bash - How to make a text blink in shell script

Bash - How to make a text blink in shell script

In a shell script, you can make text blink by using ANSI escape codes. However, be aware that the blinking text feature is not supported by all terminal emulators, and its behavior can vary. The blinking text feature is often disabled in many modern terminals due to accessibility concerns.

Here is an example of how you can create blinking text in a shell script using ANSI escape codes:

Example: Blinking Text

#!/bin/bash # ANSI escape code for blinking text BLINK="\033[5m" # ANSI escape code to reset text attributes to default RESET="\033[0m" # Your message MESSAGE="This is blinking text!" # Display the blinking text echo -e "${BLINK}${MESSAGE}${RESET}"

Explanation

  1. BLINK: The ANSI escape code \033[5m enables the blinking text effect.
  2. RESET: The ANSI escape code \033[0m resets all text attributes to their defaults, stopping the blink effect.
  3. MESSAGE: The text string you want to display as blinking.
  4. echo -e: The -e option enables interpretation of backslash escapes, allowing the ANSI escape codes to be processed.

Running the Script

  1. Save the script to a file, e.g., blink_text.sh.

  2. Make the script executable:

    chmod +x blink_text.sh

  3. Run the script:

    ./blink_text.sh

Note

  • Terminal Compatibility: As mentioned, not all terminals support blinking text. The above script may not produce blinking text in some terminal emulators.
  • Disabling Blinking: Some modern terminal emulators disable blinking text by default. In such cases, you might need to enable it in the terminal settings or use a terminal that supports this feature.

Alternative: Blinking with a Loop

If your terminal does not support the blinking text feature, you can simulate blinking by repeatedly printing and erasing the text in a loop:

#!/bin/bash # Your message MESSAGE="This is blinking text!" # Loop to create a blinking effect while true; do # Print the message echo -ne "\r${MESSAGE}" sleep 0.5 # Erase the message echo -ne "\r " sleep 0.5 done

Explanation

  1. echo -ne: The -n option prevents the newline character, and the -e option enables interpretation of backslash escapes.
  2. \r: The carriage return escape sequence returns the cursor to the beginning of the line.
  3. sleep 0.5: Pauses the script for 0.5 seconds, creating the blinking effect.

Stopping the Script

To stop the script, press Ctrl+C.

These methods provide a way to create blinking text in a shell script, with the first method using ANSI escape codes and the alternative method simulating blinking through a loop.

Examples

  1. "Bash script to make text blink using ANSI escape codes"

    Description: This query demonstrates how to make text blink in a bash script using ANSI escape codes.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash # Blink text using ANSI escape codes echo -e "\033[5mThis text will blink\033[0m"

  2. "How to create a blinking effect for text in bash script with sleep"

    Description: This query shows how to create a blinking effect by alternating between showing and hiding text with sleep.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Display blinking text echo -e "\033[5mBlinking text\033[0m" sleep 0.5 # Clear the line echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep 0.5 done

  3. "Make text blink in bash script using tput for terminal control"

    Description: This query demonstrates using tput to control text attributes and create a blinking effect in a terminal.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Enable blinking tput blink echo -n "Blinking text" sleep 0.5 # Disable blinking tput sgr0 echo -n "\r" sleep 0.5 done

  4. "Bash script to blink text in color using ANSI codes"

    Description: This query illustrates how to make colored text blink using ANSI escape codes for color and blinking effects.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Display blinking colored text echo -e "\033[5;31mThis text will blink in red\033[0m" sleep 0.5 # Clear the line echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep 0.5 done

  5. "Create a blinking effect for text in bash script using loop and clear command"

    Description: This query shows how to create a blinking effect by using a loop and the clear command to refresh the screen.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Clear screen clear # Display blinking text echo -e "\033[5mBlinking text\033[0m" sleep 0.5 # Clear screen clear sleep 0.5 done

  6. "Bash script to make text blink with variable timing"

    Description: This query demonstrates how to make text blink with configurable timing intervals in a bash script.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash # Set blink timing ON_TIME=0.5 OFF_TIME=0.5 while true; do # Display blinking text echo -e "\033[5mBlinking text\033[0m" sleep "$ON_TIME" # Clear the line echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep "$OFF_TIME" done

  7. "Bash script to blink text with custom color and style"

    Description: This query shows how to create a blinking effect with custom colors and text styles using ANSI escape codes.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Display blinking bold and blue text echo -e "\033[5;34;1mThis text will blink in blue and bold\033[0m" sleep 0.5 # Clear the line echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep 0.5 done

  8. "How to stop blinking text effect in a bash script"

    Description: This query explains how to stop the blinking effect and restore normal text display in a bash script.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Display blinking text echo -e "\033[5mBlinking text\033[0m" sleep 0.5 # Clear the line echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep 0.5 # Condition to exit blinking loop if [ condition ]; then break fi done # Restore normal text echo "Blinking stopped"

  9. "Bash script for blinking text effect with progress indication"

    Description: This query demonstrates how to create a blinking effect along with a progress indicator.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash while true; do # Display blinking text with progress echo -e "\033[5mProcessing...\033[0m" sleep 0.5 echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep 0.5 # Show progress echo -n "Progress: [##### ]" sleep 1 echo -e "\r\033[K" done

  10. "Implement blinking text effect with bash script for terminal applications"

    Description: This query shows how to implement a blinking text effect specifically designed for terminal applications using bash scripting.

    Code:

    #!/bin/bash # Define text to blink text="Terminal Blinking Text" while true; do # Display blinking text echo -e "\033[5m$text\033[0m" sleep 0.5 # Clear the line echo -e "\r\033[K" sleep 0.5 done

More Tags

http-status-code-400 array-formulas nameof boto3 nio corpus entity-framework-4.1 v8 flurl database-deadlocks

More Programming Questions

More Housing Building Calculators

More Mortgage and Real Estate Calculators

More Date and Time Calculators

More Statistics Calculators