Skip to content

Subshell Title in xterm #5142

Description

@CTActual

Is there an existing issue for this?

  • I have searched the existing issues

Midnight Commander version and build configuration

GNU Midnight Commander 4.8.33
Built with GLib 2.82.4
Built with S-Lang 2.3.3 with terminfo database
Built with libssh2 1.11.1
With builtin editor and aspell support
With subshell support as default
With support for background operations
With mouse support on xterm and Linux console
With support for X11 events
With internationalization support
With multiple codepages support
With ext2fs attributes support
Virtual File Systems:
 cpiofs, tarfs, sfs, extfs, ftpfs, sftpfs, shell
Data types:
 char: 8; int: 32; long: 64; void *: 64; size_t: 64; off_t: 64; uintmax_t: 64;

Operating system

Linux ip-10-0-11-10 7.1.8-arch1-3 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:16:08 +0000 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Is this issue reproducible using the latest version of Midnight Commander?

  • I confirm the issue is still reproducible with the latest version of Midnight Commander

How to reproduce

Have MC open with left and right panels pointing to two different directories.
Open a subshell (ctrl-o) in a panel just after moving into the panel with mouse or tab key.

Expected behavior

The xterm Title should show the current directory (if you use /W or something similar in PROMPT_COMMAND).

Actual behavior

The xterm Title shows the /W of prior panel until you hit the enter key. As will any application that opens using the subshell. This can be confusing.

Additional context

It seems the /W does not update until some sort of xterm command is initiated in the new panel or subshell. The MC xterm window itself does not seem to respect any custom PROMPT_COMMAND settings for the user either and no easy (?) way to customize it. The subshell does, but there is this update delay as outlined above, which can make it look like the user is in the wrong directory.

Activity

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    needs triageNeeds triage by maintainersprio: mediumHas the potential to affect progress

    Type

    Projects

    No projects

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions