how to clear the screen in java ???

[john_beginner]

hello all

how can i clear the DOS screen through java program

i hava search so many web site but i can't found the proper ans.

thanx in advance [:)]

[Antenka]

Hello, I haven't faced such problem before .. maybe this might help you:
Java Programming [Archive] - Clear screen?

[john_beginner]

thanx for ur reply

but i have already used this code

char esc = 27;
String clear = esc + "[2J";
System.out.print(clear);

And this line must be inside the config.sys:
device=c:\windows\command\ansi.sys

" And this line must be inside the config.sys:
device=c:\windows\command\ansi.sys "

means what ?? can u explain me ???

what should i do ??

Hello, I haven't faced such problem before .. maybe this might help you:
Java Programming [Archive] - Clear screen?

[Antenka]

The link, I gave you, contains the discussion, where your questions were explained .. also it gives one more example of clearing :)

[john_beginner]

Sorry but i can't understand what the program "TEST" is abt ??

can u help me ??

The link, I gave you, contains the discussion, where your questions were explained .. also it gives one more example of clearing :)

[VernonDozier]

Here's a decent thread on the subject. Since you mentioned "DOS", I assume you really mean "Windows Console" since very few people use DOS now.

http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic9880.htm

I couldn't get it to work for me, but I didn't play with it for all that long. It looked like it worked for other people though. Basically you are trying to execute the "cls" command through Runtime.getRuntime().exec or something very similar.

Hope this helps.

[Antenka]

Sure .. here we go:
The Test class in this program represents your console window. It has some methods, but the one you're interested in is: cls().

What actually it does in the main method:
1. Creates an instance of console window
2. Prints some text in there
3. Waits for 5 seconds
4. Clears the window
5. Waiting for 5 seconds one more time
6. Exit

The waiting thing there ( Thread.sleep(5000); ) made only for demonstrative purposes.

Ask if you have any other questions :)

[john_beginner]

hi!!!

i have tried these code
but it does n't work (do not give any error)

1)

String clearScreenCommand = null;
if( System.getProperty( "os.name" ).startsWith( "Window" ) )
   clearScreenCommand = "cls";
else
   clearScreenCommand = "clear";

Runtime.getRuntime().exec( clearScreenCommand );

2)

   Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cls");

3) (provide the error )

  try {
        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cls");
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

4)

 System.Console.Clear();

(provide the error )

cannot find symbol
symbol : variable Console
location: class java.lang.System

    System.Console.Clear();
               ^

whould u explian me through simple program ?

sholud i have add any pakage ???

Here's a decent thread on the subject. Since you mentioned "DOS", I assume you really mean "Windows Console" since very few people use DOS now.

http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic9880.htm

I couldn't get it to work for me, but I didn't play with it for all that long. It looked like it worked for other people though. Basically you are trying to execute the "cls" command through Runtime.getRuntime().exec or something very similar.

Hope this helps.

[VernonDozier]

I didn't get it to work for me, so I can't help you debug much. Regarding console, import java.io.Console . Case counts.

import java.io.Console;

public class ClearScreen
{
    public static void main (String args[])
    {
         Console cons = System.console ();
    }
}

I see no Clear () command in the Console class though, so i don't know where you got that.

http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/io/Console.html

I think this may be a dead end.

I think the answer must be Runtime.getRuntime().exec (....) , though when I run it, it says it can't find the program "cls", so there's something more to it. Wish I could be of more help.

[kvprajapati]

Method

Runtime.getRuntime().exec()

requires an external command. CLS is internal dos command.
To run internal command using exec() we have to use CMD (external) command.
Try it at command prompt.

>cmd /?   -- help
  >cmd /c cls

// Will create a new process
 Process ps=Runtime.getRuntime().exec (new String[]{"cmd","/c","cls"});
 ps.waitFor();

[VernonDozier]

Method

Runtime.getRuntime().exec()

requires an external command. CLS is internal dos command.
To run internal command using exec() we have to use CMD (external) command.
Try it at command prompt.

>cmd /?   -- help
  >cmd /c cls

// Will create a new process
 Process ps=Runtime.getRuntime().exec (new String[]{"cmd","/c","cls"});
 ps.waitFor();

Well, here's the program I wrote. The screen isn't cleared. Anything wrong?

Both display strings are displayed and no exceptions are displayed.

public class ClearScreen
{
   public static void main (String args[])
   {
      try
      {
         // Will create a new process
         Process ps=Runtime.getRuntime().exec (new String[]{"cmd","/c","cls"});
         ps.waitFor();
         System.out.println ("After process waitFor : Screen should be clear now?");
      }
      catch (Exception ex)
      {
         System.out.println (ex.toString ());
      }

      System.out.println ("After catch block");
   }
}

[kvprajapati]

I am sorry. In my post: I said, you can't execute dos internal command directly because they are only interpreted by the shell (cmd command).
I apologize for the inconvenience.
PS: exec() method cannot read or write anything interactively. It has getInputStream(), and getOutputStream() methods.

[john_beginner]

@ adatapost

sorry but it's n't work !!!!

Method

Runtime.getRuntime().exec()

requires an external command. CLS is internal dos command.
To run internal command using exec() we have to use CMD (external) command.
Try it at command prompt.

>cmd /?   -- help
  >cmd /c cls

// Will create a new process
 Process ps=Runtime.getRuntime().exec (new String[]{"cmd","/c","cls"});
 ps.waitFor();

[michinobu_zoned]

Y'know, I've tried some of the methods that you guys mentioned, and they didn't do split!
Here's what I did:

Declarations:

Runtime runtime;
		Process process;
		int errno = 0;
		BufferedReader reader;

After getting some input, I go to clear the screen:

runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
			// define the Process object and clear the screen.
			process = runtime.exec("cmd /c cls");
			while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null)
			{
				System.out.println(line);
			}
			System.out.flush();
			reader.close();
			errno = process.waitFor();
			System.out.println("\"cmd /c cls\" returned " + errno);

The results were:

Enter something
blah

"cmd /c cls" returned 0

What I couldn't show you in the above quote, is a little "square" that was returned by the output of the cmd utility.

I am sorry. In my post: I said, you can't execute dos internal command directly because they are only interpreted by the shell (cmd command).
I apologize for the inconvenience.
PS: exec() method cannot read or write anything interactively. It has getInputStream(), and getOutputStream() methods.

So, it would look like that the only way to clear the screen in java is to execute some sort of method in the PrintStream class. Am I right?

I looked it up the methods at (PrintStream Class Documentation (Java SE 6)) and it wasn't there. It seems that there isn't any way to clear the screen in Java. If my observation is wrong, then can someone please post the solution to this problem? It seems lazy for the Java people not to provide a means to clear the screen in their library when Microsoft has been providing this luxury to programmers for decades!

[bskjois]

I tried all the above but no use.
one thing i didn't get is i don't know in which package the function Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cls"); is...???

[Ezzaral]

Did you check the API?

[muthukswamy]

Why do you have to complicate things? The answer is simple.

System.out.print("\f");

[Ezzaral]

Why do you have to complicate things? The answer is simple.

System.out.print("\f");

And did you try that before you posted it?

[muthukswamy]

And did you try that before you posted it?

I have used that for my java project that runs in dos.

[Ezzaral]

It certainly doesn't work in a Win7 command window - it prints an ankh symbol.

[kvprajapati]

Use Jansi

Jansi is a small java library that allows you to use ANSI escape sequences to format your console output which works even on windows.

Steps:

1. Download the jansi-1.6.jar

2. Code to test jansi api.

import org.fusesource.jansi.*;

public class Test
{
  public static void main(String []args)
  {
       AnsiConsole.systemInstall();
       Ansi ansi=Ansi.ansi();
        
       System.out.println(ansi.eraseScreen());

       AnsiConsole.out.println(ansi.bg(Ansi.Color.RED) + "Hello");
 }
}

3. Compile and run

>javac -cp .;jansi-1.6.jar Test.java

>java -cp .;jansi-1.6.jar Test

[shre]

System.out.print("\f");

works for me
there are diffrent commands recognigzed for different versions

[stultuske]

shre: this thread hasn't been answred/ followed for almost a year, I think the OP (who asked the question over two years ago) by now has his/her answer or doesn't really care anymore.