XTITLE(1)

📦 version 1.0.4, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 XTITLE 💖

okay bestie, so this is a page from the General Commands Manual (section 1, the main-character section, as it should be) and it's all about xtitle — the little tool that ✨renames your terminal window✨. yes, THE window. the one you're staring at. it's giving main character energy for your whole terminal setup, fr fr.

🎀 NAME 🎀

xtitle — set window title and icon name for an X11 terminal window 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

xtitle [ -tiq ] [ -- ] string ...  | [ -V ] [ -h ]

like, that's it. that's the whole vibe. two modes, pick one 🦋

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the tea: Xtitle sets the window title and/or the icon name of the terminal window you're running it in — and it sets them to be its own command line arguments. your args literally become the name. iconic behavior honestly.

the way it does this? it outputs the appropriate xterm(1) control sequence characters. that's the whole trick. no dark magic, just control sequences 🔥

and unless you suppress it, xtitle will also report the settings it has made, so you get that little confirmation moment. cute, right? 💖

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • -t, --title — only sets the window title. by default it sets both, so this is you saying "bestie, title only please."
  • -i, --icon — only sets the icon name. again, default is both, so this narrows it down to just the icon.
  • -q, --quiet — quiet mode ✨ doesn't report the settings performed. no receipts, no commentary, just vibes.
  • -V, --version — only prints the program version. that's all it does, that's its whole job.
  • -h, --help — prints a helpful usage message 🫶
  • -- — interprets all following arguments as strings instead of options. so if your title literally starts with a dash, this is your bestie. periodt.

😭 CAVEATS 😭

listen. Xtitle is known to work with xterm(1) and dtterm(1). that's the confirmed list.

the effect of the control sequences in other terminals is not known — though, quote, "I wouldn't expect any problems." so like… probably fine?? but ngl, unknown is unknown, bestie 🙈

🌈 VERSION 🌈

1.0.4

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Steve Kinzler, kinzler@cs.indiana.edu, Nov 1993/Nov 1998/Mar 2000/Dec 2009

the longevity?? over a decade of maintaining this?? that's dedication and honestly kind of iconic 👑

🔗 URL 🔗

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~kinzler/xtitle/

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

xterm(1), dtterm(1)

and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this was version 1.0.2 of the XTITLE(1) page, dropping out of the General Commands Manual like the legend it is. go set some titles, you got this 🌟✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from