Move one character to the left in the console

Question

In the console you can print "\b" to erase the character left of the cursor (backspace) like this

print "the last char is going to be erased\b" # the last char is going to be erased

How to just move one position to the left instead of erasing (left arrow)?

Answer 1

It depends on the terminal type and connection, but you can usually assume ANSI cursor movement, so cursor-left is ESC + '[' + 'D':

print "The cursor should be between the arrows: -> <-\e[D\e[D\e[D"
readline

See http://ascii-table.com/ansi-escape-sequences.php for more information.