start-xterm

This task starts an X terminal, or short XTerm (or xterm), with a set title and command to run in it. The title can be set with title. For blanks in the title use quotes, for instance --title "My XTERM".

-h | --help           print help screen and exit
-t | --title TITLE    title for the XTerm, default: command name

The command to run in the started XTerm should be provided to the task after --. The task assumes that the first word there is the command name (which then is used as the default title). All text after -- will be taken as command.

Note: this task does not take any effort to hold the XTerm, i.e. to keep it open after the command finished. Use the hold option of your preferred XTerm in XTERM to realize this feature.

Examples

Start an XTerm, use the default title, and run ls | more as command.

start-xterm — ls | more

Requirements

The actual command for starting an XTerm must be provided in XTERM. If this parameter is not set, the task will print an error and exit. Examples for setting XTERM are:

  • standard executable: xterm -T %TITLE% -e %COMMAND%

  • MinTTY on Cygwin: mintty -t %TITLE% %COMMAND%

  • XFCE 4 Terminal: xfce4-terminal --disable-server --title='%TITLE%' -x %COMMAND%

More information on the parameter XTERM can be found in the framework manual.