asked on

Customize powershell window title

I have having my PowerShell prompt be the really long directory name it sometimes is, so I put it in my title. In my profile.ps1 file I have the following lines to set my window title to my current path:

$NewTitle="Dir: " + (get-location).toString()
$host.ui.rawui.set_WindowTitle($NewTitle)

Open in new window

This code has two problems. The first is that it only seems to work on startup of a shell and isn't refreshed with each command or change of directory. The second problem is that even this can be too long to fit in my title. How can I add a function to my ps1 file to change my window title as follows:

1) If the whole directory path fits in the window title, use it
2) If the path doesn't fit, make the window title the following:
a) First 3 directories, e.g. "C:\Users\Derek" + ...
b) The remainder of the title to be the path that fits in the title, starting from the end.

If, for example, my path is
"c:/Users/Derek/Documents/WindowsPowerShell/Modules/Open-Xml-PowerTools-vNext/OpenXmlPowerToolsExamples/"

This is about 102 characters and let's say the title can only be 75 (I don't know the real #).
With these, I would want my window title to be :
"c:/Users/Gene/Documents.../Modules/Open-Xml-PowerTools-vNext/OpenXmlPowerToolsExamples/"

How can this be done in PowerShell (auto change title & new title text)?
Thanks!

David Johnson, CD

wrap it in a function called 'prompt'

function prompt {
$NewTitle="Dir: " + (get-location).toString()
$host.ui.rawui.set_WindowTitle($NewTitle)
}

Open in new window

Done!

ugeb

ASKER

This doesn't address the real question of how to have the shortened text. How do I do that?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

David Johnson, CD

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

ugeb

ASKER

That works great, thank you! (Worked perfectly once I found the small typo in split using "/" instead of "\").
Thanks again!