin Bannier Dec 15 '13 at 11:46
@BenjaminBannier Not part of the standard, but you can do system("cls") or system("clear") which works fine if refresh rate isn't too high. – Babken Vardanyan Dec 15 '13 at 14:12

Clear multiple lines

3 Answers3