SCREEN (1)
screen manager with VT100/ANSI terminal emulation
SYNOPSIS
screen
[
-\fIoptions\fP
] [
\fIcmd\fP
[
\fIargs\fP
] ]
screen -r
[[pid.]tty[.host]]
screen -r
sessionowner/[[pid.]tty[.host]]
.5i 1.8i
DESCRIPTION
Screen
is a full-screen window manager that
multiplexes a physical terminal between several processes (typically
interactive shells).
Each virtual terminal provides the functions
of a DEC VT100 terminal and, in addition, several control functions
from the ISO 6492 (ECMA 48, ANSI X3.64) and ISO 2022 standards
(e.\|g. insert/delete line and support for multiple character sets).
There is a scrollback history buffer for each virtual terminal and a
copy-and-paste mechanism that allows moving text regions between
windows.
When
screen
is called, it creates a single window with a shell in it (or the specified
command) and then gets out of your way so that you can use the program as you
normally would.
Then, at any time, you can create new (full-screen) windows with other programs
in them (including more shells), kill existing windows, view a list of
windows, turn output logging on and off, copy-and-paste text between
windows, view the scrollback history, switch between windows
in whatever manner you wish, etc. All windows run their programs completely
independent of each other. Programs continue to run when their window
is currently not visible and even when the whole
screen
session is detached from the user's terminal. When a program terminates,
screen
(per default) kills the window that contained it.
If this window was in the foreground, the display switches to the previous
window; if none are left,
screen
exits.
Everything you type is sent to the program running in the current window.
The only exception to this is the one keystroke that is used to initiate
a command to the window manager.
By default, each command begins with a control-a (abbreviated C-a from
now on), and is followed by one other keystroke.
The command character and all the key bindings can be fully customized
to be anything you like, though they are always two characters in length.
Screen
does not understand the prefix \*QC-\*U to mean control.
Please use the caret notation (\*Q^A\*U instead of \*QC-a\*U) as arguments
to e.g. the
escape
command or the
-e
option.
Screen
will also print out control characters in caret notation.
The standard way to create a new window is to type \*QC-a c\*U.
This creates a new window running a shell and switches to that
window immediately, regardless of the state of the process running
in the current window.
Similarly, you can create a new window with a custom command in it by
first binding the command to a keystroke (in your .screenrc file or at the
\*QC-a :\*U command line) and
then using it just like the \*QC-a c\*U command.
In addition, new windows can be created by running a command like:
from a shell prompt within a previously created window.
This will not run another copy of
screen ,
but will instead supply the command name and its arguments to the window
manager (specified in the $STY environment variable) who will use it to
create the new window.
The above example would start the emacs editor (editing prog.c) and switch
to its window.
If \*Q/etc/utmp\*U is writable by
screen ,
an appropriate record will be written to this file for each window, and
removed when the window is terminated.
This is useful for working with \*Qtalk\*U, \*Qscript\*U, \*Qshutdown\*U,
\*Qrsend\*U, \*Qsccs\*U and other similar programs that use the utmp
file to determine who you are. As long as
screen
is active on your terminal,
the terminal's own record is removed from the utmp file. See also \*QC-a L\*U.
GETTING STARTED
Before you begin to use
screen
you'll need to make sure you have correctly selected your terminal type,
just as you would for any other termcap/terminfo program.
(You can do this by using
tset
for example.)
If you're impatient and want to get started without doing a lot more reading,
you should remember this one command: \*QC-a ?\*U.
Typing these two characters will display a list of the available
screen
commands and their bindings. Each keystroke is discussed in
the section \*QDEFAULT KEY BINDINGS\*U. The manual section \*QCUSTOMIZATION\*U
deals with the contents of your .screenrc.
If your terminal is a \*Qtrue\*U auto-margin terminal (it doesn't allow
the last position on the screen to be updated without scrolling the
screen) consider to use a version of your terminal's termcap that has
automatic margins turned off. This will ensure an accurate and
optimal update of the screen in all circumstances. Most terminals
nowadays have \*Qmagic\*U margins (automatic margins plus usable last
column). This is the VT100 style type and perfectly suited for
screen .
If all you've got is a \*Qtrue\*U auto-margin terminal
screen
will be content to use it, but updating a character put into the last
position on the screen may not be possible until the screen scrolls or
the character is moved into a safe position in some other way. This
delay can be shortened by using a terminal with insert-character
capability.
COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
Screen has the following command-line options:
-a
include all capabilities (with some minor exceptions) in each
window's termcap, even if
screen
must redraw parts of the display in order to implement a function.
-A
Adapt the sizes of all windows to the size of the current terminal.
By default,
screen
tries to restore its old window sizes when attaching to resizable terminals
(those with \*QWS\*U in its description, e.g. suncmd or some xterm).
-c file
override the default configuration file from \*Q$HOME/.screenrc\*U
to file.
-d | -D [ \fIpid.tty.host ]
does not start
screen ,
but detaches the elsewhere running
screen
session. It has the same effect as typing \*QC-a d\*U from
screen 's
controlling terminal. -D is the equivalent to the power detach key.
If no session can be detached, this option is ignored. In combination with the
-r/-R option more powerful effects can be achieved:
-d -r
Reattach a session and if necessary detach it first.
-d -R
Reattach a session and if necessary detach or even create it first.
-d -RR
Reattach a session and if necessary detach or create it. Use the first
session if more than one session is available.
-D -r
Reattach a session. If necessary detach and logout remotely first.
-D -R
Attach here and now. In detail this means: If a session is running, then
reattach. If necessary detach and logout remotely first.
If it was not running create it and notify the user. This is the
author's favorite.
-D -RR
Attach here and now. Whatever that means, just do it.
Note: It is always a good idea to check the status of your sessions by means of
\*Qscreen -list\*U.
-e xy
specifies the command character to be x and the character generating a
literal command character to y (when typed after the command character).
The default is \*QC-a\*U and `a', which can be specified as \*Q-e^Aa\*U.
When creating a
screen
session, this option sets the default command character. In a multiuser
session all users added will start off with this command character. But
when attaching to an already running session, this option changes only
the command character of the attaching user.
This option is equivalent to either the commands \*Qdefescape\*U or
\*Qescape\*U respectively.
-f\fP , -fn , and -fa
turns flow-control on, off, or \*Qautomatic switching mode\*U.
This can also be defined through the \*Qdefflow\*U .screenrc command.
-h num
Specifies the history scrollback buffer to be num lines high.
-i
will cause the interrupt key (usually C-c) to interrupt the display
immediately when flow-control is on.
See the \*Qdefflow\*U .screenrc command for details.
The use of this option is discouraged.
-l and -ln
turns login mode on or off (for /etc/utmp updating).
This can also be defined through the \*Qdeflogin\*U .screenrc command.
-ls and -list
does not start
screen ,
but prints a list of
pid.tty.host
strings identifying your
screen
sessions.
Sessions marked `detached' can be resumed with \*Qscreen -r\*U. Those marked
`attached' are running and have a controlling terminal. If the session runs in
multiuser mode, it is marked `multi'. Sessions marked as `unreachable' either
live on a different host or are `dead'.
An unreachable session is considered dead, when its name
matches either the name of the local host, or the specified parameter, if any.
See the -r flag for a description how to construct matches.
Sessions marked as `dead' should be thoroughly checked and removed.
Ask your system administrator if you are not sure. Remove sessions with the
-wipe option.
-L
tells
screen
your auto-margin terminal has a writable last-position on
the screen. This can also be set in your .screenrc by specifying `LP' in a
\*Qtermcap\*U command.
-m
causes
screen
to ignore the $STY environment variable. With \*Qscreen -m\*U creation of
a new session is enforced, regardless whether
screen
is called from within another
screen
session or not. This flag has a special meaning in connection
with the `-d' option:
-m -d
Start
screen
in \*Qdetached\*U mode. This creates a new session but doesn't
attach to it. This is useful for system startup scripts.
-m -D
This also starts screen in \*Qdetached\*U mode, but doesn't fork
a new process. The command exits if the session terminates.
-O
selects a more optimal output mode for your terminal rather than true VT100
emulation (only affects auto-margin terminals without `LP').
This can also be set in your .screenrc by specifying `OP' in a \*Qtermcap\*U
command.
-q
Suppress printing of error messages. In combination with \*Q-ls\*U the exit
value is as follows: 9 indicates a directory without sessions. 10
indicates a directory with running but not attachable sessions. 11 (or more)
indicates 1 (or more) usable sessions.
In combination with \*Q-r\*U the exit value is as follows: 10 indicates that
there is no session to resume. 12 (or more) indicates that there are 2 (or
more) sessions to resume and you should specify which one to choose.
In all other cases \*Q-q\*U has no effect.
-r [ \fIpid.tty.host ]
-r \fIsessionowner/[ \fIpid.tty.host ]
resumes a detached
screen
session. No other options (except combinations with -d/-D) may
be specified, though an optional prefix of [pid.]tty.host
may be needed to distinguish between multiple detached
screen
sessions. The second form is used to connect to another user's screen session
which runs in multiuser mode. This indicates that screen should look for
sessions in another user's directory. This requires setuid-root.
-R
attempts to resume the first detached
screen
session it finds. If successful, all other command-line options are ignored.
If no detached session exists, starts a new session using the specified
options, just as if
-R
had not been specified. The option is set by default if
screen
is run as a login-shell.
For combinations with the -d/-D option see there.
-s
sets the default shell to the program specified, instead of the value
in the environment variable $SHELL (or \*Q/bin/sh\*U if not defined).
This can also be defined through the \*Qshell\*U .screenrc command.
-S sessionname
When creating a new session, this option can be used to specify a
meaningful name for the session. This name identifies the session for
\*Qscreen -list\*U and \*Qscreen -r\*U actions. It substitutes the
default [tty.host] suffix.
-t name
sets the title (a.\|k.\|a.) for the default shell or specified program.
See also the \*Qshelltitle\*U .screenrc command.
-v
-wipe [ \fImatch ]
does the same as \*Qscreen -ls\*U, but removes destroyed sessions instead of
marking them as `dead'.
An unreachable session is considered dead, when its name matches either
the name of the local host, or the explicitly given parameter, if any.
See the -r flag for a description how to construct matches.
-x
Attach to a not detached
screen
session. (Multi display mode).
DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS
CUSTOMIZATION
The \*Qsocket directory\*U defaults either to $HOME/.screen or simply to
/tmp/screens or preferably to /usr/local/screens chosen at compile-time. If
screen
is installed setuid-root, then the administrator
should compile
screen
with an adequate (not NFS mounted) socket directory. If
screen
is not running setuid-root, the user can specify any mode 700 directory
in the environment variable $SCREENDIR.
When
screen
is invoked, it executes initialization commands from the files
\*Q/etc/screenrc\*U and
\*Q.screenrc\*U in the user's home directory. These are the \*Qprogrammer's
defaults\*U that can be overridden in the following ways: for the
global screenrc file
screen
searches for the environment variable $SYSSCREENRC (this override feature
may be disabled at compile-time). The user specific
screenrc file is searched in $SCREENRC, then $HOME/.screenrc.
The command line option -c takes
precedence over the above user screenrc files.
Commands in these files are used to set options, bind functions to
keys, and to automatically establish one or more windows at the
beginning of your
screen
session.
Commands are listed one per line, with empty lines being ignored.
A command's arguments are separated by tabs or spaces, and may be
surrounded by single or double quotes.
A `#' turns the rest of the line into a comment, except in quotes.
Unintelligible lines are warned about and ignored.
Commands may contain references to environment variables. The
syntax is the shell-like "$VAR " or "${VAR}". Note that this causes
incompatibility with previous
screen
versions, as now the '$'-character has to be protected with '\e' if no
variable substitution shall be performed. A string in single-quotes is also
protected from variable substitution.
Two configuration files are shipped as examples with your screen distribution:
\*Qetc/screenrc\*U and \*Qetc/etcscreenrc\*U. They contain a number of
useful examples for various commands.
Customization can also be done 'on-line'. To enter the command mode type
`C-a :'. Note that commands starting with \*Qdef\*U change default values,
while others change current settings.
The following commands are available:
3
acladd usernames
[ crypted-pw ]
addacl usernames
Enable users to fully access this screen session. Usernames can be one
user or a comma separated list of users. This command enables to attach to the
screen
session and performs the equivalent of `aclchg usernames +rwx "#?"'.
executed. To add a user with restricted access, use the `aclchg' command below.
If an optional second parameter is supplied, it should be a crypted password
for the named user(s). `Addacl' is a synonym to `acladd'.
Multi user mode only.
3
aclchg usernames permbits list
chacl usernames permbits list
Change permissions for a comma separated list of users. Permission bits are
represented as `r', `w' and `x'. Prefixing `+' grants the permission, `-'
removes it. The third parameter is a comma separated list of commands and/or
windows (specified either by number or title). The special list `#' refers to
all windows, `?' to all commands. if usernames consists of a single `*',
all known users are affected.
A command can be executed when the user has the `x' bit for it.
The user can type input to a window when he has its `w' bit set and no other
user obtains a writelock for this window.
Other bits are currently ignored.
To withdraw the writelock from another user in window 2:
`aclchg username -w+w 2'.
To allow read-only access to the session: `aclchg username
-w "#"'. As soon as a user's name is known to
screen
he can attach to the session and (per default) has full permissions for all
command and windows. Execution permission for the acl commands, `at' and others
should also be removed or the user may be able to regain write permission.
Rights of the special username
nobody
cannot be changed (see the \*Qsu\*U command).
`Chacl' is a synonym to `aclchg'.
Multi user mode only.
3
acldel username
Remove a user from
screen 's
access control list. If currently attached, all the
user's displays are detached from the session. He cannot attach again.
Multi user mode only.
3
aclgrp username
[ groupname ]
Creates groups of users that share common access rights. The name of the
group is the username of the group leader. Each member of the group inherits
the permissions that are granted to the group leader. That means, if a user
fails an access check, another check is made for the group leader.
A user is removed from all groups the special value \*Qnone\*U is used for
groupname .
If the second parameter is omitted all groups the user is in are listed.
3
aclumask
[[ users ] +bits
|[ users ] -bits .... ]
umask
[[ users ] +bits
|[ users ] -bits .... ]
This specifies the access other users have to windows that will be created by
the caller of the command.
Users
may be no, one or a comma separated list of known usernames. If no users are
specified, a list of all currently known users is assumed.
Bits
is any combination of access control bits allowed defined with the
\*Qaclchg\*U command. The special username \*Q?\*U predefines the access
that not yet known users will be granted to any window initially.
The special username \*Q??\*U predefines the access that not yet known
users are granted to any command.
Rights of the special username
nobody
cannot be changed (see the \*Qsu\*U command).
`Umask' is a synonym to `aclumask'.
3
activity message
When any activity occurs in a background window that is being monitored,
screen
displays a notification in the message line.
The notification message can be re-defined by means of the \*Qactivity\*U
command.
Each occurrence of `%' in message is replaced by
the number of the window in which activity has occurred,
and each occurrence of `^G' is replaced by the definition for bell
in your termcap (usually an audible bell).
The default message is
'Activity in window %n'
Note that monitoring is off for all windows by default, but can be altered
by use of the \*Qmonitor\*U command (C-a M).
3
allpartial on | off
If set to on, only the current cursor line is refreshed on window change.
This affects all windows and is useful for slow terminal lines. The
previous setting of full/partial refresh for each window is restored
with \*Qallpartial off\*U. This is a global flag that immediately takes effect
on all windows overriding the \*Qpartial\*U settings. It does not change the
default redraw behavior of newly created windows.
3
at [\fIidentifier\fP][ #\fP|\fP*\fP|\fP%\fP]
command [ args ... ]
Execute a command at other displays or windows as if it had been entered there.
\*QAt\*U changes the context (the `current window' or `current display'
setting) of the command. If the first parameter describes a
non-unique context, the command will be executed multiple times. If the first
parameter is of the form `identifier*' then identifier is matched against
user names. The command is executed once for each display of the selected
user(s). If the first parameter is of the form `identifier%' identifier
is matched against displays. Displays are named after the ttys they
attach. The prefix `/dev/' or `/dev/tty' may be omitted from the identifier.
If identifier has a `#' or nothing appended it is matched against
window numbers and titles. Omitting an identifier in front of the `#', `*' or
`%'-character selects all users, displays or windows because a prefix-match is
performed. Note that on the affected display(s) a short message will describe
what happened. Permission is checked for initiator of the \*Qat\*U command,
not for the owners of the affected display(s).
Note that the '#' character works as a comment introducer when it is preceded by
whitespace. This can be escaped by prefixing a '\e'.
Permission is checked for the initiator of the \*Qat\*U command, not for the
owners of the affected display(s).
Caveat:
When matching against windows, the command is executed at least
once per window. Commands that change the internal arrangement of windows
(like \*Qother\*U) may be called again. In shared windows the command will
be repeated for each attached display. Beware, when issuing toggle commands
like \*Qlogin\*U!
Some commands (e.g. \*Qstuff\*U, \*Qprocess\*U or \*Qpaste\*U) require that
a display is associated with the target windows. These commands may not work
correctly under \*Qat\*U looping over windows.
3
autodetach on | off
Sets whether
screen
will automatically detach upon hangup, which
saves all your running programs until they are resumed with a
screen -r
command.
When turned off, a hangup signal will terminate
screen
and all the processes it contains. Autodetach is on by default.
3
autofixterm on | off
Sets whether
screen
will add missing capabilities to the termcap/info entry. It is on
by default.
3
autonuke on | off
Sets whether a clear screen sequence should nuke all the output
that has not been written to the terminal. See also
\*Qobuflimit\*U.
3
bell_msg
[ message ]
When a bell character is sent to a background window,
screen
displays a notification in the message line.
The notification message can be re-defined by this command.
Each occurrence of `%' in message is replaced by
the number of the window to which a bell has been sent,
and each occurrence of `^G' is replaced by the definition for bell
in your termcap (usually an audible bell).
The default message is
'Bell in window %n'
An empty message can be supplied to the \*Qbell_msg\*U command to suppress
output of a message line (bell_msg "").
Without parameter, the current message is shown.
3
bind key
[ command [ args ]]
Bind a command to a key.
By default, most of the commands provided by
screen
are bound to one or more keys as indicated in the \*QDEFAULT KEY BINDINGS\*U
section, e.\|g. the
command to create a new window is bound to \*QC-c\*U and \*Qc\*U.
The \*Qbind\*U command can be used to redefine the key bindings and to
define new bindings.
The key argument is either a single character, a two-character sequence
of the form \*Q^x\*U (meaning \*QC-x\*U), a backslash followed by an octal
number (specifying the ASCII code of the character), or a backslash followed
by a second character, such as \*Q\e^\*U or \*Q\e\e\*U.
The argument can also be quoted, if you like.
If no further argument is given, any previously established binding
for this key is removed.
The command argument can be any command listed in this section.
Some examples:
bind ' ' windows
bind ^k
bind k
bind K kill
bind ^f screen telnet foobar
bind \e033 screen -ln -t root -h 1000 9 su
would bind the space key to the command that displays a list
of windows (so that the command usually invoked by \*QC-a C-w\*U
would also be available as \*QC-a space\*U). The next three lines
remove the default kill binding from \*QC-a C-k\*U and \*QC-a k\*U.
\*QC-a K\*U is then bound to the kill command. Then it
binds \*QC-f\*U to the command \*Qcreate a window with a TELNET
connection to foobar\*U, and bind \*Qescape\*U to the command
that creates an non-login window with a.\|k.\|a. \*Qroot\*U in slot #9, with
a superuser shell and a scrollback buffer of 1000 lines.
3
bindkey
[ -d ]
[ -m ]
[ -a ]
[[ -k | -t ]
string
[ cmd args ]]
This command manages screen's input translation tables. Every
entry in one of the tables tells screen how to react if a certain
sequence of characters is encountered. There are three tables:
one that should contain actions programmed by the user, one for
the default actions used for terminal emulation and one for
screen's copy mode to do cursor movement. See section
\*QINPUT TRANSLATION\*U for a list of default key bindings.
If the
-d
option is given, bindkey modifies the default table,
-m
changes the copy mode table
and with neither option the user table is selected.
The argument
string
is the sequence of characters to which an action is bound. This
can either be a fixed string or a termcap keyboard capability
name (selectable with the
-k
option).
Some keys on a VT100 terminal can send a different
string if application mode is turned on (e.g the cursor keys).
Such keys have two entries in the translation table. You can
select the application mode entry by specifying the
-a
option.
The
-t
option tells screen not to do inter-character timing. One cannot
turn off the timing if a termcap capability is used.
Cmd
can be any of screen's commands with an arbitrary number of
args .
If
cmd
is omitted the key-binding is removed from the table.
Here are some examples of keyboard bindings:
bindkey -d
Show all of the default key bindings. The application mode entries
are marked with [A].
bindkey -k k1 select 1
Make the "F1" key switch to window one.
bindkey -t foo stuff barfoo
Make "foo" an abbreviation of the word "barfoo". Timeout is disabled
so that users can type slowly.
bindkey "\e024" mapdefault
This key-binding makes \*Q^T\*U an escape character for key-bindings. If
you did the above \*Qstuff barfoo\*U binding, you can enter the word
\*Qfoo\*U by typing \*Q^Tfoo\*U. If you want to insert a \*Q^T\*U
you have to press the key twice (i.e. escape the escape binding).
bindkey -k F1 command
Make the F11 (not F1!) key an alternative screen
escape (besides ^A).
3
break
[ duration ]
Send a break signal for duration*0.25 seconds to this window.
For non-Posix systems the time interval may be rounded up to full seconds.
Most useful if a character device is attached to the window rather than
a shell process (See also chapter \*QWINDOW TYPES\*U). The maximum duration of
a break signal is limited to 15 seconds.
3
breaktype
[ tcsendbreak | TIOCSBRK
| TCSBRK ]
Choose one of the available methods of generating a break signal for
terminal devices. This command should affect the current window only.
But it still behaves identical to \*Qdefbreaktype\*U. This will be changed in
the future.
Calling \*Qbreaktype\*U with no parameter displays the break method for the
current window.
3
bufferfile
[ exchange-file ]
Change the filename used for reading and writing with the paste buffer.
If the optional argument to the \*Qbufferfile\*U command is omitted,
the default setting (\*Q/tmp/screen-exchange\*U) is reactivated.
The following example will paste the system's password file into
the
screen
window (using the paste buffer, where a copy remains):
C-a : bufferfile /etc/passwd
C-a < C-a ]
C-a : bufferfile
3
c1 [ on | off ]
Change c1 code processing. \*QC1 on\*U tells screen to treat
the input characters between 128 and 159 as control functions.
Such an 8-bit code is normally the same as ESC followed by the
corresponding 7-bit code. The default setting is to process c1
codes and can be changed with the \*Qdefc1\*U command.
Users with fonts that have usable characters in the
c1 positions may want to turn this off.
3
caption always | splitonly
[ string ]
caption string
[ string ]
This command controls the display of the window captions. Normally
a caption is only used if more than one window is shown on the
display (split screen mode). But if the type is set to
always
screen shows a caption even if only one window is displayed. The default
is
splitonly .
The second form changes the text used for the caption. You can use
all escapes from the \*QSTRING ESCAPES\*U chapter. Screen uses
a default of `%3n %t'.
You can mix both forms by providing a string as an additional argument.
3
charset set
Change the current character set slot designation and charset
mapping. The first four character of
set
are treated as charset designators while the fifth and sixth
character must be in range '0' to '3' and set the GL/GR charset
mapping. On every position a '.' may be used to indicate that
the corresponding charset/mapping should not be changed
(set is padded to six characters internally by appending '.'
chars). New windows have "BBBB02" as default charset, unless a
\*Qkanji\*U command is active.
The current setting can be viewed with the \*Qinfo\*U command.
3
chdir
[ directory ]
Change the current directory of
screen
to the specified directory or, if called without an argument,
to your home directory (the value of the environment variable $HOME).
All windows that are created by means of the \*Qscreen\*U command
from within \*Q.screenrc\*U or by means of \*QC-a : screen ...\*U
or \*QC-a c\*U use this as their default directory.
Without a chdir command, this would be the directory from which
screen
was invoked.
Hardcopy and log files are always written to the window's default
directory, not the current directory of the process running in the
window.
You can use this command multiple times in your .screenrc to start various
windows in different default directories, but the last chdir value will
affect all the windows you create interactively.
3
clear
Clears the current window and saves its image to the scrollback buffer.
3
colon
[ prefix ]
Allows you to enter \*Q.screenrc\*U command lines. Useful
for on-the-fly modification of key bindings,
specific window creation and changing settings. Note that the \*Qset\*U
keyword no longer exists! Usually commands affect the current window rather
than default settings for future windows. Change defaults with commands
starting with 'def...'.
If you consider this as the `Ex command mode' of
screen ,
you may regard \*QC-a esc\*U (copy mode) as its `Vi command mode'.
3
command
This command has the same effect as typing the screen escape
character (^A). It is probably only useful for key bindings.
See also \*Qbindkey\*U.
3
compacthist [ on | off ]
This tells screen weather to suppress trailing blank lines when
scrolling up text into the history buffer.
3
console [ on | off ]
Grabs or un-grabs the machines console output to a window.
Note :
Only the owner of /dev/console can grab the console output.
This command is only available if the machine supports the ioctl TIOCCONS.
3
copy
Enter copy/scrollback mode. This allows you to copy text from the current
window and its history into the paste buffer. In this mode a vi-like
`full screen editor' is active:
Movement keys :
+4n
h, j, k, l move the cursor line by line or
column by column.
0, ^ and $ move to the leftmost column, to the first or last
non-whitespace character on the line.
H, M and L move the cursor to the leftmost column
of the top, center or bottom line of the window.
+ and - positions one line up and down.
G moves to the specified absolute line (default: end of buffer).
| moves to the specified absolute column.
w, b, e move the cursor word by word.
C-u and C-d scroll the display up/down by the specified amount of
lines while preserving the cursor position. (Default: half screen-full).
C-b and C-f scroll the display up/down a full screen.
g moves to the beginning of the buffer.
% jumps to the specified percentage of the buffer.
Note :
Emacs style movement keys can be customized by a .screenrc command.
(E.\|g. markkeys "h=^B:l=^F:$=^E") There is no simple method for a full
emacs-style keymap, as this involves multi-character codes.
Marking :
The copy range is specified by setting two marks. The text between these marks
will be highlighted. Press
space to set the first or second mark
respectively.
Y and y used to mark one whole line or to mark from
start of line.
W marks exactly one word.
Repeat count :
Any of these commands can be prefixed with a repeat count number by pressing
digits
0..9 which
is taken as a repeat count.
Example: \*QC-a C-[ H 10 j 5 Y\*U will copy lines
11 to 15 into the paste buffer.
Searching :
/ Vi-like search forward.
? Vi-like search backward.
C-a s Emacs style incremental search forward.
C-r Emacs style reverse i-search.
Specials :
There are however some keys that act differently than in
vi .
Vi
does not allow one to yank rectangular blocks of text, but
screen
does. Press
c or C to set the left or right margin respectively. If no repeat count is
given, both default to the current cursor position.
Example: Try this on a rather full text screen:
\*QC-a [ M 20 l SPACE c 10 l 5 j C SPACE\*U.
This moves one to the middle line of the screen, moves in 20 columns left,
marks the beginning of the paste buffer, sets the left column, moves 5 columns
down, sets the right column, and then marks the end of
the paste buffer. Now try:
\*QC-a [ M 20 l SPACE 10 l 5 j SPACE\*U
and notice the difference in the amount of text copied.
J joins lines. It toggles between 4 modes: lines separated by a
newline character (012), lines glued seamless, lines separated by a single
whitespace and comma separated lines. Note that you can prepend the newline
character with a carriage return character, by issuing a \*Qcrlf on\*U.
v is for all the
vi
users with \*Q:set numbers\*U - it toggles the left margin between column 9
and 1. Press
a before the final space key to toggle in append mode. Thus
the contents of the paste buffer will not be overwritten, but is appended to.
A toggles in append mode and sets a (second) mark.
> sets the (second) mark and writes the contents of the paste buffer to
the screen-exchange file (/tmp/screen-exchange per default) once copy-mode is
finished.
This example demonstrates how to dump the whole scrollback buffer
to that file: \*QC-A [ g SPACE G $ >\*U.
C-g gives information about the current line and column.
x exchanges the first mark and the current cursor position. You
can use this to adjust an already placed mark.
@ does nothing. Does not even exit copy mode.
All keys not described here exit copy mode.
-4n
3
copy_reg
[ key ]
No longer exists, use \*Qreadreg\*U instead.
3
crlf [ on | off ]
This affects the copying of text regions with the `C-a [' command. If it is set
to `on', lines will be separated by the two character sequence `CR' - `LF'.
Otherwise (default) only `LF' is used.
When no parameter is given, the state is toggled.
3
debug on | off
Turns runtime debugging on or off. If
screen
has been compiled with option -DDEBUG debugging available and is turned on per
default. Note that this command only affects debugging output from the main
\*QSCREEN\*U process correctly. Debug output from attacher processes can only
be turned off once and forever.
3
defc1 on | off
Same as the c1 command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is `on'.
3
defautonuke on | off
Same as the autonuke command except that the default setting for new displays is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
Note that you can use the special `AN' terminal capability if you
want to have a dependency on the terminal type.
3
defbreaktype
[ tcsendbreak | TIOCSBRK
| TCSBRK ]
Choose one of the available methods of generating a break signal for
terminal devices. The preferred methods are
tcsendbreak and TIOCSBRK .
The third,
TCSBRK ,
blocks the complete
screen
session for the duration
of the break, but it may be the only way to generate long breaks.
Tcsendbreak and TIOCSBRK
may or may not produce long breaks with spikes (e.g. 4 per
second). This is not only system dependant, this also differs between
serial board drivers.
Calling \*Qdefbreaktype\*U with no parameter displays the current setting.
3
defcharset [ \fIset ]
Like the charset command except that the default setting for
new windows is changed. Shows current default if called without
argument.
3
defescape xy
Set the default command characters. This is equivalent to the
\*Qescape\*U except that it is useful multiuser sessions only. In a
multiuser session \*Qescape\*U changes the command character of the
calling user, where \*Qdefescape\*U changes the default command
characters for users that will be added later.
3
defflow on | off | auto
[ interrupt ]
Same as the flow command except that the default setting for new windows
is changed. Initial setting is `auto'.
Specifying \*Qdefflow auto interrupt\*U is the same as the command-line options
-fa
and
-i .
3
defgr on | off
Same as the gr command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
3
defhstatus [ \fIstatus ]
The hardstatus line that all new windows will get is set to
status\fR.
This command is useful to make the hardstatus of every window
display the window number or title or the like.
Status
may contain the same directives as in the window messages, but
the directive escape character is '^E' (octal 005) instead of '%'.
This was done to make a misinterpretation of program generated
hardstatus lines impossible.
If the parameter
status
is omitted, the current default string is displayed.
Per default the hardstatus line of new windows is empty.
3
defkanji jis | sjis | euc
Same as the kanji command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is `off', i.e. `jis'.
3
deflogin on | off
Same as the login command except that the default setting for new windows
is changed. This is initialized with `on' as distributed (see config.h.in).
3
defmode mode
The mode of each newly allocated pseudo-tty is set to mode.
Mode is an octal number.
When no \*Qdefmode\*U command is given, mode 0622 is used.
3
defmonitor on | off
Same as the monitor command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
3
defobuflimit limit
Same as the obuflimit command except that the default setting for new displays is changed. Initial setting is 256 bytes.
Note that you can use the special 'OL' terminal capability if you
want to have a dependency on the terminal type.
3
defscrollback num
Same as the scrollback command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is 100.
3
defshell command
Synonym to the shell command. See there.
3
defsilence on | off
Same as the silence command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
3
defslowpaste msec"
Same as the slowpaste command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initial setting is 0 milliseconds, meaning `off'.
3
defwrap on | off
Same as the wrap command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initially line-wrap is on and can be toggled with the
\*Qwrap\*U command (\*QC-a r\*U) or by means of "C-a : wrap on|off".
3
defwritelock on | off | auto
Same as the writelock command except that the default setting for new
windows is changed. Initially writelocks will off.
3
defzombie [\fIkeys\fP]
Synonym to the zombie command. Both currently change the default.
See there.
3
detach
Detach the
screen
session (disconnect it from the terminal and put it into the background).
This returns you to the shell where you invoked
screen .
A detached
screen
can be resumed by invoking
screen
with the
-r
option. (See also section \*QCOMMAND-LINE OPTIONS\*U.)
3
displays
Shows a tabular listing of all currently connected user front-ends (displays).
This is most useful for multiuser sessions.
3
digraph [ \fIpreset ]
This command prompts the user for a digraph sequence. The next
two characters typed are looked up in a builtin table and the
resulting character is inserted in the input stream. For example,
if the user enters 'a"', an a-umlaut will be inserted. If the
first character entered is a 0 (zero),
screen
will treat the following characters (up to three) as an octal
number instead. The optional argument
preset
is treated as user input, thus one can create an \*Qumlaut\*U key.
For example the command "bindkey ^K digraph '"'" enables the user
to generate an a-umlaut by typing CTRL-K a.
3
dumptermcap
Write the termcap entry for the virtual terminal optimized for the currently
active window to the file \*Q.termcap\*U in the user's
\*Q$HOME/.screen\*U directory (or wherever
screen
stores its sockets. See the \*QFILES\*U section below).
This termcap entry is identical to the value of the environment variable
$TERMCAP that is set up by
screen
for each window. For terminfo based systems you will need to run a converter
like
captoinfo
and then compile the entry with
tic .
3
echo [ -n ]
message
The echo command may be used to annoy
screen
users with a 'message of the
day'. Typically installed in a global /etc/screenrc.
The option \*Q-n\*U may be used to suppress the line feed.
See also \*Qsleep\*U.
Echo is also useful for online checking of environment variables.
3
escape xy
Set the command character to x and the character generating a literal
command character (by triggering the \*Qmeta\*U command) to y (similar
to the -e option).
Each argument is either a single character, a two-character sequence
of the form \*Q^x\*U (meaning \*QC-x\*U), a backslash followed by an octal
number (specifying the ASCII code of the character), or a backslash followed
by a second character, such as \*Q\e^\*U or \*Q\e\e\*U.
The default is \*Q^Aa\*U.
3
exec
[[ fdpat ]
newcommand [ args ... ]]
Run a unix subprocess (specified by an executable path newcommand and its
optional arguments) in the current window. The flow of data between
newcommands stdin/stdout/stderr, the process originally started in the window
(let us call it "application-process") and screen itself (window) is
controlled by the filedescriptor pattern fdpat.
This pattern is basically a three character sequence representing stdin, stdout
and stderr of newcommand. A dot (.) connects the file descriptor
to
screen .
An exclamation mark (!) causes the file
descriptor to be connected to the application-process. A colon (:) combines
both.
User input will go to newcommand unless newcommand receives the
application-process'
output (fdpats first character is `!' or `:') or a pipe symbol (|) is added
(as a fourth character) to the end of fdpat.
Invoking `exec' without arguments shows name and arguments of the currently
running subprocess in this window. Only one subprocess a time can be running
in each window.
When a subprocess is running the `kill' command will affect it instead of the
windows process.
Refer to the postscript file `doc/fdpat.ps' for a confusing illustration
of all 21 possible combinations. Each drawing shows the digits 2,1,0
representing the three file descriptors of newcommand. The box marked
`W' is the usual pty that has the application-process on its slave side.
The box marked `P' is the secondary pty that now has
screen
at its master side.
Abbreviations:
Whitespace between the word `exec' and fdpat and the command
can be omitted. Trailing dots and a fdpat consisting only of dots can be
omitted. A simple `|' is synonymous for the pattern `!..|'; the word exec can
be omitted here and can always be replaced by `!'.
Examples:
exec ... /bin/sh
exec /bin/sh
!/bin/sh
Creates another shell in the same window, while the original shell is still
running. Output of both shells is displayed and user input is sent to the new
/bin/sh.
exec !.. stty 19200
exec ! stty 19200
!!stty 19200
Set the speed of the window's tty. If your stty command operates on stdout,
then add another `!'.
This adds a pager to the window output. The special character `|' is needed to
give the user control over the pager although it gets its input from the
window's process. This works, because
less
listens on stderr (a behavior that
screen
would not expect without the `|')
when its stdin is not a tty.
Less
versions newer than 177 fail miserably here; good old
pg
still works.
!:sed -n s/.*Error.*/\e007/p
Sends window output to both, the user and the sed command. The sed inserts an
additional bell character (oct. 007) to the window output seen by
screen .
This will cause "Bell in window x" messages, whenever the string "Error"
appears in the window.
3
fit
Change the window size to the size of the current region. This
command is needed because screen doesn't adapt the window size
automatically if the window is displayed more than once.
3
flow
[ on | off | auto\fR]\fP
Sets the flow-control mode for this window.
Without parameters it cycles the current window's flow-control setting from
"automatic" to "on" to "off".
See the discussion on \*QFLOW-CONTROL\*U later on in this document for full
details and note, that this is subject to change in future releases.
Default is set by `defflow'.
3
focus
Move the input focus to the next region. This is done in a cyclic
way so that the top region is selected after the bottom one.
3
gr [ on | off ]
Turn GR charset switching on/off. Whenever screen sees an input
character with the 8th bit set, it will use the charset stored in the
GR slot and print the character with the 8th bit stripped. The
default (see also \*Qdefgr\*U) is not to process GR switching because
otherwise the ISO88591 charset would not work.
3
hardcopy
Writes out the currently displayed image to a file hardcopy.n
in the window's default directory, where n is the number
of the current window.
This either appends or overwrites the file if it exists. See below.
3
hardcopy_append on | off
If set to "on",
screen
will append to the "hardcopy.n" files created by the command \*QC-a h\*U,
otherwise these files are overwritten each time.
Default is `off'.
3
hardcopydir directory
Defines a directory where hardcopy files will be placed. If unset, hardcopys
are dumped in
screen 's
current working directory.
3
hardstatus [ on | off ]
hardstatus \fR[\fBalways\fR]\fBlastline | message | ignore
[ string ]
hardstatus string
[ string ]
This command configures the use and emulation of the terminal's
hardstatus line. The first form
toggles whether
screen
will use the hardware status line to display messages. If the
flag is set to `off', these messages
are overlaid in reverse video mode at the display line. The default
setting is `on'.
The second form tells
screen
what to do if the terminal doesn't
have a hardstatus line (i.e. the termcap/terminfo capabilities
"hs", "ts", "fs" and "ds" are not set). If the type
\*Qlastline\*U is used,
screen
will reserve the last line of the
display for
the hardstatus. \*Qmessage\*U uses
screen's
message mechanism and
\*Qignore\*U tells
screen
never to display the hardstatus.
If you prepend the word \*Qalways\*U to the type,
screen
will use the type even if the terminal supports a hardstatus.
The third form specifies the contents of the hardstatus line.
'%h' is used as default string, i.e. the stored hardstatus of the
current window (settable via \\E]0;^G or \\E_\\\\) is displayed.
You can customize this to any string you like including
the escapes from the \*QSTRING ESCAPES\*U chapter. If you leave
out the argument
string ,
the current string is displayed.
You can mix the second and third form by providing the string as
additional argument.
3
height [ \fIlines\fP ]
Set the display height to a specified number of lines. When no argument
is given it toggles between 24 and 42 lines display.
3
help
Not really a online help, but
displays a help
screen
showing you all the key bindings.
The first pages list all the internal commands followed by their current
bindings.
Subsequent pages will display the custom commands, one command per key.
Press space when you're done reading each page, or return to exit early.
All other characters are ignored.
See also \*QDEFAULT KEY BINDINGS\*U section.
3
history
Usually users work with a shell that allows easy access to previous commands.
For example csh has the command \*Q!!\*U to repeat the last command executed.
Screen
allows you to have a primitive way of re-calling \*Qthe command that
started ...\*U: You just type the first letter of that command, then hit
`C-a {' and
screen
tries to find a previous line that matches with the `prompt character'
to the left of the cursor. This line is pasted into this window's input queue.
Thus you have a crude command history (made up by the visible window and its
scrollback buffer).
3
hstatus status
Change the window's hardstatus line to the string status.
3
info
Uses the message line to display some information about the current window:
the cursor position in the form \*Q(column,row)\*U starting with \*Q(1,1)\*U,
the terminal width and height plus the size of the scrollback buffer in lines,
like in \*Q(80,24)+50\*U, the current state of window XON/XOFF flow control
is shown like this (See also section FLOW CONTROL):
+flow automatic flow control, currently on.
-flow automatic flow control, currently off.
+(+)flow flow control enabled. Agrees with automatic control.
-(+)flow flow control disabled. Disagrees with automatic control.
+(-)flow flow control enabled. Disagrees with automatic control.
-(-)flow flow control disabled. Agrees with automatic control.
The current line wrap setting (`+wrap' indicates enabled, `-wrap' not) is
also shown. The flags `ins', `org', `app', `log', `mon' or `nored' are
displayed when the window is in insert mode, origin mode,
application-keypad mode, has output logging,
insert mode, origin mode, application-keypad mode, output logging,
activity monitoring or partial redraw enabled.
The currently active character set (G0, G1, G2,
or G3) and in square brackets the terminal character sets that are
currently designated as G0 through G3 is shown.
Additional modes depending on the type of the window are displayed at the end of the status line (See also chapter \*QWINDOW TYPES\*U).
If the state machine of the terminal emulator is in a non-default state,
the info line is started with a string identifying the current state.
For system information use the \*Qtime\*U command.
3
ins_reg [ \fIkey ]
No longer exists, use \*Qpaste\*U instead.
3
kanji
jis | euc | sjis
[ jis | euc | sjis\fR]
Tell
screen
how to process kanji input/output. The first argument
sets the kanji type of the current window. Each window can emulate
a different type. The optional second parameter tells
screen
how to write the kanji codes to the connected terminal. The preferred
method of setting the display type is to use the \*QKJ\*U termcap
entry.
See also \*Qdefkanji\*U, which changes the default setting of a new
window.
3
kill
Kill current window.
If there is an `exec' command running then it is killed. Otherwise the process
(shell) running in the window receives a HANGUP condition,
the window structure is removed and
screen
(your display) switches to another
window. When the last window is destroyed,
screen
exits.
After a kill
screen
switches to the previously displayed window.
Note:
Emacs
users should keep this command in mind, when killing a line.
It is recommended not to use \*QC-a\*U as the
screen
escape key or to rebind kill to \*QC-a K\*U.
3
lastmsg
Redisplay the last contents of the message/status line.
Useful if you're typing when a message appears, because the message goes
away when you press a key (unless your terminal has a hardware status line).
Refer to the commands \*Qmsgwait\*U and \*Qmsgminwait\*U for fine tuning.
3
license
Display the disclaimer page. This is done whenever
screen
is started without options, which should be often enough. See also
the \*Qstartup_message\*U command.
3
lockscreen
Lock this display.
Call a screenlock program (/local/bin/lck or /usr/bin/lock or a builtin if no
other is available). Screen does not accept any command keys until this program
terminates. Meanwhile processes in the windows may continue, as the windows
are in the `detached' state. The screenlock program may be changed through the
environment variable $LOCKPRG (which must be set in the shell from which
screen
is started) and is executed with the user's uid and gid.
Warning:
When you leave other shells unlocked and you have no password set on
screen ,
the lock is void: One could easily re-attach from an unlocked
shell. This feature should rather be called `lockterminal'.
3
log [ on | off ]
Start/stop writing output of the current window to a file
\*Qscreenlog.n\*U in the window's default directory, where n
is the number of the current window. This filename can be changed with
the `logfile' command. If no parameter is given, the state
of logging is toggled. The session log is appended to the previous contents
of the file if it already exists. The current contents and the contents
of the scrollback history are not included in the session log.
Default is `off'.
3
logfile filename
logfile flush secs
Defines the name the logfiles will get. The default is
\*Qscreenlog.%n\*U. The second form changes the number of seconds
screen
will wait before flushing the logfile buffer to the file-system. The
default value is 10 seconds.
3
login [ on | off ]
Adds or removes the entry in the utmp database file for the current window.
This controls if the window is `logged in'.
When no parameter is given, the login state of the window is toggled.
Additionally to that toggle, it is convenient having a `log in' and a `log out'
key. E.\|g. `bind I login on' and `bind O login off' will map these
keys to be C-a I and C-a O.
The default setting (in config.h.in) should be \*Qon\*U for a
screen
that runs under suid-root.
Use the \*Qdeflogin\*U command to change the default login state for new
windows. Both commands are only present when
screen
has been compiled with utmp support.
3
logtstamp [ on | off ]
logtstamp after
[ secs ]
logtstamp string
[ string ]
This command controls logfile time-stamp mechanism of
screen.
If
time-stamps are turned \*Qon\*U,
screen
adds a string containing
the current time to the logfile after two minutes of inactivity.
When output continues and more than another two minutes have passed,
a second time-stamp is added to document the restart of the
output. You can change this timeout with the second form
of the command. The third form is used for customizing the time-stamp
string (`-- %n:%t -- time-stamp -- %M/%d/%y %c:%s --\\n' by
default).
3
mapdefault
Tell
screen
that the next input character should only be looked up
in the default bindkey table. See also \*Qbindkey\*U.
3
mapnotnext
Like mapdefault, but don't even look in the default bindkey table.
3
maptimeout
[ timo ]
Set the inter-character timer for input sequence detection to a timeout
of
timo
ms. The default timeout is 300ms. Maptimeout with no arguments shows
the current setting.
See also \*Qbindkey\*U.
3
markkeys string
This is a method of changing the keymap used for copy/history mode.
The string is made up of oldchar=newchar pairs which are
separated by `:'. Example: The string \*QB=^B:F=^F\*U will change the
keys `C-b' and `C-f' to the vi style binding (scroll up/down fill page).
This happens to be the default binding for `B' and `F'.
The command \*Qmarkkeys h=^B:l=^F:$=^E\*U would set the mode for an emacs-style
binding.
If your terminal sends characters, that cause you to abort copy mode,
then this command may help by binding these characters to do nothing.
The no-op character is `@' and is used like this: \*Qmarkkeys
@=L=H\*U if you do not want to use the `H' or `L' commands any longer.
As shown in this example, multiple keys can be assigned to one function in a
single statement.
3
meta
Insert the command character (C-a) in the current window's input stream.
3
monitor [ on | off ]
Toggles activity monitoring of windows.
When monitoring is turned on and an affected window is switched into the
background, you will receive the activity notification message in the
status line at the first sign of output and the window will also be marked
with an `@' in the window-status display.
Monitoring is initially off for all windows.
3
msgminwait sec
Defines the time
screen
delays a new message when one message is currently displayed.
The default is 1 second.
3
msgwait sec
Defines the time a message is displayed if
screen
is not disturbed by other activity. The default is 5 seconds.
3
multiuser on | off
Switch between singleuser and multiuser mode. Standard
screen
operation is singleuser. In multiuser mode the commands `acladd',
`aclchg', `aclgrp' and `acldel'
can be used to enable (and disable) other users accessing this
screen
session.
3
nethack on | off
Changes the kind of error messages used by
screen .
When you are familiar with the game \*Qnethack\*U, you may enjoy the
nethack-style messages which will often blur the facts a little, but are
much funnier to read. Anyway, standard messages often tend to be unclear as
well.
This option is only
available if
screen
was compiled with the NETHACK flag defined. The
default setting is then determined by the presence of the environment
variable $NETHACKOPTIONS.
3
next
Switch to the next window.
This command can be used repeatedly to cycle through the list of windows.
3
nonblock
[ on | off ]
Enable or disable flow control for the current user interface (display).
It is used to prevent a slow display from slowing down the processing of
data output by a window. This command may be helpful when multiple displays
show the same window. Nonblock is initially off for all displays.
3
number [ \fIn ]
Change the current windows number. If the given number n is already
used by another window, both windows exchange their numbers. If no argument is
specified, the current window number (and title) is shown.
3
obuflimit [ \fIlimit ]
If the output buffer contains more bytes than the specified limit, no
more data will be
read from the windows. The default value is 256. If you have a fast
display (like xterm), you can set it to some higher value. If no
argument is specified, the current setting is displayed.
3
only
Kill all regions but the current one.
3
other
Switch to the window displayed previously. If this window does no longer exist,
other has the same effect as next.
3
partial on | off
Defines whether the display should be refreshed (as with redisplay) after
switching to the current window. This command only affects the current window.
To immediately affect all windows use the allpartial command.
Default is `off', of course. This default is fixed, as there is currently no
defpartial command.
3
password [ \fIcrypted_pw ]
Present a crypted password in your \*Q.screenrc\*U file and
screen
will ask
for it, whenever someone attempts to resume a detached. This is useful
if you have privileged programs running under
screen
and you want to protect your session from reattach attempts by another user
masquerading as your uid (i.e. any superuser.)
If no crypted password is specified,
screen
prompts twice for typing a
password and places its encryption in the paste buffer.
Default is `none', this disables password checking.
3
paste
[ registers [ dest_reg ]]
Write the (concatenated) contents of the specified registers to the stdin queue
of the current window. The register '.' is treated as the
paste buffer. If no parameter is given the user is prompted for a single
register to paste.
The paste buffer can be filled with the copy, history and
readbuf commands.
Other registers can be filled with the register, readreg and
paste commands.
If paste is called with a second argument, the contents of the specified
registers is pasted into the named destination register rather than
the window. If '.' is used as the second argument, the displays paste buffer is
the destination.
Note, that \*Qpaste\*U uses a wide variety of resources: Whenever a second
argument is specified no current window is needed. When the source specification
only contains registers (not the paste buffer) then there need not be a current
display (terminal attached), as the registers are a global resource. The
paste buffer exists once for every user.
3
pastefont [ on | off ]
Tell
screen
to include font information in the paste buffer. The
default is not to do so. This command is especially useful for
multi character fonts like kanji.
3
pow_break
Reopen the window's terminal line and send a break condition. See `break'.
3
pow_detach
Power detach.
Mainly the same as detach, but also sends a HANGUP signal to
the parent process of
screen .
CAUTION: This will result in a logout, when
screen
was started from your login shell.
3
pow_detach_msg
[ message ]
The message specified here is output whenever a `Power detach' was
performed. It may be used as a replacement for a logout message or to reset
baud rate, etc.
Without parameter, the current message is shown.
3
prev
Switch to the window with the next lower number.
This command can be used repeatedly to cycle through the list of windows.
3
printcmd
[ cmd ]
If
cmd
is not an empty string,
screen
will not use the terminal capabilities
\*Qpo/pf\*U if it detects an ansi print sequence
ESC [ 5 i
but pipe the output into
cmd .
This should normally be a command like \*Qlpr\*U or
\*Q'cat > /tmp/scrprint'\*U.
printcmd
without a command displays the current setting.
The ansi sequence
ESC \e
ends printing and closes the pipe.
Warning: Be careful with this command! If other user have write
access to your terminal, they will be able to fire off print commands.
3
process [ \fIkey ]
Stuff the contents of the specified register into
screen 's
input queue. If no argument is given you are prompted for a
register name. The text is parsed as if it had been typed in from the user's
keyboard. This command can be used to bind multiple actions to a single key.
3
quit
Kill all windows and terminate
screen .
Note that on VT100-style terminals the keys C-4 and C-\e are identical.
This makes the default bindings dangerous:
Be careful not to type C-a C-4 when selecting window no. 4.
Use the empty bind command (as in \*Qbind '^\e'\*U) to remove a key binding.
3
readbuf
Reads the contents of the current screen-exchange file into the paste buffer.
See also \*Qbufferfile\*U command.
3
readreg
[ register [ filename ]]
Does one of two things, dependent on number of arguments: with zero or one
arguments it it duplicates the paste buffer contents into the register specified
or entered at the prompt. With two arguments it reads the contents of the named
file into the register, just as readbuf reads the screen-exchange file
into the paste buffer.
The following example will paste the system's password file into
the
screen
window (using register p, where a copy remains):
C-a : readreg p /etc/passwd
C-a : paste p
3
redisplay
Redisplay the current window. Needed to get a full redisplay when in
partial redraw mode.
3
register key string
Save the specified string to the register key. See also the
\*Qpaste\*U command.
3
remove
Kill the current region. This is a no-op if there is only one region.
3
removebuf
Unlinks the screen-exchange file used by the commands \*Qwritebuf\*U and
\*Qreadbuf\*U.
3
reset
Reset the virtual terminal to its \*Qpower-on\*U values. Useful when strange
settings (like scroll regions or graphics character set) are left over from
an application.
3
screen \fP[\fI-opts\fP] [\fIn\fP] [\fIcmd\fP [\fIargs\fP]]
Establish a new window.
The flow-control options (-f, -fn and -fa),
title (a.\|k.\|a.) option (-t), login options (-l and -ln)
, terminal type option (-T <term>), the all-capability-flag (-a)
and scrollback option (-h <num>) may be specified with each command.
The option (-M) turns monitoring on for this window.
The option (-L) turns output logging on for this window.
If an optional number n in the range 0..9 is given, the window
number n is assigned to the newly created window (or, if this
number is already in-use, the next available number).
If a command is specified after \*Qscreen\*U, this command (with the given
arguments) is started in the window; otherwise, a shell is created.
Thus, if your \*Q.screenrc\*U contains the lines
# example for .screenrc:
screen 1
screen -fn -t foobar -L 2 telnet foobar
screen
creates a shell window (in window #1) and a window with a TELNET connection
to the machine foobar (with no flow-control using the title \*Qfoobar\*U
in window #2) and will write a logfile (\*Qscreenlog.2\*U) of the telnet
session.
Note, that unlike previous versions of
screen
no additional default window is created when \*Qscreen\*U commands are
included in your \*Q.screenrc\*U file. When the initialization is completed,
screen
switches to the last window specified in your .screenrc file or, if none,
opens a default window #0.
Screen has built in some functionality of \*Qcu\*U and \*Qtelnet\*U.
See also chapter \*QWINDOW TYPES\*U.
3
scrollback \fP\fInum\fP
Set the size of the scrollback buffer for the current windows to num
lines. The default scrollback is 100 lines.
See also the \*Qdefscrollback\*U command and use \*QC-a i\*U to view the
current setting.
3
select [ \fIWindowID ]
Switch to the window identified by WindowID.
This can be a prefix of a window title (alphanumeric window name) or a window
number.
The parameter is optional and if omitted, you get prompted for an identifier.
When a new window is established, the first available number
is assigned to this window.
Thus, the first window can be activated by \*Qselect 0\*U.
The number of windows is limited at compile-time by the MAXWIN
configuration parameter.
sessionname [ \fIname ]
Rename the current session. Note, that for \*Qscreen -list\*U the
name shows up with the process-id prepended. If the argument \*Qname\*U
is omitted, the name of this session is displayed. Caution: The $STY
environment variables still reflects the old name. This may result in
confusion.
The default is constructed from the tty and host names.
3
setenv
[ var [ string ]]
Set the environment variable var to value string.
If only var is specified, the user will be prompted to enter a value.
If no parameters are specified, the user will be prompted for both variable
and value. The environment is inherited by all subsequently forked shells.
3
shell \fIcommand\fP
Set the command to be used to create a new shell.
This overrides the value of the environment variable $SHELL.
This is useful if you'd like to run a tty-enhancer which is expecting to
execute the program specified in $SHELL. If the command begins with
a '-' character, the shell will be started as a login-shell.
3
shelltitle \fItitle\fP
Set the title for all shells created during startup or by
the C-A C-c command.
For details about what a title is, see the discussion
entitled \*QTITLES (naming windows)\*U.
3
silence [ on | off |\fIsec\fP]
Toggles silence monitoring of windows.
When silence is turned on and an affected window is switched into the
background, you will receive the silence notification message in the
status line after a specified period of inactivity (silence). The default
timeout can be changed with the `silencewait' command or by specifying a
number of seconds instead of `on' or `off'.
Silence is initially off for all windows.
3
silencewait sec
Define the time that all windows monitored for silence should wait before
displaying a message. Default 30 seconds.
sleep \fP\fInum\fP
This command will pause the execution of a .screenrc file for num seconds.
Keyboard activity will end the sleep.
It may be used to give users a chance to read the messages output by \*Qecho\*U.
3
slowpaste \fImsec\fP
Define the speed at which text is inserted into the current window by the
paste ("C-a ]") command.
If the slowpaste value is nonzero text is written character by character.
screen
will make a pause of msec milliseconds after each single character write
to allow the application to process its input. Only use slowpaste if your
underlying system exposes flow control problems while pasting large amounts of
text.
3
sorendition
[ \fIattr\fR [ \fIcolor ]]
Change the way
screen
does highlighting for text marking and printing messages.
Attr
is a hexadecimal number and describes the attributes (inverse,
underline, ...) the text will get.
Color
is a 2 digit number and changes the
foreground/background of the highlighted text.
Some knowledge of
screen 's
internal character representation is
needed to make the characters appear in the desired way. The default
is currently 10 99 (standout, default colors).
3
split
Split the current region into two new ones. All regions on the
display are resized to make room for the new region. The blank
window is displayed on the new region.
3
startup_message on\fP|\fBoff
Select whether you want to see the copyright notice during startup.
Default is `on', as you probably noticed.
3
stuff
string
Stuff the string
string
in the input buffer of the current window.
This is like the \*Qpaste\*U command but with much less overhead.
You cannot paste
large buffers with the \*Qstuff\*U command. It is most useful for key
bindings. See also \*Qbindkey\*U.
3
su
[ username [ password
[ password2 ]]
Substitute the user of a display. The command prompts for all parameters that
are omitted. If passwords are specified as parameters, they have to be
specified un-crypted. The first password is matched against the systems
passwd database, the second password is matched against the
screen
password as set with the commands \*Qacladd\*U or \*Qpassword\*U.
\*QSu\*U may be useful for the
screen
administrator to test multiuser setups.
|