Changing the terminal title bar with Python

[Steven D'Aprano]

You might find this useful, or just for fun, but on POSIX systems (Linux,
Unix, Apple Mac, but not Windows) you can change the title of the
terminal window from Python. Not all terminals support this feature, but
those which emulate an xterm do.

import os

GOOD_TERMINALS = ["xterm"]

def set_title(msg):
# Tell the terminal to change the current title.
if os.getenv("TERM") in GOOD_TERMINALS:
print("\x1B]0;%s\x07" % msg)


If this doesn't work for you, check that your terminal actually is an
xterm, or at least emulates one correctly. Some other terminal types may
also work, in which case you'll need to add them into the GOOD_TERMINALS
list.

If your terminal is configured wrongly, changing the title may fail, for
example if the locale is not set correctly. In this case, I can't help
you, but googling may lead to some solutions.

Another thing which may interfere with this is the Unix "screen" program.
If so, try adding a line like this to your .screenrc file:

termcapinfo xterm 'hs:ts=\E]2;:fs=\007:ds=\E]2;screen\007'

See here for more information:
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO/x395.html

Some terminals, like Konsole, may insist on appending their own text
after the title.


How about reading the terminal title?

xterms used to have a feature where they would write the title back to
standard input. Unfortunately, it has been disabled for security reasons,
so I haven't been able to get this to work (not that I tried very
hard...), but you might like to experiment with this:

import sys
def get_title():
# Read the current terminal title.
# This is usually disabled for security reasons.
if os.getenv("TERM") in GOOD_TERMINALS:
print("\x1B[23t")
return sys.stdin.read()
return ''


More recent xterms allegedly implement a title stack, where you can tell
the terminal to save the current title, then restore it afterwards.
Again, I haven't been able to get this to work, but have fun
experimenting with it:

def save_title():
# Tell the terminal to save the current title.
if os.getenv("TERM") in GOOD_TERMINALS:
print("\x1B[22t")

def restore_title():
# Restore the previously saved terminal title.
if os.getenv("TERM") in GOOD_TERMINALS:
print("\x1B[23t")


This post was inspired by this recipe on ActiveState:

http://code.activestate.com/recipes/578662

 

[dickey]

xterms used to have a feature where they would write the title back to
standard input. Unfortunately, it has been disabled for security reasons,
so I haven't been able to get this to work (not that I tried very
hard...), but you might like to experiment with this:

Actually in "xterm" it is configurable (the allowWindowOps resource).
xterm "emulators" lack that (and most of xterm's) configurability.

More recent xterms allegedly implement a title stack, where you can tell
the terminal to save the current title, then restore it afterwards.
Again, I haven't been able to get this to work, but have fun
experimenting with it:

http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log-contents.html#xterm_251

It is used in "newer" screen, and vi-like-emacs.

 

[Tim Roberts]

You might find this useful, or just for fun, but on POSIX systems (Linux,
Unix, Apple Mac, but not Windows) you can change the title of the
terminal window from Python.

Just for completeness, this is also possible in Windows, assuming you have
installed py32win, which virtually every Windows Python user does:

import win32console
win32console.SetConsoleTitle(msg)

 

[Anssi Saari]

Actually in "xterm" it is configurable (the allowWindowOps resource).
xterm "emulators" lack that (and most of xterm's) configurability.

Curious. I was able to do the title store and restore after allowing
WindowOps in xterm version 278 (from the ctrl-rightclick menu) but
reading the title didn't work any better.