How to make user's input disappear in Python?

Question

I am a beginner, and I am putting together a Christmas game for a family member. In the beginning, the game asks the player for a particular input, let's say the number of wine bottles in the cellar.

Hence, I have written something like this:

correct_wine = 8
wine = int(input("How many wine bottles are there? "))
while correct_wine != wine:
   print("Wrong answer. Please try again.")
   wine = int(input("Number of bottles: "))

At the very end, the game asks the player for the same input.

new_wine = int(input("Just to make sure, how many wine bottles were there? "))
while correct_wine != new_wine:
   print("Perhaps you should go and count them again.")
   new_wine = int(input("Number of bottles: "))

Obviously, I hope that the player has forgotten the number of bottles by the end of the game and has to count them again. However, while the first input remains visible on the screen, it won't be difficult for the player to copy it, thus destroying the point of asking the question again. Is there a way to make the first input disappear?

Sash Sinha · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-12 12:08:20Z

1

You could try calling cls or clear depending on if the users operating system is Windows or not e.g., Darwin(macOS), Linux, etc.:

from platform import system
from subprocess import call

def get_int_input(prompt: str) -> int:
    while True:
        try:
            return int(input(prompt))
        except ValueError:
            print("Error: Enter an integer, try again...")

correct_wine = 8
wine = get_int_input("How many wine bottles are there? ")
while correct_wine != wine:
    print("Wrong answer. Please try again.")
    wine = get_int_input("Number of bottles: ")
print("Correct")

# ... Other parts of your quiz go here

call('cls') if system() == 'Windows' else call('clear')

new_wine = get_int_input("Just to make sure, how many wine bottles were there? ")
while correct_wine != new_wine:
   print("Perhaps you should go and count them again.")
   new_wine = get_int_input("Number of bottles: ")

edited Jun 12, 2022 at 12:08

answered Dec 13, 2020 at 18:49

Sash Sinha

22.8k4 gold badges27 silver badges48 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

aesck Over a year ago

Thank you! The operating system, where I intended to run the code, is macOS, so I assume I'll have to change the "Windows" call in the code to "Darwin", right?

Sash Sinha Over a year ago

It should work as is. system() will return 'Darwin' so the else condition will be run. i.e., call('clear') since 'Darwin' != 'Windows'. For more info see: book.pythontips.com/en/latest/ternary_operators.html

peer · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-13 18:39:03Z

0

The player will write the input on the console, which your Python program has no control over, so no if you use the function input you cannot do it. You can do it with a GUI though or curses where your programm controlls the screen.

answered Dec 13, 2020 at 18:39

peer

4,82913 gold badges57 silver badges90 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to make user's input disappear in Python?

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related