[Python-ideas] Suggestion: Clear screen command for the REPL

[João Matos]

Hello,

I know about those IPython commands and I searched and found several 
possible solutions to clear the screen in the CPython REPL, but all are, 
in my opinion, complex for a newbie.
The existence of a clear command would be simple and obvious, therefore 
accessible to newbies.


Best regards,

JM



On 17-09-2016 14:15, Wes Turner wrote:
> With IPython, there are a number of ways to reset the terminal display:
>
>   clear  # %clear
>   !cls #windows
>   !reset
>
> - 
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6892191/clearing-the-screen-in-ipython
>   - Ctrl-L is a readline binding
>   - 
> http://pythonhosted.org/pyreadline/usage.html#pyreadline-with-python-interpreter
>   - https://anaconda.org/anaconda/pyreadline
>   - https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyreadline
>   - IPython >= 5 no longer uses pyreadline (instead, python prompt 
> toolkit)
>     - 
> https://github.com/jonathanslenders/python-prompt-toolkit/blob/master/prompt_toolkit/shortcuts.py 
> #def clear
>
>
>  - 
> http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/124762/how-does-clear-command-work
> - 
> http://urwid.org/reference/display_modules.html#urwid.raw_display.Screen.clear
> - https://rosettacode.org/wiki/Terminal_control/Clear_the_screen#Python
>
> On Saturday, September 17, 2016, João Matos <jcrmatos at gmail.com 
> <mailto:jcrmatos at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Hello,
>
>     In other interpreted programming languages the clear screen
>     command (whatever it is) also does not clear the session.
>     It just clears the screen clutter.
>
>     As I said, this would be very useful for newbies, which don't know
>     anything about usercustomize or sitecustomize.
>
>
>     Best regards,
>
>     JM
>
>
>     On 17-09-2016 12:07, Chris Angelico wrote:
>
>         On Sat, Sep 17, 2016 at 8:51 PM, João Matos
>         <jcrmatos at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>             I would like to suggest adding a clear command (not
>             function) to Python.
>             It's simple purpose would be to clear the REPL screen,
>             leaving the >>>
>             prompt at the top left of the screen.
>
>             This is something very basic but also very useful for
>             newbies learning
>             Python from the REPL.
>             After some trial and errors it is best to start with a
>             clean screen.
>             Clearing the screen helps clear your mind.
>
>         I'm not sure that it _is_ helpful, given that you're starting
>         with a
>         clean screen but not restarting the session (so you'll still
>         have all
>         the state from your previous work). If you want a completely fresh
>         start, just exit Python, clear the screen with a shell
>         command, and
>         re-enter.
>
>         The easiest way to play around with this would be to create a pure
>         Python clear() function in your usercustomize or
>         sitecustomize, and
>         then try it in your own workflow - see whether it annoys you
>         that it
>         doesn't change the interpreter state. Maybe it will, maybe it
>         won't.
>
>         ChrisA
>         _______________________________________________
>         Python-ideas mailing list
>         Python-ideas at python.org
>         https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-ideas
>         <https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-ideas>
>         Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/
>         <http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/>
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     Python-ideas mailing list
>     Python-ideas at python.org
>     https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-ideas
>     <https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-ideas>
>     Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/
>     <http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-ideas/attachments/20160917/01f71635/attachment-0001.html>