emacs and screen

emacs and screen

[Peter Keller]

Hello,

Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.

When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
<left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
between buffers.

How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
being infront if it at any rate.)

Thank you.

-pete

Re: emacs and screen

[Javier]

I have also debian squeeze, and the behaviour is ok in the tty console,
but in an xterm I see the problem you describe.


Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
> debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.
> 
> When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
> rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
> <left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
> control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
> between buffers.
> 
> How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
> key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
> emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
> that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
> being infront if it at any rate.)
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> -pete

Re: emacs and screen

[Peter Keller]

Javier <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
> I have also debian squeeze, and the behaviour is ok in the tty console,
> but in an xterm I see the problem you describe.

Ah yes, my problem does occur in an xterm. 

-pete

> Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
>> Hello,
>> 
>> Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
>> debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.
>> 
>> When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
>> rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
>> <left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
>> control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
>> between buffers.
>> 
>> How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
>> key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
>> emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
>> that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
>> being infront if it at any rate.)
>> 
>> Thank you.
>> 
>> -pete

Re: emacs and screen

[Valentin Plechinger]

Screen interprets C-<arrows> as M-O a/b/c/d.
You could either change your .emacs to make those keys do the same as the arrow keys,
or change your .screenrc. I don't really use screen (tmux messed that up too though) that much so I'm not sure how to do that.

-Valentin 

At Thu, 7 Apr 2011 04:11:52 +0000 (UTC),
Peter Keller wrote:
> 
> Javier <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
> > I have also debian squeeze, and the behaviour is ok in the tty console,
> > but in an xterm I see the problem you describe.
> 
> Ah yes, my problem does occur in an xterm. 
> 
> -pete
> 
> > Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
> >> Hello,
> >> 
> >> Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
> >> debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.
> >> 
> >> When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
> >> rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
> >> <left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
> >> control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
> >> between buffers.
> >> 
> >> How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
> >> key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
> >> emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
> >> that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
> >> being infront if it at any rate.)
> >> 
> >> Thank you.
> >> 
> >> -pete
> 

Re: emacs and screen

[Peter Keller]

Valentin Plechinger <v.plechinger@gmail.com> wrote:
> Screen interprets C-<arrows> as M-O a/b/c/d.
> You could either change your .emacs to make those keys do the same as the arrow keys,
> or change your .screenrc. I don't really use screen (tmux messed that up too though) that much so I'm not sure how to do that.

I'll explore this a while and see what I can make work.

Thank you. 

-pete

Re: emacs and screen

[Richard Riley]

Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> writes:

> Hello,
>
> Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
> debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.
>
> When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
> rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
> <left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
> control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
> between buffers.
>
> How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
> key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
> emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
> that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
> being infront if it at any rate.)
>
> Thank you.

When going through a "minimalist" phase a year ago, I too used emacs -nw
in screen and/or tmux.

It's all down to termcaps and TERM setting and how emacs uses them.

I can only say : impossibly complicated and oodles of hackish
workarounds exists that require a lifetime of study to even begin to
understand.

I went back to emacs on X and haven't looked back ;)

On a more serious note, I sometimes uses emacs -nw still over ssh in a
screen but frequently key combos fail - most noticeably any Fn keys and
arrow keys,

Re: emacs and screen

[Peter Keller]

Richard Riley <rileyrg@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> writes:
> 
>> Hello,
>>
>> Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
>> debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.
>>
>> When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
>> rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
>> <left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
>> control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
>> between buffers.
>>
>> How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
>> key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
>> emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
>> that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
>> being infront if it at any rate.)
>>
>> Thank you.
> 
> When going through a "minimalist" phase a year ago, I too used emacs -nw
> in screen and/or tmux.

I'm not so much in a minimalist phase as someone I hack with likes
to pair program over an emacs -nw session in a screen on a machine
to which are are both ssh'd.

> It's all down to termcaps and TERM setting and how emacs uses them.

So, the quick and dirty problem (after debugging for a while) is that
screen, by default sets the TERM env var in shells inside of screen to
"screen". Emacs gets upset at this.

If you start screen like 'screen -T xterm', then the TERM variable
for all shells created in the screen is 'xterm' and emacs functions
properly with respect to C-x C-<left/right>. This makes me very happy.

I tried setting 'term xterm' in the .screenrc, but it didn't seem to
work, so a bash alias of "alias screen='screen -T xterm'" is sufficient
for me.

> I can only say : impossibly complicated and oodles of hackish
> workarounds exists that require a lifetime of study to even begin to
> understand.

Yeah, having lived in unix all my life, that is shockingly true.
Unix terminals are like the field of Chemistry. All full of exceptions,
but that's the way the world is. You just memorize it.

> I went back to emacs on X and haven't looked back ;)

I use emacs on X in most or all other contexts. Sometimes an emacs
-nw is pretty useful though...

> On a more serious note, I sometimes uses emacs -nw still over ssh in a
> screen but frequently key combos fail - most noticeably any Fn keys and
> arrow keys,

Maybe my solution will help you, a lot of other stuff just started
working once I told screen what term it should provide to the shells
started in it.

Thank all of you for the help in this thread. My problem is now solved.

-pete

Re: emacs and screen

[Lake Shore Dr]

Congratulations.  Screen is an application that is really worth making
it work.  You just dettach/reattach your session at home/work/wherever
and never stop what you are doing.

Also, what were you writting in .screenrc?  'term xterm' or 'term "xterm"'
with double quotes?  To me 'term "xterm"' gives the right value of the
$TERM variable.




Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
> Richard Riley <rileyrg@googlemail.com> wrote:
>> Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> writes:
>> 
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> Using emacs 22.3.1 with screen version 4.00.03jw4 (FAU) 2-May-06 on a
>>> debian squeeze box, I have run into a problem.
>>>
>>> When running emacs -nw, not in a screen session, C-x C-<left/right>
>>> rotates me between buffers. When running in screen, only C-x
>>> <left/right> will rotate me between buffers. Having to lift up on the
>>> control key to use the arrows is *very* annoying when rapidly moving
>>> between buffers.
>>>
>>> How can I fix this problem so under screen the C-x C-<left/right>
>>> key combination works again? I have looked into both manuals, but
>>> emacs should see the right key use, and screen doesn't make mention
>>> that it messes about with C-x (well, without the escape sequence
>>> being infront if it at any rate.)
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>> 
>> When going through a "minimalist" phase a year ago, I too used emacs -nw
>> in screen and/or tmux.
> 
> I'm not so much in a minimalist phase as someone I hack with likes
> to pair program over an emacs -nw session in a screen on a machine
> to which are are both ssh'd.
> 
>> It's all down to termcaps and TERM setting and how emacs uses them.
> 
> So, the quick and dirty problem (after debugging for a while) is that
> screen, by default sets the TERM env var in shells inside of screen to
> "screen". Emacs gets upset at this.
> 
> If you start screen like 'screen -T xterm', then the TERM variable
> for all shells created in the screen is 'xterm' and emacs functions
> properly with respect to C-x C-<left/right>. This makes me very happy.
> 
> I tried setting 'term xterm' in the .screenrc, but it didn't seem to
> work, so a bash alias of "alias screen='screen -T xterm'" is sufficient
> for me.
> 
>> I can only say : impossibly complicated and oodles of hackish
>> workarounds exists that require a lifetime of study to even begin to
>> understand.
> 
> Yeah, having lived in unix all my life, that is shockingly true.
> Unix terminals are like the field of Chemistry. All full of exceptions,
> but that's the way the world is. You just memorize it.
> 
>> I went back to emacs on X and haven't looked back ;)
> 
> I use emacs on X in most or all other contexts. Sometimes an emacs
> -nw is pretty useful though...
> 
>> On a more serious note, I sometimes uses emacs -nw still over ssh in a
>> screen but frequently key combos fail - most noticeably any Fn keys and
>> arrow keys,
> 
> Maybe my solution will help you, a lot of other stuff just started
> working once I told screen what term it should provide to the shells
> started in it.
> 
> Thank all of you for the help in this thread. My problem is now solved.
> 
> -pete
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

Re: emacs and screen

[Peter Keller]

Lake Shore Dr <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
> Congratulations.  Screen is an application that is really worth making
> it work.  You just dettach/reattach your session at home/work/wherever
> and never stop what you are doing.

Yeah, I hadn't really used screen before even though I'd been a
unix user for a very long time. Now that I've started using it,
I'll likely use it everywhere.

> Also, what were you writting in .screenrc?  'term xterm' or 'term "xterm"'
> with double quotes?  To me 'term "xterm"' gives the right value of the
> $TERM variable.

I was using in my .screenrc:

term xterm

From the man page for screen:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
   term term

   In each window's environment screen opens, the $TERM variable is set to
   "screen" by default.  But when no description for "screen" is installed
   in  the  local  termcap or terminfo data base, you set $TERM to - say -
   "vt100". This won't do much harm, as screen is  VT100/ANSI  compatible.
   The  use  of the "term" command is discouraged for non-default purpose.
   That is, one may want to specify special $TERM  settings  (e.g.  vt100)
   for  the  next  "screen  rlogin  othermachine" command. Use the command
   "screen -T vt100 rlogin othermachine" rather than setting and resetting
   the default.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought the double quotes were just literal specifers for the values,
not actually required.

The entry for 'termcap' below the above entry gives some examples like this:

termcap xterm*  LP:hs@
termcap vt100  ""  l0=PF1:l1=PF2:l2=PF3:l3=PF4

So I thought

term xterm

was ok.

I just tried it with

term "xterm"

and got the correct functionality.

I appreciate your suggestion! Thank you!

-pete

Re: emacs and screen

[Jonathan Groll]

On Fri, 8 Apr 2011 15:07:50 +0000 (UTC), Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
> > Also, what were you writting in .screenrc?  'term xterm' or 'term "xterm"'
> > with double quotes?  To me 'term "xterm"' gives the right value of the
> > $TERM variable.
> 

Unrelated to Peter's problem (which appears to be solved) I've got
other screen & emacs questions for the list:

(1) I'm curious to know what other Emacs users have as their escape
sequence in screen, as the default C-a means losing an oft-used emacs
key combination.

Currently I have the tilde:
escape ~~

But previously used to use C-z:
escape ^za

What does eveyone else use?

(2) Also, to further muddy the waters, what is the benefit of using
ElScreen: http://www.morishima.net/~naoto/software/elscreen/

ElScreen sounds good, is an "all emacs" solution, but surely it is not
usable in the same way as GNU screen, for instance would it be
possible to resume an ElScreen session from a remote machine (without
using GNU screen as well)?

Cheers,
Jonathan
--
jjg: Jonathan J. Groll : groll co za
has_one { :blog => "http://bloggroll.com" }
Sent from my computer device which runs on free software

Re: emacs and screen

[Teemu Likonen]

* 2011-04-11T07:57:06+02:00 * Jonathan Groll wrote:

> Currently I have the tilde:
> escape ~~
>
> But previously used to use C-z:
> escape ^za
>
> What does eveyone else use?

I think ^zz is the most optimal (QWERTY, Finnish keyboard). I pretty
much never need C-z otherwise, but even that is still easy to send to
the terminal (C-z z).

Re: emacs and screen

[Peter Keller]

Jonathan Groll <lists@groll.co.za> wrote:
> On Fri, 8 Apr 2011 15:07:50 +0000 (UTC), Peter Keller <psilord@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
>> > Also, what were you writting in .screenrc?  'term xterm' or 'term "xterm"'
>> > with double quotes?  To me 'term "xterm"' gives the right value of the
>> > $TERM variable.
>> 
> 
> Unrelated to Peter's problem (which appears to be solved) I've got
> other screen & emacs questions for the list:
> 
> (1) I'm curious to know what other Emacs users have as their escape
> sequence in screen, as the default C-a means losing an oft-used emacs
> key combination.
> 
> Currently I have the tilde:
> escape ~~
> 
> But previously used to use C-z:
> escape ^za
> 
> What does eveyone else use?

I use CTRL-] instead of CTRL-a because noone uses telnet anymore. :)

-pete