How can I modify text that is already printed?

Question

I am aware that this has been posted many times, but I can't find a working solution for my problem. Here is my script:

from time import sleep
x = 100
for i in range(0, 100):
    print(x, end="\r")
    x -=1
    sleep(1)

When I run this it prints:

except on one line and the text gets replaced and it continues. I want it to do this:

on one line and it goes all the way to zero and the text gets replaced. How can I do this?

See this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6169217/replace-console-output-in-python — Jon, Feb 14 '20 at 17:58
`\r` doesn't clear the current line; it only moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line. Subsequent writes only overwrite whatever is necessary to write that line, with no knowledge of what had been written previously. — chepner, Feb 14 '20 at 18:03

Mike Müller · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-14T21:22:31.607

2

Formatting your string works:

import time

for x in range(100, 0, -1):
    time.sleep(1)
    print(f'{x:3d}', end='\r')

This formats you integers right adjusted with a width of three digits and you can see the "shorter" numbers. Or, use f'{x: <3d}' to have the numbers line up at the left (as @Olvin Roght suggested). The f in front makes it it a format string. The content inside the {} will be replaced, in this case with the value of x. The part after the : is the formatting. Here: a decimal integer with three digits.

edited Feb 14 '20 at 21:22

answered Feb 14 '20 at 18:01

Mike Müller

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Can you tell me what f'{x:3d}' does? – TheRealTengri Feb 14 '20 at 18:03
1

Probably, it will be better to use `'{x: <3}'` to have same output as in answer. – Olvin Roght Feb 14 '20 at 18:04
@TheRealTengri, you can read [this](https://pyformat.info/) tutorial. – Olvin Roght Feb 14 '20 at 18:05
Its a [formatted string literal](https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/inputoutput.html#formatted-string-literals) – tdelaney Feb 14 '20 at 18:09

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 14 '20 at 18:22

0

You can use str.ljust():

print(str(x).ljust(3), end="\r")

answered Feb 14 '20 at 18:22

Olvin Roght

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How can I modify text that is already printed?

2 Answers2