Split windows

This page is archived. It is likely to be outdated. I have not developed for irssi for many many years.

A more recent version of scripts may be available at scripts.irssi.org.

This is meant as some extra explanation, if the startup howto isn't clear enough.

This is based on the example from that howto:
Split window 1: win#1 - Status window, win#2 - Messages window
Split window 2: win#3 - IRCnet/#channel1, win#4 - IRCnet/#channel2
Split window 3: win#5 - efnet/#channel1, win#6 - efnet/#channel2

Drawing

In this drawing:

Your screen is surrounded by * signs
The split windows are the things surrounded by $ signs.
Windows are surrounded by + signs.
The windows in the same split window are drawn overlapping, because they are never visible at the same time.

********************************************
*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$*
*$ Split window 1                         $*
*$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    $*
*$ +                                 +    $*
*$ +                                 +++  $*
*$ +                                 + +  $*
*$ + win#1 - Status window           + +  $*
*$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +  $*
*$   + win#2 - Messages window         +  $*
*$   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  $*
*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$*
*                                          *
*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$*
*$ Split window 2                         $*
*$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    $*
*$ +                                 +    $*
*$ +                                 +++  $*
*$ +                                 + +  $*
*$ + win#3 IRCNet/#channel1          + +  $*
*$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +  $*
*$   + win#4 - IRCNet/#channel2        +  $*
*$   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  $*
*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$*
*                                          *
*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$*
*$ Split window 3                         $*
*$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++    $*
*$ +                                 +    $*
*$ +                                 +++  $*
*$ +                                 + +  $*
*$ + win#5 - EFNet/#channel1         + +  $*
*$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +  $*
*$   + win#6 - EFNet/#channel2         +  $*
*$   +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  $*
*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$*
********************************************

Sticky vs Non-sticky

Suppose you currently have the windows shown on top in the drawing visible, and your statuswindow is active, and you switch to win#6 (by pressing Alt-6 probably):

if win#6 is sticky: win#1 and win#3 stay visible, #win5 is replaced with win#6
if win#6 is non-sticky: win#3 and win#5 stay visible, win#1 (because that was the active one) is replaced with win#6. in the non-sticky case this drawing actually doesn't make much sense, because non-sticky windows which aren't currently visible, aren't bound to a particular split window.

You probably just want all your windows sticky... unless you're the kind of person that likes his windows jumping around all the time.

What it is not #1: "pages"

Although some would like it, it does *NOT* work like this, and there is no way to do this (without writing a script that "simulates" it, which is probably possible but doesn't exist as far as I know)

***********   ***********   ***********
*+++++++++*   *+++++++++*   *+++++++++*
*+ win#1 +*   *+ win#3 +*   *+ win#5 +*
*+++++++++*   *+++++++++*   *+++++++++*
*+++++++++*   *+++++++++*   *+++++++++*
*+ win#2 +*   *+ win#4 +*   *+ win#6 +*
*+++++++++*   *+++++++++*   *+++++++++*
***********   ***********   ***********
Split win 1   Split win 2   Split win 3

What it is not #2: vertical split

You can't "split them vertically" / "put them horizontally" either:

********************
*++++++++++++++++++*
*+ win#1 ++ win#2 +*
*++++++++++++++++++*
********************