Before you begin to use screen you'll need to make sure you have
correctly selected your terminal type, just as you would for any other
termcap/terminfo program. (You can do this by using tset,
qterm, or just set term=mytermtype, for example.)
If you're impatient and want to get started without doing a lot more
reading, you should remember this one command: C-a ? (see section Key Binding). Typing these two characters will display a list of the
available screen commands and their bindings. Each keystroke is
discussed in the section on keystrokes (see section Default Key Bindings).
Another section (see section Customizing Screen) deals with the contents of your
`.screenrc'.
If your terminal is a "true" auto-margin terminal (it doesn't allow
the last position on the screen to be updated without scrolling the
screen) consider to use a version of your terminal's termcap that has
automatic margins turned off. This will ensure an accurate
and optimal update of the screen in all circumstances. Most terminals
nowadays have "magic" margins (automatic margins plus usable last
column). This is the VT100 style type and perfectly suited for
screen.
If all you've got is a "true" auto-margin terminal screen
will be content to use it, but updating a character put into the last
position on the screen may not be possible until the screen scrolls or
the character is moved into a safe position in some other way. This
delay can be shortened by using a terminal with insert-character
capability.
See section Special Terminal Capabilities, for more information about telling
screen what kind of terminal you have.