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pythonterminalstty

How to get python out of the "raw" terminal mode?

(In Linux context) Entering terminal raw mode (to read mouse, Function keys etc) in python is easy:

import sys, tty, termios
fd=sys.stdin.fileno()
#tty.setraw(fd)
tty.setcbreak(fd)

But then I want to get back and use input() again. Unfortunately, there is no tty.setcooked() function. What to do?

Solution

  • Save the tty attributes returned by tty.setraw, and pass them to termios.tcsetattr to restore the previous settings:

    tty_attrs = tty.setraw(fd)

# later, to restore
termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSAFLUSH, tty_attrs)

    On Python versions before 3.12, tty.setraw returns None instead of the old attributes, so you'll have to call termios.tcgetattr manually:

    tty_attrs = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
tty.setraw(fd)

# later, to restore
termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSAFLUSH, tty_attrs)