temp-text 2026.1.1

A simple package to allow for text on the terminal which is overwritten by the next call to print.

temp_text

usage

from time import sleep

import temp_text

for i in range(100):
    if i % 10 == 0:
        print(f"Found special number: {i}")
    temp_text.prnt(f"Looking at {i}")
    sleep(0.3)

from time import sleep
from itertools import *

import temp_text

for c in chain.from_iterable(tee("-\\|/", 10)):
    temp_text.prnt(c)
    sleep(0.3)

import os

import temp_text

for d, _, _ in os.walk("/"):
    temp_text.prnt(d)

description

A simple package to allow for text on the terminal which is overwritten by the next call to print.

prnt

Print a temporary string to the console. Must not contain newline characters, because only the line the cursor is currently on is cleared. This function calls hide if there is a temporary string on the console.

If trim_to_width is True (this is the default), then the string has some characters in the middle replaced with ellipsis so it does not span multiple lines.

hide

Clears the line the cursor is currently on if there is a temporary string there.

Hide is also called if the program exits.

use_write_guards

If this setting is True (this is the default) then calling regular print (or any other function that invokes sys.stdout.write or sys.stderr.write) first clears the current line, assuming there is a temporary string there.

import temp_text
temp_text.use_write_guards = False
temp_text.prnt("Hello, World")
# Output: "Hello, World"
print("Hello, World!")
# Output: "Hello, WorldHello, World!"
# If you inserted a temp_text.hide() before the print,
# then the output would be the expected "Hello, World!"
# use_write_guards = True does this automatically