commandliners

Having already introduced screen in detail, I am now listing some specific commands.
Recall that once a screen “session” is started, in order to get a screen command executed, you need to press C-a (that is, Ctrl and a) and then another key (C-a is the prefix for ‘screen’ and the other key is the specific command). To the point (notice that commands are case-sensitive):

• C-a c (we mentioned this one in the previous article): create a new screen (and give it the focus).
• C-a S: split the tty in “one part more”. If a screen occupies the whole terminal, this command splits the screen into two horizontal ‘windows’. Otherwise, the screen gets divided once more.
• C-a TAB: move to the following ‘window’ (when the terminal is split). Only when the terminal has been split (using C-a S), this command sets the focus on the following window (circularly, from top to bottom and back to the top).
• C-a Q: give all the tty space to the active screen (the terminal becomes a single window, the ‘active’ one). This is the ‘reverse’ of C-a S.
• C-a # (# stands for a number 0-9): go to screen number # (in the present window).
• C-a C: clear the contents of the active screen (like clear does in a shell).
• C-a ": show a (selectable) list of screens. Use the arrow keys or numbers to move between the options and RETURN to select and go to the active one.
• C-a ‘: select a screen by number (you are asked to enter a number).
• C-a N: get the current screen number.
• C-a A: change the the active screen’s name.

In need of help, C-a ? is your friend. All the information is available with man screen.

There are important configuration options which can be tweaked using a .screenrc file; they are all explained in the man page and at the main screen page and also at other pages.