CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonterminal
Yosh
Yosh

Reputation: 2742

How to get terminal size or font size in pixels?

I've seen some posts and answers about how to get the terminal size in numbers of columns and rows. Can I get the terminal size, or equivalently, the size of the font used in the terminal, in pixels?

(I wrote equivalently because terminal width[px] = font width[px]*number of columns. or that is what I mean by terminal width.)

I'm looking for a way that works with python 2 on linux, but I do appreciate answers that works only with python 3. Thanks!

Upvotes: 7

Views: 8028

Answers (6)

Giorgos Xou
Giorgos Xou

Reputation: 2164

Here's egmont's and Aaron Digulla's answers combined into one script:

import termios
import array
import fcntl
import tty
import sys

def get_text_area_size(): # https://gist.github.com/secemp9/ab0ce0bfb0eaf73d831033dbfade44d9 + ...
    # Save the terminal's original settings
    fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
    original_attributes = termios.tcgetattr(fd)

    try:
        # Set the terminal to raw mode
        tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())

        # Query the text area size
        print("\x1b[14t", end="", flush=True)

        # Read the response (format: "\x1b[4;height;widtht")
        response = ""
        while True: 
            char = sys.stdin.read(1) # (in nvim-toogleterm for some reason stucks)
            response += char
            if char == "t":
                break

        # Parse the response to extract height and width
        if response:
            return tuple(map(int, response[:-1].split(';')[1:]))
        else: # ... https://stackoverflow.com/a/43947507/11465149
            buf = array.array('H', [0, 0, 0, 0])
            fcntl.ioctl(1, termios.TIOCGWINSZ, buf)
            return (buf[3], buf[2])
    finally:
        # Restore the terminal's original settings
        termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, original_attributes)


# Example usage
text_area_size = get_text_area_size()
if text_area_size:
    print(f"Text area size is {text_area_size[0]} rows by {text_area_size[1]} columns")
else:
    print("Failed to get text area size")

Thanks to: source

Upvotes: 1

mightbesimon
mightbesimon

Reputation: 479

tput cols tells you the number of columns.
tput lines tells you the number of rows.

so

from subprocess import check_output
cols = int(check_output(['tput', 'cols']))
lines = int(check_output(['tput', 'lines']))

Upvotes: 0

egmont
egmont

Reputation: 683

Another possible approach, with limited support, is checking the ws_xpixel and ws_ypixel values of struct terminfo.

A python snippet to query these values:

import array, fcntl, termios
buf = array.array('H', [0, 0, 0, 0])
fcntl.ioctl(1, termios.TIOCGWINSZ, buf)
print(buf[2], buf[3])

This only works in certain terminal emulators, others always report 0 0. See e.g. the VTE feature request to set these fields for a support matrix.

Upvotes: 4

Aaron Digulla
Aaron Digulla

Reputation: 328604

Maybe. If your terminal software supports XTerm Control Sequences, then the sequence \e[14t will give you the size width*height in pixels.

Related:

  • xtermctl - Put standard xterm/dtterm window control codes in shell parameters for easy use. Note that some terminals do not support all combinations.

Upvotes: 6

Vanuan
Vanuan

Reputation: 33422

So, you already know how to get terminal size (here) in characters.

I'm afraid it is not possible. TTY is a text terminal and doesn't have control of where it is running. So if your console program is executed in the terminal, you can't know where is it displaying.

However, you can use graphical mode to take control of fonts, display, etc. But why terminal? You can use GUI for that.

Upvotes: 1

slongfield
slongfield

Reputation: 101

The data structure that stores terminal info in linux is terminfo. This is the structure that any general terminal query would be reading from. It does not contain pixel information, since that is not relevant for the text-only terminals it was designed to specify.

If you're running the code in an X compatible terminal, it is probably possible with control codes, but that would very likely not be portable.

Upvotes: 2

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