Using the -p option instead of echo I found solved the hanging problem in a script. Tested with GNU bash, version 3.00.16(1)-release (x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu) I found.
IFS=';' read -sdR -p $'\E[6n' ROW COL;echo "${ROW#*[}"
works interactively or in a script:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
function pos
{
local CURPOS
read -sdR -p $'\E[6n' CURPOS
CURPOS=${CURPOS#*[} # Strip decoration characters <ESC>[
echo "${CURPOS}" # Return position in "row;col" format
}
function row
{
local COL
local ROW
IFS=';' read -sdR -p $'\E[6n' ROW COL
echo "${ROW#*[}"
}
function col
{
local COL
local ROW
IFS=';' read -sdR -p $'\E[6n' ROW COL
echo "${COL}"
}
tput sc # Save cursor position
tput cup 5 10 # Move to row 6 col 11
POS1=$(pos) # Get the cursor position
ROW1=$(row)
COL1=$(col)
tput cup 25 15 # Move to row 25 col 15
POS2=$(pos) # Get the cursor position
ROW2=$(row)
COL2=$(col)
tput rc # Restore cursor position
echo $BASH_VERSION
echo $POS1 $ROW1 $COL1
echo $POS2 $ROW2 $COL2
Outputs:
$./cursor.sh 3.00.16(1)-release 6;11 6 11 26;16 26 16