1SCREEN(1) General Commands Manual SCREEN(1)
2
6 screen - screen manager with VT100/ANSI terminal emulation
7
11 screen [ -options ] [ cmd [ args ] ]
12 screen -r [[pid.]tty[.host]]
13 screen -r sessionowner/[[pid.]tty[.host]]
14
18 Screen is a full-screen window manager that multiplexes a physical ter‐
19 minal between several processes (typically interactive shells). Each
20 virtual terminal provides the functions of a DEC VT100 terminal and, in
21 addition, several control functions from the ISO 6429 (ECMA 48, ANSI
22 X3.64) and ISO 2022 standards (e.g. insert/delete line and support for
23 multiple character sets). There is a scrollback history buffer for
24 each virtual terminal and a copy-and-paste mechanism that allows moving
25 text regions between windows.
26 When screen is called, it creates a single window with a shell in it
28 (or the specified command) and then gets out of your way so that you
29 can use the program as you normally would. Then, at any time, you can
30 create new (full-screen) windows with other programs in them (including
31 more shells), kill existing windows, view a list of windows, turn out‐
32 put logging on and off, copy-and-paste text between windows, view the
33 scrollback history, switch between windows in whatever manner you wish,
34 etc. All windows run their programs completely independent of each
35 other. Programs continue to run when their window is currently not vis‐
36 ible and even when the whole screen session is detached from the user's
37 terminal. When a program terminates, screen (per default) kills the
38 window that contained it. If this window was in the foreground, the
39 display switches to the previous window; if none are left, screen
40 exits.
41 Everything you type is sent to the program running in the current win‐
43 dow. The only exception to this is the one keystroke that is used to
44 initiate a command to the window manager. By default, each command
45 begins with a control-a (abbreviated C-a from now on), and is followed
46 by one other keystroke. The command character and all the key bindings
47 can be fully customized to be anything you like, though they are always
48 two characters in length.
49 Screen does not understand the prefix "C-" to mean control. Please use
51 the caret notation ("^A" instead of "C-a") as arguments to e.g. the
52 escape command or the -e option. Screen will also print out control
53 characters in caret notation.
54 The standard way to create a new window is to type "C-a c". This cre‐
56 ates a new window running a shell and switches to that window immedi‐
57 ately, regardless of the state of the process running in the current
58 window. Similarly, you can create a new window with a custom command
59 in it by first binding the command to a keystroke (in your .screenrc
60 file or at the "C-a :" command line) and then using it just like the
61 "C-a c" command. In addition, new windows can be created by running a
62 command like:
63 screen emacs prog.c
65 from a shell prompt within a previously created window. This will not
67 run another copy of screen, but will instead supply the command name
68 and its arguments to the window manager (specified in the $STY environ‐
69 ment variable) who will use it to create the new window. The above
70 example would start the emacs editor (editing prog.c) and switch to its
71 window.
72 If "/etc/utmp" is writable by screen, an appropriate record will be
74 written to this file for each window, and removed when the window is
75 terminated. This is useful for working with "talk", "script", "shut‐
76 down", "rsend", "sccs" and other similar programs that use the utmp
77 file to determine who you are. As long as screen is active on your ter‐
78 minal, the terminal's own record is removed from the utmp file. See
79 also "C-a L".
80
84 Before you begin to use screen you'll need to make sure you have cor‐
85 rectly selected your terminal type, just as you would for any other
86 termcap/terminfo program. (You can do this by using tset for example.)
87 If you're impatient and want to get started without doing a lot more
89 reading, you should remember this one command: "C-a ?". Typing these
90 two characters will display a list of the available screen commands and
91 their bindings. Each keystroke is discussed in the section "DEFAULT KEY
92 BINDINGS". The manual section "CUSTOMIZATION" deals with the contents
93 of your .screenrc.
94 If your terminal is a "true" auto-margin terminal (it doesn't allow the
96 last position on the screen to be updated without scrolling the screen)
97 consider using a version of your terminal's termcap that has automatic
98 margins turned off. This will ensure an accurate and optimal update of
99 the screen in all circumstances. Most terminals nowadays have "magic"
100 margins (automatic margins plus usable last column). This is the VT100
101 style type and perfectly suited for screen. If all you've got is a
102 "true" auto-margin terminal screen will be content to use it, but
103 updating a character put into the last position on the screen may not
104 be possible until the screen scrolls or the character is moved into a
105 safe position in some other way. This delay can be shortened by using a
106 terminal with insert-character capability.
107
111 Screen has the following command-line options:
112 -a include all capabilities (with some minor exceptions) in each win‐
114 dow's termcap, even if screen must redraw parts of the display in
115 order to implement a function.
116 -A Adapt the sizes of all windows to the size of the current termi‐
118 nal. By default, screen tries to restore its old window sizes
119 when attaching to resizable terminals (those with "WS" in its
120 description, e.g. suncmd or some xterm).
121 -c file
123 override the default configuration file from "$HOME/.screenrc" to
124 file.
125 -d|-D [pid.tty.host]
127 does not start screen, but detaches the elsewhere running screen
128 session. It has the same effect as typing "C-a d" from screen's
129 controlling terminal. -D is the equivalent to the power detach
130 key. If no session can be detached, this option is ignored. In
131 combination with the -r/-R option more powerful effects can be
132 achieved:
133 -d -r Reattach a session and if necessary detach it first.
135 -d -R Reattach a session and if necessary detach or even create it
137 first.
138 -d -RR Reattach a session and if necessary detach or create it. Use
140 the first session if more than one session is available.
141 -D -r Reattach a session. If necessary detach and logout remotely
143 first.
144 -D -R Attach here and now. In detail this means: If a session is run‐
146 ning, then reattach. If necessary detach and logout remotely
147 first. If it was not running create it and notify the user.
148 This is the author's favorite.
149 -D -RR Attach here and now. Whatever that means, just do it.
151 Note: It is always a good idea to check the status of your ses‐
153 sions by means of "screen -list".
154 -e xy
156 specifies the command character to be x and the character generat‐
157 ing a literal command character to y (when typed after the command
158 character). The default is "C-a" and `a', which can be specified
159 as "-e^Aa". When creating a screen session, this option sets the
160 default command character. In a multiuser session all users added
161 will start off with this command character. But when attaching to
162 an already running session, this option changes only the command
163 character of the attaching user. This option is equivalent to
164 either the commands "defescape" or "escape" respectively.
165 -f, -fn, and -fa
167 turns flow-control on, off, or "automatic switching mode". This
168 can also be defined through the "defflow" .screenrc command.
169 -h num
171 Specifies the history scrollback buffer to be num lines high.
172 -i will cause the interrupt key (usually C-c) to interrupt the dis‐
174 play immediately when flow-control is on. See the "defflow"
175 .screenrc command for details. The use of this option is discour‐
176 aged.
177 -l and -ln
179 turns login mode on or off (for /etc/utmp updating). This can
180 also be defined through the "deflogin" .screenrc command.
181 -ls and -list
183 does not start screen, but prints a list of pid.tty.host strings
184 identifying your screen sessions. Sessions marked `detached' can
185 be resumed with "screen -r". Those marked `attached' are running
186 and have a controlling terminal. If the session runs in multiuser
187 mode, it is marked `multi'. Sessions marked as `unreachable'
188 either live on a different host or are `dead'. An unreachable
189 session is considered dead, when its name matches either the name
190 of the local host, or the specified parameter, if any. See the -r
191 flag for a description how to construct matches. Sessions marked
192 as `dead' should be thoroughly checked and removed. Ask your sys‐
193 tem administrator if you are not sure. Remove sessions with the
194 -wipe option.
195 -L tells screen to turn on automatic output logging for the windows.
197 -m causes screen to ignore the $STY environment variable. With
199 "screen -m" creation of a new session is enforced, regardless
200 whether screen is called from within another screen session or
201 not. This flag has a special meaning in connection with the `-d'
202 option:
203 -d -m Start screen in "detached" mode. This creates a new session but
205 doesn't attach to it. This is useful for system startup
206 scripts.
207 -D -m This also starts screen in "detached" mode, but doesn't fork a
209 new process. The command exits if the session terminates.
210 -O selects a more optimal output mode for your terminal rather than
212 true VT100 emulation (only affects auto-margin terminals without
213 `LP'). This can also be set in your .screenrc by specifying `OP'
214 in a "termcap" command.
215 -p number_or_name
217 Preselect a window. This is usefull when you want to reattach to a
218 specific windor or you want to send a command via the "-X" option
219 to a specific window. As with screen's select commant, "-" selects
220 the blank window. As a special case for reattach, "=" brings up
221 the windowlist on the blank window.
222 -q Suppress printing of error messages. In combination with "-ls" the
224 exit value is as follows: 9 indicates a directory without ses‐
225 sions. 10 indicates a directory with running but not attachable
226 sessions. 11 (or more) indicates 1 (or more) usable sessions. In
227 combination with "-r" the exit value is as follows: 10 indicates
228 that there is no session to resume. 12 (or more) indicates that
229 there are 2 (or more) sessions to resume and you should specify
230 which one to choose. In all other cases "-q" has no effect.
231 -r [pid.tty.host]
233 -r sessionowner/[pid.tty.host]
234 resumes a detached screen session. No other options (except com‐
235 binations with -d/-D) may be specified, though an optional prefix
236 of [pid.]tty.host may be needed to distinguish between multiple
237 detached screen sessions. The second form is used to connect to
238 another user's screen session which runs in multiuser mode. This
239 indicates that screen should look for sessions in another user's
240 directory. This requires setuid-root.
241 -R attempts to resume the first detached screen session it finds. If
243 successful, all other command-line options are ignored. If no
244 detached session exists, starts a new session using the specified
245 options, just as if -R had not been specified. The option is set
246 by default if screen is run as a login-shell (actually screen uses
247 "-xRR" in that case). For combinations with the -d/-D option see
248 there.
249 -s sets the default shell to the program specified, instead of the
251 value in the environment variable $SHELL (or "/bin/sh" if not
252 defined). This can also be defined through the "shell" .screenrc
253 command.
254 -S sessionname
256 When creating a new session, this option can be used to specify a
257 meaningful name for the session. This name identifies the session
258 for "screen -list" and "screen -r" actions. It substitutes the
259 default [tty.host] suffix.
260 -t name
262 sets the title (a.k.a.) for the default shell or specified pro‐
263 gram. See also the "shelltitle" .screenrc command.
264 -U Run screen in UTF-8 mode. This option tells screen that your ter‐
266 minal sends and understands UTF-8 encoded characters. It also sets
267 the default encoding for new windows to `utf8'.
268 -v Print version number.
270 -wipe [match]
272 does the same as "screen -ls", but removes destroyed sessions
273 instead of marking them as `dead'. An unreachable session is con‐
274 sidered dead, when its name matches either the name of the local
275 host, or the explicitly given parameter, if any. See the -r flag
276 for a description how to construct matches.
277 -x Attach to a not detached screen session. (Multi display mode).
279 -X Send the specified command to a running screen session. You can
281 use the -d or -r option to tell screen to look only for attached
282 or detached screen sessions. Note that this command doesn't work
283 if the session is password protected.
284
288 As mentioned, each screen command consists of a "C-a" followed by one
289 other character. For your convenience, all commands that are bound to
290 lower-case letters are also bound to their control character counter‐
291 parts (with the exception of "C-a a"; see below), thus, "C-a c" as well
292 as "C-a C-c" can be used to create a window. See section "CUSTOMIZA‐
293 TION" for a description of the command.
294 The following table shows the default key bindings:
296 C-a ' (select) Prompt for a window name or number to switch
298 to.
299 C-a " (windowlist -b)
301 Present a list of all windows for selection.
302 C-a 0 (select 0)
304 ... ...
305 C-a 9 (select 9)
306 C-a - (select -) Switch to window number 0 - 9, or to the
307 blank window.
308 C-a tab (focus) Switch the input focus to the next region.
310 C-a C-a (other) Toggle to the window displayed previously.
312 Note that this binding defaults to the com‐
313 mand character typed twice, unless overrid‐
314 den. For instance, if you use the option
315 "-e]x", this command becomes "]]".
316 C-a a (meta) Send the command character (C-a) to window.
318 See escape command.
319 C-a A (title) Allow the user to enter a name for the cur‐
321 rent window.
322 C-a b
324 C-a C-b (break) Send a break to window.
325 C-a B (pow_break) Reopen the terminal line and send a break.
327 C-a c
329 C-a C-c (screen) Create a new window with a shell and switch
330 to that window.
331 C-a C (clear) Clear the screen.
333 C-a d
335 C-a C-d (detach) Detach screen from this terminal.
336 C-a D D (pow_detach) Detach and logout.
338 C-a f
340 C-a C-f (flow) Toggle flow on, off or auto.
341 C-a F (fit) Resize the window to the current region size.
343 C-a C-g (vbell) Toggles screen's visual bell mode.
345 C-a h (hardcopy) Write a hardcopy of the current window to the
347 file "hardcopy.n".
348 C-a H (log) Begins/ends logging of the current window to
350 the file "screenlog.n".
351 C-a i
353 C-a C-i (info) Show info about this window.
354 C-a k
356 C-a C-k (kill) Destroy current window.
357 C-a l
359 C-a C-l (redisplay) Fully refresh current window.
360 C-a L (login) Toggle this windows login slot. Available
362 only if screen is configured to update the
363 utmp database.
364 C-a m
366 C-a C-m (lastmsg) Repeat the last message displayed in the mes‐
367 sage line.
368 C-a M (monitor) Toggles monitoring of the current window.
370 C-a space
372 C-a n
373 C-a C-n (next) Switch to the next window.
374 C-a N (number) Show the number (and title) of the current
376 window.
377 C-a backspace
379 C-a h
380 C-a p
381 C-a C-p (prev) Switch to the previous window (opposite of C-
382 a n).
383 C-a q
385 C-a C-q (xon) Send a control-q to the current window.
386 C-a Q (only) Delete all regions but the current one.
388 C-a r
390 C-a C-r (wrap) Toggle the current window's line-wrap setting
391 (turn the current window's automatic margins
392 on and off).
393 C-a s
395 C-a C-s (xoff) Send a control-s to the current window.
396 C-a S (split) Split the current region into two new ones.
398 C-a t
400 C-a C-t (time) Show system information.
401 C-a v (version) Display the version and compilation date.
403 C-a C-v (digraph) Enter digraph.
405 C-a w
407 C-a C-w (windows) Show a list of window.
408 C-a W (width) Toggle 80/132 columns.
410 C-a x
412 C-a C-x (lockscreen) Lock this terminal.
413 C-a X (remove) Kill the current region.
415 C-a z
417 C-a C-z (suspend) Suspend screen. Your system must support
418 BSD-style job-control.
419 C-a Z (reset) Reset the virtual terminal to its "power-on"
421 values.
422 C-a . (dumptermcap) Write out a ".termcap" file.
424 C-a ? (help) Show key bindings.
426 C-a C-\ (quit) Kill all windows and terminate screen.
428 C-a : (colon) Enter command line mode.
430 C-a [
432 C-a C-[
433 C-a esc (copy) Enter copy/scrollback mode.
434 C-a ] (paste .) Write the contents of the paste buffer to the
436 stdin queue of the current window.
437 C-a {
439 C-a } (history) Copy and paste a previous (command) line.
440 C-a > (writebuf) Write paste buffer to a file.
442 C-a < (readbuf) Reads the screen-exchange file into the paste
444 buffer.
445 C-a = (removebuf) Removes the file used by C-a < and C-a >.
447 C-a , (license) Shows where screen comes from, where it went
449 to and why you can use it.
450 C-a _ (silence) Start/stop monitoring the current window for
452 inactivity.
453 C-a * (displays) Show a listing of all currently attached dis‐
455 plays.
456
460 The "socket directory" defaults either to $HOME/.screen or simply to
461 /tmp/screens or preferably to /usr/local/screens chosen at compile-
462 time. If screen is installed setuid-root, then the administrator should
463 compile screen with an adequate (not NFS mounted) socket directory. If
464 screen is not running setuid-root, the user can specify any mode 700
465 directory in the environment variable $SCREENDIR.
466 When screen is invoked, it executes initialization commands from the
468 files "/etc/screenrc" and ".screenrc" in the user's home directory.
469 These are the "programmer's defaults" that can be overridden in the
470 following ways: for the global screenrc file screen searches for the
471 environment variable $SYSSCREENRC (this override feature may be dis‐
472 abled at compile-time). The user specific screenrc file is searched in
473 $SCREENRC, then $HOME/.screenrc. The command line option -c takes
474 precedence over the above user screenrc files.
475 Commands in these files are used to set options, bind functions to
477 keys, and to automatically establish one or more windows at the begin‐
478 ning of your screen session. Commands are listed one per line, with
479 empty lines being ignored. A command's arguments are separated by tabs
480 or spaces, and may be surrounded by single or double quotes. A `#'
481 turns the rest of the line into a comment, except in quotes. Unintel‐
482 ligible lines are warned about and ignored. Commands may contain ref‐
483 erences to environment variables. The syntax is the shell-like "$VAR "
484 or "${VAR}". Note that this causes incompatibility with previous screen
485 versions, as now the '$'-character has to be protected with '\' if no
486 variable substitution shall be performed. A string in single-quotes is
487 also protected from variable substitution.
488 Two configuration files are shipped as examples with your screen dis‐
490 tribution: "etc/screenrc" and "etc/etcscreenrc". They contain a number
491 of useful examples for various commands.
492 Customization can also be done 'on-line'. To enter the command mode
494 type `C-a :'. Note that commands starting with "def" change default
495 values, while others change current settings.
496 The following commands are available:
498 acladd usernames [crypted-pw]
500 addacl usernames
501 Enable users to fully access this screen session. Usernames can be one
503 user or a comma separated list of users. This command enables to attach
504 to the screen session and performs the equivalent of `aclchg usernames
505 +rwx "#?"'. executed. To add a user with restricted access, use the
506 `aclchg' command below. If an optional second parameter is supplied,
507 it should be a crypted password for the named user(s). `Addacl' is a
508 synonym to `acladd'. Multi user mode only.
509 aclchg usernames permbits list
511 chacl usernames permbits list
512 Change permissions for a comma separated list of users. Permission bits
514 are represented as `r', `w' and `x'. Prefixing `+' grants the permis‐
515 sion, `-' removes it. The third parameter is a comma separated list of
516 commands and/or windows (specified either by number or title). The spe‐
517 cial list `#' refers to all windows, `?' to all commands. if usernames
518 consists of a single `*', all known users are affected. A command can
519 be executed when the user has the `x' bit for it. The user can type
520 input to a window when he has its `w' bit set and no other user obtains
521 a writelock for this window. Other bits are currently ignored. To
522 withdraw the writelock from another user in window 2: `aclchg username
523 -w+w 2'. To allow read-only access to the session: `aclchg username -w
524 "#"'. As soon as a user's name is known to screen he can attach to the
525 session and (per default) has full permissions for all command and win‐
526 dows. Execution permission for the acl commands, `at' and others should
527 also be removed or the user may be able to regain write permission.
528 Rights of the special username nobody cannot be changed (see the "su"
529 command). `Chacl' is a synonym to `aclchg'. Multi user mode only.
530 acldel username
532 Remove a user from screen's access control list. If currently attached,
534 all the user's displays are detached from the session. He cannot attach
535 again. Multi user mode only.
536 aclgrp username [groupname]
538 Creates groups of users that share common access rights. The name of
540 the group is the username of the group leader. Each member of the group
541 inherits the permissions that are granted to the group leader. That
542 means, if a user fails an access check, another check is made for the
543 group leader. A user is removed from all groups the special value
544 "none" is used for groupname. If the second parameter is omitted all
545 groups the user is in are listed.
546 aclumask [[users]+bits |[users]-bits .... ]
548 umask [[users]+bits |[users]-bits .... ]
549 This specifies the access other users have to windows that will be cre‐
551 ated by the caller of the command. Users may be no, one or a comma
552 separated list of known usernames. If no users are specified, a list of
553 all currently known users is assumed. Bits is any combination of
554 access control bits allowed defined with the "aclchg" command. The spe‐
555 cial username "?" predefines the access that not yet known users will
556 be granted to any window initially. The special username "??" prede‐
557 fines the access that not yet known users are granted to any command.
558 Rights of the special username nobody cannot be changed (see the "su"
559 command). `Umask' is a synonym to `aclumask'.
560 activity message
562 When any activity occurs in a background window that is being moni‐
564 tored, screen displays a notification in the message line. The notifi‐
565 cation message can be re-defined by means of the "activity" command.
566 Each occurrence of `%' in message is replaced by the number of the win‐
567 dow in which activity has occurred, and each occurrence of `^G' is
568 replaced by the definition for bell in your termcap (usually an audible
569 bell). The default message is
570 'Activity in window %n'
572 Note that monitoring is off for all windows by default, but can be
574 altered by use of the "monitor" command (C-a M).
575 allpartial on|off
577 If set to on, only the current cursor line is refreshed on window
579 change. This affects all windows and is useful for slow terminal
580 lines. The previous setting of full/partial refresh for each window is
581 restored with "allpartial off". This is a global flag that immediately
582 takes effect on all windows overriding the "partial" settings. It does
583 not change the default redraw behavior of newly created windows.
584 altscreen on|off
586 If set to on, "alternate screen" support is enabled in virtual termi‐
588 nals, just like in xterm. Initial setting is `off'.
589 at [identifier][#|*|%] command [args ... ]
591 Execute a command at other displays or windows as if it had been
593 entered there. "At" changes the context (the `current window' or `cur‐
594 rent display' setting) of the command. If the first parameter describes
595 a non-unique context, the command will be executed multiple times. If
596 the first parameter is of the form `identifier*' then identifier is
597 matched against user names. The command is executed once for each dis‐
598 play of the selected user(s). If the first parameter is of the form
599 `identifier%' identifier is matched against displays. Displays are
600 named after the ttys they attach. The prefix `/dev/' or `/dev/tty' may
601 be omitted from the identifier. If identifier has a `#' or nothing
602 appended it is matched against window numbers and titles. Omitting an
603 identifier in front of the `#', `*' or `%'-character selects all users,
604 displays or windows because a prefix-match is performed. Note that on
605 the affected display(s) a short message will describe what happened.
606 Permission is checked for initiator of the "at" command, not for the
607 owners of the affected display(s). Note that the '#' character works
608 as a comment introducer when it is preceded by whitespace. This can be
609 escaped by prefixing a '\'. Permission is checked for the initiator of
610 the "at" command, not for the owners of the affected display(s).
611 Caveat: When matching against windows, the command is executed at least
612 once per window. Commands that change the internal arrangement of win‐
613 dows (like "other") may be called again. In shared windows the command
614 will be repeated for each attached display. Beware, when issuing toggle
615 commands like "login"! Some commands (e.g. "process") require that a
616 display is associated with the target windows. These commands may not
617 work correctly under "at" looping over windows.
618 attrcolor attrib [attribute/color-modifier]
620 This command can be used to highlight attributes by changing the color
622 of the text. If the attribute attrib is in use, the specified
623 attribute/color modifier is also applied. If no modifier is given, the
624 current one is deleted. See the "STRING ESCAPES" chapter for the syntax
625 of the modifier. Screen understands two pseudo-attributes, "i" stands
626 for high-intensity foreground color and "I" for high-intensity back‐
627 ground color.
628 Examples:
630 attrcolor b "R"
632 Change the color to bright red if bold text is to be printed.
634 attrcolor u "-u b"
636 Use blue text instead of underline.
638 attrcolor b ".I"
640 Use bright colors for bold text. Most terminal emulators do this
642 already.
643 attrcolor i "+b"
645 Make bright colored text also bold.
647 autodetach on|off
649 Sets whether screen will automatically detach upon hangup, which saves
651 all your running programs until they are resumed with a screen -r com‐
652 mand. When turned off, a hangup signal will terminate screen and all
653 the processes it contains. Autodetach is on by default.
654 autonuke on|off
656 Sets whether a clear screen sequence should nuke all the output that
658 has not been written to the terminal. See also "obuflimit".
659 backtick id lifespan autorefresh cmd args...
661 backtick id
662 Program the backtick command with the numerical id id. The output of
664 such a command is used for substitution of the "%`" string escape. The
665 specified lifespan is the number of seconds the output is considered
666 valid. After this time, the command is run again if a corresponding
667 string escape is encountered. The autorefresh parameter triggers an
668 automatic refresh for caption and hardstatus strings after the speci‐
669 fied number of seconds. Only the last line of output is used for sub‐
670 stitution.
671 If both the lifespan and the autorefresh parameters are zero, the back‐
672 tick program is expected to stay in the background and generate output
673 once in a while. In this case, the command is executed right away and
674 screen stores the last line of output. If a new line gets printed
675 screen will automatically refresh the hardstatus or the captions.
676 The second form of the command deletes the backtick command with the
677 numerical id id.
678 bce [on|off]
680 Change background-color-erase setting. If "bce" is set to on, all char‐
682 acters cleared by an erase/insert/scroll/clear operation will be dis‐
683 played in the current background color. Otherwise the default back‐
684 ground color is used.
685 bell_msg [message]
687 When a bell character is sent to a background window, screen displays a
689 notification in the message line. The notification message can be re-
690 defined by this command. Each occurrence of `%' in message is replaced
691 by the number of the window to which a bell has been sent, and each
692 occurrence of `^G' is replaced by the definition for bell in your term‐
693 cap (usually an audible bell). The default message is
694 'Bell in window %n'
696 An empty message can be supplied to the "bell_msg" command to suppress
698 output of a message line (bell_msg ""). Without parameter, the current
699 message is shown.
700 bind [-c class] key [command [args]]
702 Bind a command to a key. By default, most of the commands provided by
704 screen are bound to one or more keys as indicated in the "DEFAULT KEY
705 BINDINGS" section, e.g. the command to create a new window is bound to
706 "C-c" and "c". The "bind" command can be used to redefine the key
707 bindings and to define new bindings. The key argument is either a sin‐
708 gle character, a two-character sequence of the form "^x" (meaning "C-
709 x"), a backslash followed by an octal number (specifying the ASCII code
710 of the character), or a backslash followed by a second character, such
711 as "\^" or "\\". The argument can also be quoted, if you like. If no
712 further argument is given, any previously established binding for this
713 key is removed. The command argument can be any command listed in this
714 section.
715 If a command class is specified via the "-c" option, the key is bound
717 for the specified class. Use the "command" command to activate a class.
718 Command classes can be used to create multiple command keys or multi-
719 character bindings.
720 Some examples:
722 bind ' ' windows
724 bind ^k
725 bind k
726 bind K kill
727 bind ^f screen telnet foobar
728 bind \033 screen -ln -t root -h 1000 9 su
729 would bind the space key to the command that displays a list of windows
731 (so that the command usually invoked by "C-a C-w" would also be avail‐
732 able as "C-a space"). The next three lines remove the default kill
733 binding from "C-a C-k" and "C-a k". "C-a K" is then bound to the kill
734 command. Then it binds "C-f" to the command "create a window with a
735 TELNET connection to foobar", and bind "escape" to the command that
736 creates an non-login window with a.k.a. "root" in slot #9, with a supe‐
737 ruser shell and a scrollback buffer of 1000 lines.
738 bind -c demo1 0 select 10
740 bind -c demo1 1 select 11
741 bind -c demo1 2 select 12
742 bindkey "^B" command -c demo1
743 makes "C-b 0" select window 10, "C-b 1" window 11, etc.
745 bind -c demo2 0 select 10
747 bind -c demo2 1 select 11
748 bind -c demo2 2 select 12
749 bind - command -c demo2
750 makes "C-a - 0" select window 10, "C-a - 1" window 11, etc.
752 bindkey [-d] [-m] [-a] [[-k|-t] string [cmd args]]
754 This command manages screen's input translation tables. Every entry in
756 one of the tables tells screen how to react if a certain sequence of
757 characters is encountered. There are three tables: one that should con‐
758 tain actions programmed by the user, one for the default actions used
759 for terminal emulation and one for screen's copy mode to do cursor
760 movement. See section "INPUT TRANSLATION" for a list of default key
761 bindings.
762 If the -d option is given, bindkey modifies the default table, -m
763 changes the copy mode table and with neither option the user table is
764 selected. The argument string is the sequence of characters to which
765 an action is bound. This can either be a fixed string or a termcap key‐
766 board capability name (selectable with the -k option).
767 Some keys on a VT100 terminal can send a different string if applica‐
768 tion mode is turned on (e.g the cursor keys). Such keys have two
769 entries in the translation table. You can select the application mode
770 entry by specifying the -a option.
771 The -t option tells screen not to do inter-character timing. One cannot
772 turn off the timing if a termcap capability is used.
773 Cmd can be any of screen's commands with an arbitrary number of args.
774 If cmd is omitted the key-binding is removed from the table.
775 Here are some examples of keyboard bindings:
776 bindkey -d
778 Show all of the default key bindings. The application mode entries are
779 marked with [A].
780 bindkey -k k1 select 1
782 Make the "F1" key switch to window one.
783 bindkey -t foo stuff barfoo
785 Make "foo" an abbreviation of the word "barfoo". Timeout is disabled so
786 that users can type slowly.
787 bindkey "\024" mapdefault
789 This key-binding makes "^T" an escape character for key-bindings. If
790 you did the above "stuff barfoo" binding, you can enter the word "foo"
791 by typing "^Tfoo". If you want to insert a "^T" you have to press the
792 key twice (i.e. escape the escape binding).
793 bindkey -k F1 command
795 Make the F11 (not F1!) key an alternative screen escape (besides ^A).
796 break [duration]
798 Send a break signal for duration*0.25 seconds to this window. For non-
800 Posix systems the time interval may be rounded up to full seconds.
801 Most useful if a character device is attached to the window rather than
802 a shell process (See also chapter "WINDOW TYPES"). The maximum duration
803 of a break signal is limited to 15 seconds.
804 blanker
806 Activate the screen blanker. First the screen is cleared. If no blanker
808 program is defined, the cursor is turned off, otherwise, the program is
809 started and it's output is written to the screen. The screen blanker
810 is killed with the first keypress, the read key is discarded.
811 This command is normally used together with the "idle" command.
812 blankerprg [program args]
814 Defines a blanker program. Disables the blanker program if no arguments
816 are given.
817 breaktype [tcsendbreak|TIOCSBRK |TCSBRK]
819 Choose one of the available methods of generating a break signal for
821 terminal devices. This command should affect the current window only.
822 But it still behaves identical to "defbreaktype". This will be changed
823 in the future. Calling "breaktype" with no parameter displays the
824 break method for the current window.
825 bufferfile [exchange-file]
827 Change the filename used for reading and writing with the paste buffer.
829 If the optional argument to the "bufferfile" command is omitted, the
830 default setting ("/tmp/screen-exchange") is reactivated. The following
831 example will paste the system's password file into the screen window
832 (using the paste buffer, where a copy remains):
833 C-a : bufferfile /etc/passwd
835 C-a < C-a ]
836 C-a : bufferfile
837 c1 [on|off]
839 Change c1 code processing. "C1 on" tells screen to treat the input
841 characters between 128 and 159 as control functions. Such an 8-bit
842 code is normally the same as ESC followed by the corresponding 7-bit
843 code. The default setting is to process c1 codes and can be changed
844 with the "defc1" command. Users with fonts that have usable characters
845 in the c1 positions may want to turn this off.
846 caption always|splitonly [string]
848 caption string [string]
849 This command controls the display of the window captions. Normally a
851 caption is only used if more than one window is shown on the display
852 (split screen mode). But if the type is set to always screen shows a
853 caption even if only one window is displayed. The default is splitonly.
854 The second form changes the text used for the caption. You can use all
856 escapes from the "STRING ESCAPES" chapter. Screen uses a default of
857 `%3n %t'.
858 You can mix both forms by providing a string as an additional argument.
860 charset set
862 Change the current character set slot designation and charset mapping.
864 The first four character of set are treated as charset designators
865 while the fifth and sixth character must be in range '0' to '3' and set
866 the GL/GR charset mapping. On every position a '.' may be used to indi‐
867 cate that the corresponding charset/mapping should not be changed (set
868 is padded to six characters internally by appending '.' chars). New
869 windows have "BBBB02" as default charset, unless a "encoding" command
870 is active.
871 The current setting can be viewed with the "info" command.
872 chdir [directory]
874 Change the current directory of screen to the specified directory or,
876 if called without an argument, to your home directory (the value of the
877 environment variable $HOME). All windows that are created by means of
878 the "screen" command from within ".screenrc" or by means of "C-a :
879 screen ..." or "C-a c" use this as their default directory. Without a
880 chdir command, this would be the directory from which screen was
881 invoked. Hardcopy and log files are always written to the window's
882 default directory, not the current directory of the process running in
883 the window. You can use this command multiple times in your .screenrc
884 to start various windows in different default directories, but the last
885 chdir value will affect all the windows you create interactively.
886 clear
888 Clears the current window and saves its image to the scrollback buffer.
890 colon [prefix]
892 Allows you to enter ".screenrc" command lines. Useful for on-the-fly
894 modification of key bindings, specific window creation and changing
895 settings. Note that the "set" keyword no longer exists! Usually com‐
896 mands affect the current window rather than default settings for future
897 windows. Change defaults with commands starting with 'def...'.
898 If you consider this as the `Ex command mode' of screen, you may regard
900 "C-a esc" (copy mode) as its `Vi command mode'.
901 command [-c class]
903 This command has the same effect as typing the screen escape character
905 (^A). It is probably only useful for key bindings. If the "-c" option
906 is given, select the specified command class. See also "bind" and
907 "bindkey".
908 compacthist [on|off]
910 This tells screen whether to suppress trailing blank lines when
912 scrolling up text into the history buffer.
913 console [on|off]
915 Grabs or un-grabs the machines console output to a window. Note: Only
917 the owner of /dev/console can grab the console output. This command is
918 only available if the machine supports the ioctl TIOCCONS.
919 copy
921 Enter copy/scrollback mode. This allows you to copy text from the cur‐
923 rent window and its history into the paste buffer. In this mode a vi-
924 like `full screen editor' is active:
925 Movement keys:
926 h, j, k, l move the cursor line by line or column by column.
927 0, ^ and $ move to the leftmost column, to the first or last non-
928 whitespace character on the line.
929 H, M and L move the cursor to the leftmost column of the top, center
930 or bottom line of the window.
931 + and - positions one line up and down.
932 G moves to the specified absolute line (default: end of buffer).
933 | moves to the specified absolute column.
934 w, b, e move the cursor word by word.
935 B, E move the cursor WORD by WORD (as in vi).
936 C-u and C-d scroll the display up/down by the specified amount of
937 lines while preserving the cursor position. (Default: half screen-
938 full).
939 C-b and C-f scroll the display up/down a full screen.
940 g moves to the beginning of the buffer.
941 % jumps to the specified percentage of the buffer.
942 Note:
944 Emacs style movement keys can be customized by a .screenrc command.
945 (E.g. markkeys "h=^B:l=^F:$=^E") There is no simple method for a
946 full emacs-style keymap, as this involves multi-character codes.
947 Marking:
949 The copy range is specified by setting two marks. The text between
950 these marks will be highlighted. Press
951 space to set the first or second mark respectively.
952 Y and y used to mark one whole line or to mark from start of line.
953 W marks exactly one word.
954 Repeat count:
955 Any of these commands can be prefixed with a repeat count number by
956 pressing digits
957 0..9 which is taken as a repeat count.
958 Example: "C-a C-[ H 10 j 5 Y" will copy lines 11 to 15 into the
959 paste buffer.
960 Searching:
961 / Vi-like search forward.
962 ? Vi-like search backward.
963 C-a s Emacs style incremental search forward.
964 C-r Emacs style reverse i-search.
965 Specials:
966 There are however some keys that act differently than in vi. Vi
967 does not allow one to yank rectangular blocks of text, but screen
968 does. Press
969 c or C to set the left or right margin respectively. If no repeat
970 count is given, both default to the current cursor position.
971 Example: Try this on a rather full text screen: "C-a [ M 20 l SPACE
972 c 10 l 5 j C SPACE".
973 This moves one to the middle line of the screen, moves in 20 col‐
975 umns left, marks the beginning of the paste buffer, sets the left
976 column, moves 5 columns down, sets the right column, and then marks
977 the end of the paste buffer. Now try:
978 "C-a [ M 20 l SPACE 10 l 5 j SPACE"
979 and notice the difference in the amount of text copied.
981 J joins lines. It toggles between 4 modes: lines separated by a new‐
982 line character (012), lines glued seamless, lines separated by a
983 single whitespace and comma separated lines. Note that you can
984 prepend the newline character with a carriage return character, by
985 issuing a "crlf on".
986 v is for all the vi users with ":set numbers" - it toggles the left
987 margin between column 9 and 1. Press
988 a before the final space key to toggle in append mode. Thus the con‐
989 tents of the paste buffer will not be overwritten, but is appended
990 to.
991 A toggles in append mode and sets a (second) mark.
992 > sets the (second) mark and writes the contents of the paste buffer
993 to the screen-exchange file (/tmp/screen-exchange per default) once
994 copy-mode is finished.
995 This example demonstrates how to dump the whole scrollback buffer
996 to that file: "C-A [ g SPACE G $ >".
997 C-g gives information about the current line and column.
998 x exchanges the first mark and the current cursor position. You can
999 use this to adjust an already placed mark.
1000 @ does nothing. Does not even exit copy mode.
1001 All keys not described here exit copy mode.
1002 copy_reg [key]
1004 No longer exists, use "readreg" instead.
1006 crlf [on|off]
1008 This affects the copying of text regions with the `C-a [' command. If
1010 it is set to `on', lines will be separated by the two character
1011 sequence `CR' - `LF'. Otherwise (default) only `LF' is used. When no
1012 parameter is given, the state is toggled.
1013 debug on|off
1015 Turns runtime debugging on or off. If screen has been compiled with
1017 option -DDEBUG debugging available and is turned on per default. Note
1018 that this command only affects debugging output from the main "SCREEN"
1019 process correctly. Debug output from attacher processes can only be
1020 turned off once and forever.
1021 defc1 on|off
1023 Same as the c1 command except that the default setting for new windows
1025 is changed. Initial setting is `on'.
1026 defautonuke on|off
1028 Same as the autonuke command except that the default setting for new
1030 displays is changed. Initial setting is `off'. Note that you can use
1031 the special `AN' terminal capability if you want to have a dependency
1032 on the terminal type.
1033 defbce on|off
1035 Same as the bce command except that the default setting for new windows
1037 is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
1038 defbreaktype [tcsendbreak|TIOCSBRK |TCSBRK]
1040 Choose one of the available methods of generating a break signal for
1042 terminal devices. The preferred methods are tcsendbreak and TIOCSBRK.
1043 The third, TCSBRK, blocks the complete screen session for the duration
1044 of the break, but it may be the only way to generate long breaks.
1045 Tcsendbreak and TIOCSBRK may or may not produce long breaks with spikes
1046 (e.g. 4 per second). This is not only system dependant, this also dif‐
1047 fers between serial board drivers. Calling "defbreaktype" with no
1048 parameter displays the current setting.
1049 defcharset [set]
1051 Like the charset command except that the default setting for new win‐
1053 dows is changed. Shows current default if called without argument.
1054 defescape xy
1056 Set the default command characters. This is equivalent to the "escape"
1058 except that it is useful multiuser sessions only. In a multiuser ses‐
1059 sion "escape" changes the command character of the calling user, where
1060 "defescape" changes the default command characters for users that will
1061 be added later.
1062 defflow on|off|auto [interrupt]
1064 Same as the flow command except that the default setting for new win‐
1066 dows is changed. Initial setting is `auto'. Specifying "defflow auto
1067 interrupt" is the same as the command-line options -fa and -i.
1068 defgr on|off
1070 Same as the gr command except that the default setting for new windows
1072 is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
1073 defhstatus [status]
1075 The hardstatus line that all new windows will get is set to status.
1077 This command is useful to make the hardstatus of every window display
1078 the window number or title or the like. Status may contain the same
1079 directives as in the window messages, but the directive escape charac‐
1080 ter is '^E' (octal 005) instead of '%'. This was done to make a misin‐
1081 terpretation of program generated hardstatus lines impossible. If the
1082 parameter status is omitted, the current default string is displayed.
1083 Per default the hardstatus line of new windows is empty.
1084 defencoding enc
1086 Same as the encoding command except that the default setting for new
1088 windows is changed. Initial setting is the encoding taken from the ter‐
1089 minal.
1090 deflog on|off
1092 Same as the log command except that the default setting for new windows
1094 is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
1095 deflogin on|off
1097 Same as the login command except that the default setting for new win‐
1099 dows is changed. This is initialized with `on' as distributed (see con‐
1100 fig.h.in).
1101 defmode mode
1103 The mode of each newly allocated pseudo-tty is set to mode. Mode is an
1105 octal number. When no "defmode" command is given, mode 0622 is used.
1106 defmonitor on|off
1108 Same as the monitor command except that the default setting for new
1110 windows is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
1111 defnonblock on|off|numsecs
1113 Same as the nonblock command except that the default setting for dis‐
1115 plays is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
1116 defobuflimit limit
1118 Same as the obuflimit command except that the default setting for new
1120 displays is changed. Initial setting is 256 bytes. Note that you can
1121 use the special 'OL' terminal capability if you want to have a depen‐
1122 dency on the terminal type.
1123 defscrollback num
1125 Same as the scrollback command except that the default setting for new
1127 windows is changed. Initial setting is 100.
1128 defshell command
1130 Synonym to the shell command. See there.
1132 defsilence on|off
1134 Same as the silence command except that the default setting for new
1136 windows is changed. Initial setting is `off'.
1137 defslowpaste msec"
1139 Same as the slowpaste command except that the default setting for new
1141 windows is changed. Initial setting is 0 milliseconds, meaning `off'.
1142 defutf8 on|off
1144 Same as the utf8 command except that the default setting for new win‐
1146 dows is changed. Initial setting is `on' if screen was started with
1147 "-U", otherwise `off'.
1148 defwrap on|off
1150 Same as the wrap command except that the default setting for new win‐
1152 dows is changed. Initially line-wrap is on and can be toggled with the
1153 "wrap" command ("C-a r") or by means of "C-a : wrap on|off".
1154 defwritelock on|off|auto
1156 Same as the writelock command except that the default setting for new
1158 windows is changed. Initially writelocks will off.
1159 defzombie [keys]
1161 Synonym to the zombie command. Both currently change the default. See
1163 there.
1164 detach [-h]
1166 Detach the screen session (disconnect it from the terminal and put it
1168 into the background). This returns you to the shell where you invoked
1169 screen. A detached screen can be resumed by invoking screen with the
1170 -r option (see also section "COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS"). The -h option
1171 tells screen to immediately close the connection to the terminal
1172 ("hangup").
1173 dinfo
1175 Show what screen thinks about your terminal. Useful if you want to know
1177 why features like color or the alternate charset don't work.
1178 displays
1180 Shows a tabular listing of all currently connected user front-ends
1182 (displays). This is most useful for multiuser sessions.
1183 digraph [preset]
1185 This command prompts the user for a digraph sequence. The next two
1187 characters typed are looked up in a builtin table and the resulting
1188 character is inserted in the input stream. For example, if the user
1189 enters 'a"', an a-umlaut will be inserted. If the first character
1190 entered is a 0 (zero), screen will treat the following characters (up
1191 to three) as an octal number instead. The optional argument preset is
1192 treated as user input, thus one can create an "umlaut" key. For exam‐
1193 ple the command "bindkey ^K digraph '"'" enables the user to generate
1194 an a-umlaut by typing CTRL-K a.
1195 dumptermcap
1197 Write the termcap entry for the virtual terminal optimized for the cur‐
1199 rently active window to the file ".termcap" in the user's
1200 "$HOME/.screen" directory (or wherever screen stores its sockets. See
1201 the "FILES" section below). This termcap entry is identical to the
1202 value of the environment variable $TERMCAP that is set up by screen for
1203 each window. For terminfo based systems you will need to run a con‐
1204 verter like captoinfo and then compile the entry with tic.
1205 echo [-n] message
1207 The echo command may be used to annoy screen users with a 'message of
1209 the day'. Typically installed in a global /etc/screenrc. The option
1210 "-n" may be used to suppress the line feed. See also "sleep". Echo is
1211 also useful for online checking of environment variables.
1212 encoding enc [enc]
1214 Tell screen how to interpret the input/output. The first argument sets
1216 the encoding of the current window. Each window can emulate a different
1217 encoding. The optional second parameter overwrites the encoding of the
1218 connected terminal. It should never be needed as screen uses the locale
1219 setting to detect the encoding. There is also a way to select a termi‐
1220 nal encoding depending on the terminal type by using the "KJ" termcap
1221 entry.
1222 Supported encodings are eucJP, SJIS, eucKR, eucCN, Big5, GBK, KOI8-R,
1224 CP1251, UTF-8, ISO8859-2, ISO8859-3, ISO8859-4, ISO8859-5, ISO8859-6,
1225 ISO8859-7, ISO8859-8, ISO8859-9, ISO8859-10, ISO8859-15, jis.
1226 See also "defencoding", which changes the default setting of a new win‐
1228 dow.
1229 escape xy
1231 Set the command character to x and the character generating a literal
1233 command character (by triggering the "meta" command) to y (similar to
1234 the -e option). Each argument is either a single character, a two-
1235 character sequence of the form "^x" (meaning "C-x"), a backslash fol‐
1236 lowed by an octal number (specifying the ASCII code of the character),
1237 or a backslash followed by a second character, such as "\^" or "\\".
1238 The default is "^Aa".
1239 eval command1 [command2 ...]
1241 Parses and executes each argument as separate command.
1243 exec [[fdpat] newcommand [args ...]]
1245 Run a unix subprocess (specified by an executable path newcommand and
1247 its optional arguments) in the current window. The flow of data between
1248 newcommands stdin/stdout/stderr, the process originally started in the
1249 window (let us call it "application-process") and screen itself (win‐
1250 dow) is controlled by the filedescriptor pattern fdpat. This pattern
1251 is basically a three character sequence representing stdin, stdout and
1252 stderr of newcommand. A dot (.) connects the file descriptor to screen.
1253 An exclamation mark (!) causes the file descriptor to be connected to
1254 the application-process. A colon (:) combines both. User input will go
1255 to newcommand unless newcommand receives the application-process' out‐
1256 put (fdpats first character is `!' or `:') or a pipe symbol (|) is
1257 added (as a fourth character) to the end of fdpat.
1258 Invoking `exec' without arguments shows name and arguments of the cur‐
1259 rently running subprocess in this window. Only one subprocess a time
1260 can be running in each window.
1261 When a subprocess is running the `kill' command will affect it instead
1262 of the windows process.
1263 Refer to the postscript file `doc/fdpat.ps' for a confusing illustra‐
1264 tion of all 21 possible combinations. Each drawing shows the digits
1265 2,1,0 representing the three file descriptors of newcommand. The box
1266 marked `W' is the usual pty that has the application-process on its
1267 slave side. The box marked `P' is the secondary pty that now has
1268 screen at its master side.
1269 Abbreviations:
1271 Whitespace between the word `exec' and fdpat and the command can be
1272 omitted. Trailing dots and a fdpat consisting only of dots can be omit‐
1273 ted. A simple `|' is synonymous for the pattern `!..|'; the word exec
1274 can be omitted here and can always be replaced by `!'.
1275 Examples:
1277 exec ... /bin/sh
1279 exec /bin/sh
1280 !/bin/sh
1281 Creates another shell in the same window, while the original shell is
1283 still running. Output of both shells is displayed and user input is
1284 sent to the new /bin/sh.
1285 exec !.. stty 19200
1287 exec ! stty 19200
1288 !!stty 19200
1289 Set the speed of the window's tty. If your stty command operates on
1291 stdout, then add another `!'.
1292 exec !..| less
1294 |less
1295 This adds a pager to the window output. The special character `|' is
1297 needed to give the user control over the pager although it gets its
1298 input from the window's process. This works, because less listens on
1299 stderr (a behavior that screen would not expect without the `|') when
1300 its stdin is not a tty. Less versions newer than 177 fail miserably
1301 here; good old pg still works.
1302 !:sed -n s/.*Error.*/\007/p
1304 Sends window output to both, the user and the sed command. The sed
1306 inserts an additional bell character (oct. 007) to the window output
1307 seen by screen. This will cause "Bell in window x" messages, whenever
1308 the string "Error" appears in the window.
1309 fit
1311 Change the window size to the size of the current region. This command
1313 is needed because screen doesn't adapt the window size automatically if
1314 the window is displayed more than once.
1315 flow [on|off|auto]
1317 Sets the flow-control mode for this window. Without parameters it
1319 cycles the current window's flow-control setting from "automatic" to
1320 "on" to "off". See the discussion on "FLOW-CONTROL" later on in this
1321 document for full details and note, that this is subject to change in
1322 future releases. Default is set by `defflow'.
1323 focus [up|down|top|bottom]
1325 Move the input focus to the next region. This is done in a cyclic way
1327 so that the top region is selected after the bottom one. If no subcom‐
1328 mand is given it defaults to `down'. `up' cycles in the opposite order,
1329 `top' and `bottom' go to the top and bottom region respectively. Useful
1330 bindings are (j and k as in vi)
1331 bind j focus down
1332 bind k focus up
1333 bind t focus top
1334 bind b focus bottom
1335 gr [on|off]
1337 Turn GR charset switching on/off. Whenever screen sees an input charac‐
1339 ter with the 8th bit set, it will use the charset stored in the GR slot
1340 and print the character with the 8th bit stripped. The default (see
1341 also "defgr") is not to process GR switching because otherwise the
1342 ISO88591 charset would not work.
1343 hardcopy [-h] [file]
1345 Writes out the currently displayed image to the file file, or, if no
1347 filename is specified, to hardcopy.n in the default directory, where n
1348 is the number of the current window. This either appends or overwrites
1349 the file if it exists. See below. If the option -h is specified, dump
1350 also the contents of the scrollback buffer.
1351 hardcopy_append on|off
1353 If set to "on", screen will append to the "hardcopy.n" files created by
1355 the command "C-a h", otherwise these files are overwritten each time.
1356 Default is `off'.
1357 hardcopydir directory
1359 Defines a directory where hardcopy files will be placed. If unset,
1361 hardcopys are dumped in screen's current working directory.
1362 hardstatus [on|off]
1364 hardstatus [always]lastline|message|ignore [string]
1365 hardstatus string [string]
1366 This command configures the use and emulation of the terminal's hard‐
1368 status line. The first form toggles whether screen will use the hard‐
1369 ware status line to display messages. If the flag is set to `off',
1370 these messages are overlaid in reverse video mode at the display line.
1371 The default setting is `on'.
1372 The second form tells screen what to do if the terminal doesn't have a
1374 hardstatus line (i.e. the termcap/terminfo capabilities "hs", "ts",
1375 "fs" and "ds" are not set). If the type "lastline" is used, screen will
1376 reserve the last line of the display for the hardstatus. "message" uses
1377 screen's message mechanism and "ignore" tells screen never to display
1378 the hardstatus. If you prepend the word "always" to the type (e.g.,
1379 "alwayslastline"), screen will use the type even if the terminal sup‐
1380 ports a hardstatus.
1381 The third form specifies the contents of the hardstatus line. '%h' is
1383 used as default string, i.e. the stored hardstatus of the current win‐
1384 dow (settable via "ESC]0;<string>^G" or "ESC_<string>ESC\") is dis‐
1385 played. You can customize this to any string you like including the
1386 escapes from the "STRING ESCAPES" chapter. If you leave out the argu‐
1387 ment string, the current string is displayed.
1388 You can mix the second and third form by providing the string as addi‐
1390 tional argument.
1391 height [-w|-d] [lines [cols]]
1393 Set the display height to a specified number of lines. When no argument
1395 is given it toggles between 24 and 42 lines display. You can also spec‐
1396 ify a width if you want to change both values. The -w option tells
1397 screen to leave the display size unchanged and just set the window
1398 size, -d vice versa.
1399 help [-c class]
1401 Not really a online help, but displays a help screen showing you all
1403 the key bindings. The first pages list all the internal commands fol‐
1404 lowed by their current bindings. Subsequent pages will display the
1405 custom commands, one command per key. Press space when you're done
1406 reading each page, or return to exit early. All other characters are
1407 ignored. If the "-c" option is given, display all bound commands for
1408 the specified command class. See also "DEFAULT KEY BINDINGS" section.
1409 history
1411 Usually users work with a shell that allows easy access to previous
1413 commands. For example csh has the command "!!" to repeat the last com‐
1414 mand executed. Screen allows you to have a primitive way of re-calling
1415 "the command that started ...": You just type the first letter of that
1416 command, then hit `C-a {' and screen tries to find a previous line that
1417 matches with the `prompt character' to the left of the cursor. This
1418 line is pasted into this window's input queue. Thus you have a crude
1419 command history (made up by the visible window and its scrollback buf‐
1420 fer).
1421 hstatus status
1423 Change the window's hardstatus line to the string status.
1425 idle [timeout [cmd args]]
1427 Sets a command that is run after the specified number of seconds inac‐
1429 tivity is reached. This command will normally be the "blanker" command
1430 to create a screen blanker, but it can be any screen command. If no
1431 command is specified, only the timeout is set. A timeout of zero (ot
1432 the special timeout off) disables the timer. If no arguments are
1433 given, the current settings are displayed.
1434 ignorecase [on|off]
1436 Tell screen to ignore the case of characters in searches. Default is
1438 `off'.
1439 info
1441 Uses the message line to display some information about the current
1443 window: the cursor position in the form "(column,row)" starting with
1444 "(1,1)", the terminal width and height plus the size of the scrollback
1445 buffer in lines, like in "(80,24)+50", the current state of window
1446 XON/XOFF flow control is shown like this (See also section FLOW CON‐
1447 TROL):
1448 +flow automatic flow control, currently on.
1450 -flow automatic flow control, currently off.
1451 +(+)flow flow control enabled. Agrees with automatic control.
1452 -(+)flow flow control disabled. Disagrees with automatic control.
1453 +(-)flow flow control enabled. Disagrees with automatic control.
1454 -(-)flow flow control disabled. Agrees with automatic control.
1455 The current line wrap setting (`+wrap' indicates enabled, `-wrap' not)
1457 is also shown. The flags `ins', `org', `app', `log', `mon' or `nored'
1458 are displayed when the window is in insert mode, origin mode, applica‐
1459 tion-keypad mode, has output logging, activity monitoring or partial
1460 redraw enabled.
1461 The currently active character set (G0, G1, G2, or G3) and in square
1463 brackets the terminal character sets that are currently designated as
1464 G0 through G3 is shown. If the window is in UTF-8 mode, the string
1465 "UTF-8" is shown instead.
1466 Additional modes depending on the type of the window are displayed at
1468 the end of the status line (See also chapter "WINDOW TYPES").
1469 If the state machine of the terminal emulator is in a non-default
1470 state, the info line is started with a string identifying the current
1471 state.
1472 For system information use the "time" command.
1473 ins_reg [key]
1475 No longer exists, use "paste" instead.
1477 kill
1479 Kill current window.
1481 If there is an `exec' command running then it is killed. Otherwise the
1482 process (shell) running in the window receives a HANGUP condition, the
1483 window structure is removed and screen (your display) switches to
1484 another window. When the last window is destroyed, screen exits.
1485 After a kill screen switches to the previously displayed window.
1486 Note: Emacs users should keep this command in mind, when killing a
1487 line. It is recommended not to use "C-a" as the screen escape key or
1488 to rebind kill to "C-a K".
1489 lastmsg
1491 Redisplay the last contents of the message/status line. Useful if
1493 you're typing when a message appears, because the message goes away
1494 when you press a key (unless your terminal has a hardware status line).
1495 Refer to the commands "msgwait" and "msgminwait" for fine tuning.
1496 license
1498 Display the disclaimer page. This is done whenever screen is started
1500 without options, which should be often enough. See also the
1501 "startup_message" command.
1502 lockscreen
1504 Lock this display. Call a screenlock program (/local/bin/lck or
1506 /usr/bin/lock or a builtin if no other is available). Screen does not
1507 accept any command keys until this program terminates. Meanwhile pro‐
1508 cesses in the windows may continue, as the windows are in the
1509 `detached' state. The screenlock program may be changed through the
1510 environment variable $LOCKPRG (which must be set in the shell from
1511 which screen is started) and is executed with the user's uid and gid.
1512 Warning: When you leave other shells unlocked and you have no password
1513 set on screen, the lock is void: One could easily re-attach from an
1514 unlocked shell. This feature should rather be called `lockterminal'.
1515 log [on|off]
1517 Start/stop writing output of the current window to a file "screenlog.n"
1519 in the window's default directory, where n is the number of the current
1520 window. This filename can be changed with the `logfile' command. If no
1521 parameter is given, the state of logging is toggled. The session log is
1522 appended to the previous contents of the file if it already exists. The
1523 current contents and the contents of the scrollback history are not
1524 included in the session log. Default is `off'.
1525 logfile filename
1527 logfile flush secs
1528 Defines the name the logfiles will get. The default is "screenlog.%n".
1530 The second form changes the number of seconds screen will wait before
1531 flushing the logfile buffer to the file-system. The default value is 10
1532 seconds.
1533 login [on|off]
1535 Adds or removes the entry in the utmp database file for the current
1537 window. This controls if the window is `logged in'. When no parameter
1538 is given, the login state of the window is toggled. Additionally to
1539 that toggle, it is convenient having a `log in' and a `log out' key.
1540 E.g. `bind I login on' and `bind O login off' will map these keys to be
1541 C-a I and C-a O. The default setting (in config.h.in) should be "on"
1542 for a screen that runs under suid-root. Use the "deflogin" command to
1543 change the default login state for new windows. Both commands are only
1544 present when screen has been compiled with utmp support.
1545 logtstamp [on|off]
1547 logtstamp after [secs]
1548 logtstamp string [string]
1549 This command controls logfile time-stamp mechanism of screen. If time-
1551 stamps are turned "on", screen adds a string containing the current
1552 time to the logfile after two minutes of inactivity. When output con‐
1553 tinues and more than another two minutes have passed, a second time-
1554 stamp is added to document the restart of the output. You can change
1555 this timeout with the second form of the command. The third form is
1556 used for customizing the time-stamp string (`-- %n:%t -- time-stamp --
1557 %M/%d/%y %c:%s --\n' by default).
1558 mapdefault
1560 Tell screen that the next input character should only be looked up in
1562 the default bindkey table. See also "bindkey".
1563 mapnotnext
1565 Like mapdefault, but don't even look in the default bindkey table.
1567 maptimeout [timo]
1569 Set the inter-character timer for input sequence detection to a timeout
1571 of timo ms. The default timeout is 300ms. Maptimeout with no arguments
1572 shows the current setting. See also "bindkey".
1573 markkeys string
1575 This is a method of changing the keymap used for copy/history mode.
1577 The string is made up of oldchar=newchar pairs which are separated by
1578 `:'. Example: The string "B=^B:F=^F" will change the keys `C-b' and `C-
1579 f' to the vi style binding (scroll up/down fill page). This happens to
1580 be the default binding for `B' and `F'. The command "markkeys
1581 h=^B:l=^F:$=^E" would set the mode for an emacs-style binding. If your
1582 terminal sends characters, that cause you to abort copy mode, then this
1583 command may help by binding these characters to do nothing. The no-op
1584 character is `@' and is used like this: "markkeys @=L=H" if you do not
1585 want to use the `H' or `L' commands any longer. As shown in this exam‐
1586 ple, multiple keys can be assigned to one function in a single state‐
1587 ment.
1588 maxwin num
1590 Set the maximum window number screen will create. Doesn't affect
1592 already existing windows. The number may only be decreased.
1593 meta
1595 Insert the command character (C-a) in the current window's input
1597 stream.
1598 monitor [on|off]
1600 Toggles activity monitoring of windows. When monitoring is turned on
1602 and an affected window is switched into the background, you will
1603 receive the activity notification message in the status line at the
1604 first sign of output and the window will also be marked with an `@' in
1605 the window-status display. Monitoring is initially off for all win‐
1606 dows.
1607 msgminwait sec
1609 Defines the time screen delays a new message when one message is cur‐
1611 rently displayed. The default is 1 second.
1612 msgwait sec
1614 Defines the time a message is displayed if screen is not disturbed by
1616 other activity. The default is 5 seconds.
1617 multiuser on|off
1619 Switch between singleuser and multiuser mode. Standard screen operation
1621 is singleuser. In multiuser mode the commands `acladd', `aclchg',
1622 `aclgrp' and `acldel' can be used to enable (and disable) other users
1623 accessing this screen session.
1624 nethack on|off
1626 Changes the kind of error messages used by screen. When you are famil‐
1628 iar with the game "nethack", you may enjoy the nethack-style messages
1629 which will often blur the facts a little, but are much funnier to read.
1630 Anyway, standard messages often tend to be unclear as well.
1631 This option is only available if screen was compiled with the NETHACK
1632 flag defined. The default setting is then determined by the presence of
1633 the environment variable $NETHACKOPTIONS.
1634 next
1636 Switch to the next window. This command can be used repeatedly to
1638 cycle through the list of windows.
1639 nonblock [on|off|numsecs]
1641 Tell screen how to deal with user interfaces (displays) that cease to
1643 accept output. This can happen if a user presses ^S or a TCP/modem con‐
1644 nection gets cut but no hangup is received. If nonblock is off (this is
1645 the default) screen waits until the display restarts to accept the out‐
1646 put. If nonblock is on, screen waits until the timeout is reached (on
1647 is treated as 1s). If the display still doesn't receive characters,
1648 screen will consider it "blocked" and stop sending characters to it. If
1649 at some time it restarts to accept characters, screen will unblock the
1650 display and redisplay the updated window contents.
1651 number [n]
1653 Change the current windows number. If the given number n is already
1655 used by another window, both windows exchange their numbers. If no
1656 argument is specified, the current window number (and title) is shown.
1657 obuflimit [limit]
1659 If the output buffer contains more bytes than the specified limit, no
1661 more data will be read from the windows. The default value is 256. If
1662 you have a fast display (like xterm), you can set it to some higher
1663 value. If no argument is specified, the current setting is displayed.
1664 only
1666 Kill all regions but the current one.
1668 other
1670 Switch to the window displayed previously. If this window does no
1672 longer exist, other has the same effect as next.
1673 partial on|off
1675 Defines whether the display should be refreshed (as with redisplay)
1677 after switching to the current window. This command only affects the
1678 current window. To immediately affect all windows use the allpartial
1679 command. Default is `off', of course. This default is fixed, as there
1680 is currently no defpartial command.
1681 password [crypted_pw]
1683 Present a crypted password in your ".screenrc" file and screen will ask
1685 for it, whenever someone attempts to resume a detached. This is useful
1686 if you have privileged programs running under screen and you want to
1687 protect your session from reattach attempts by another user masquerad‐
1688 ing as your uid (i.e. any superuser.) If no crypted password is speci‐
1689 fied, screen prompts twice for typing a password and places its encryp‐
1690 tion in the paste buffer. Default is `none', this disables password
1691 checking.
1692 paste [registers [dest_reg]]
1694 Write the (concatenated) contents of the specified registers to the
1696 stdin queue of the current window. The register '.' is treated as the
1697 paste buffer. If no parameter is given the user is prompted for a sin‐
1698 gle register to paste. The paste buffer can be filled with the copy,
1699 history and readbuf commands. Other registers can be filled with the
1700 register, readreg and paste commands. If paste is called with a second
1701 argument, the contents of the specified registers is pasted into the
1702 named destination register rather than the window. If '.' is used as
1703 the second argument, the displays paste buffer is the destination.
1704 Note, that "paste" uses a wide variety of resources: Whenever a second
1705 argument is specified no current window is needed. When the source
1706 specification only contains registers (not the paste buffer) then there
1707 need not be a current display (terminal attached), as the registers are
1708 a global resource. The paste buffer exists once for every user.
1709 pastefont [on|off]
1711 Tell screen to include font information in the paste buffer. The
1713 default is not to do so. This command is especially useful for multi
1714 character fonts like kanji.
1715 pow_break
1717 Reopen the window's terminal line and send a break condition. See
1719 `break'.
1720 pow_detach
1722 Power detach. Mainly the same as detach, but also sends a HANGUP sig‐
1724 nal to the parent process of screen. CAUTION: This will result in a
1725 logout, when screen was started from your login shell.
1726 pow_detach_msg [message]
1728 The message specified here is output whenever a `Power detach' was per‐
1730 formed. It may be used as a replacement for a logout message or to
1731 reset baud rate, etc. Without parameter, the current message is shown.
1732 prev
1734 Switch to the window with the next lower number. This command can be
1736 used repeatedly to cycle through the list of windows.
1737 printcmd [cmd]
1739 If cmd is not an empty string, screen will not use the terminal capa‐
1741 bilities "po/pf" if it detects an ansi print sequence ESC [ 5 i, but
1742 pipe the output into cmd. This should normally be a command like "lpr"
1743 or "'cat > /tmp/scrprint'". printcmd without a command displays the
1744 current setting. The ansi sequence ESC \ ends printing and closes the
1745 pipe.
1746 Warning: Be careful with this command! If other user have write access
1747 to your terminal, they will be able to fire off print commands.
1748 process [key]
1750 Stuff the contents of the specified register into screen's input queue.
1752 If no argument is given you are prompted for a register name. The text
1753 is parsed as if it had been typed in from the user's keyboard. This
1754 command can be used to bind multiple actions to a single key.
1755 quit
1757 Kill all windows and terminate screen. Note that on VT100-style termi‐
1759 nals the keys C-4 and C-\ are identical. This makes the default bind‐
1760 ings dangerous: Be careful not to type C-a C-4 when selecting window
1761 no. 4. Use the empty bind command (as in "bind '^\'") to remove a key
1762 binding.
1763 readbuf [-e encoding] [filename]
1765 Reads the contents of the specified file into the paste buffer. You
1767 can tell screen the encoding of the file via the -e option. If no file
1768 is specified, the screen-exchange filename is used. See also "buffer‐
1769 file" command.
1770 readreg [-e encoding] [register [filename]]
1772 Does one of two things, dependent on number of arguments: with zero or
1774 one arguments it it duplicates the paste buffer contents into the reg‐
1775 ister specified or entered at the prompt. With two arguments it reads
1776 the contents of the named file into the register, just as readbuf reads
1777 the screen-exchange file into the paste buffer. You can tell screen
1778 the encoding of the file via the -e option. The following example will
1779 paste the system's password file into the screen window (using register
1780 p, where a copy remains):
1781 C-a : readreg p /etc/passwd
1783 C-a : paste p
1784 redisplay
1786 Redisplay the current window. Needed to get a full redisplay when in
1788 partial redraw mode.
1789 register [-e encoding] key string
1791 Save the specified string to the register key. The encoding of the
1793 string can be specified via the -e option. See also the "paste" com‐
1794 mand.
1795 remove
1797 Kill the current region. This is a no-op if there is only one region.
1799 removebuf
1801 Unlinks the screen-exchange file used by the commands "writebuf" and
1803 "readbuf".
1804 reset
1806 Reset the virtual terminal to its "power-on" values. Useful when
1808 strange settings (like scroll regions or graphics character set) are
1809 left over from an application.
1810 resize
1812 Resize the current region. The space will be removed from or added to
1814 the region below or if there's not enough space from the region above.
1815 resize +N increase current region height by N
1817 resize -N decrease current region height by N
1819 resize N set current region height to N
1821 resize = make all windows equally high
1823 resize max maximize current region height
1825 resize min minimize current region height
1827 screen [-opts] [n] [cmd [args]]
1829 Establish a new window. The flow-control options (-f, -fn and -fa),
1831 title (a.k.a.) option (-t), login options (-l and -ln) , terminal type
1832 option (-T <term>), the all-capability-flag (-a) and scrollback option
1833 (-h <num>) may be specified with each command. The option (-M) turns
1834 monitoring on for this window. The option (-L) turns output logging on
1835 for this window. If an optional number n in the range 0..9 is given,
1836 the window number n is assigned to the newly created window (or, if
1837 this number is already in-use, the next available number). If a com‐
1838 mand is specified after "screen", this command (with the given argu‐
1839 ments) is started in the window; otherwise, a shell is created. Thus,
1840 if your ".screenrc" contains the lines
1841 # example for .screenrc:
1843 screen 1
1844 screen -fn -t foobar -L 2 telnet foobar
1845 screen creates a shell window (in window #1) and a window with a TELNET
1847 connection to the machine foobar (with no flow-control using the title
1848 "foobar" in window #2) and will write a logfile ("screenlog.2") of the
1849 telnet session. Note, that unlike previous versions of screen no addi‐
1850 tional default window is created when "screen" commands are included in
1851 your ".screenrc" file. When the initialization is completed, screen
1852 switches to the last window specified in your .screenrc file or, if
1853 none, opens a default window #0.
1854 Screen has built in some functionality of "cu" and "telnet". See also
1855 chapter "WINDOW TYPES".
1856 scrollback num
1858 Set the size of the scrollback buffer for the current windows to num
1860 lines. The default scrollback is 100 lines. See also the "defscroll‐
1861 back" command and use "C-a i" to view the current setting.
1862 select [WindowID]
1864 Switch to the window identified by WindowID. This can be a prefix of a
1866 window title (alphanumeric window name) or a window number. The param‐
1867 eter is optional and if omitted, you get prompted for an identifier.
1868 When a new window is established, the first available number is
1869 assigned to this window. Thus, the first window can be activated by
1870 "select 0". The number of windows is limited at compile-time by the
1871 MAXWIN configuration parameter. There are two special WindowIDs, "-"
1872 selects the internal blank window and "." selects the current window.
1873 The latter is useful if used with screen's "-X" option.
1874 sessionname [name]
1876 Rename the current session. Note, that for "screen -list" the name
1878 shows up with the process-id prepended. If the argument "name" is omit‐
1879 ted, the name of this session is displayed. Caution: The $STY environ‐
1880 ment variables still reflects the old name. This may result in confu‐
1881 sion. The default is constructed from the tty and host names.
1882 setenv [var [string]]
1884 Set the environment variable var to value string. If only var is spec‐
1886 ified, the user will be prompted to enter a value. If no parameters
1887 are specified, the user will be prompted for both variable and value.
1888 The environment is inherited by all subsequently forked shells.
1889 setsid [on|off]
1891 Normally screen uses different sessions and process groups for the win‐
1893 dows. If setsid is turned off, this is not done anymore and all windows
1894 will be in the same process group as the screen backend process. This
1895 also breaks job-control, so be careful. The default is on, of course.
1896 This command is probably useful only in rare circumstances.
1897 shell command
1899 Set the command to be used to create a new shell. This overrides the
1901 value of the environment variable $SHELL. This is useful if you'd like
1902 to run a tty-enhancer which is expecting to execute the program speci‐
1903 fied in $SHELL. If the command begins with a '-' character, the shell
1904 will be started as a login-shell.
1905 shelltitle title
1907 Set the title for all shells created during startup or by the C-A C-c
1909 command. For details about what a title is, see the discussion enti‐
1910 tled "TITLES (naming windows)".
1911 silence [on|off|sec]
1913 Toggles silence monitoring of windows. When silence is turned on and
1915 an affected window is switched into the background, you will receive
1916 the silence notification message in the status line after a specified
1917 period of inactivity (silence). The default timeout can be changed with
1918 the `silencewait' command or by specifying a number of seconds instead
1919 of `on' or `off'. Silence is initially off for all windows.
1920 silencewait sec
1922 Define the time that all windows monitored for silence should wait
1924 before displaying a message. Default 30 seconds.
1925 sleep num
1927 This command will pause the execution of a .screenrc file for num sec‐
1929 onds. Keyboard activity will end the sleep. It may be used to give
1930 users a chance to read the messages output by "echo".
1931 slowpaste msec
1933 Define the speed at which text is inserted into the current window by
1935 the paste ("C-a ]") command. If the slowpaste value is nonzero text is
1936 written character by character. screen will make a pause of msec mil‐
1937 liseconds after each single character write to allow the application to
1938 process its input. Only use slowpaste if your underlying system exposes
1939 flow control problems while pasting large amounts of text.
1940 source file
1942 Read and execute commands from file file. Source commands may be nested
1944 to a maximum recursion level of ten. If file is not an absolute path
1945 and screen is already processing a source command, the parent directory
1946 of the running source command file is used to search for the new com‐
1947 mand file before screen's current directory.
1948 Note that termcap/terminfo/termcapinfo commands only work at startup
1950 and reattach time, so they must be reached via the default screenrc
1951 files to have an effect.
1952 sorendition [attr [color]]
1954 Change the way screen does highlighting for text marking and printing
1956 messages. See the "STRING ESCAPES" chapter for the syntax of the modi‐
1957 fiers. The default is currently "=s dd" (standout, default colors).
1958 split
1960 Split the current region into two new ones. All regions on the display
1962 are resized to make room for the new region. The blank window is dis‐
1963 played on the new region. Use the "remove" or the "only" command to
1964 delete regions.
1965 startup_message on|off
1967 Select whether you want to see the copyright notice during startup.
1969 Default is `on', as you probably noticed.
1970 stuff string
1972 Stuff the string string in the input buffer of the current window.
1974 This is like the "paste" command but with much less overhead. You can‐
1975 not paste large buffers with the "stuff" command. It is most useful for
1976 key bindings. See also "bindkey".
1977 su [username [password [password2]]
1979 Substitute the user of a display. The command prompts for all parame‐
1981 ters that are omitted. If passwords are specified as parameters, they
1982 have to be specified un-crypted. The first password is matched against
1983 the systems passwd database, the second password is matched against the
1984 screen password as set with the commands "acladd" or "password". "Su"
1985 may be useful for the screen administrator to test multiuser setups.
1986 When the identification fails, the user has access to the commands
1987 available for user nobody. These are "detach", "license", "version",
1988 "help" and "displays".
1989 suspend
1991 Suspend screen. The windows are in the `detached' state, while screen
1993 is suspended. This feature relies on the shell being able to do job
1994 control.
1995 term term
1997 In each window's environment screen opens, the $TERM variable is set to
1999 "screen" by default. But when no description for "screen" is installed
2000 in the local termcap or terminfo data base, you set $TERM to - say -
2001 "vt100". This won't do much harm, as screen is VT100/ANSI compatible.
2002 The use of the "term" command is discouraged for non-default purpose.
2003 That is, one may want to specify special $TERM settings (e.g. vt100)
2004 for the next "screen rlogin othermachine" command. Use the command
2005 "screen -T vt100 rlogin othermachine" rather than setting and resetting
2006 the default.
2007 termcap term terminal-tweaks [window-tweaks]
2009 terminfo term terminal-tweaks [window-tweaks]
2010 termcapinfo term terminal-tweaks [window-tweaks]
2011 Use this command to modify your terminal's termcap entry without going
2013 through all the hassles involved in creating a custom termcap entry.
2014 Plus, you can optionally customize the termcap generated for the win‐
2015 dows. You have to place these commands in one of the screenrc startup
2016 files, as they are meaningless once the terminal emulator is booted.
2017 If your system works uses the terminfo database rather than termcap,
2018 screen will understand the `terminfo' command, which has the same
2019 effects as the `termcap' command. Two separate commands are provided,
2020 as there are subtle syntactic differences, e.g. when parameter interpo‐
2021 lation (using `%') is required. Note that termcap names of the capabil‐
2022 ities have to be used with the `terminfo' command.
2023 In many cases, where the arguments are valid in both terminfo and term‐
2024 cap syntax, you can use the command `termcapinfo', which is just a
2025 shorthand for a pair of `termcap' and `terminfo' commands with identi‐
2026 cal arguments.
2027 The first argument specifies which terminal(s) should be affected by
2029 this definition. You can specify multiple terminal names by separating
2030 them with `|'s. Use `*' to match all terminals and `vt*' to match all
2031 terminals that begin with "vt".
2032 Each tweak argument contains one or more termcap defines (separated by
2034 `:'s) to be inserted at the start of the appropriate termcap entry,
2035 enhancing it or overriding existing values. The first tweak modifies
2036 your terminal's termcap, and contains definitions that your terminal
2037 uses to perform certain functions. Specify a null string to leave this
2038 unchanged (e.g. ''). The second (optional) tweak modifies all the win‐
2039 dow termcaps, and should contain definitions that screen understands
2040 (see the "VIRTUAL TERMINAL" section).
2041 Some examples:
2043 termcap xterm* LP:hs@
2045 Informs screen that all terminals that begin with `xterm' have firm
2047 auto-margins that allow the last position on the screen to be updated
2048 (LP), but they don't really have a status line (no 'hs' - append `@' to
2049 turn entries off). Note that we assume `LP' for all terminal names
2050 that start with "vt", but only if you don't specify a termcap command
2051 for that terminal.
2052 termcap vt* LP
2054 termcap vt102|vt220 Z0=\E[?3h:Z1=\E[?3l
2055 Specifies the firm-margined `LP' capability for all terminals that
2057 begin with `vt', and the second line will also add the escape-sequences
2058 to switch into (Z0) and back out of (Z1) 132-character-per-line mode if
2059 this is a VT102 or VT220. (You must specify Z0 and Z1 in your termcap
2060 to use the width-changing commands.)
2061 termcap vt100 "" l0=PF1:l1=PF2:l2=PF3:l3=PF4
2063 This leaves your vt100 termcap alone and adds the function key labels
2065 to each window's termcap entry.
2066 termcap h19|z19 am@:im=\E@:ei=\EO dc=\E[P
2068 Takes a h19 or z19 termcap and turns off auto-margins (am@) and enables
2070 the insert mode (im) and end-insert (ei) capabilities (the `@' in the
2071 `im' string is after the `=', so it is part of the string). Having the
2072 `im' and `ei' definitions put into your terminal's termcap will cause
2073 screen to automatically advertise the character-insert capability in
2074 each window's termcap. Each window will also get the delete-character
2075 capability (dc) added to its termcap, which screen will translate into
2076 a line-update for the terminal (we're pretending it doesn't support
2077 character deletion).
2078 If you would like to fully specify each window's termcap entry, you
2080 should instead set the $SCREENCAP variable prior to running screen.
2081 See the discussion on the "VIRTUAL TERMINAL" in this manual, and the
2082 termcap(5) man page for more information on termcap definitions.
2083 time [string]
2085 Uses the message line to display the time of day, the host name, and
2087 the load averages over 1, 5, and 15 minutes (if this is available on
2088 your system). For window specific information use "info".
2089 If a string is specified, it changes the format of the time report like
2091 it is described in the "STRING ESCAPES" chapter. Screen uses a default
2092 of "%c:%s %M %d %H%? %l%?".
2093 title [windowtitle]
2095 Set the name of the current window to windowtitle. If no name is speci‐
2097 fied, screen prompts for one. This command was known as `aka' in previ‐
2098 ous releases.
2099 unsetenv var
2101 Unset an environment variable.
2103 utf8 [on|off [on|off]]
2105 Change the encoding used in the current window. If utf8 is enabled, the
2107 strings sent to the window will be UTF-8 encoded and vice versa. Omit‐
2108 ting the parameter toggles the setting. If a second parameter is given,
2109 the display's encoding is also changed (this should rather be done with
2110 screen's "-U" option). See also "defutf8", which changes the default
2111 setting of a new window.
2112 vbell [on|off]
2114 Sets the visual bell setting for this window. Omitting the parameter
2116 toggles the setting. If vbell is switched on, but your terminal does
2117 not support a visual bell, a `vbell-message' is displayed in the status
2118 line when the bell character (^G) is received. Visual bell support of
2119 a terminal is defined by the termcap variable `vb' (terminfo: 'flash').
2120 Per default, vbell is off, thus the audible bell is used. See also
2121 `bell_msg'.
2122 vbell_msg [message]
2124 Sets the visual bell message. message is printed to the status line if
2126 the window receives a bell character (^G), vbell is set to "on", but
2127 the terminal does not support a visual bell. The default message is
2128 "Wuff, Wuff!!". Without parameter, the current message is shown.
2129 vbellwait sec
2131 Define a delay in seconds after each display of screen's visual bell
2133 message. The default is 1 second.
2134 verbose [on|off]
2136 If verbose is switched on, the command name is echoed, whenever a win‐
2138 dow is created (or resurrected from zombie state). Default is off.
2139 Without parameter, the current setting is shown.
2140 version
2142 Print the current version and the compile date in the status line.
2144 wall message
2146 Write a message to all displays. The message will appear in the termi‐
2148 nal's status line.
2149 width [-w|-d] [cols [lines]]
2151 Toggle the window width between 80 and 132 columns or set it to cols
2153 columns if an argument is specified. This requires a capable terminal
2154 and the termcap entries "Z0" and "Z1". See the "termcap" command for
2155 more information. You can also specify a new height if you want to
2156 change both values. The -w option tells screen to leave the display
2157 size unchanged and just set the window size, -d vice versa.
2158 windowlist [-b] [-m]
2160 windowlist string [string]
2161 windowlist title [title]
2162 Display all windows in a table for visual window selection. The desired
2164 window can be selected via the standard movement keys (see the "copy"
2165 command) and activated via the return key. If the -b option is given,
2166 screen will switch to the blank window before presenting the list, so
2167 that the current window is also selectable. The -m option changes the
2168 order of the windows, instead of sorting by window numbers screen uses
2169 its internal most-recently-used list.
2170 The table format can be changed with the string and title option, the
2172 title is displayed as table heading, while the lines are made by using
2173 the string setting. The default setting is "Num Name%=Flags" for the
2174 title and "%3n %t%=%f" for the lines. See the "STRING ESCAPES" chapter
2175 for more codes (e.g. color settings).
2176 windows
2178 Uses the message line to display a list of all the windows. Each win‐
2180 dow is listed by number with the name of process that has been started
2181 in the window (or its title); the current window is marked with a `*';
2182 the previous window is marked with a `-'; all the windows that are
2183 "logged in" are marked with a `$'; a background window that has
2184 received a bell is marked with a `!'; a background window that is being
2185 monitored and has had activity occur is marked with an `@'; a window
2186 which has output logging turned on is marked with `(L)'; windows occu‐
2187 pied by other users are marked with `&'; windows in the zombie state
2188 are marked with `Z'. If this list is too long to fit on the terminal's
2189 status line only the portion around the current window is displayed.
2190 wrap [on|off]
2192 Sets the line-wrap setting for the current window. When line-wrap is
2194 on, the second consecutive printable character output at the last col‐
2195 umn of a line will wrap to the start of the following line. As an
2196 added feature, backspace (^H) will also wrap through the left margin to
2197 the previous line. Default is `on'.
2198 writebuf [-e encoding] [filename]
2200 Writes the contents of the paste buffer to the specified file, or the
2202 public accessible screen-exchange file if no filename is given. This is
2203 thought of as a primitive means of communication between screen users
2204 on the same host. If an encoding is specified the paste buffer is
2205 recoded on the fly to match the encoding. The filename can be set with
2206 the bufferfile command and defaults to "/tmp/screen-exchange".
2207 writelock [on|off|auto]
2209 In addition to access control lists, not all users may be able to write
2211 to the same window at once. Per default, writelock is in `auto' mode
2212 and grants exclusive input permission to the user who is the first to
2213 switch to the particular window. When he leaves the window, other users
2214 may obtain the writelock (automatically). The writelock of the current
2215 window is disabled by the command "writelock off". If the user issues
2216 the command "writelock on" he keeps the exclusive write permission
2217 while switching to other windows.
2218 xoff
2220 xon
2221 Insert a CTRL-s / CTRL-q character to the stdin queue of the current
2223 window.
2224 zmodem [off|auto|catch|pass]
2226 zmodem sendcmd [string]
2227 zmodem recvcmd [string]
2228 Define zmodem support for screen. Screen understands two different
2230 modes when it detects a zmodem request: "pass" and "catch". If the
2231 mode is set to "pass", screen will relay all data to the attacher until
2232 the end of the transmission is reached. In "catch" mode screen acts as
2233 a zmodem endpoint and starts the corresponding rz/sz commands. If the
2234 mode is set to "auto", screen will use "catch" if the window is a tty
2235 (e.g. a serial line), otherwise it will use "pass".
2236 You can define the templates screen uses in "catch" mode via the second
2237 and the third form.
2238 Note also that this is an experimental feature.
2239 zombie [keys]
2241 defzombie [keys]
2242 Per default screen windows are removed from the window list as soon as
2244 the windows process (e.g. shell) exits. When a string of two keys is
2245 specified to the zombie command, `dead' windows will remain in the
2246 list. The kill command may be used to remove such a window. Pressing
2247 the first key in the dead window has the same effect. When pressing the
2248 second key, screen will attempt to resurrect the window. The process
2249 that was initially running in the window will be launched again. Call‐
2250 ing zombie without parameters will clear the zombie setting, thus mak‐
2251 ing windows disappear when their process exits.
2252 As the zombie-setting is manipulated globally for all windows, this
2254 command should only be called defzombie. Until we need this as a per
2255 window setting, the commands zombie and defzombie are synonymous.
2256
2259 Screen displays informational messages and other diagnostics in a mes‐
2260 sage line. While this line is distributed to appear at the bottom of
2261 the screen, it can be defined to appear at the top of the screen during
2262 compilation. If your terminal has a status line defined in its term‐
2263 cap, screen will use this for displaying its messages, otherwise a line
2264 of the current screen will be temporarily overwritten and output will
2265 be momentarily interrupted. The message line is automatically removed
2266 after a few seconds delay, but it can also be removed early (on termi‐
2267 nals without a status line) by beginning to type.
2268 The message line facility can be used by an application running in the
2270 current window by means of the ANSI Privacy message control sequence.
2271 For instance, from within the shell, try something like:
2272 echo '<esc>^Hello world from window '$WINDOW'<esc>\\'
2274 where '<esc>' is an escape, '^' is a literal up-arrow, and '\\' turns
2276 into a single backslash.
2277
2280 Screen provides three different window types. New windows are created
2281 with screen's screen command (see also the entry in chapter "CUSTOMIZA‐
2282 TION"). The first parameter to the screen command defines which type of
2283 window is created. The different window types are all special cases of
2284 the normal type. They have been added in order to allow screen to be
2285 used efficiently as a console multiplexer with 100 or more windows.
2286 · The normal window contains a shell (default, if no parameter is
2289 given) or any other system command that could be executed from a
2290 shell (e.g. slogin, etc...)
2291 · If a tty (character special device) name (e.g. "/dev/ttya") is spec‐
2294 ified as the first parameter, then the window is directly connected
2295 to this device. This window type is similar to "screen cu -l
2296 /dev/ttya". Read and write access is required on the device node,
2297 an exclusive open is attempted on the node to mark the connection
2298 line as busy. An optional parameter is allowed consisting of a
2299 comma separated list of flags in the notation used by stty(1):
2300 <baud_rate>
2302 Usually 300, 1200, 9600 or 19200. This affects transmission
2303 as well as receive speed.
2304 cs8 or cs7
2306 Specify the transmission of eight (or seven) bits per byte.
2307 ixon or -ixon
2309 Enables (or disables) software flow-control (CTRL-S/CTRL-Q)
2310 for sending data.
2311 ixoff or -ixon
2313 Enables (or disables) software flow-control for receiving
2314 data.
2315 istrip or -istrip
2317 Clear (or keep) the eight bit in each received byte.
2318 You may want to specify as many of these options as applicable.
2320 Unspecified options cause the terminal driver to make up the parame‐
2321 ter values of the connection. These values are system dependant and
2322 may be in defaults or values saved from a previous connection.
2323 For tty windows, the info command shows some of the modem control
2325 lines in the status line. These may include `RTS', `CTS', 'DTR',
2326 `DSR', `CD' and more. This depends on the available ioctl()'s and
2327 system header files as well as the on the physical capabilities of
2328 the serial board. Signals that are logical low (inactive) have
2329 their name preceded by an exclamation mark (!), otherwise the signal
2330 is logical high (active). Signals not supported by the hardware but
2331 available to the ioctl() interface are usually shown low.
2332 When the CLOCAL status bit is true, the whole set of modem signals
2333 is placed inside curly braces ({ and }). When the CRTSCTS or TIOC‐
2334 SOFTCAR bit is set, the signals `CTS' or `CD' are shown in parenthe‐
2335 sis, respectively.
2336 For tty windows, the command break causes the Data transmission line
2339 (TxD) to go low for a specified period of time. This is expected to
2340 be interpreted as break signal on the other side. No data is sent
2341 and no modem control line is changed when a break is issued.
2342 · If the first parameter is "//telnet", the second parameter is
2344 expected to be a host name, and an optional third parameter may
2345 specify a TCP port number (default decimal 23). Screen will connect
2346 to a server listening on the remote host and use the telnet protocol
2347 to communicate with that server.
2348 For telnet windows, the command info shows details about the connec‐
2349 tion in square brackets ([ and ]) at the end of the status line.
2350 b BINARY. The connection is in binary mode.
2352 e ECHO. Local echo is disabled.
2354 c SGA. The connection is in `character mode' (default: `line
2356 mode').
2357 t TTYPE. The terminal type has been requested by the remote
2359 host. Screen sends the name "screen" unless instructed oth‐
2360 erwise (see also the command `term').
2361 w NAWS. The remote site is notified about window size changes.
2363 f LFLOW. The remote host will send flow control information.
2365 (Ignored at the moment.)
2366 Additional flags for debugging are x, t and n (XDISPLOC, TSPEED and
2368 NEWENV).
2369 For telnet windows, the command break sends the telnet code IAC
2371 BREAK (decimal 243) to the remote host.
2372 This window type is only available if screen was compiled with the
2375 BUILTIN_TELNET option defined.
2376
2380 Screen provides an escape mechanism to insert information like the cur‐
2381 rent time into messages or file names. The escape character is '%' with
2382 one exception: inside of a window's hardstatus '^%' ('^E') is used
2383 instead.
2384 Here is the full list of supported escapes:
2386 % the escape character itself
2388 a either 'am' or 'pm'
2390 A either 'AM' or 'PM'
2392 c current time HH:MM in 24h format
2394 C current time HH:MM in 12h format
2396 d day number
2398 D weekday name
2400 f flags of the window
2402 F sets %? to true if the window has the focus
2404 h hardstatus of the window
2406 H hostname of the system
2408 l current load of the system
2410 m month number
2412 M month name
2414 n window number
2416 s seconds
2418 t window title
2420 u all other users on this window
2422 w all window numbers and names. With '-' quailifier: up to the
2424 current window; with '+' qualifier: starting with the window
2425 after the current one.
2426 W all window numbers and names except the current one
2428 y last two digits of the year number
2430 Y full year number
2432 ? the part to the next '%?' is displayed only if a '%' escape
2434 inside the part expands to a non-empty string
2435 : else part of '%?'
2437 = pad the string to the display's width (like TeX's hfill). If a
2439 number is specified, pad to the percentage of the window's
2440 width. A '0' qualifier tells screen to treat the number as
2441 absolute position. You can specify to pad relative to the last
2442 absolute pad position by adding a '+' qualifier or to pad rela‐
2443 tive to the right margin by using '-'. The padding truncates the
2444 string if the specified position lies before the current posi‐
2445 tion. Add the 'L' qualifier to change this.
2446 < same as '%=' but just do truncation, do not fill with spaces
2448 > mark the current text position for the next truncation. When
2450 screen needs to do truncation, it tries to do it in a way that
2451 the marked position gets moved to the specified percentage of
2452 the output area. (The area starts from the last absolute pad
2453 position and ends with the position specified by the truncation
2454 operator.) The 'L' qualifier tells screen to mark the truncated
2455 parts with '...'.
2456 { attribute/color modifier string terminated by the next "}"
2458 ` Substitute with the output of a 'backtick' command. The length
2460 qualifier is misused to identify one of the commands.
2461 The 'c' and 'C' escape may be qualified with a '0' to make screen use
2463 zero instead of space as fill character. The '0' qualifier also makes
2464 the '=' escape use absolute positions. The 'n' and '=' escapes under‐
2465 stand a length qualifier (e.g. '%3n'), 'D' and 'M' can be prefixed with
2466 'L' to generate long names, 'w' and 'W' also show the window flags if
2467 'L' is given.
2468 An attribute/color modifier is is used to change the attributes or the
2470 color settings. Its format is "[attribute modifier] [color descrip‐
2471 tion]". The attribute modifier must be prefixed by a change type indi‐
2472 cator if it can be confused with a color desciption. The following
2473 change types are known:
2474 + add the specified set to the current attributes
2476 - remove the set from the current attributes
2478 ! invert the set in the current attributes
2480 = change the current attributes to the specified set
2482 The attribute set can either be specified as a hexadecimal number or a
2484 combination of the following letters:
2485 d dim
2487 u underline
2488 b bold
2489 r reverse
2490 s standout
2491 B blinking
2492 Colors are coded either as a hexadecimal number or two letters specify‐
2494 ing the desired background and foreground color (in that order). The
2495 following colors are known:
2496 k black
2498 r red
2499 g green
2500 y yellow
2501 b blue
2502 m magenta
2503 c cyan
2504 w white
2505 d default color
2506 . leave color unchanged
2507 The capitalized versions of the letter specify bright colors. You can
2509 also use the pseudo-color 'i' to set just the brightness and leave the
2510 color unchanged.
2511 A one digit/letter color description is treated as foreground or back‐
2512 ground color dependant on the current attributes: if reverse mode is
2513 set, the background color is changed instead of the foreground color.
2514 If you don't like this, prefix the color with a ".". If you want the
2515 same behaviour for two-letter color descriptions, also prefix them with
2516 a ".".
2517 As a special case, "%{-}" restores the attributes and colors that were
2518 set before the last change was made (i.e. pops one level of the color-
2519 change stack).
2520 Examples:
2522 "G" set color to bright green
2524 "+b r" use bold red
2526 "= yd" clear all attributes, write in default color on yellow back‐
2528 ground.
2529 %-Lw%{= BW}%50>%n%f* %t%{-}%+Lw%<
2531 The available windows centered at the current window and trun‐
2532 cated to the available width. The current window is displayed
2533 white on blue. This can be used with "hardstatus alwayslast‐
2534 line".
2535 %?%F%{.R.}%?%3n %t%? [%h]%?
2537 The window number and title and the window's hardstatus, if one
2538 is set. Also use a red background if this is the active focus.
2539 Useful for "caption string".
2540
2542 Each window has a flow-control setting that determines how screen deals
2543 with the XON and XOFF characters (and perhaps the interrupt character).
2544 When flow-control is turned off, screen ignores the XON and XOFF char‐
2545 acters, which allows the user to send them to the current program by
2546 simply typing them (useful for the emacs editor, for instance). The
2547 trade-off is that it will take longer for output from a "normal" pro‐
2548 gram to pause in response to an XOFF. With flow-control turned on, XON
2549 and XOFF characters are used to immediately pause the output of the
2550 current window. You can still send these characters to the current
2551 program, but you must use the appropriate two-character screen commands
2552 (typically "C-a q" (xon) and "C-a s" (xoff)). The xon/xoff commands
2553 are also useful for typing C-s and C-q past a terminal that intercepts
2554 these characters.
2555 Each window has an initial flow-control value set with either the -f
2557 option or the "defflow" .screenrc command. Per default the windows are
2558 set to automatic flow-switching. It can then be toggled between the
2559 three states 'fixed on', 'fixed off' and 'automatic' interactively with
2560 the "flow" command bound to "C-a f".
2561 The automatic flow-switching mode deals with flow control using the
2563 TIOCPKT mode (like "rlogin" does). If the tty driver does not support
2564 TIOCPKT, screen tries to find out the right mode based on the current
2565 setting of the application keypad - when it is enabled, flow-control is
2566 turned off and visa versa. Of course, you can still manipulate flow-
2567 control manually when needed.
2568 If you're running with flow-control enabled and find that pressing the
2570 interrupt key (usually C-c) does not interrupt the display until
2571 another 6-8 lines have scrolled by, try running screen with the "inter‐
2572 rupt" option (add the "interrupt" flag to the "flow" command in your
2573 .screenrc, or use the -i command-line option). This causes the output
2574 that screen has accumulated from the interrupted program to be flushed.
2575 One disadvantage is that the virtual terminal's memory contains the
2576 non-flushed version of the output, which in rare cases can cause minor
2577 inaccuracies in the output. For example, if you switch screens and
2578 return, or update the screen with "C-a l" you would see the version of
2579 the output you would have gotten without "interrupt" being on. Also,
2580 you might need to turn off flow-control (or use auto-flow mode to turn
2581 it off automatically) when running a program that expects you to type
2582 the interrupt character as input, as it is possible to interrupt the
2583 output of the virtual terminal to your physical terminal when flow-con‐
2584 trol is enabled. If this happens, a simple refresh of the screen with
2585 "C-a l" will restore it. Give each mode a try, and use whichever mode
2586 you find more comfortable.
2587
2591 You can customize each window's name in the window display (viewed with
2592 the "windows" command (C-a w)) by setting it with one of the title com‐
2593 mands. Normally the name displayed is the actual command name of the
2594 program created in the window. However, it is sometimes useful to dis‐
2595 tinguish various programs of the same name or to change the name on-
2596 the-fly to reflect the current state of the window.
2597 The default name for all shell windows can be set with the "shelltitle"
2599 command in the .screenrc file, while all other windows are created with
2600 a "screen" command and thus can have their name set with the -t option.
2601 Interactively, there is the title-string escape-sequence
2602 (<esc>kname<esc>\) and the "title" command (C-a A). The former can be
2603 output from an application to control the window's name under software
2604 control, and the latter will prompt for a name when typed. You can
2605 also bind pre-defined names to keys with the "title" command to set
2606 things quickly without prompting.
2607 Finally, screen has a shell-specific heuristic that is enabled by set‐
2609 ting the window's name to "search|name" and arranging to have a null
2610 title escape-sequence output as a part of your prompt. The search por‐
2611 tion specifies an end-of-prompt search string, while the name portion
2612 specifies the default shell name for the window. If the name ends in a
2613 `:' screen will add what it believes to be the current command running
2614 in the window to the end of the window's shell name (e.g. "name:cmd").
2615 Otherwise the current command name supersedes the shell name while it
2616 is running.
2617 Here's how it works: you must modify your shell prompt to output a
2619 null title-escape-sequence (<esc>k<esc>\) as a part of your prompt.
2620 The last part of your prompt must be the same as the string you speci‐
2621 fied for the search portion of the title. Once this is set up, screen
2622 will use the title-escape-sequence to clear the previous command name
2623 and get ready for the next command. Then, when a newline is received
2624 from the shell, a search is made for the end of the prompt. If found,
2625 it will grab the first word after the matched string and use it as the
2626 command name. If the command name begins with either '!', '%', or '^'
2627 screen will use the first word on the following line (if found) in
2628 preference to the just-found name. This helps csh users get better
2629 command names when using job control or history recall commands.
2630 Here's some .screenrc examples:
2632 screen -t top 2 nice top
2634 Adding this line to your .screenrc would start a nice-d version of the
2636 "top" command in window 2 named "top" rather than "nice".
2637 shelltitle '> |csh'
2639 screen 1
2640 These commands would start a shell with the given shelltitle. The
2642 title specified is an auto-title that would expect the prompt and the
2643 typed command to look something like the following:
2644 /usr/joe/src/dir> trn
2646 (it looks after the '> ' for the command name). The window status
2648 would show the name "trn" while the command was running, and revert to
2649 "csh" upon completion.
2650 bind R screen -t '% |root:' su
2652 Having this command in your .screenrc would bind the key sequence "C-a
2654 R" to the "su" command and give it an auto-title name of "root:". For
2655 this auto-title to work, the screen could look something like this:
2656 % !em
2658 emacs file.c
2659 Here the user typed the csh history command "!em" which ran the previ‐
2661 ously entered "emacs" command. The window status would show
2662 "root:emacs" during the execution of the command, and revert to simply
2663 "root:" at its completion.
2664 bind o title
2666 bind E title ""
2667 bind u title (unknown)
2668 The first binding doesn't have any arguments, so it would prompt you
2670 for a title. when you type "C-a o". The second binding would clear an
2671 auto-title's current setting (C-a E). The third binding would set the
2672 current window's title to "(unknown)" (C-a u).
2673 One thing to keep in mind when adding a null title-escape-sequence to
2675 your prompt is that some shells (like the csh) count all the non-con‐
2676 trol characters as part of the prompt's length. If these invisible
2677 characters aren't a multiple of 8 then backspacing over a tab will
2678 result in an incorrect display. One way to get around this is to use a
2679 prompt like this:
2680 set prompt='^[[0000m^[k^[\% '
2682 The escape-sequence "<esc>[0000m" not only normalizes the character
2684 attributes, but all the zeros round the length of the invisible charac‐
2685 ters up to 8. Bash users will probably want to echo the escape
2686 sequence in the PROMPT_COMMAND:
2687 PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -n -e "\033k\033\134"'
2689 (I used "134" to output a `\' because of a bug in bash v1.04).
2691
2695 Each window in a screen session emulates a VT100 terminal, with some
2696 extra functions added. The VT100 emulator is hard-coded, no other ter‐
2697 minal types can be emulated.
2698 Usually screen tries to emulate as much of the VT100/ANSI standard as
2699 possible. But if your terminal lacks certain capabilities, the emula‐
2700 tion may not be complete. In these cases screen has to tell the appli‐
2701 cations that some of the features are missing. This is no problem on
2702 machines using termcap, because screen can use the $TERMCAP variable to
2703 customize the standard screen termcap.
2704 But if you do a rlogin on another machine or your machine supports only
2706 terminfo this method fails. Because of this, screen offers a way to
2707 deal with these cases. Here is how it works:
2708 When screen tries to figure out a terminal name for itself, it first
2710 looks for an entry named "screen.<term>", where <term> is the contents
2711 of your $TERM variable. If no such entry exists, screen tries "screen"
2712 (or "screen-w" if the terminal is wide (132 cols or more)). If even
2713 this entry cannot be found, "vt100" is used as a substitute.
2714 The idea is that if you have a terminal which doesn't support an impor‐
2716 tant feature (e.g. delete char or clear to EOS) you can build a new
2717 termcap/terminfo entry for screen (named "screen.<dumbterm>") in which
2718 this capability has been disabled. If this entry is installed on your
2719 machines you are able to do a rlogin and still keep the correct term‐
2720 cap/terminfo entry. The terminal name is put in the $TERM variable of
2721 all new windows. Screen also sets the $TERMCAP variable reflecting the
2722 capabilities of the virtual terminal emulated. Notice that, however, on
2723 machines using the terminfo database this variable has no effect. Fur‐
2724 thermore, the variable $WINDOW is set to the window number of each win‐
2725 dow.
2726 The actual set of capabilities supported by the virtual terminal
2728 depends on the capabilities supported by the physical terminal. If,
2729 for instance, the physical terminal does not support underscore mode,
2730 screen does not put the `us' and `ue' capabilities into the window's
2731 $TERMCAP variable, accordingly. However, a minimum number of capabili‐
2732 ties must be supported by a terminal in order to run screen; namely
2733 scrolling, clear screen, and direct cursor addressing (in addition,
2734 screen does not run on hardcopy terminals or on terminals that over-
2735 strike).
2736 Also, you can customize the $TERMCAP value used by screen by using the
2738 "termcap" .screenrc command, or by defining the variable $SCREENCAP
2739 prior to startup. When the is latter defined, its value will be copied
2740 verbatim into each window's $TERMCAP variable. This can either be the
2741 full terminal definition, or a filename where the terminal "screen"
2742 (and/or "screen-w") is defined.
2743 Note that screen honors the "terminfo" .screenrc command if the system
2745 uses the terminfo database rather than termcap.
2746 When the boolean `G0' capability is present in the termcap entry for
2748 the terminal on which screen has been called, the terminal emulation of
2749 screen supports multiple character sets. This allows an application to
2750 make use of, for instance, the VT100 graphics character set or national
2751 character sets. The following control functions from ISO 2022 are sup‐
2752 ported: lock shift G0 (SI), lock shift G1 (SO), lock shift G2, lock
2753 shift G3, single shift G2, and single shift G3. When a virtual termi‐
2754 nal is created or reset, the ASCII character set is designated as G0
2755 through G3. When the `G0' capability is present, screen evaluates the
2756 capabilities `S0', `E0', and `C0' if present. `S0' is the sequence the
2757 terminal uses to enable and start the graphics character set rather
2758 than SI. `E0' is the corresponding replacement for SO. `C0' gives a
2759 character by character translation string that is used during semi-
2760 graphics mode. This string is built like the `acsc' terminfo capabil‐
2761 ity.
2762 When the `po' and `pf' capabilities are present in the terminal's term‐
2764 cap entry, applications running in a screen window can send output to
2765 the printer port of the terminal. This allows a user to have an appli‐
2766 cation in one window sending output to a printer connected to the ter‐
2767 minal, while all other windows are still active (the printer port is
2768 enabled and disabled again for each chunk of output). As a side-
2769 effect, programs running in different windows can send output to the
2770 printer simultaneously. Data sent to the printer is not displayed in
2771 the window. The info command displays a line starting `PRIN' while the
2772 printer is active.
2773 Screen maintains a hardstatus line for every window. If a window gets
2775 selected, the display's hardstatus will be updated to match the win‐
2776 dow's hardstatus line. If the display has no hardstatus the line will
2777 be displayed as a standard screen message. The hardstatus line can be
2778 changed with the ANSI Application Program Command (APC):
2779 "ESC_<string>ESC\". As a convenience for xterm users the sequence
2780 "ESC]0..2;<string>^G" is also accepted.
2781 Some capabilities are only put into the $TERMCAP variable of the vir‐
2783 tual terminal if they can be efficiently implemented by the physical
2784 terminal. For instance, `dl' (delete line) is only put into the $TERM‐
2785 CAP variable if the terminal supports either delete line itself or
2786 scrolling regions. Note that this may provoke confusion, when the ses‐
2787 sion is reattached on a different terminal, as the value of $TERMCAP
2788 cannot be modified by parent processes.
2789 The "alternate screen" capability is not enabled by default. Set the
2791 altscreen .screenrc command to enable it.
2792 The following is a list of control sequences recognized by screen.
2794 "(V)" and "(A)" indicate VT100-specific and ANSI- or ISO-specific func‐
2795 tions, respectively.
2796 ESC E Next Line
2798 ESC D Index
2800 ESC M Reverse Index
2802 ESC H Horizontal Tab Set
2804 ESC Z Send VT100 Identification String
2806 ESC 7 (V) Save Cursor and Attributes
2808 ESC 8 (V) Restore Cursor and Attributes
2810 ESC [s (A) Save Cursor and Attributes
2812 ESC [u (A) Restore Cursor and Attributes
2814 ESC c Reset to Initial State
2816 ESC g Visual Bell
2818 ESC Pn p Cursor Visibility (97801)
2820 Pn = 6 Invisible
2822 7 Visible
2824 ESC = (V) Application Keypad Mode
2826 ESC > (V) Numeric Keypad Mode
2828 ESC # 8 (V) Fill Screen with E's
2830 ESC \ (A) String Terminator
2832 ESC ^ (A) Privacy Message String (Message Line)
2834 ESC ! Global Message String (Message Line)
2836 ESC k A.k.a. Definition String
2838 ESC P (A) Device Control String. Outputs a string
2840 directly to the host terminal without inter‐
2841 pretation.
2842 ESC _ (A) Application Program Command (Hardstatus)
2844 ESC ] 0 ; string ^G (A) Operating System Command (Hardstatus, xterm
2846 title hack)
2847 ESC ] 83 ; cmd ^G (A) Execute screen command. This only works if
2849 multi-user support is compiled into screen.
2850 The pseudo-user ":window:" is used to check
2851 the access control list. Use "addacl :win‐
2852 dow: -rwx #?" to create a user with no
2853 rights and allow only the needed commands.
2854 Control-N (A) Lock Shift G1 (SO)
2856 Control-O (A) Lock Shift G0 (SI)
2858 ESC n (A) Lock Shift G2
2860 ESC o (A) Lock Shift G3
2862 ESC N (A) Single Shift G2
2864 ESC O (A) Single Shift G3
2866 ESC ( Pcs (A) Designate character set as G0
2868 ESC ) Pcs (A) Designate character set as G1
2870 ESC * Pcs (A) Designate character set as G2
2872 ESC + Pcs (A) Designate character set as G3
2874 ESC [ Pn ; Pn H Direct Cursor Addressing
2876 ESC [ Pn ; Pn f same as above
2878 ESC [ Pn J Erase in Display
2880 Pn = None or 0 From Cursor to End of Screen
2882 1 From Beginning of Screen to Cursor
2884 2 Entire Screen
2886 ESC [ Pn K Erase in Line
2888 Pn = None or 0 From Cursor to End of Line
2890 1 From Beginning of Line to Cursor
2892 2 Entire Line
2894 ESC [ Pn X Erase character
2896 ESC [ Pn A Cursor Up
2898 ESC [ Pn B Cursor Down
2900 ESC [ Pn C Cursor Right
2902 ESC [ Pn D Cursor Left
2904 ESC [ Pn E Cursor next line
2906 ESC [ Pn F Cursor previous line
2908 ESC [ Pn G Cursor horizontal position
2910 ESC [ Pn ` same as above
2912 ESC [ Pn d Cursor vertical position
2914 ESC [ Ps ;...; Ps m Select Graphic Rendition
2916 Ps = None or 0 Default Rendition
2918 1 Bold
2920 2 (A) Faint
2922 3 (A) Standout Mode (ANSI: Italicized)
2924 4 Underlined
2926 5 Blinking
2928 7 Negative Image
2930 22 (A) Normal Intensity
2932 23 (A) Standout Mode off (ANSI: Italicized off)
2934 24 (A) Not Underlined
2936 25 (A) Not Blinking
2938 27 (A) Positive Image
2940 30 (A) Foreground Black
2942 31 (A) Foreground Red
2944 32 (A) Foreground Green
2946 33 (A) Foreground Yellow
2948 34 (A) Foreground Blue
2950 35 (A) Foreground Magenta
2952 36 (A) Foreground Cyan
2954 37 (A) Foreground White
2956 39 (A) Foreground Default
2958 40 (A) Background Black
2960 ...
2962 49 (A) Background Default
2964 ESC [ Pn g Tab Clear
2966 Pn = None or 0 Clear Tab at Current Position
2968 3 Clear All Tabs
2970 ESC [ Pn ; Pn r (V) Set Scrolling Region
2972 ESC [ Pn I (A) Horizontal Tab
2974 ESC [ Pn Z (A) Backward Tab
2976 ESC [ Pn L (A) Insert Line
2978 ESC [ Pn M (A) Delete Line
2980 ESC [ Pn @ (A) Insert Character
2982 ESC [ Pn P (A) Delete Character
2984 ESC [ Pn S Scroll Scrolling Region Up
2986 ESC [ Pn T Scroll Scrolling Region Down
2988 ESC [ Pn ^ same as above
2990 ESC [ Ps ;...; Ps h Set Mode
2992 ESC [ Ps ;...; Ps l Reset Mode
2994 Ps = 4 (A) Insert Mode
2996 20 (A) Automatic Linefeed Mode
2998 34 Normal Cursor Visibility
3000 ?1 (V) Application Cursor Keys
3002 ?3 (V) Change Terminal Width to 132 columns
3004 ?5 (V) Reverse Video
3006 ?6 (V) Origin Mode
3008 ?7 (V) Wrap Mode
3010 ?9 X10 mouse tracking
3012 ?25 (V) Visible Cursor
3014 ?47 Alternate Screen (old xterm code)
3016 ?1000 (V) VT200 mouse tracking
3018 ?1047 Alternate Screen (new xterm code)
3020 ?1049 Alternate Screen (new xterm code)
3022 ESC [ 5 i (A) Start relay to printer (ANSI Media Copy)
3024 ESC [ 4 i (A) Stop relay to printer (ANSI Media Copy)
3026 ESC [ 8 ; Ph ; Pw t Resize the window to `Ph' lines and `Pw'
3028 columns (SunView special)
3029 ESC [ c Send VT100 Identification String
3031 ESC [ x Send Terminal Parameter Report
3033 ESC [ > c Send VT220 Secondary Device Attributes
3035 String
3036 ESC [ 6 n Send Cursor Position Report
3038
3042 In order to do a full VT100 emulation screen has to detect that a
3043 sequence of characters in the input stream was generated by a keypress
3044 on the user's keyboard and insert the VT100 style escape sequence.
3045 Screen has a very flexible way of doing this by making it possible to
3046 map arbitrary commands on arbitrary sequences of characters. For stan‐
3047 dard VT100 emulation the command will always insert a string in the
3048 input buffer of the window (see also command stuff in the command ta‐
3049 ble). Because the sequences generated by a keypress can change after a
3050 reattach from a different terminal type, it is possible to bind com‐
3051 mands to the termcap name of the keys. Screen will insert the correct
3052 binding after each reattach. See the bindkey command for further
3053 details on the syntax and examples.
3054 Here is the table of the default key bindings. (A) means that the com‐
3056 mand is executed if the keyboard is switched into application mode.
3057 Key name Termcap name Command
3059 ______________________________________________________
3060 Cursor up ku stuff \033[A
3061 stuff \033OA (A)
3062 Cursor down kd stuff \033[B
3063 stuff \033OB (A)
3064 Cursor right kr stuff \033[C
3065 stuff \033OC (A)
3066 Cursor left kl stuff \033[D
3067 stuff \033OD (A)
3068 Function key 0 k0 stuff \033[10~
3069 Function key 1 k1 stuff \033OP
3070 Function key 2 k2 stuff \033OQ
3071 Function key 3 k3 stuff \033OR
3072 Function key 4 k4 stuff \033OS
3073 Function key 5 k5 stuff \033[15~
3074 Function key 6 k6 stuff \033[17~
3075 Function key 7 k7 stuff \033[18~
3076 Function key 8 k8 stuff \033[19~
3077 Function key 9 k9 stuff \033[20~
3078 Function key 10 k; stuff \033[21~
3079 Function key 11 F1 stuff \033[23~
3080 Function key 12 F2 stuff \033[24~
3081 Home kh stuff \033[1~
3082 End kH stuff \033[4~
3083 Insert kI stuff \033[2~
3084 Delete kD stuff \033[3~
3085 Page up kP stuff \033[5~
3086 Page down kN stuff \033[6~
3087 Keypad 0 f0 stuff 0
3088 stuff \033Op (A)
3089 Keypad 1 f1 stuff 1
3090 stuff \033Oq (A)
3091 Keypad 2 f2 stuff 2
3092 stuff \033Or (A)
3093 Keypad 3 f3 stuff 3
3094 stuff \033Os (A)
3095 Keypad 4 f4 stuff 4
3096 stuff \033Ot (A)
3097 Keypad 5 f5 stuff 5
3098 stuff \033Ou (A)
3099 Keypad 6 f6 stuff 6
3100 stuff \033Ov (A)
3101 Keypad 7 f7 stuff 7
3102 stuff \033Ow (A)
3103 Keypad 8 f8 stuff 8
3104 stuff \033Ox (A)
3105 Keypad 9 f9 stuff 9
3106 stuff \033Oy (A)
3107 Keypad + f+ stuff +
3108 stuff \033Ok (A)
3109 Keypad - f- stuff -
3110 stuff \033Om (A)
3111 Keypad * f* stuff *
3112 stuff \033Oj (A)
3113 Keypad / f/ stuff /
3114 stuff \033Oo (A)
3115 Keypad = fq stuff =
3116 stuff \033OX (A)
3117 Keypad . f. stuff .
3118 stuff \033On (A)
3119 Keypad , f, stuff ,
3120 stuff \033Ol (A)
3121 Keypad enter fe stuff \015
3122 stuff \033OM (A)
3123
3127 The following table describes all terminal capabilities that are recog‐
3128 nized by screen and are not in the termcap(5) manual. You can place
3129 these capabilities in your termcap entries (in `/etc/termcap') or use
3130 them with the commands `termcap', `terminfo' and `termcapinfo' in your
3131 screenrc files. It is often not possible to place these capabilities in
3132 the terminfo database.
3133 LP (bool) Terminal has VT100 style margins (`magic margins'). Note
3135 that this capability is obsolete because screen uses the
3136 standard 'xn' instead.
3137 Z0 (str) Change width to 132 columns.
3139 Z1 (str) Change width to 80 columns.
3141 WS (str) Resize display. This capability has the desired width and
3143 height as arguments. SunView(tm) example: '\E[8;%d;%dt'.
3144 NF (bool) Terminal doesn't need flow control. Send ^S and ^Q direct
3146 to the application. Same as 'flow off'. The opposite of
3147 this capability is 'nx'.
3148 G0 (bool) Terminal can deal with ISO 2022 font selection sequences.
3150 S0 (str) Switch charset 'G0' to the specified charset. Default is
3152 '\E(%.'.
3153 E0 (str) Switch charset 'G0' back to standard charset. Default is
3155 '\E(B'.
3156 C0 (str) Use the string as a conversion table for font '0'. See the
3158 'ac' capability for more details.
3159 CS (str) Switch cursor-keys to application mode.
3161 CE (str) Switch cursor-keys back to normal mode.
3163 AN (bool) Turn on autonuke. See the 'autonuke' command for more
3165 details.
3166 OL (num) Set the output buffer limit. See the 'obuflimit' command
3168 for more details.
3169 KJ (str) Set the encoding of the terminal. See the 'encoding' com‐
3171 mand for valid encodings.
3172 AF (str) Change character foreground color in an ANSI conform way.
3174 This capability will almost always be set to '\E[3%dm'
3175 ('\E[3%p1%dm' on terminfo machines).
3176 AB (str) Same as 'AF', but change background color.
3178 AX (bool) Does understand ANSI set default fg/bg color (\E[39m /
3180 \E[49m).
3181 XC (str) Describe a translation of characters to strings depending
3183 on the current font. More details follow in the next sec‐
3184 tion.
3185 XT (bool) Terminal understands special xterm sequences (OSC, mouse
3187 tracking).
3188 C8 (bool) Terminal needs bold to display high-intensity colors (e.g.
3190 Eterm).
3191 TF (bool) Add missing capabilities to the termcap/info entry. (Set
3193 by default).
3194
3197 Screen has a powerful mechanism to translate characters to arbitrary
3198 strings depending on the current font and terminal type. Use this fea‐
3199 ture if you want to work with a common standard character set (say
3200 ISO8851-latin1) even on terminals that scatter the more unusual charac‐
3201 ters over several national language font pages.
3202 Syntax:
3204 XC=<charset-mapping>{,,<charset-mapping>}
3205 <charset-mapping> := <designator><template>{,<mapping>}
3206 <mapping> := <char-to-be-mapped><template-arg>
3207 The things in braces may be repeated any number of times.
3209 A <charset-mapping> tells screen how to map characters in font <desig‐
3211 nator> ('B': Ascii, 'A': UK, 'K': german, etc.) to strings. Every
3212 <mapping> describes to what string a single character will be trans‐
3213 lated. A template mechanism is used, as most of the time the codes have
3214 a lot in common (for example strings to switch to and from another
3215 charset). Each occurrence of '%' in <template> gets substituted with
3216 the <template-arg> specified together with the character. If your
3217 strings are not similar at all, then use '%' as a template and place
3218 the full string in <template-arg>. A quoting mechanism was added to
3219 make it possible to use a real '%'. The '\' character quotes the spe‐
3220 cial characters '\', '%', and ','.
3221 Here is an example:
3223 termcap hp700 'XC=B\E(K%\E(B,\304[,\326\\\\,\334]'
3225 This tells screen how to translate ISOlatin1 (charset 'B') upper case
3227 umlaut characters on a hp700 terminal that has a german charset. '\304'
3228 gets translated to '\E(K[\E(B' and so on. Note that this line gets
3229 parsed *three* times before the internal lookup table is built, there‐
3230 fore a lot of quoting is needed to create a single '\'.
3231 Another extension was added to allow more emulation: If a mapping
3233 translates the unquoted '%' char, it will be sent to the terminal when‐
3234 ever screen switches to the corresponding <designator>. In this special
3235 case the template is assumed to be just '%' because the charset switch
3236 sequence and the character mappings normally haven't much in common.
3237 This example shows one use of the extension:
3239 termcap xterm 'XC=K%,%\E(B,[\304,\\\\\326,]\334'
3241 Here, a part of the german ('K') charset is emulated on an xterm. If
3243 screen has to change to the 'K' charset, '\E(B' will be sent to the
3244 terminal, i.e. the ASCII charset is used instead. The template is just
3245 '%', so the mapping is straightforward: '[' to '\304', '\' to '\326',
3246 and ']' to '\334'.
3247
3250 COLUMNS Number of columns on the terminal (overrides termcap
3251 entry).
3252 HOME Directory in which to look for .screenrc.
3253 LINES Number of lines on the terminal (overrides termcap
3254 entry).
3255 LOCKPRG Screen lock program.
3256 NETHACKOPTIONS Turns on nethack option.
3257 PATH Used for locating programs to run.
3258 SCREENCAP For customizing a terminal's TERMCAP value.
3259 SCREENDIR Alternate socket directory.
3260 SCREENRC Alternate user screenrc file.
3261 SHELL Default shell program for opening windows (default
3262 "/bin/sh").
3263 STY Alternate socket name.
3264 SYSSCREENRC Alternate system screenrc file.
3265 TERM Terminal name.
3266 TERMCAP Terminal description.
3267 WINDOW Window number of a window (at creation time).
3268
3270 .../screen-4.?.??/etc/screenrc
3271 .../screen-4.?.??/etc/etcscreenrc Examples in the screen distribution
3272 package for private and global ini‐
3273 tialization files.
3274 $SYSSCREENRC
3275 /etc/screenrc screen initialization commands
3276 $SCREENRC
3277 $HOME/.screenrc Read in after /etc/screenrc
3278 $SCREENDIR/S-<login>
3279 /local/screens/S-<login> Socket directories (default)
3280 /usr/tmp/screens/S-<login> Alternate socket directories.
3281 <socket directory>/.termcap Written by the "termcap" output func‐
3282 tion
3283 /usr/tmp/screens/screen-exchange or
3284 /tmp/screen-exchange screen `interprocess communication
3285 buffer'
3286 hardcopy.[0-9] Screen images created by the hardcopy
3287 function
3288 screenlog.[0-9] Output log files created by the log
3289 function
3290 /usr/lib/terminfo/?/* or
3291 /etc/termcap Terminal capability databases
3292 /etc/utmp Login records
3293 $LOCKPRG Program that locks a terminal.
3294
3297 termcap(5), utmp(5), vi(1), captoinfo(1), tic(1)
3298
3301 Originally created by Oliver Laumann, this latest version was produced
3302 by Wayne Davison, Juergen Weigert and Michael Schroeder.
3303
3305 Copyright (C) 1993-2003
3306 Juergen Weigert (jnweiger@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de)
3307 Michael Schroeder (mlschroe@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de)
3308 Copyright (C) 1987 Oliver Laumann
3309 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
3310 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
3311 Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any
3312 later version.
3313 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
3314 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER‐
3315 CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
3316 Public License for more details.
3317 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
3318 with this program (see the file COPYING); if not, write to the Free
3319 Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
3320 02111-1307, USA
3321
3323 Ken Beal (kbeal@amber.ssd.csd.harris.com),
3324 Rudolf Koenig (rfkoenig@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de),
3325 Toerless Eckert (eckert@immd4.informatik.uni-erlangen.de),
3326 Wayne Davison (davison@borland.com),
3327 Patrick Wolfe (pat@kai.com, kailand!pat),
3328 Bart Schaefer (schaefer@cse.ogi.edu),
3329 Nathan Glasser (nathan@brokaw.lcs.mit.edu),
3330 Larry W. Virden (lvirden@cas.org),
3331 Howard Chu (hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov),
3332 Tim MacKenzie (tym@dibbler.cs.monash.edu.au),
3333 Markku Jarvinen (mta@{cc,cs,ee}.tut.fi),
3334 Marc Boucher (marc@CAM.ORG),
3335 Doug Siebert (dsiebert@isca.uiowa.edu),
3336 Ken Stillson (stillson@tsfsrv.mitre.org),
3337 Ian Frechett (frechett@spot.Colorado.EDU),
3338 Brian Koehmstedt (bpk@gnu.ai.mit.edu),
3339 Don Smith (djs6015@ultb.isc.rit.edu),
3340 Frank van der Linden (vdlinden@fwi.uva.nl),
3341 Martin Schweikert (schweik@cpp.ob.open.de),
3342 David Vrona (dave@sashimi.lcu.com),
3343 E. Tye McQueen (tye%spillman.UUCP@uunet.uu.net),
3344 Matthew Green (mrg@eterna.com.au),
3345 Christopher Williams (cgw@pobox.com),
3346 Matt Mosley (mattm@access.digex.net),
3347 Gregory Neil Shapiro (gshapiro@wpi.WPI.EDU),
3348 Johannes Zellner (johannes@zellner.org),
3349 Pablo Averbuj (pablo@averbuj.com).
3350
3353 This is version 4.0.2. Its roots are a merge of a custom version 2.3PR7
3354 by Wayne Davison and several enhancements to Oliver Laumann's version
3355 2.0. Note that all versions numbered 2.x are copyright by Oliver Lau‐
3356 mann.
3357
3359 The latest official release of screen available via anonymous ftp from
3360 gnudist.gnu.org, nic.funet.fi or any other GNU distribution site. The
3361 home site of screen is ftp.uni-erlangen.de, in the directory pub/utili‐
3362 ties/screen. The subdirectory `private' contains the latest beta test‐
3363 ing release. If you want to help, send a note to screen@uni-erlan‐
3364 gen.de.
3365
3367 · `dm' (delete mode) and `xs' are not handled correctly (they are
3368 ignored). `xn' is treated as a magic-margin indicator.
3369 · Screen has no clue about double-high or double-wide characters. But
3371 this is the only area where vttest is allowed to fail.
3372 · It is not possible to change the environment variable $TERMCAP when
3374 reattaching under a different terminal type.
3375 · The support of terminfo based systems is very limited. Adding extra
3377 capabilities to $TERMCAP may not have any effects.
3378 · Screen does not make use of hardware tabs.
3380 · Screen must be installed as set-uid with owner root on most systems
3382 in order to be able to correctly change the owner of the tty device
3383 file for each window. Special permission may also be required to
3384 write the file "/etc/utmp".
3385 · Entries in "/etc/utmp" are not removed when screen is killed with
3387 SIGKILL. This will cause some programs (like "w" or "rwho") to
3388 advertise that a user is logged on who really isn't.
3389 · Screen may give a strange warning when your tty has no utmp entry.
3391 · When the modem line was hung up, screen may not automatically detach
3393 (or quit) unless the device driver is configured to send a HANGUP
3394 signal. To detach a screen session use the -D or -d command line
3395 option.
3396 · If a password is set, the command line options -d and -D still
3398 detach a session without asking.
3399 · Both "breaktype" and "defbreaktype" change the break generating
3401 method used by all terminal devices. The first should change a win‐
3402 dow specific setting, where the latter should change only the
3403 default for new windows.
3404 · When attaching to a multiuser session, the user's .screenrc file is
3406 not sourced. Each user's personal settings have to be included in
3407 the .screenrc file from which the session is booted, or have to be
3408 changed manually.
3409 · A weird imagination is most useful to gain full advantage of all the
3411 features.
3412 · Send bug-reports, fixes, enhancements, t-shirts, money, beer & pizza
3414 to screen@uni-erlangen.de.
34154th Berkeley Distribution Aug 2003 SCREEN(1)