How do split panes in Terminal work?

Question

I tried to open a split pane to run another command but instead it displays the same in both panes and I can only interact with one of them. I thought it would split the view so I could use the two panes independently like two windows.

I have the Visor installed but I don't think it would interfere.

Terminal - version 2.1.1
Visor custom (84d1873) based on 1.5

This sounds like a feature request to me. Please file a report at https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/. You can use any Apple ID to access the developer site. — Chris Page, Dec 11 '15 at 01:07

score 65 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

65

It's meant to be like that. See this Super User answer:

You're misinterpreting the feature. It's not meant for two separate terminals. It's intended to allow a user to see two different view points in the same terminal. For instance, if you have 3000 files in a directory, and you perform an ls command, that output is going to be very long.

If you use the split pane, you can scroll through that long output without having to flip back and forth, possibly losing your place along the way.

If you want two terminals, use tabs, or separate windows.

I would add that, for two separate terminals, you can use separate tabs as well.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:18

Community

1

answered Jan 17 '11 at 14:50

Nathan Greenstein

28,910

37

this is really disappointing... – Kostas Jan 18 '11 at 10:39
There is always emacs if you are already in Terminal, but the learning curve is a bit steep. – Ɱark Ƭ Jan 28 '11 at 13:14
1

@Mark: or tmux or screen. – Chris Page Dec 11 '15 at 01:05

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 17 '14 at 18:04

11

iTerm 2 supports split panes with independent shells in each pane, not one linked shell.

Split panes in iTerm 2

edited Feb 17 '14 at 18:04

grg

201,078

answered Jan 28 '11 at 06:59

Supposing you use iTerm 2, would you say that it works "better" than Terminal.app + Visor for a quick "pop-in, do-something, pop-out" workflow? I am a Rails web developer if that helps to visualize my needs. – Kostas Jan 28 '11 at 10:15
@Vrinek not sure. You could still use Visor and iTerm2. – Jan 28 '11 at 14:49

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 25 '12 at 00:45

4

Also don't over look tmux. Its like screen but more features I believe.

answered Oct 25 '12 at 00:45

Dillon

57

5

Can you add a bit more details to your answer? Why is tmux better, how does it solve to problem and where do I get it if needed? – nohillside Oct 25 '12 at 04:17

score 4 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 19 '15 at 09:05

4

You should really have a look at screen (that´s an already installed command line tool, not a separate application), which gives you the ability to split your Terminal into two (or more) separate ones. I use that with Visor and it works like a charm. Have a look around here, there are quite a few tips on how to use "screen" on a Mac.

edited Mar 19 '15 at 09:05

jherran

13,284

answered Jan 28 '11 at 12:36

Asmus

7,585

Have a look around here? Where? – Eliethesaiyan Aug 16 '17 at 02:28
1

@Eliethesaiyan Sorry, if this was not clear — "here" meant to suggest searching for "screen" on this very website. – Asmus Aug 16 '17 at 19:24
1

Wow! I had no idea that the beloved screen ships by default..! Session splitting is covered here: https://opensource.com/article/17/3/introduction-gnu-screen – Aditya M P May 07 '20 at 08:07

How do split panes in Terminal work?

4 Answers4

Linked

Related