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This whole thing could be made into a standalone script instead of a function:

Here the CHLD trap has to be disabled and then reenabled, otherwise the $(jobs -p) command substitution will trigger it recursively.

This whole thing could be made into a standalone script instead of a function:

This whole thing could be made into a standalone script instead of a function:

#! /bin/bash # uncomment and edit the following line accordingly # set -- <fixed command and arguments> "$@" set -- 'sigchld(){ local j="\j"; ((${j@P})) || exit; }; trap sigchld CHLD;' "$@" printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" 

In older version of bash which do not support the ${var@P} expansion form, a clunkier kludge will have to be used:

set -- 'sigchld(){ trap - CHLD; test "$(jobs -p)" || exit; trap sigchld CHLD; }; trap sigchld CHLD;' "$@" 

This whole thing could be made into a standalone script instead of a function:

#! /bin/bash # uncomment and edit the following line accordingly # set -- <fixed command and arguments> "$@"   # this only works in bash >= 4.4 # set -- 'sigchld(){ local j="\j"; ((${j@P})) || exit; }; trap sigchld CHLD;' "$@" set -- 'sigchld(){ trap - CHLD; test "$(jobs -p)" || exit; trap sigchld CHLD; }; trap sigchld CHLD;' "$@" printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" 

bash_in_gnome_terminal(){ local IFS printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" } bash_in_gnome_terminal tail -f ~/.xsession-errors bash_in_gnome_terminal 'grep -r pattern dir | less' 

This solution is complicated (and crippled!) by the fact that the gnome-terminal command actually calls into a "terminal server" to spawn a terminal instance, and you cannot pass file descriptors to the process running in it.

With other terminals like xterm or mlterm the solution is simpler and more functional:

bash_in_xterm(){ local IFS xterm -e bash --rcfile <(printf '. ~/.bashrc; set -m; %s\n' "$*") } 

Also, it would be nice if bash had an option to run some commands before an interactive shell (like vi +'cmd'), without a kludge like --rcfile <(...). Maybe it even has -- but I wasn't able to figure it out ;-)

The set -m is needed because bash sources the initialization files with the monitor mode off, ie without job control and the possibility of using ^Z, fg, bg, etc.

If you want the shell to exit and the terminal to close when the started command has exited, the function could be modified like this [assumes a recent version of bash]:

bash_in_gnome_terminal(){ local IFS set -- 'j="\j"; trap "((\${j@P})) || exit" CHLD;' "$@" printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" } 

The ${var@P} form expands any prompt escapes in var, and the \j prompt escape expands to the number of jobs. Thence ((${jc@P})) || exit as called from the CHLD trap will exit the shell if there are no more jobs.

This whole thing could be made into a standalone script instead of a function:

#! /bin/bash # uncomment and edit the following line accordingly # set -- <fixed command and arguments> "$@" set -- 'j="\j"; trap "((\${j@P})) || exit" CHLD;' "$@" printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" 

bash_in_gnome_terminal(){ local IFS printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" } bash_in_gnome_terminal tail -f ~/.xsession-errors bash_in_gnome_terminal 'grep -r pattern dir | less' 

This solution is complicated (and crippled!) by the fact that the gnome-terminal command actually calls into a "terminal server" to spawn a terminal instance, and you cannot pass file descriptors to the process running in it.

With other terminals like xterm or mlterm the solution is simpler and more functional:

bash_in_xterm(){ local IFS xterm -e bash --rcfile <(printf '. ~/.bashrc; set -m; %s\n' "$*") } 

Also, it would be nice if bash had an option to run some commands before an interactive shell (like vi +'cmd'), without a kludge like --rcfile <(...). Maybe it even has -- but I wasn't able to figure it out ;-)

The set -m is needed because bash sources the initialization files with the monitor mode off, ie without job control and the possibility of using ^Z, fg, bg, etc.

If you want the shell to exit and the terminal to close when the started command has exited, the function could be modified like this [assumes a recent version of bash]:

bash_in_gnome_terminal(){ local IFS set -- 'sigchld(){ local j="\j"; ((${j@P})) || exit; }; trap sigchld CHLD;' "$@" printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)" } 

The ${var@P} form expands any prompt escapes in var, and the \j prompt escape expands to the number of jobs. Thence j="\j"; ((${j@P})) || exit as called from the CHLD trap will exit the shell if there are no more jobs.

This whole thing could be made into a standalone script instead of a function:

#! /bin/bash # uncomment and edit the following line accordingly # set -- <fixed command and arguments> "$@" set -- 'sigchld(){ local j="\j"; ((${j@P})) || exit; }; trap sigchld CHLD;' "$@" printf -v cmd %q ". ~/.bashrc; set -m; $*" gnome-terminal -- bash -c "bash --rcfile <(echo $cmd)"