xsel retrieves and sets the X selection. It is a simple utility meant to serve the need to copy text between the CLI environment and the GUI environment. It effectively acts as a pipeline-like interface between the CLI and the GUI clipboard.
Links:
Questions tagged [xsel]
10 questions
106
votes
7 answers
'xclip' vs. 'xsel'
There are two command-line tools (in two different packages) to access the X clipboard:
xclip
xsel
I would love to know the difference between those two and hear a recommendation which one to use in which cases.
Byte Commander
- 110,243
18
votes
4 answers
Alternative to xsel or xclip *without* X11 installed?
xclip/xsel need X11.
When I use putty from a Windows box to linux (without X11 installed), is there an alternative to xsel or xclip?
I would like to pipe the complete shell command output to the clipboard which I then paste on the Windows box to an…
I grok it
- 191
17
votes
1 answer
Detect clipboard copy/paste event and modify clipboard contents
After something is copied to clipboard (using ctrl+c) I want a script (bash, python or any other language) to automatically detect that new entry is added to clipboard, change it's content and put it back to clipboard so when I paste it I get the…
SidMan
- 401
2
votes
1 answer
How to disable Middle Mouse Paste on Ubuntu automatically on startup
I'm trying to make a script run on startup, so that I don't have to do it manually every time, with a terminal window being open constantly.
This is the script: anti-midmouse-paste.sh
#!/bin/bash
while(true)
do
echo -n | xsel -n -i
sleep…
WhiteApe
- 41
2
votes
0 answers
How can I automate tts?
Right now I have a keybinding that uses the xsel program to grab the contents of selected text and pass it to the festival text to speech engine:
#!/bin/bash
xsel |festival --tts --pipe
I want to have the ability to toggle a process that will…
Micheal Bee
- 139
2
votes
1 answer
Automatic transfer of clipboard copied text to some text file
I want the text copied from the mouse (clipboard or X selection), or copied with Ctrl+C, to be automatically transferred to a text file.
I am using a very good website for subtitling videos called VEED [1], which automatically generates subtitles…
Denis da Mata
- 320
1
vote
0 answers
xsel output contains trash at the end if a long input is piped into it to set the clipboard
To reproduce:
seq 10000 | /usr/bin/xsel -b
/usr/bin/xsel -b
Observed output: either of:
nothing
the correct output
the correct output + a few lines of trash at the end
The output changes randomly between those three even if I run xsel -b multiple…
Ciro Santilli OurBigBook.com
- 31,312
1
vote
0 answers
xsel -cp clears the selected text
I'm trying to disable middle click to paste, and having tried many options and none working effectively, I am trying to use a script with xsel is a loop to clear the contents of the primary clipbord.
The command I'm trying to loop is
xsel…
0
votes
1 answer
xsel not working properly after upgrade to 22.04
I upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 to 22.04 and having clipboard clearing issues using xsel
If I ctrl+c in a text editor and run xsel -cb; xsel -cp; xsel -cs in terminal, the clipboard doesn't clear (ctrl+v continues to paste content). Additionally, xsel…
slatica
- 75
0
votes
1 answer
How do I make a keyboard shortcut for code which uses xsel?
OS: Kubuntu 18.04 or Ubuntu 18.04
I want to remove the first seven characters of certain strings I copy. For example, I want to first copy and then convert
1234567890
to
890
I can do so with the following code:
xsel -b -o | cut -c 8-
I can put…
DK Bose
- 44,553