commands in java to clear the screen

Question

What command in Java will let you clear the console in a command-line application?

Answer 1

clearing for bash that is working for me:

System.out.print(String.format("\033[H\033[2J"));

Answer 2

If none of the above solutions works for you( as in my case ), try this solution:

new ProcessBuilder("cmd", "/c", "cls").inheritIO().start().waitFor();

I'm using Windows 8 and this solution worked for me. Hope it does to you as well. :)

Answer 3

There is always the obvious (and kludgy)..

int numRowsInConsole = 60;
for (int ii=0; ii<numRowsInConsole; ii++) {
    // scroll down one line
    System.out.println("");
}

Answer 4

To my knowledge Windows 10's Command Window cmd.exe does not natively support ANSI ESC sequences, despite the rumors. To have the:

final String ANSI_CLS = "\u001b[2J";
System.out.print(ANSI_CLS);

method work you need a command line emulator that supports ANSI, such as ConEmu64.

Answer 5

I think what the OP wants is to clear the screen and move the cursor to the home position. For that try:

        final String ANSI_CLS = "\u001b[2J";
        final String ANSI_HOME = "\u001b[H";
        System.out.print(ANSI_CLS + ANSI_HOME);
        System.out.flush();

Answer 6

Run this sample program: it demonstrates how to clear the console using an escape sequence and reposition the cursor to position X=1, Y=1.

I tested it on several Linux terminals. Don't know, if it works under Windows.
Perhaps you can tell me ;)

Read this article about escape sequences.

import java.io.*;

public class Main {

public static final char ESC = 27;

public static void main(String[] args)
        throws Exception {
    Console c = System.console();
    if (c == null) {
        System.err.println("no console");
        System.exit(1);
    }

    // clear screen only the first time
    c.writer().print(ESC + "[2J");
    c.flush();
    Thread.sleep(200);

    for (int i = 0; i < 100; ++i) {
        // reposition the cursor to 1|1
        c.writer().print(ESC + "[1;1H");
        c.flush();

        c.writer().println("hello " + i);
        c.flush();

        Thread.sleep(200);
    }
}

}