Why is there no platform independent way of clearing a terminal?

[Daniel Fetchinson]

>> After getting the technicalities out of the way, maybe I should have
>> asked:
>>
>> Is it only me or others would find a platform independent python API
>> to clear the terminal useful?
>
> There are two kinds of programs:
> 1. Those that process input to output. If one of those suddenly started by
> clearing my screen, I'd just dump it. Also, if output is redirected to a
> file or piped into another program, that is basically useless or even
> hurting, since you then end up with control sequences in the file.
>
> 2. Those that provide a text-based interactive UI. Those typically not only
> clear the screen, but also control its whole layout and content, so there
> you don't only need ways to clear the screen but also to position the
> cursor or draw boxes etc. In that case you need a full "curses" library.
>
> Summary: No, I don't see the need for such an API.

Okay, that makes perfect sense, thanks for the exaplanation!
I'll just live with the platform.system( ) check for this particular
problem then.

Cheers,
Daniel

-- 
Psss, psss, put it down! - http://www.cafepress.com/putitdown