How to set explicitly the terminal size when using pexpect

Question

I have a ncurses app that checks terminal size at startup and exits immediately if it doesn't fit.

In Linux, the default size is 80x24, this app requires at least 25. The fix is easy, I'm just resizing the terminal emulation window (in X) before running the ncurses app.

I would like to automate the ncurses app with pexpect, but I'm getting stuck because it considers the terminal size smaller than required when launched through pexpect, so it doesn't run. Any way to specify the terminal size with pexpect explicitly at startup?

Answer 1

Try setting the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables before you use pexpect.

Pexpect will pass on the environment to the subtask, and some (all?) curses programs read these environment variables before starting.

eg

import os
os.environ['LINES'] = "25"
os.environ['COLUMNS'] = "80"
# run pexpect stuff as before