[iterm2-discuss] Having input always be at bottom, while being able to scroll through output

Discussion:

Peter Deffebach

2018-08-09 02:53:26 UTC

This is a a feature I've always wondered about with the command line.

I hate it when I do a command that prints a lot of output, then I have to
scroll up to see that output. Then, when I want to enter in a new command,
I have to scroll back down. What if I wanted to see my output and write a
command at the same time?

Does iterm have this ability?

```
~ scrollable here ~
$ ls
.
a
super
long
list
of
files
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

$ ls
.
more
stuff
.
.
.
.
.
~ scroll-able here ~
-----------------------------------------------
$ I enter my commands here. THis doesn't move when
scroll
```

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George Nachman

2018-08-10 21:14:07 UTC

Permalink

That's something I plan to add in 3.3. I'm adding a status bar so there's
finally a place for features like this to live. Follow
https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/issues/6928

Post by Peter Deffebach
This is a a feature I've always wondered about with the command line.
I hate it when I do a command that prints a lot of output, then I have to
scroll up to see that output. Then, when I want to enter in a new command,
I have to scroll back down. What if I wanted to see my output and write a
command at the same time?
Does iterm have this ability?
```
~ scrollable here ~
$ ls
.
a
super
long
list
of
files
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
$ ls
.
more
stuff
.
.
.
.
.
~ scroll-able here ~
-----------------------------------------------
$ I enter my commands here. THis doesn't move when
scroll
```
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Peter Deffebach

2018-08-10 21:18:27 UTC

Permalink

Great! That's exciting!

What is the timeline for such a change? Sorry I am not familiar with the
release cycle.

Post by George Nachman
That's something I plan to add in 3.3. I'm adding a status bar so there's
finally a place for features like this to live. Follow
https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/issues/6928

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George Nachman

2018-08-10 21:45:29 UTC

Permalink

I wish my life were predictable enough to have schedules for things :). I
would like to do a beta in 3 months.

Post by Peter Deffebach
Great! That's exciting!
What is the timeline for such a change? Sorry I am not familiar with the
release cycle.

Post by Peter Deffebach
This is a a feature I've always wondered about with the command line.
I hate it when I do a command that prints a lot of output, then I have
to scroll up to see that output. Then, when I want to enter in a new
command, I have to scroll back down. What if I wanted to see my output and
write a command at the same time?
Does iterm have this ability?
```
~ scrollable here ~
$ ls
.
a
super
long
list
of
files
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
$ ls
.
more
stuff
.
.
.
.
.
~ scroll-able here ~
-----------------------------------------------
$ I enter my commands here. THis doesn't move when
scroll
```
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Peter Deffebach

2018-08-10 21:49:52 UTC

Permalink

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out.

Post by George Nachman
I wish my life were predictable enough to have schedules for things :). I
would like to do a beta in 3 months.

Post by Peter Deffebach
Great! That's exciting!
What is the timeline for such a change? Sorry I am not familiar with the
release cycle.

Post by George Nachman
That's something I plan to add in 3.3. I'm adding a status bar so
there's finally a place for features like this to live. Follow
https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/issues/6928

Post by Peter Deffebach
This is a a feature I've always wondered about with the command line.
I hate it when I do a command that prints a lot of output, then I have
to scroll up to see that output. Then, when I want to enter in a new
command, I have to scroll back down. What if I wanted to see my output and
write a command at the same time?
Does iterm have this ability?
```
~ scrollable here ~
$ ls
.
a
super
long
list
of
files
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
$ ls
.
more
stuff
.
.
.
.
.
~ scroll-able here ~
-----------------------------------------------
$ I enter my commands here. THis doesn't move when
scroll
```
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Richard Mitchell

2018-10-14 13:20:53 UTC

Permalink

I tried a user approach to this.

I have a window with two panes, pane decoration is turned off so only a
thin line separates them.
The bottom pane only has a few lines, most of the window is the top pane.
In the top window, I run a bash script that gets input from a FIFO and
executes it (after outputting a divider line and printing the command to be
run)
In the bottom window, I use a 1 letter alias to the same bash script, that
writes everything following it on the cmdline to the fifo.

All of the output from the commands scroll in the top window.
The bottom window just shows the commands issues - a lot like terminal
input used to be for mainframes long ago.

It does have issues. You can't send a command to the top window that
expects user input. You can, but you then have to move the mouse to the
top window, breaking the illusion.

The bash script optionally takes a name for the FIFO, so one can have
multiple unique instances running. The name can be included when creating
the alias, so you've not got to keep using the name for each command.

Post by Peter Deffebach
Thanks! I'll keep an eye out.

Post by George Nachman
I wish my life were predictable enough to have schedules for things :). I
would like to do a beta in 3 months.

Post by Peter Deffebach
Great! That's exciting!
What is the timeline for such a change? Sorry I am not familiar with the
release cycle.

Post by George Nachman
That's something I plan to add in 3.3. I'm adding a status bar so
there's finally a place for features like this to live. Follow
https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/issues/6928

Post by Peter Deffebach
This is a a feature I've always wondered about with the command line.
I hate it when I do a command that prints a lot of output, then I have
to scroll up to see that output. Then, when I want to enter in a new
command, I have to scroll back down. What if I wanted to see my output and
write a command at the same time?
Does iterm have this ability?
```
~ scrollable here ~
$ ls
.
a
super
long
list
of
files
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
$ ls
.
more
stuff
.
.
.
.
.
~ scroll-able here ~
-----------------------------------------------
$ I enter my commands here. THis doesn't move when
scroll
```
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George Nachman

2018-10-16 05:34:24 UTC

Permalink

A feature along these lines is coming in 3.3. You can see it in its very
early stages in the nightly build by enabling the status bar in
Prefs>Profiles>Session and adding the "Composer" component. It looks like
this:

[image: Screen Shot 2018-10-15 at 10.33.21 PM.png]
I'm not in love with the UX. Let me know what you'd like to see.

Post by Richard Mitchell
I tried a user approach to this.
I have a window with two panes, pane decoration is turned off so only a
thin line separates them.
The bottom pane only has a few lines, most of the window is the top pane.
In the top window, I run a bash script that gets input from a FIFO and
executes it (after outputting a divider line and printing the command to be
run)
In the bottom window, I use a 1 letter alias to the same bash script, that
writes everything following it on the cmdline to the fifo.
All of the output from the commands scroll in the top window.
The bottom window just shows the commands issues - a lot like terminal
input used to be for mainframes long ago.
It does have issues. You can't send a command to the top window that
expects user input. You can, but you then have to move the mouse to the
top window, breaking the illusion.
The bash script optionally takes a name for the FIFO, so one can have
multiple unique instances running. The name can be included when creating
the alias, so you've not got to keep using the name for each command.

Post by Peter Deffebach
Thanks! I'll keep an eye out.

Post by George Nachman
I wish my life were predictable enough to have schedules for things :).
I would like to do a beta in 3 months.

Post by Peter Deffebach
Great! That's exciting!
What is the timeline for such a change? Sorry I am not familiar with
the release cycle.

Post by George Nachman
That's something I plan to add in 3.3. I'm adding a status bar so
there's finally a place for features like this to live. Follow
https://gitlab.com/gnachman/iterm2/issues/6928

Post by Peter Deffebach
This is a a feature I've always wondered about with the command line.
I hate it when I do a command that prints a lot of output, then I
have to scroll up to see that output. Then, when I want to enter in a new
command, I have to scroll back down. What if I wanted to see my output and
write a command at the same time?
Does iterm have this ability?
```
~ scrollable here ~
$ ls
.
a
super
long
list
of
files
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
$ ls
.
more
stuff
.
.
.
.
.
~ scroll-able here ~
-----------------------------------------------
$ I enter my commands here. THis doesn't move when
scroll
```
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Richard Mitchell

2018-10-14 22:13:47 UTC

Permalink

I have with a user kludge for doing this.

I use 1 window with 2 panes. Pane decoration is turned off, so only a thin
line separates the two.
The top pane takes up most of the window; the bottom pane is only a few
lines.

In the top pane, I run a bash script that gets input from a FIFO.
It outputs a line divider, the command to be run, then it runs the line
from the FIFO.

In the bottom pane, I use a 1 letter alias to invoke the same bash script
to send the remainder of the command line to the fifo.

In effect, the bottom pane contains all of the commands I've issued and the
top pane has all of the output.

The user must keep both panes in the same directory for filenames, etc to
work properly.

Any command issued to the top pane that needs user input breaks the
illusion.