On Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 07:32:31PM +0100, JCA wrote: > I wonder if someone could please explain the meaning of the > following options the screen command: > > -d -r Reattach a session and if necessary detach it first. > > -d -R Reattach a session and if necessary detach or even create > it > first. > > -d -RR Reattach a session and if necessary detach or create it. > Use > the first session if more than one session is available. > > -D -r Reattach a session. If necessary detach and logout > remotely > first. > > -D -R Attach here and now. In detail this means: If a session is > run- > ning, then reattach. If necessary detach and logout > remotely > first. If it was not running create it and notify the > user. > This is the author's favorite. > > -D -RR Attach here and now. Whatever that means, just do it. > > I am enclosing them with their description in the screen man page > because, quite frankly, I do not understand the differences (they all > sound very similar), and under what circumstances I would want to use > one of them rather than the others.
I was confused, too, but figured them out (more or less) by careful re-reading and (more importantly) by experimenting with different combinations. The difference between -d and -D is that -D may cause a session to be logged out remotely, whereas -d will not. This is the only thing I'm not sure I understand -- if you create a session on host A and then use screen -d on host B, will it not detach the session that's running on host A? Do you have to use -D in this case? The difference between -r and -R is that -R will create a session if no session can be reattached. The difference between -R and -RR is that -RR will reattach the first session it finds, whereas -R will throw up its hands if it finds more than one (i.e., it won't reattach but will instead list all detached sessions so you can then use screen -r <session> to specify the one you want to reattach). > The "if necessary" qualifier is particularly galling, for it is not at > all clear (to me) how to determine the necessity requirement. Try re-reading them one at a time. First one: > -d -r Reattach a session and if necessary detach it first. Translation: Try to reattach a session. If it's already attached, detach it and then try again. This way you can start a session in one terminal and reattach it in another terminal *without having first detached it in the first terminal*. Next: > -d -R Reattach a session and if necessary detach or even > create it first. Translation: Try to reattach a session. If it's already attached, detach it and and then try again. If it's neither attached nor detached -- i.e., if it doesn't even exist -- then create it and attach to it. Next: > -d -RR Reattach a session and if necessary detach or create it. > Use the first session if more than one session is available. See above. The remaining combinations (-D -r, -D -R, and -D -RR) are the same except they will detach *and logout remotely*, whatever that means -- I always use -D rather than -d. > The description of -D -RR is the very worst, for it really is a > useless explanation if there has ever been one (and there has.) Yikes! Relax; the world won't end if you don't understand this. Paul. -- Paul Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ screen-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/screen-users
