Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

erfanjoker · 2019-10-04 12:33:37

Hi,
How can i open a terminal (xfce4,gnome,kde konsole or etc, terminals) with a pre-written command in it ?

example :

xfce4-terminal MYCOMMAND="sudo su"

i want something like above, that when i run it, i would be able to open an xfce4-terminal with command "sudo su" pre-written in it, so that i can hit enter and run the command

note: i dont want to run a command by script or ..., i just want to show a terminal with a command that user can press enter to run it, nothing more

Last edited by erfanjoker (2019-10-05 14:03:33)

Trilby · 2019-10-04 12:40:02

If needing to press enter is a requirement, it really can't be done like that. You could fake it with some variation of `xfce4-terminal -e /bin/bash -c "echo -n \"sudo su"; sudo su`. Alternatively you could use xdotool to simulate key presses on the terminal to "type" in that line.

But this sounds a lot like an X-Y problem. First note that `sudo su` itself doesn't make much sense. What are you actually trying to do?

erfanjoker · 2019-10-04 18:13:49

Im trying to make my own shortcuts, for example when i press some keys, i want to open terminal with command : pacman -Syyu
but i want the user submittion by pressing enter to run the command, not just running the command by its own

ProgrammAbel · 2019-10-04 18:37:12

Using the -e and -H flags can achieve this, like so:

xfce4-terminal -H -e "pacman -Syu"

Next time, try checking the man pages when you face a problem like this. It'll save you a bunch of time

progandy · 2019-10-04 18:43:11

Maybe you can run expect in the terminal and write a script that spawns a shell, does some things and then gives control to you?

erfanjoker · 2019-10-04 19:21:39

ProgrammAbel wrote:

Using the -e and -H flags can achieve this, like so:
xfce4-terminal -H -e "pacman -Syu"
Next time, try checking the man pages when you face a problem like this. It'll save you a bunch of time

I need user to hit enter to run the command, this will open the terminal running that command

erfanjoker · 2019-10-04 19:23:01

progandy wrote:

Maybe you can run expect in the terminal and write a script that spawns a shell, does some things and then gives control to you?

I dont really get what you mean, can you please explain more ?

Trilby · 2019-10-04 19:23:51

ProgrammAbel wrote:

Using the -e and -H flags can achieve this

No, it will not. The OP wants the command to *not* execute until enter is pressed. -H just keeps the terminal open after the command has run to completion.

Just add a read command or similar:

xfce4-terminal -e /bin/bash -c "read -p \"Press Enter to run 'sudo pacman -Syu'\" && sudo pacman -Syu"

Last edited by Trilby (2019-10-04 19:25:26)

seth · 2019-10-04 19:57:59

If you don't hang on the specific behavior, I'd suggest to invoke "dialog" since it can provide the user w/ context and a TUI to ok/cancel.
You can even take the sudo password from there.

progandy · 2019-10-04 20:06:22

erfanjoker wrote:

I dont really get what you mean, can you please explain more ?

expect can be used to automate terminal input and react to output, for example like this:

xterm  -e /usr/bin/expect -c 'spawn /usr/bin/bash ; expect "$ " ; send "pacman -Syu" ; interact ; exit'

Edit: Trilby has a probably better solution, just don't forget -H to keep the terminal open so you can read the pacman output.

Last edited by progandy (2019-10-04 20:09:26)

peterklarc · 2019-10-04 21:34:30

I know you don't want a script but what's the problem with a script? Using this for years:

#!/bin/bash
lxterminal --geometry=80x25 --title="Updating" \
  -e bash -c "echo 'Command: pacman -Syyu';sudo pacman -Syyu; echo "---------"; echo '[Press <Enter> to Close Terminal]'; read line" &

loqs · 2019-10-04 21:41:01

peterklarc wrote:

Using this for years:

#!/bin/bash
lxterminal --geometry=80x25 --title="Updating" \
  -e bash -c "echo 'Command: pacman -Syyu';sudo pacman -Syyu; echo "---------"; echo '[Press <Enter> to Close Terminal]'; read line" &

Unless your mirror is broken you do not need to pass y twice to pacman.

peterklarc · 2019-10-04 22:42:10

loqs I have another one with pacman -Syu

erfanjoker · 2019-10-05 11:47:18

Trilby wrote:

ProgrammAbel wrote:
Using the -e and -H flags can achieve this
No, it will not. The OP wants the command to *not* execute until enter is pressed. -H just keeps the terminal open after the command has run to completion.
Just add a read command or similar:
xfce4-terminal -e /bin/bash -c "read -p \"Press Enter to run 'sudo pacman -Syu'\" && sudo pacman -Syu"

Thanks for response but it gives error below :

[erfan@erfan ~]$ xfce4-terminal -e /bin/bash -c "read -p \"Press Enter to run 'sudo pacman -Syu'\" && sudo pacman -Syu"
xfce4-terminal: Unknown option "-c"

erfanjoker · 2019-10-05 11:48:33

progandy wrote:

erfanjoker wrote:
I dont really get what you mean, can you please explain more ?
expect can be used to automate terminal input and react to output, for example like this:
xterm  -e /usr/bin/expect -c 'spawn /usr/bin/bash ; expect "$ " ; send "pacman -Syu" ; interact ; exit'
Edit: Trilby has a probably better solution, just don't forget -H to keep the terminal open so you can read the pacman output.

Thanks for your response, this trick worked but it just works in xterm, i need a more-global command based on default desktop envirnoment choice for terminal (eg: xfce => xfce4-terminal, gnome => gnome-terminal , ...)

Trilby · 2019-10-05 11:54:43

Apparently in xfce4-terminal, the -x flag does what the -e flag does in most other terminals. This applies to Seth's suggestion as well: his works in xterm because it similarly uses the -e flag (which should be changed to -x for xfce4-terminal).

But if you want something that is terminal agnostic, use the -e flag and accept that it will work with almost every terminal except xfce4-terminal. Otherwise, use a script which would be much cleaner and easier anyways.

Last edited by Trilby (2019-10-05 11:59:48)

progandy · 2019-10-05 11:57:49

Terminals interpret the -e option differently. For some you have to give the complete command as a single parameter (e.g. termite), others take the rest of the commandline (e.g. xterm). For xfce4-terminal either put everything in a single parameter for -e or replace -e with -x
https://jlk.fjfi.cvut.cz/arch/manpages/ … ab_Options

termite  -e '/usr/bin/expect -c "spawn /usr/bin/bash ; expect \"$ \" ; send \"pacman -Syu\" ; interact ; exit"'

PS: This command has another issue if you want to be shell as well as terminal agnostic: It depends on the shell prompt containing "$ ". Therefore, writing an executable shell script and simply setting its path with the "-e" parameter is the portable solution.

Last edited by progandy (2019-10-05 12:03:12)

Trilby · 2019-10-05 12:31:08

Here's a shell and terminal agnostic script for running any command in this manner - just pass the full command you want to run as arguments to this script:

#!/bin/sh

[ $# -lt 1 ] && exit 1

if [ $1 == 'TERM' ]; then
	shift
	read -p "$(printf 'Ready to run: %s\n-- Press Enter To Continue --' "$*")"
	"$@"
	ret=$?
	read -p "$(printf 'Completed: %s\n-- Press Enter To Exit --' "$*")"
	exit $ret
fi

case $TERM in
	xterm*|rxvt*|st*) $TERM -e $0 TERM "$@" ;;
	termite|xfce4-terminal) $TERM -x $0 TERM "$@" ;;
	*) xterm -e $0 TERM "$@" ;;
esac

You may want to expand the list of terminal emulators in the case statement. If you call this script "run_in_term" you can just execute (or bind to a key) commands like `run_in_term pacman -Syu`.

erfanjoker · 2019-10-05 14:03:08

Thank you all guys, this did the trick

xfce4-terminal -x /usr/bin/expect -c 'spawn /usr/bin/bash ; expect "$ " ; send "sudo pacman -Syu" ; interact ; exit'

Arch Linux

#1 2019-10-04 12:33:37

Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#2 2019-10-04 12:40:02

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#3 2019-10-04 18:13:49

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#4 2019-10-04 18:37:12

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#5 2019-10-04 18:43:11

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#6 2019-10-04 19:21:39

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#7 2019-10-04 19:23:01

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#8 2019-10-04 19:23:51

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#9 2019-10-04 19:57:59

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#10 2019-10-04 20:06:22

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#11 2019-10-04 21:34:30

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#12 2019-10-04 21:41:01

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#13 2019-10-04 22:42:10

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#14 2019-10-05 11:47:18

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#15 2019-10-05 11:48:33

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#16 2019-10-05 11:54:43

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#17 2019-10-05 11:57:49

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#18 2019-10-05 12:31:08

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

#19 2019-10-05 14:03:08

Re: Open Terminal with pre-written command in it [SOLVED]

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