Pty-Qt - C++ library for work with PseudoTerminals

Pty-Qt is small library for access to console applications by pseudo-terminal interface on Mac, Linux and Windows. On Mac and Linux it uses standard PseudoTerminal API and on Windows it uses WinPty(prefer) or ConPty.

NOTE Versions >= 0.6.0 distribute by vcpkg. Versions 0.5.x can be built manually by README manual.

NOTE 2 Vcpkg PR and build status for all platforms: microsoft/vcpkg#21440

Pre-Requirements and build

• ConPty part works only on Windows 10 >= 1903 (build > 18309) and can be built only with Windows SDK >= 10.0.18346.0
• WinPty part requires winpty sdk to build and winpty.dll and winpty-agent.exe to be deployed with target application. WinPty works on Windows XP and later (depended on build SDK: vc140 / vc140_xp).
• UnixPty part works on both Linux/Mac versions, because it based on standard POSIX pseudo terminals API
• Target platforms: x86 or x64
• Required Qt >= 5.10
• On Windows should be installed: Git for Windows, Visual Studio >=2015

Build on Windows (cmd.exe)

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg
cd vcpkg
.\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat
.\vcpkg.exe install ptyqt

Build on Linux/MacOS/Other UNIX

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg
cd vcpkg
./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh
./vcpkg install ptyqt

Usage

Standard way: build and install library then link it to your project and check examples for sample code.

For example, this code snipped works on Windows, Linux and Mac and make interface from Pty to XTermJS:

#include <QCoreApplication>
#include <QWebSocketServer>
#include <QWebSocket>
#include "ptyqt.h"
#include <QTimer>
#include <QProcessEnvironment>
#include <QSysInfo>

#define PORT 4242

#define COLS 87
#define ROWS 26

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QCoreApplication app(argc, argv);

    //start WebSockets server for receive connections from xterm.js
    QWebSocketServer wsServer("TestServer", QWebSocketServer::NonSecureMode);
    if (!wsServer.listen(QHostAddress::Any, PORT))
        return 1;

    QMap<QWebSocket *, IPtyProcess *> sessions;

    //create new session on new connection
    QObject::connect(&wsServer, &QWebSocketServer::newConnection, [&wsServer, &sessions]()
    {
        //handle new connection
        QWebSocket *wSocket = wsServer.nextPendingConnection();

        //use cmd.exe or bash, depends on target platform
        IPtyProcess::PtyType ptyType = IPtyProcess::WinPty;
        qint32 buildNumber = QSysInfo::kernelVersion().split(".").last().toInt();
        if (buildNumber >= CONPTY_MINIMAL_WINDOWS_VERSION)
        {
            qDebug() << "Use ConPty except of WinPty";
            ptyType = IPtyProcess::ConPty;
        }

        QString shellPath = "c:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe";
        //shellPath = "C:\\Program\ Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe";
#ifdef Q_OS_UNIX
        shellPath = "/bin/sh";
        ptyType = IPtyProcess::UnixPty;
#endif

        //create new Pty instance
        IPtyProcess *pty = PtyQt::createPtyProcess(ptyType);

        qDebug() << "New connection" << wSocket->peerAddress() << wSocket->peerPort() << pty->pid();

        //start Pty process ()
        pty->startProcess(shellPath, QProcessEnvironment::systemEnvironment().toStringList(), COLS, ROWS);

        //connect read channel from Pty process to write channel on websocket
        QObject::connect(pty->notifier(), &QIODevice::readyRead, [wSocket, pty]()
        {
            wSocket->sendTextMessage(pty->readAll());
        });

        //connect read channel of Websocket to write channel of Pty process
        QObject::connect(wSocket, &QWebSocket::textMessageReceived, [wSocket, pty](const QString &message)
        {
            pty->write(message.toLatin1());
        });

        //...
        //for example handle disconnections, process crashes and stuff like that...
        //...

        //add connection to list of active connections
        sessions.insert(wSocket, pty);

        qDebug() << pty->size();
    });

    //stop eventloop if needed
    //QTimer::singleShot(5000, [](){ qApp->quit(); });

    //exec eventloop
    bool res = app.exec();

    QMapIterator<QWebSocket *, IPtyProcess *> it(sessions);
    while (it.hasNext())
    {
        it.next();

        it.key()->deleteLater();
        delete it.value();
    }
    sessions.clear();

    return res;
}

Examples

XtermJS

• build and run example from cmd.exe
• install nodejs (your prefer way)
• open console and run:

cd ptyqt/examples/xtermjs
npm install xterm
npm install http-server -g
http-server ./

• open http://127.0.0.1:8080/ in Web browser
• use your terminal, for example install and run 'Midnight Commander' or 'Far' for test pseduo-graphic interface

IMPORTANT

• do not use Git Bash for run 'xtermjs_sample.exe' on Windows, it has some issues: https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/wiki/FAQ#some-native-console-programs-dont-work-when-run-from-git-bash-how-to-fix-it
• Only Far manager >= 3.0 supported by XTermJS, all old versioans are unsupported
• ConPty requires to run your application from existing terminal session, in another case it just not work. For example in Qt Creator on Windows check "Run in Terminal" in project run settings before run examples or tests

Also, you can find for example projects like https://github.com/lxqt/qterminal, they all based on QTermWidget and they all not-crossplatform and support only UNIX. But QTermWidget is support full VT100 protocol because it's fork from Linux/KDE/Konsole application.

More information

Resources used to develop this library:

• https://github.com/Microsoft/node-pty
• https://github.com/Microsoft/console
• https://github.com/rprichard/winpty
• https://github.com/xtermjs/xterm.js
• https://github.com/lxqt/qterminal
• https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/windows-command-line-introducing-the-windows-pseudo-console-conpty/
• https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/windows-command-line-backgrounder/
• https://github.com/sebcaux/QVTerminal

XtermJS + PTY-Qt + C++ sample screenshots