dscreen Command

Commands Reference, Volume 2

dscreen Command

Purpose

Syntax

dscreen [ -i InfoFile ] [ -t TermType ]

Description

The dscreen command starts the Dynamic Screen utility, which allows a single physical terminal to be connected to several virtual sessions, or screens, at one time.

If no flags are specified, the dscreen command reads the description for the terminal specified in the TERM environment variable from the file specified in the DSINFO environment variable. If the DSINFO environment variable is not specified, the terminal description is read from the /etc/dsinfo file. A terminal description typically contains the following configuration information:

Keys used with the Dynamic Screen utility and their function
Number of pages of screen memory the terminal has available
Code sequences that must be sent or received to access and use Dynamic Screen features

Flags

-i InfoFile	Specifies the file that contains alternate key mappings for use with the Dynamic Screen utility. This option is useful when the originally defined Dynamic Screen keys conflict with one of your applications.
	If this flag is not specified, terminal configuration information is read from the file specified in the DSINFO environment variable, if set. Otherwise, information is read from the /etc/dsinfo file.
-t TermType	Identifies the terminal description to be read from the file containing the key mappings. This option is useful when the desired terminal type does not match the setting of the TERM environment variable.

Examples

To start the Dynamic Screen utility using key mapping defaults, enter:
```
dscreen
```
This sets the DSINFO and TERM environment variables as designated in the default /etc/dsinfo file.
To start the Dynamic Screen utility and specify a file that contains alternate key mappings and also identifies a terminal description to be read from the file, enter:
```
dscreen -i myfile -t myterm
```
This uses information from a user-created dsinfo-type file named myinfo to handle unusual key mapping needs. The myinfo file also contains a terminal definition named myterm.
To start the Dynamic Screen utility and specify an alternate terminal setup, enter:
```
dscreen -t wy60-wp
```
This terminal definition (maintained in the /etc/dsinfo file) sets dscreen assigned key actions so they do not conflict with control key command sequences in the word processing application being used.

Files

/etc/dsinfo

Contains the terminal descriptions for the Dynamic Screen utility.

Related Information

Dynamic Screen Utility in AIX Version 4.3 System Management Guide: Communications and Networks book.