How to run a command on the startup of an xterm?

Question

How can I run a command on xterm startup i.e. when an xterm terminal is launched a the command is already executed?

I have edited the .bashrc file to add this line:<

Answer 1

According to the bash manual, ~/.bashrc is used for interactive shells. xterm runs a shell, so perhaps your "does not work" causes a chain of xterm's.

The xterm program sets these environment variables which are useful for scripting: XTERM_VERSION and XTERM_SHELL. In your ~/.bashrc file, you could use the former to run the xterm -ls once only:

if [[ -z "$XTERM_VERSION" ]]
then
    xterm -hold -e ls &
fi

which seems to be what you are asking for:

• it would run an xterm if not run from an existing xterm
• it prevents the xterm from closing when the ls is done.

A more useful-seeming way of showing an ls on shell startup would be to run ls in each shell as it is started (for that case, you do not need run a separate xterm). Again, you can use environment variables to do this once (in case you run bash to make a subshell):

if [[ -z "$XTERM_ONCE" ]]
then
    export XTERM_ONCE=$(date)
    ls
fi