---
name: "resize"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "xterm"
version: "411-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/resize"
---

# resize(1)

set environment and terminal settings to current xterm window size

## NAME

resize - set environment and terminal settings to current xterm window size

## SYNOPSIS

**resize** \[ **-v** \| **-u** \| **-c** \] \[ **-s** \[ *row col* \] \]

## DESCRIPTION

*Resize* prints a shell command for setting the appropriate environment variables to indicate the current size of *xterm* window from which the command is run.

*Resize* determines the command through several steps:

- •

  first, it finds the name of the user's shell program. It uses the **SHELL** variable if set, otherwise it uses the user's data from /etc/passwd.

- •

  then it decides whether to use Bourne shell syntax or C-Shell syntax. It uses a built-in table of known shells, which can be overridden by the **-u** and **-c** options.

- •

  then *resize* asks the operating system for the terminal settings. This is the same information which can be manipulated using *stty*.

- •

  then *resize* asks the terminal for its size in characters. Depending on whether the "**-s** option is given, *resize* uses a different escape sequence to ask for this information.

- •

  at this point, *resize* attempts to update the terminal settings to reflect the terminal window's size in pixels:

  - •

    if the **-s** option is used, *resize* then asks the terminal for its size in pixels.

  - •

    otherwise, *resize* asks the operating system for the information and updates that after ensuring that the window's dimensions are a multiple of the character height and width.

  - •

    in either case, the updated terminal settings are done using a different system call than used for *stty*.

- •

  then *resize* updates the terminal settings to reflect any altered values such as its size in rows or columns. This affects the values shown by *stty*.

- •

  finally, *resize* generates shell commands for setting the environment variables, and writes that to the standard output.

## OPTIONS

The following options may be used with *resize*:

- **-c**

  This option indicates that C shell commands should be generated even if the user's current shell does not appear to use C shell syntax.

- **-s \[*rows columns*\]**

  This option indicates that Sun console escape sequences will be used instead of the VT100-style *xterm* escape codes. If *rows* and *columns* are given, *resize* will ask the *xterm* to resize itself using those values.

-

  Both of the escape sequences used for this option (first to obtain the window size and second to modify it) are subject to *xterm*'s **allowWindowOps** resource setting. The window manager may also choose to disallow the change.

-

  The VT100-style escape sequence used to determine the screen size always works for VT100-compatible terminals. VT100s have no corresponding way to modify the screensize.

- **-u**

  This option indicates that Bourne shell commands should be generated even if the user's current shell does not appear to use Bourne shell syntax.

- **-v**

  This causes *resize* to print a version number to the standard output, and then exit.

Note that the Sun console escape sequences are recognized by XFree86 *xterm* and by *dtterm*. The *resize* program may be installed as *sunsize*, which causes makes it assume the **-s** option.

The *rows* and *columns* arguments must appear last; though they are normally associated with the **-s** option, they are parsed separately.

## ENVIRONMENT

- SHELL

  Unless overridden by the **-c** option, *resize* determines the user's current shell by

  - •

    first checking if **$SHELL** is set, and using that,

  - •

    otherwise *resize* looks in the password file (/etc/passwd).

-

  Generally Bourne-shell variants (including *ksh*) do not modify **$SHELL**, so it is possible for *resize* to be confused if one runs *resize* from a Bourne shell spawned from a C shell.

-

  After determining the user's shell, *resize*  checks the shell's name against a table of known shell names. If it does not find the name in its table, *resize* will use C shell syntax for the generated commands to set environment variables.

- TERM

  *Resize*'s generated shell command sets this to "xterm" if not already set.

- TERMCAP

  *Resize*'s generated shell command sets this variable on systems using termcap, e.g., when *resize* is linked with the *termcap* library rather than a *terminfo* library. The latter does not provide the complete text for a termcap entry.

- COLUMNS, LINES

  *Resize*'s generated shell command sets these variables on systems using terminfo. Many applications (including the curses library) use those variables when set to override their screensize.

## FILES

- /etc/termcap

  for the base termcap entry to modify.

- \~/.cshrc

  user's alias for the command.

## EXAMPLES

For *resize*'s output to take effect, *resize* must either be evaluated as part of the command line (usually done with a shell alias or function) or else redirected to a file which can then be read in. From the C shell (usually known as */bin/csh*), the following alias could be defined in the user's *.cshrc*:

```
% alias rs 'set noglob; eval `resize`'
```

After resizing the window, the user would type:

```
% rs
```

Users of versions of the Bourne shell (usually known as */bin/sh*) that don't have command functions will need to send the output to a temporary file and then read it back in with the “.” command:

```
$ resize > /tmp/out
$ . /tmp/out
```

## AUTHORS

Mark Vandevoorde (MIT-Athena), Edward Moy (Berkeley)\
 Thomas Dickey (invisible-island.net).\
 Copyright (c) 1984, 1985 by X Consortium\
 See *X*(1) for a complete copyright notice.

## SEE ALSO

[use\_env(3x)](/use_env/3x.md)\
 [csh(1)](/csh/1.md), [stty(1)](/stty/1.md), [tset(1)](/tset/1.md)\
 [xterm(1)](/xterm/1.md)