netbsd man page for clear

TPUT(1) 						    BSD General Commands Manual 						   TPUT(1)

NAME
     tput, clear -- terminal capability interface

SYNOPSIS
     tput [-T term] attribute [attribute-args] ...

DESCRIPTION
     tput makes terminal-dependent information available to users or shell applications.  The options are as follows:

     -T      The terminal name as specified in the terminfo(5) database, for example, ``vt100'' or ``xterm''.  If not specified, tput retrieves
	     the ``TERM'' variable from the environment.

     tput outputs a string if the attribute is of type string; a number if it is of type integer.  Otherwise, tput exits 0 if the terminal has the
     capability and 1 if it does not, without further action.

     If the attribute is of type string, and takes arguments (e.g. cursor movement, the terminfo ``cup'' sequence) the arguments are taken from
     the command line immediately following the attribute.

     The following special attributes are available:

     clear	   Clear the screen (the terminfo(5) ``cl'' sequence).

     init	   Initialize the terminal (the terminfo(5) ``is2'' sequence).

     longname	   Print the descriptive name of the user's terminal type.

     reset	   Reset the terminal (the terminfo(5) ``rs1, rs2, rs3'' and ``rf'' sequence).

EXIT STATUS
     The exit status of tput is based on the last attribute specified.	If the attribute is of type string or of type integer, tput exits 0 if the
     attribute is defined for this terminal type and 1 if it is not.  If the attribute is of type boolean, tput exits 0 if the terminal has this
     attribute, and 1 if it does not.  tput exits 2 if any error occurred.

EXAMPLES
     tput cl cm 5 10	clear the screen and goto line 5 column 10

     tput cm 6 11 DC 6	goto line 6 column 11 and delete 6 characters

SEE ALSO
     termcap(3), termcap(5)

HISTORY
     The tput command appears in 4.4BSD.

BUGS
     tput can't really distinguish between different types of attributes.

     Not all terminfo entries contain the reset sequence, so using the init sequence may be more useful.

BSD
								September 29, 2009							       BSD