printf data type specifier complex question

Question

printf("\e[2J\e[0;0H");

What does this line mean?

Can I know what to learn and from where to understand this statement?

Looks like some terminal control codes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code — Eugene Sh., May 11 '20 at 16:27
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code This will offer some help. — KagurazakaKotori, May 11 '20 at 16:30

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 11 '20 at 19:47

"\e" as an escape sequence is not part of the C standard.

A number of compilers treat the otherwise undefined behavior as a character with the value of 27 - the ASCII escape character.

Alternative well defined code:

//printf("\e[2J\e[0;0H");
printf("\x1B[2J\x1b[0;0H");
printf("\033[2J\033[0;0H");
#define ESC "\033"
printf(ESC "[2J" ESC "[0;0H");

The escape character introduces ANSI escape sequences as well answered in @Mickael B.. Select terminals implement some of these sequences.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 11 '20 at 16:51

These sequences define functions that change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys.

It starts with \e[ and the following characters define what should happen.

Esc[2J Erase Display: Clears the screen and moves the cursor to the home position (line 0, column 0).

Esc[Line;ColumnH Cursor Position: Moves the cursor to the specified position (coordinates).

2 Answers2