Terminal window scrolling buffer

(If anyone wants to know the crazy thing I'm up to, I'll try to explain.)
I'm interested in finding out the following about the terminal window scrolling buffer:
• The buffer's size evidently would be specified in lines. As received in MAC OS, is it set to the maximum possible? (From what I've been able to glean, as received it is limited to about 8000 lines.)
• If not at the maximum, can the window scrolling buffer size be increased? How? (Googling this returns a lot of info on changing Terminal window characteristics, none of it particularly straightforward.)

This is a reply to BobHarris and Camelot
I've in fact been working in Tiger on a PPC machine -- I needed to be certain an AppleScript I'm working on is compatible.
Based on your responses, I surmised that there have been changes in Terminal -- which I confirmed when I went to Leopard on another machine. I don't have time right at the moment, but I'll look at this issue working with Leopard as that looks like a straightforward preferences setting.
*In the meantime, how about changing the scrolling buffer size in the Tiger version?* As I said, the default size seems to be around 8000 lines; if that can be increased significantly ("unlimited" would be the best) then I'm reasonably certain that a pretty useful improvement in the AS command "do script" will be possible -- more on this later.
****(LATER NOTE)
I just checked the Intel version of Tiger, and found that Terminal was the same as for the PPC version. So this is limited to being a Tiger issue.
Message was edited by: Noaks
Message was edited by: Noaks

Similar Messages

History of a terminal window

I've done this successfully in the past, but at the moment I can't figure out how.
The issue is this: I've using a do script find routine that generates many thousands of files. If I redirect the output to a file in the script bundle, I get an incomplete listing. Previously, I was able to get a complete listing by getting the history of the window (which I've identified via "windows of app "terminal"). The history property of the window is defined as "the contents of the entire scrolling buffer of the window."
Since the find routine was initiated in a fresh shell, the history should be what I want, nothing more, nothing less -- and, previously, that's what I got. But now I'm blanking on exactly how I did that. If, in terminal tell block, I use "set H_ to history of (window id), I get only the initial find command.
Better would be a way of having the entire history of the window redirected in the first place.
(The solution well may dawn on me the instant I post this. The solution probably exists in some draft script on my computer, but at the moment I can't find it.)

Thanks for the comment, but, that doesn't seem to fit with what was happening:
• When I first encountered this, I was redirecting the output to a file, with the intention or reading that file.
• But what was in the file was the end of the output I expected.
• And I was using the "busy of Terminal window" approach (which we discussed at length recently) to stall the AS appropriately. Although I didn't see any error in the code, rewriting it has solved the problem, and I'm content (for now) to let sleeping dogs lie.
I like to use "do shell script," as the whole creating files and reading them routine can be avoided. But while "do shell script" seems great for short terminal procedures, for longer ones I seem constantly to be running into problems or annoyances. For Instance:
a do shell script "find" routine I was trying to use repeatedly stalled on a "permission denied" error. When I used "with administrator privileges" (requiring a password) to get past the error, later a second error stalled execution and I wasn't able to figure out the nature of the error (not that I tried very hard).
BUT WITH "DO SCRIPT" the permission error was reported but didn't stall the Terminal execution (requiring no password) AND _the second error didn't show up at all_. These differences persisted
and will still be present if I run both approaches. I know this difference has to do with how "do shell script" and "do script" handle error messages but, for now, I want hide my head in the sand and not see the error in the redirect file (or use a password to get past it).
As to "History," I've also looked at "Content," and I concluded that if everything works properly (as I thought it once did), "set H_ to history of (properly referenced Terminal window)" was an AS command that would avoid the need to redirect and also avoid the hassle of reading the file. I should look at that again, now that things seem to be working properly. I located the script that I had written previously, and that is the command I used, and I think the result was what otherwise I might redirect to a file -- so it would be a time and code saver if it was indeed returning the entire result of the Terminal command!

Terminal window scrollback is saved somewhere?

Dear Mac enthusiasts,
Every Terminal window has a history, which is evident because you can scroll all the way back. In the Terminal Preferences there is even an option where you can set the Scrollback to unlimited, or limit it to a number of lines.
My question is, is this history saved somewhere in a hidden system file or something like that? Or is it only saved in the Terminal process memory which means when you close the window, or worse, exit Terminal, this history is gone forever?
The practical thing I'd like to be able to do is to access the scrollback info from a Terminal window that has already been closed. I catted (unix command cat) a file, then deleted the file, then closed the window, but I'd like to recover the contents of that file in this way. I know, stupid, but if there is a solution, I'd like to hear it!
Best regards,
Jan

S.Fanara wrote:
Dear VikingOSX,
I created an account and logged in just so say Thanks! The info you gave is golden! In Terminal I tiped open ~/.bash_history and the entire history of anything I've ever typed in Terminal was there. I edited removing mistakes and what I didn't need (as sometimes I need to scrollback and remember the command I used for specific operations) so that is a small "memorandum" id commands if you will.
Once again thanks so much for the useful info provided!
The history command is history. For instance:
history
history | grep -i cat
You can also use the recall operator and related — all of this is part of how bash works.

Keep Terminal window on top (in foreground)

All these years of using Terminal, and I haven't figured this out. Is there a way to keep the Terminal window(s) on top of all other windows?
Or, is there a third-party term app which will do this for me?
Many thanks!
Matt

Thanks Camelot - that does help some.
Here's what I'm trying to do. And I'll preface by saying that it's a 12" Powerbook without an external display. Let's say I have an O'Reilly tutorial page in Safari that I have pretty much full-screen. My Terminal window is covering the top right part of this page, and is transparent enough that I can see the web page through it. I would like to be able to scroll through the webpage, but keep the Terminal window in view, and easily mouse over to it and keep working there.
In other words, when Terminal is in focus, I can still see Safari, but when Safari is in focus, I can't see Terminal. (I know, I could make the Safari window smaller, but not all web pages will be readable that way)
Focus-follows-mouse only works for multiple Terminal windows; and you do have to mouse over the title bar of the appropriate window for it to have effect. I did find another utility, Mondo Mouse, which works for any applications, and isn't limited to mousing over the title bar (you can mouse over any part of any window to bring it into focus), but again, you do have to mouse over a visible part of the Terminal window. Meaning that I'd have to mouse all the way off the edge of the Safari screen to see my Terminal again. So it's almost the solution I need, but not quite.
I suspect that I'm just working in an inefficient way (that Aqua doesn't really support) and trying to find utilites which will work that way - it's possible that going to X11 for these Unix sessions would give me what I'm after, I guess.
I know that certain utilities have a "Stay on top" feature, but I can't work out if that's something built into the binary that I won't have access to, or if it's a windowing preference that I can somehow hack, with a "defaults write" command or some such.
Matt

BlueJ - Terminal Window problem

I have a porgram similar to the World of Zuul game which is just text based adventure game.
When I click on a newgame() , it opens up the terminal window (it should let me click on void play first) automatically, but I cant give it any commands - it wont let me type anything in the text area.
But if I just start the game by myself afterwards it works fine.
Any Ideas of getting rid of this bug of mine?

So basically you're asking how to scroll the terminal window in BlueJ, or perhaps why it doesn't scroll?
That's a question about the product and not Java, right? So perhaps this wasn't the best place to ask it?

BlueJ Terminal Window

Hi,
I am using bluej for my java assignment. I have made a controller which tests all the methods and accordingly displays the output in the terminal window.
I am however finding that only a limited amount of the output is shown in the terminal window. So basically the top section of the output is cut off. I have made no errors in my actual coding. It is something to do with the terminal window. Is there any way in which i can resolve this?
Thanks

So basically you're asking how to scroll the terminal window in BlueJ, or perhaps why it doesn't scroll?
That's a question about the product and not Java, right? So perhaps this wasn't the best place to ask it?

Editing text in a terminal window

Is it possible to unlock text printed in a terminal window? I want to print a sentence and let the user edit the sentence using the keyboard. Then I want the user to press Enter, which will update the String with the new sentence. I wrote the code to input text. The keyboard can add text, but the printed text is locked. I cant edit it. How can I unlock it?
For example...
the terminal window prints:
This is my sentence
Using the keyboard, you can scroll through the sentence and maybe change it to:
This is your sentence

Hi hg,
The "terminal window" that you talk about is supplied by the
operating system, you can only edit stuff in it if the OS (Windows,
whatever) lets you. I haven't seen an operating system that lets
you do this - not after the whole line is written.
So the answer is: No, you can't.
Luckily for you Java lets you create your own windows, write
text in them and let the user scroll through and change the
text. Search this site for the tutorial, and read it until you come
to "JTextPane", then you'll be in business.
Cheers,
Peter

Closing Terminal window tabs shrinks Terminal window height

Open a Terminal window, press Command-T to create a tab, and then Ctrl-D to close that new tab, the Terminal window height decreases by one row.
This most certainly appears to be a bug. How do I report this to Apple?

I am also experiencing this problem, however if you use the Basic setting the problem doesn't exist.
I am using Novel and I have the problem. It's quite annoying.
I noticed that if you set the fontsize to 12 then this problem exhibits, however if I change the size to 11pt or 10pt (10 is the default for Basic, 12 is default for Novel) then I don't have the bug.
Message was edited by: TonyKL

If I have a program that runs in windows under the command prompt and on Mac in the Terminal window, can it be run in iOS

I have a program that is ran using the command line in windows and the terminal window on Mac or LInux. Is it possible to create an app for the iPad that could run this program. This program does require admin rights.

No.

Keyboard shortcuts: adding service to open a Terminal window not being saved

Hi
Objective: A shortcut to open a terminal window with the path of the 'in-focus' Finder window (Mavericks).
Solution (that doesn't work): Apple Menu/System Preferences/Keyboard
Select: Shortcuts
Select: Services
Check box for: New Terminal At Folder
Close System Preferences
This approach seems to be advised on quite a few sites. When I do it, the service I add simply doesn't get saved. I go back into the System Preferences and look under the path above and see that the box for New Terminal Åt Folder is unchecked.
Any help in being able to achieve my objective would be greatly appreciated :-)

Those things are saved as part of the workspace. It sounds as if the current workspace file has become corrupt. Close ID, then go to your user profile and you'll find the workspaces folder under \Application Data\Adobe\InDesign\Version 6.0\<language>\Workspaces. Delete the "current" xml file for the workspace and restart ID. The workspace will be restored to the conditions set when it was saved, but hopefully will remember changes again when you close the program.

Code to close terminal window?

I am running code in an IDE and want to be able to have any existing terminal window close before the code is run. This way I don't have to keep closing them manually every time I run the code again. I'm coding in C. Any ideas?
Thanks

What about setting the
Terminal -> Preferences -> Settings -> Shell -> When the shell exits: Close the window
Now just make sure that the last thing your script does is exit from the shell and your window will be closed.
Then again, do you "Really" need a Terminal session to run your code?
That is to say, running programs and scripts can be done without needing a terminal session. The Terminal session is just a window to the command line, and you do not need to display anything via the Terminal display, then there is no reason to have it open to run your program.
You can use Applescript ("do shell script" statement), or Automator ("run shell script" action), or you can use a 3rd party utility such as Platypus that will put your program or script in a double clickable app that does not need a Terminal session.
Another option is to use a different Terminal emulator, such as iTerm which also has the ability to close the window when the shell exits. It can even automatically quit iterm when the last window is closed.

(SOLVED) Closing a terminal window

When I am through using the terminal window, I hit the X at the top right corner but get this message: There is still a process running in this terminal. Closing the terminal will kill it.
Why do I get this? I think I have nothing running. is there a bug?
Last edited by mcduling (2011-12-19 22:23:54)

It is complaining because you are still running su. That's a fair warning, not a bug.
If you don't like it, use sudo instead. It's safer anyway than leaving a terminal sitting around in su-mode for arbitrary lengths of time.
Edit: btw, if you have run su to gain root access, and you want to close the terminal, you can get out of su by typing "exit". Then you should be able to close the terminal.
But really, don't use su. That's just asking for trouble. Sudo is your friend.
Last edited by /dev/zero (2011-12-19 09:59:43)

'Run' terminal window not closing

I have an Java application which I have created an installation package for using InstallAnywhere.
On Solaris when launching the application using the alias from a terminal window it works fine. But, when I launch the application from the File Manager, by double-clicking, it creates an 'extra' terminal window called 'Run', this terminal window doesn't terminate when I exit my application.
How can I prevent this, can I prevent the 'Run' window from starting using some sort of setting, or can I somehow make sure it is closed togheter with the application?
On Linux (SuSE10) the OS asks how I would like to run my application so I don't have the same problem there.

Hi Kanwalpreet
For basic idea please refer to the following link
<a href="https://www.sdn.sap.comhttp://www.sdn.sap.comhttp://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/servlet/prt/portal/prtroot/com.sap.km.cm.docs/library/webdynpro/wd%20java/wd%20tutorials/dialog%20boxes%20in%20web%20dynpro%20applications.pdf">Dialog Boxes in WebDynpro</a>
Go Through <b>page 16</b> of the PDF Document
Regards
Chaitanya.A

Terminal Window asking for password when opening

I don't know what happens but everytime I open a terminal window its ask me for password. If I type my admin password it starts saying that can't found my ~ directory and starts in :/ instead of :~
It is also showing ttys001 instead of 000 as usual.
I don't know what it is, I think it have some relation with closing terminal windows without logging out of a ssh section, but I don't know how to resolve it. I tried reboot, "exit", delete com.apple.terminal
Any sugestion?

sgobin wrote:
I don't know what happens but everytime I open a terminal window its ask me for password. If I type my admin password it starts saying that can't found my ~ directory and starts in :/ instead of :~
It is also showing ttys001 instead of 000 as usual.
I don't know what it is, I think it have some relation with closing terminal windows without logging out of a ssh section, but I don't know how to resolve it. I tried reboot, "exit", delete com.apple.terminal
This is just a wild guess, but might there be a "sudo" command in a file in your home directory that's run when you launch a Terminal session, such as .bash_profile, .bash_login, or .profile? (This list assumes that you're using bash as your shell.)

Terminal window jumps on move

If I have a terminal window open, am working in a different program, and I immediately move the terminal window, the terminal window will initially follow the pointer, and then it will jump back to the original position. It will then continue to move following the pointer, but will have a separation of anywhere between a fraction of an inch to several inches, depending on the speed of movement with my mouse.
It is almost as though it jumps back.
This will not happen if I change the focus back to terminal and then move the window.
It happens even with multiple tabs.
I can't find anything searching the web, so I decided to post.

Hi game,
I remember doing something like
the stage.rect = the stage.rect
prior to going to the new movie.
HTH,
Udo

Terminal window scrolling buffer

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for