gnu-screen - How to re-order windows , change the scroll shortcut, and modify the status bar contents?

Question

I learned to use gnu-screen, and have been using it for the past several weeks. I got a grip of the basics now, and would be very helpful if I get these queries clarified:

1. How do I rename / reorder / move windows in Linux screen utility ?

   For eg., after a few days of use, I come to a state where the window-numbers are 2,3,6,8. Now I want a new-window to be created at #9, or #7. Is this possible? If yes, how?

   Also, is it possible to 'move' the window #6 to #4 or #7 ? If yes, how ?

2. Scrolling shortcut: Scroll takes Ctrl-A + Esc, and then Ctrl-u / Ctrl-d . Is there a way to map PgUp / PgDn to do these directly? Or, is there a way to map some key (like F5) to take me to copy mode, and then PgUp / PgDn for scrolling ?

3. I have enabled "caption always" , so the current window title is displayed always at the bottom. Is there a way to display the current window's log-file-name and logging status (on/off) in the same caption bar ?

Thanks !

Answer 1

You can renumber the current window with ctrl+a :number x where x is a number 0-9. You can rename the current window with ctrl+a A.

Answer 2

You may want to look at the source for Byobu. Byobu is a very nice configuration package for Screen which takes a lot of advantage of the bottom bar: https://launchpad.net/byobu

Bostonvaulter's suggestion of tmux is good too if that's available to you. If you have to log on to a lot of systems you don't necessarily have a lot of control over, it's good to know Screen since it's more widely available.

Answer 3

I would highly suggest you try tmux instead. It has many more features than screen and is much better at managing windows. For example you can do a vertical split whereas with screen you can only do a horizontal split.