NAME

Term::Size - Retrieve terminal size on Unix

SYNOPSIS

    use Term::Size;
    ($columns, $rows) = Term::Size::chars *STDOUT{IO};
    ($x, $y) = Term::Size::pixels;

DESCRIPTION

Term::Size is a Perl module which provides a straightforward way to retrieve the terminal size.

Both functions take an optional filehandle argument, which defaults to *STDIN{IO}. They both return a list of two values, which are the current width and height, respectively, of the terminal associated with the specified filehandle.

"Term::Size::chars" returns the size in units of characters, whereas "Term::Size::pixels" uses units of pixels.

In a scalar context, both functions return the first element of the list, that is, the terminal width.

The functions may be imported.

If you need to pass a filehandle to either of the Term::Size functions, beware that the *STDOUT{IO} syntax is only supported in Perl 5.004 and later. If you have an earlier version of Perl, or are interested in backwards compatibility, use *STDOUT instead.

EXAMPLES

1. Refuse to run in a too narrow window.

    use Term::Size;
    die "Need 80 column screen" if Term::Size::chars *STDOUT{IO} < 80;

2. Track window size changes.

    use Term::Size 'chars';
    my $changed = 1;
    while (1) {
            local $SIG{'WINCH'} = sub { $changed = 1 };
            if ($changed) {
                    ($cols, $rows) = chars;
                    # Redraw, or whatever.
                    $changed = 0;
            }
    }

RETURN VALUES

If there is an error, both functions return "undef" in scalar context, or an empty list in list context.

If the terminal size information is not available, the functions will normally return "(0, 0)", but this depends on your system. On character only terminals, "pixels" will normally return "(0, 0)".

CAVEATS

Term::Size only works on Unix systems, as it relies on the "ioctl" function to retrieve the terminal size. If you need terminal size in Windows, see Term::Size::Win32.

Before version 0.208, "chars" and "pixels" used to return false on error.

SEE ALSO

Term::Size::Any, Term::Size::Perl, Term::Size::ReadKey, Term::Size::Win32.

AUTHOR

Tim Goodwin, <tim@uunet.pipex.com>, 1997-04-23.

MANTAINER

Adriano Ferreira, <ferreira@cpan.org>, 2006-05-19.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright (C) 1997-05-13 by Tim Goodwin.

You may redistribute them under the same terms as Perl itself.