How to do it...

Here are some capabilities of the tput command:

• Return the number of columns and rows in a terminal:

        tput cols
        tput lines

• Return the current terminal name:

        tput longname

• Move the cursor to a 100,100 position:

        tput cup 100 100

• Set the terminal background color:

        tput setb n

The value of n can be a value in the range of 0 to 7

• Set the terminal foreground color:

        tput setf n

The value of n can be a value in the range of 0 to 7

• Make text bold, using this command:

        tput bold

• Perform start and end underlining:

        tput smul
        tput rmul

• To delete from the cursor to the end of the line, use the following command:

        tput ed

• A script should not display the characters while entering a password. The following example demonstrates disabling character echo with the stty command:

        #!/bin/sh
        #Filename: password.sh
        echo -e "Enter password: "
        # disable echo before reading password
        stty -echo
        read password
        # re-enable echo
        stty echo
        echo
        echo Password read.