/ 
Terminal-Identify-0.07
River stage zero No dependents
/ Terminal::Identify

NAME

Terminal::Identify - Perl extension for identifying the terminal emulator

SYNOPSIS

Use the package like this

use Terminal::Identify;                       # Exports all methods
use Terminal::Identify qw(whichterminalami);  # Exports method whichterminalami()

# Identify the terminal emulator in use.
whichterminalami(["PROC"|"PATH"|"FTN"]);                      # Standard method call   
Terminal::Identify::whichterminalami(["PROC"|"PATH"|"FTN"]);  # Alternate method call

or like this

use Terminal::Identify;                       # Exports all methods
use Terminal::Identify qw(whichterminalami);  # Exports method whichterminalami()

# Set the global output format flag of the package.
$OutputFormat = ["PROC"|"PATH"|"FTN"];
$Terminal::Identify::OutputFormat = ["PROC"|"PATH"|"FTN"];

# Identify the terminal emulator in use.
whichterminalami();                      # Standard method call
Terminal::Identify::whichterminalami() ; # Alternate method call

USAGE

The string arguments in the method call in square brackets are optional. Without a subroutine argument the process name of the terminal is simply identified. The valid method arguments are separated by a logical or. These arguments are controlling the format of the output of the identified terminal.

In addition to the method arguments, a global package variable can be used to control the format of the output of the identified terminal. If the global package variable is set, the method arguments are ignored if existing in the method call.

DESCRIPTION

The main objective of this package is to provide a method which is capable of identifying the terminal emulator a logged-in user is actual using.

The logged-in user is related to a valid login shell. Knowing this, the logged-in user as well as the login shell of the logged-in user are determined. Next the terminal path to the pseudo terminal slave (pts) is identified. Based on this informations the related process of the logged-in user, the login shell and the terminal path is determined. The evaluation of the PID of the process of the running Perl script results in the PPID. The command related to this PPID is the name of the terminal emulator in use. Not only a terminal emulator can be identified by this package, it is also able to detect if a system console is being used by a logged-in user. The package also works if different terminal emulators are used and when they were spawned from on initial started terminal emulator.

The terminal emulator in use by the logged-in user can be identified by the main command whichterminalami and the other defined aliases.

OUTPUT FORMAT

The output format of the identified terminal can be influenced by the subroutine arguments "PROC", "PATH" and "FTN".

  • "PROC"

    PROC => Full process of the terminal emulator in use.

  • "PATH"

    PATH => Path to the location of the terminal emulator in use.

  • "FTN"

    FTN => Friendly terminal name of the terminal emulator in use.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

# Load the Perl module.
use Terminal::Identify;

# Declare the terminal variable.
my $terminal;

# Method call without an argument.
$terminal = whichterminalami();
print $terminal . "\n";

# Method call with argument "PROC".
$terminal = whichterminalami("PROC");
print $terminal . "\n";

# Method call with argument "PATH".
$terminal = whichterminalami("PATH"); 
print $terminal . "\n";

# Method call with argument "FTN".
$terminal = whichterminalami("FTN");
print $terminal . "\n";

Example 2

# Load the Perl module.
use Terminal::Identify;

# Declare the terminal variable.
my $terminal;

# Reset the global output format flag.
$OutputFormat = "";

# Method call without an argument.
$terminal = whichterminalami();
print $terminal . "\n";

# Set the global output format flag.
$OutputFormat = "PROC";

# Method call without an argument.
$terminal = whichterminalami();
print $terminal . "\n";

# Set the global output format flag.
$OutputFormat = "PATH";

# Method call without an argument.
$terminal = whichterminalami();
print $terminal . "\n";

# Set the global output format flag.
$OutputFormat = "FTN";

# Method call without an argument.
$terminal = whichterminalami();
print $terminal . "\n";

ERROR CODES

No error codes yet

NOTES

No notes yet

SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY

The module should work on Linux and on Unix or Unix-like operating systems in general until something else was shown.

FUNCTIONALITY REQUIREMENT

Following Linux commands should be available for functionality:

  • ps

  • users

  • shells

  • passwd

  • which

  • grep

METHOD ALIASES

Aliases for whichterminalami, which can be used are:

whichtermami       <=  whichterminalami
which_terminal     <=  whichterminalami
identify_terminal  <=  whichterminalami

TERMINALS TESTED

Terminal emulators tested so far with the package:

  • Aterm

  • Cool Retro Term

  • Deepin Terminal

  • Eterm

  • Guake Terminal

  • kitty

  • LXTerminal

  • MATE-Terminal

  • QTerminal

  • ROXTerm

  • Sakura

  • Terminator

  • Terminology

  • Termit

  • Tilda

  • Tilix

  • UXTerm

  • Xfce4-Terminal-Emulator

  • xiterm+thai

  • Xterm

  • Yakuake

LIMITATIONS

The limitations of the package are given by the Linux commands and the Linux system files which are used by the package. The Linux command ps, the Linux command users and the Linux command which must be available. The Linux system files /etc/shells and /etc/passwd must be exist.

OPEN ISSUES

Problems were found with the use of the Inline C module. The problem is caused by user and root rights. Until this issue is resolved, the POSIX module is used instead of the C code.

KNOWN BUGS

Not known yet

ABSTRACT

The module identifies the terminal emulator which the logged-in user is using currently. For this purpose, the login shells and the logged-in users are determined. The Perl script from which we identify the terminal emulator itself runs in a pseudo terminal slave (pts) with its own identification number. This pseudo terminal slave (pts) is identified, too. Based on all the former informations, the terminal emulator in use can be determined. If the Perl script runs from within the system console, the output returns the system console.

SEE ALSO

users(1) - Linux manual page

shells(5) - Linux manual page

passwd(5) - Linux manual page

ps(1) - Linux manual page

which(1) - Linux manual page

grep(1) - Linux manual page

AUTHOR

Dr. Peter Netz, <ztenretep@cpan.org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2022 by Dr. Peter Netz

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself, either Perl version 5.30.0 or, at your option, any later version of Perl 5 you may have available.