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Is it possible to obtain the current name of the xterm window?

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8

This LDP Howto demonstrates how to change the title of an xterm.

I know that this is also possible using the xtitle command.

Before invoking a long-running action, my script uses such techniques to change the title of its xterm window.

I would like to extract the name of the xterm window prior to changing it so that, once the long-running action is completed, I can restore the title to its previous value.

It would sort of be an inverse to xtitle... Is this even possible?

xterm

share|improve this question

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Related stackoverflow question. It looks like xterm has a stack for window title, if you can figure out how to use it.
  
  – jw013
  Jan 7 '12 at 3:36
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

8

This LDP Howto demonstrates how to change the title of an xterm.

I know that this is also possible using the xtitle command.

Before invoking a long-running action, my script uses such techniques to change the title of its xterm window.

I would like to extract the name of the xterm window prior to changing it so that, once the long-running action is completed, I can restore the title to its previous value.

It would sort of be an inverse to xtitle... Is this even possible?

xterm

share|improve this question

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Related stackoverflow question. It looks like xterm has a stack for window title, if you can figure out how to use it.
  
  – jw013
  Jan 7 '12 at 3:36
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

This LDP Howto demonstrates how to change the title of an xterm.

I know that this is also possible using the xtitle command.

Before invoking a long-running action, my script uses such techniques to change the title of its xterm window.

I would like to extract the name of the xterm window prior to changing it so that, once the long-running action is completed, I can restore the title to its previous value.

It would sort of be an inverse to xtitle... Is this even possible?

xterm

share|improve this question

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

share|improve this question

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

share|improve this question

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

asked Jan 7 '12 at 3:09

TheGeeko61TheGeeko61

2,54133 gold badges1313 silver badges1717 bronze badges

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

4

Use xtitle script.

There are many variants on internet, however, I tend to use one which depends on xprop

http://www.shelldorado.com/scripts/cmds/xtitle

share|improve this answer

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Excellent! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for... and it not only works for xterm but (unlike other solutions) also works for gnome-terminal. Thank YOU!
  
  – TheGeeko61
  Jan 7 '12 at 19:02
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Do note though that obtaining the title via the X protocol, which is what xtitle does, only works for local sessions.
  
  – ak2
  Jan 7 '12 at 20:07
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

8

There is a control sequence for querying the current title, but it's usually disabled for security reasons. That's because it allows a malicious program or even just a catted text file to insert arbitrary character sequences as if typed on the keyboard, by first setting the title and then asking to have it reported back. Hence the title stack was introduced instead.

The following command will save the current window and icon titles onto the stack:

echo -ne 'e[22t'

This will set the title to my title:

echo -ne 'e]0;my title07'

And this will restore the prior window and icon titles:

echo -ne 'e[23t'

share|improve this answer

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

2

For the trivial, (and probably most common case), where one might wish to query the prompt for the current xterm, simply use xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME. If you want to extract the value for manipulation in a shell script, you can do something a bit more expensive such as:

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME|awk '{print $3}'|xargs echo`

Using bash alone (to avoid the invocation of awk and xargs):

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME`

   curtitle=`eval echo ${x##*=}`

The xargs echo in the first example and the eval in the second example is simply there to strip off the quotes that xprop puts around the value.

Replace WM_NAME with WM_ICON if you want to obtain the icon name rather than the string in the title-bar.

share|improve this answer

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

-1

If I understand your question right, you should be able to get the current xterm title by inspecting the $PROMPT_COMMAND variable, e.g:

$ echo $PROMPT_COMMAND 

printf "33]0;%s@%s:%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"

and you can set it like (linebreak for readability):

PROMPT_COMMAND=${PROMPT_COMMAND:+$PROMPT_COMMAND; }'printf "33]

0;%s@%s%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"'

share|improve this answer

answered Jan 7 '12 at 10:41

user13742

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  The PROMPT_COMMAND is not the most authoritative way to get the title since it is not always set, and any command you run could change the title between prompts. For the most accuracy, terminal emulator specific control sequences are probably the way to go.
  
  – jw013
  Jan 7 '12 at 17:39
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This would not work for cases where other apps are setting the title.
  
  – TheGeeko61
  Jan 7 '12 at 18:55
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  The $PROMPT_COMMAND is not the window title. They are unrelated.
  
  – JamesThomasMoon1979
  3 hours ago
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

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4

Use xtitle script.

There are many variants on internet, however, I tend to use one which depends on xprop

http://www.shelldorado.com/scripts/cmds/xtitle

share|improve this answer

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Excellent! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for... and it not only works for xterm but (unlike other solutions) also works for gnome-terminal. Thank YOU!
  
  – TheGeeko61
  Jan 7 '12 at 19:02
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Do note though that obtaining the title via the X protocol, which is what xtitle does, only works for local sessions.
  
  – ak2
  Jan 7 '12 at 20:07
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

4

Use xtitle script.

There are many variants on internet, however, I tend to use one which depends on xprop

http://www.shelldorado.com/scripts/cmds/xtitle

share|improve this answer

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Excellent! This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for... and it not only works for xterm but (unlike other solutions) also works for gnome-terminal. Thank YOU!
  
  – TheGeeko61
  Jan 7 '12 at 19:02
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Do note though that obtaining the title via the X protocol, which is what xtitle does, only works for local sessions.
  
  – ak2
  Jan 7 '12 at 20:07
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment
 | 

Use xtitle script.

There are many variants on internet, however, I tend to use one which depends on xprop

http://www.shelldorado.com/scripts/cmds/xtitle

share|improve this answer

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 12:55

Nikhil MulleyNikhil Mulley

6,6362222 silver badges4545 bronze badges

8

There is a control sequence for querying the current title, but it's usually disabled for security reasons. That's because it allows a malicious program or even just a catted text file to insert arbitrary character sequences as if typed on the keyboard, by first setting the title and then asking to have it reported back. Hence the title stack was introduced instead.

The following command will save the current window and icon titles onto the stack:

echo -ne 'e[22t'

This will set the title to my title:

echo -ne 'e]0;my title07'

And this will restore the prior window and icon titles:

echo -ne 'e[23t'

share|improve this answer

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

8

There is a control sequence for querying the current title, but it's usually disabled for security reasons. That's because it allows a malicious program or even just a catted text file to insert arbitrary character sequences as if typed on the keyboard, by first setting the title and then asking to have it reported back. Hence the title stack was introduced instead.

The following command will save the current window and icon titles onto the stack:

echo -ne 'e[22t'

This will set the title to my title:

echo -ne 'e]0;my title07'

And this will restore the prior window and icon titles:

echo -ne 'e[23t'

share|improve this answer

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

There is a control sequence for querying the current title, but it's usually disabled for security reasons. That's because it allows a malicious program or even just a catted text file to insert arbitrary character sequences as if typed on the keyboard, by first setting the title and then asking to have it reported back. Hence the title stack was introduced instead.

The following command will save the current window and icon titles onto the stack:

echo -ne 'e[22t'

This will set the title to my title:

echo -ne 'e]0;my title07'

And this will restore the prior window and icon titles:

echo -ne 'e[23t'

share|improve this answer

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

echo -ne 'e[22t'

echo -ne 'e]0;my title07'

echo -ne 'e[23t'

share|improve this answer

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

edited 27 mins ago

RalfFriedl

6,10144 gold badges1313 silver badges2626 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

answered Jan 7 '12 at 9:43

ak2ak2

9,57311 gold badge1313 silver badges99 bronze badges

2

For the trivial, (and probably most common case), where one might wish to query the prompt for the current xterm, simply use xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME. If you want to extract the value for manipulation in a shell script, you can do something a bit more expensive such as:

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME|awk '{print $3}'|xargs echo`

Using bash alone (to avoid the invocation of awk and xargs):

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME`

   curtitle=`eval echo ${x##*=}`

The xargs echo in the first example and the eval in the second example is simply there to strip off the quotes that xprop puts around the value.

Replace WM_NAME with WM_ICON if you want to obtain the icon name rather than the string in the title-bar.

share|improve this answer

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

2

For the trivial, (and probably most common case), where one might wish to query the prompt for the current xterm, simply use xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME. If you want to extract the value for manipulation in a shell script, you can do something a bit more expensive such as:

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME|awk '{print $3}'|xargs echo`

Using bash alone (to avoid the invocation of awk and xargs):

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME`

   curtitle=`eval echo ${x##*=}`

The xargs echo in the first example and the eval in the second example is simply there to strip off the quotes that xprop puts around the value.

Replace WM_NAME with WM_ICON if you want to obtain the icon name rather than the string in the title-bar.

share|improve this answer

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

add a comment
 | 

For the trivial, (and probably most common case), where one might wish to query the prompt for the current xterm, simply use xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME. If you want to extract the value for manipulation in a shell script, you can do something a bit more expensive such as:

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME|awk '{print $3}'|xargs echo`

Using bash alone (to avoid the invocation of awk and xargs):

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME`

   curtitle=`eval echo ${x##*=}`

The xargs echo in the first example and the eval in the second example is simply there to strip off the quotes that xprop puts around the value.

Replace WM_NAME with WM_ICON if you want to obtain the icon name rather than the string in the title-bar.

share|improve this answer

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME|awk '{print $3}'|xargs echo`

   curtitle=`xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME`

   curtitle=`eval echo ${x##*=}`

share|improve this answer

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

answered Jun 29 '15 at 16:55

Keith HanlanKeith Hanlan

12133 bronze badges

$ echo $PROMPT_COMMAND 

printf "33]0;%s@%s:%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"

PROMPT_COMMAND=${PROMPT_COMMAND:+$PROMPT_COMMAND; }'printf "33]

0;%s@%s%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"'

$ echo $PROMPT_COMMAND 

printf "33]0;%s@%s:%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"

PROMPT_COMMAND=${PROMPT_COMMAND:+$PROMPT_COMMAND; }'printf "33]

0;%s@%s%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"'

$ echo $PROMPT_COMMAND 

printf "33]0;%s@%s:%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"

PROMPT_COMMAND=${PROMPT_COMMAND:+$PROMPT_COMMAND; }'printf "33]

0;%s@%s%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"'

$ echo $PROMPT_COMMAND 

printf "33]0;%s@%s:%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"

PROMPT_COMMAND=${PROMPT_COMMAND:+$PROMPT_COMMAND; }'printf "33]

0;%s@%s%s07" "${USER}" "${HOSTNAME%%.*}" "${PWD/#$HOME/~}"'