Launch a program keeping focus on terminal

Question

I'm making a script that combines taking input from the command line with the launch of other programs. So the script will go like this:

...
launch program
Read input from the terminal
...

The problem is that when I launch the program (even if I launch it in the background), the terminal looses focus and the launched program becomes active.

How do I launch a program keeping the focus on the terminal with a default Ubuntu command?

Thank you

Interesting question, I don't think there is any way to guarantee that you won't lose focus. — elias, Jan 08 '13 at 18:59

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

3

If you know the title of the terminal, you can switch back to it after opening the program using the wmctrl command (it doesn't even look like the new program was in the foreground at all if the window opens instantly and you don't need the sleep command):

wmctrl -a <WIN-TITLE>

<WIN-TITLE> doesn't have to be the full title, for example, if the title was TESTING, TEST would work.

Depending on how long it takes to open the program, you might need to use the sleep command to delay the switch back to the terminal. You can use it like this: sleep <SECONDS>s.

To set the title of the terminal from within a script, use:

NAME="NEW_TITLE"; echo -en "\033]0;$NAME\a"

See this answer for more information.

For example, here is a little script to open a program in the background:

NAME="Opening program..."; echo -en "\033]0;$NAME\a"
$1&
sleep 0.75s
wmctrl -a "Opening program"

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

1

answered Jan 07 '13 at 23:36

iBelieve

5,384

I already saw that option but I was searching for a default ubuntu command, so there was no need for installing a new program – Vndtta Jan 08 '13 at 00:47
Sorry, it was already installed on my system so I didn't realize it wasn't installed by default. – iBelieve Jan 08 '13 at 01:53
It's OK, if no one gives a better answer in a week I'll mark this one as good. Thanks for the answer by the way – Vndtta Jan 08 '13 at 08:23
1

Three years have passed. Maybe it's time to mark the answer as good :) – MSX Apr 08 '16 at 08:04
8 years and counting ... :D – Paloha Nov 24 '21 at 16:02

Launch a program keeping focus on terminal

1 Answers1