Import the [now] dual licensed version 3.5.4 of less. It is

distributed under your choice of the GPL or a BSD style license.

Reviewed by:	peter
Obtained from:	http://home.flash.net/~marknu/less/

1 files changed, 1914 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/contrib/less/less.man b/contrib/less/less.man
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0d317a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/less/less.man
@@ -0,0 +1,1914 @@
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+NNAAMMEE
+       less - opposite of more
+
+SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
+       lleessss --??
+       lleessss ----hheellpp
+       lleessss --VV
+       lleessss ----vveerrssiioonn
+       lleessss [[--[[++]]aaBBccCCddeeEEffggGGiiIImmMMnnNNqqQQrrssSSuuUUVVwwXX]]
+            [[--bb _b_u_f_s]] [[--hh _l_i_n_e_s]] [[--jj _l_i_n_e]] [[--kk _k_e_y_f_i_l_e]]
+            [[--{{ooOO}} _l_o_g_f_i_l_e]] [[--pp _p_a_t_t_e_r_n]] [[--PP _p_r_o_m_p_t]] [[--tt _t_a_g]]
+            [[--TT _t_a_g_s_f_i_l_e]] [[--xx _t_a_b]] [[--yy _l_i_n_e_s]] [[--[[zz]] _l_i_n_e_s]]
+            [[++[[++]]_c_m_d]] [[----]] [[_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e]]......
+       (See  the OPTIONS section for alternate option syntax with
+       long option names.)
+
+
+DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
+       _L_e_s_s is a program similar to _m_o_r_e (1),  but  which  allows
+       backward movement in the file as well as forward movement.
+       Also, _l_e_s_s does not have to read  the  entire  input  file
+       before  starting,  so  with large input files it starts up
+       faster than text editors like _v_i (1).  _L_e_s_s  uses  termcap
+       (or  terminfo on some systems), so it can run on a variety
+       of terminals.  There is even limited support for  hardcopy
+       terminals.  (On a hardcopy terminal, lines which should be
+       printed at the top of  the  screen  are  prefixed  with  a
+       caret.)
+
+       Commands  are  based on both _m_o_r_e and _v_i_.  Commands may be
+       preceded by a decimal number, called N in the descriptions
+       below.  The number is used by some commands, as indicated.
+
+
+CCOOMMMMAANNDDSS
+       In the following descriptions, ^X  means  control-X.   ESC
+       stands for the ESCAPE key; for example ESC-v means the two
+       character sequence "ESCAPE", then "v".
+
+       h or H Help: display a summary of these commands.  If  you
+              forget all the other commands, remember this one.
+
+       SPACE or ^V or f or ^F
+              Scroll  forward  N  lines,  default one window (see
+              option -z below).  If N is  more  than  the  screen
+              size, only the final screenful is displayed.  Warn-
+              ing: some systems use ^V as a  special  literaliza-
+              tion character.
+
+       z      Like  SPACE,  but if N is specified, it becomes the
+              new window size.
+
+       ESC-SPACE
+              Like SPACE, but scrolls a full screenful,  even  if
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   1
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              it reaches end-of-file in the process.
+
+       RETURN or ^N or e or ^E or j or ^J
+              Scroll  forward  N  lines, default 1.  The entire N
+              lines are displayed, even if N  is  more  than  the
+              screen size.
+
+       d or ^D
+              Scroll  forward  N  lines,  default one half of the
+              screen size.  If N is specified, it becomes the new
+              default for subsequent d and u commands.
+
+       b or ^B or ESC-v
+              Scroll  backward  N  lines, default one window (see
+              option -z below).  If N is  more  than  the  screen
+              size, only the final screenful is displayed.
+
+       w      Like  ESC-v,  but if N is specified, it becomes the
+              new window size.
+
+       y or ^Y or ^P or k or ^K
+              Scroll backward N lines, default 1.  The  entire  N
+              lines  are  displayed,  even  if N is more than the
+              screen size.  Warning: some systems  use  ^Y  as  a
+              special job control character.
+
+       u or ^U
+              Scroll  backward  N  lines, default one half of the
+              screen size.  If N is specified, it becomes the new
+              default for subsequent d and u commands.
+
+       ESC-) or RIGHTARROW
+              Scroll  horizontally right N characters, default 8.
+              This behaves best if you also  set  the  -S  option
+              (chop  lines).   Note  that  if you wish to enter a
+              number N,  you  must  use  ESC-),  not  RIGHTARROW,
+              because  the  arrow  is  taken to be a line editing
+              command (see the LINE EDITING section).
+
+       ESC-( or LEFTARROW
+              Scroll horizontally left N characters, default 8.
+
+       r or ^R or ^L
+              Repaint the screen.
+
+       R      Repaint the screen, discarding any buffered  input.
+              Useful  if  the  file is changing while it is being
+              viewed.
+
+       F      Scroll forward, and keep trying to  read  when  the
+              end  of  file  is  reached.   Normally this command
+              would be used when already at the end of the  file.
+              It  is a way to monitor the tail of a file which is
+              growing while it is being viewed.  (The behavior is
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   2
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              similar to the "tail -f" command.)
+
+       g or < or ESC-<
+              Go  to  line N in the file, default 1 (beginning of
+              file).  (Warning: this may be slow if N is  large.)
+
+       G or > or ESC->
+              Go  to  line  N in the file, default the end of the
+              file.  (Warning: this may be slow if N is large, or
+              if  N  is  not specified and standard input, rather
+              than a file, is being read.)
+
+       p or % Go to a position N percent into the file.  N should
+              be between 0 and 100.
+
+       {      If  a  left  curly  bracket appears in the top line
+              displayed on the screen, the { command will  go  to
+              the  matching  right  curly  bracket.  The matching
+              right curly bracket is  positioned  on  the  bottom
+              line of the screen.  If there is more than one left
+              curly bracket on the top line, a number  N  may  be
+              used to specify the N-th bracket on the line.
+
+       }      If a right curly bracket appears in the bottom line
+              displayed on the screen, the } command will  go  to
+              the matching left curly bracket.  The matching left
+              curly bracket is positioned on the top line of  the
+              screen.   If  there  is  more  than one right curly
+              bracket on the top line, a number N may be used  to
+              specify the N-th bracket on the line.
+
+       (      Like  {,  but  applies  to  parentheses rather than
+              curly brackets.
+
+       )      Like }, but  applies  to  parentheses  rather  than
+              curly brackets.
+
+       [      Like  {, but applies to square brackets rather than
+              curly brackets.
+
+       ]      Like }, but applies to square brackets rather  than
+              curly brackets.
+
+       ESC-^F Followed  by  two characters, acts like {, but uses
+              the two characters  as  open  and  close  brackets,
+              respectively.   For  example, "ESC ^F < >" could be
+              used to go forward to the > which matches the <  in
+              the top displayed line.
+
+       ESC-^B Followed  by  two characters, acts like }, but uses
+              the two characters  as  open  and  close  brackets,
+              respectively.   For  example, "ESC ^B < >" could be
+              used to go backward to the < which matches the > in
+              the bottom displayed line.
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   3
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       m      Followed by any lowercase letter, marks the current
+              position with that letter.
+
+       '      (Single quote.)  Followed by any lowercase  letter,
+              returns to the position which was previously marked
+              with  that  letter.   Followed  by  another  single
+              quote,  returns  to  the position at which the last
+              "large" movement command was executed.  Followed by
+              a ^ or $, jumps to the beginning or end of the file
+              respectively.  Marks are preserved when a new  file
+              is examined, so the ' command can be used to switch
+              between input files.
+
+       ^X^X   Same as single quote.
+
+       /pattern
+              Search forward in the file for the N-th  line  con-
+              taining the pattern.  N defaults to 1.  The pattern
+              is a regular expression, as recognized by _e_d_.   The
+              search starts at the second line displayed (but see
+              the -a and -j options, which change this).
+
+              Certain characters are special if  entered  at  the
+              beginning  of  the pattern; they modify the type of
+              search rather than become part of the pattern:
+
+              ^N or !
+                     Search for lines which do NOT match the pat-
+                     tern.
+
+              ^E or *
+                     Search  multiple  files.   That  is,  if the
+                     search reaches the END of the  current  file
+                     without  finding a match, the search contin-
+                     ues in the next file  in  the  command  line
+                     list.
+
+              ^F or @
+                     Begin  the  search  at the first line of the
+                     FIRST file in the command line list, regard-
+                     less  of  what is currently displayed on the
+                     screen or the  settings  of  the  -a  or  -j
+                     options.
+
+              ^K     Highlight any text which matches the pattern
+                     on the current screen, but don't move to the
+                     first match (KEEP current position).
+
+              ^R     Don't interpret regular expression metachar-
+                     acters; that is, do a simple textual compar-
+                     ison.
+
+       ?pattern
+              Search  backward  in  the  file  for  the N-th line
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   4
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              containing the pattern.  The search starts  at  the
+              line immediately before the top line displayed.
+
+              Certain characters are special as in the / command:
+
+              ^N or !
+                     Search for lines which do NOT match the pat-
+                     tern.
+
+              ^E or *
+                     Search  multiple  files.   That  is,  if the
+                     search reaches the beginning of the  current
+                     file  without  finding  a  match, the search
+                     continues in the previous file in  the  com-
+                     mand line list.
+
+              ^F or @
+                     Begin  the  search  at  the last line of the
+                     last file in the command line list,  regard-
+                     less  of  what is currently displayed on the
+                     screen or the  settings  of  the  -a  or  -j
+                     options.
+
+              ^K     As in forward searches.
+
+              ^R     As in forward searches.
+
+       ESC-/pattern
+              Same as "/*".
+
+       ESC-?pattern
+              Same as "?*".
+
+       n      Repeat  previous  search,  for N-th line containing
+              the last pattern.  If the previous search was modi-
+              fied  by  ^N,  the search is made for the N-th line
+              NOT containing the pattern.  If the previous search
+              was  modified  by  ^E,  the search continues in the
+              next (or previous) file if  not  satisfied  in  the
+              current  file.  If the previous search was modified
+              by ^R, the search is  done  without  using  regular
+              expressions.   There  is  no effect if the previous
+              search was modified by ^F or ^K.
+
+       N      Repeat previous search, but in the  reverse  direc-
+              tion.
+
+       ESC-n  Repeat  previous  search,  but crossing file bound-
+              aries.  The effect is as  if  the  previous  search
+              were modified by *.
+
+       ESC-N  Repeat  previous  search, but in the reverse direc-
+              tion and crossing file boundaries.
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   5
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       ESC-u  Undo search highlighting.  Turn off highlighting of
+              strings  matching  the  current search pattern.  If
+              highlighting is already off because of  a  previous
+              ESC-u  command,  turn  highlighting  back  on.  Any
+              search command will also turn highlighting back on.
+              (Highlighting  can also be disabled by toggling the
+              -G option; in that case search commands do not turn
+              highlighting back on.)
+
+       :e [filename]
+              Examine  a  new  file.  If the filename is missing,
+              the "current" file (see  the  :n  and  :p  commands
+              below)  from  the list of files in the command line
+              is re-examined.  A percent sign (%) in the filename
+              is  replaced  by  the  name of the current file.  A
+              pound sign (#) is replaced by the name of the  pre-
+              viously  examined  file.   However, two consecutive
+              percent signs are simply  replaced  with  a  single
+              percent  sign.  This allows you to enter a filename
+              that contains a percent sign in  the  name.   Simi-
+              larly,  two  consecutive  pound  signs are replaced
+              with a single pound sign.  The filename is inserted
+              into  the command line list of files so that it can
+              be seen by subsequent :n and :p commands.   If  the
+              filename  consists  of  several files, they are all
+              inserted into the list of files and the  first  one
+              is  examined.  If the filename contains one or more
+              spaces, the entire filename should be  enclosed  in
+              double quotes (also see the -" option).
+
+       ^X^V or E
+              Same as :e.  Warning: some systems use ^V as a spe-
+              cial literalization character.   On  such  systems,
+              you may not be able to use ^V.
+
+       :n     Examine the next file (from the list of files given
+              in the command line).  If a number N is  specified,
+              the N-th next file is examined.
+
+       :p     Examine the previous file in the command line list.
+              If a number N is specified, the N-th previous  file
+              is examined.
+
+       :x     Examine  the  first  file in the command line list.
+              If a number N is specified, the N-th  file  in  the
+              list is examined.
+
+       :d     Remove the current file from the list of files.
+
+       = or ^G or :f
+              Prints   some  information  about  the  file  being
+              viewed, including its name and the line number  and
+              byte offset of the bottom line being displayed.  If
+              possible, it also prints the length  of  the  file,
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   6
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              the  number of lines in the file and the percent of
+              the file above the last displayed line.
+
+       -      Followed by one of the command line option  letters
+              (see  OPTIONS  below), this will change the setting
+              of that option and print a message  describing  the
+              new  setting.  If a ^P (CONTROL-P) is entered imme-
+              diately after the dash, the setting of  the  option
+              is  changed  but  no  message  is  printed.  If the
+              option letter has a numeric value (such  as  -b  or
+              -h),  or  a  string value (such as -P or -t), a new
+              value may be entered after the option  letter.   If
+              no  new  value is entered, a message describing the
+              current setting is printed and nothing is  changed.
+
+       --     Like  the  -  command, but takes a long option name
+              (see OPTIONS below) rather  than  a  single  option
+              letter.   You  must  press  RETURN after typing the
+              option name.  A ^P  immediately  after  the  second
+              dash  suppresses  printing  of a message describing
+              the new setting, as in the - command.
+
+       -+     Followed by one of the command line option  letters
+              this  will  reset the option to its default setting
+              and print a message  describing  the  new  setting.
+              (The  "-+_X" command does the same thing as "-+_X" on
+              the command line.)  This does not work for  string-
+              valued options.
+
+       --+    Like  the  -+ command, but takes a long option name
+              rather than a single option letter.
+
+       -!     Followed by one of the command line option letters,
+              this will reset the option to the "opposite" of its
+              default setting and print a message describing  the
+              new  setting.   This  does  not work for numeric or
+              string-valued options.
+
+       --!    Like the -! command, but takes a long  option  name
+              rather than a single option letter.
+
+       _      (Underscore.)   Followed by one of the command line
+              option letters, this will print a message  describ-
+              ing  the  current setting of that option.  The set-
+              ting of the option is not changed.
+
+       __     (Double underscore.)  Like the _ (underscore)  com-
+              mand,  but  takes  a long option name rather than a
+              single option letter.  You must press RETURN  after
+              typing the option name.
+
+       +cmd   Causes the specified cmd to be executed each time a
+              new file is examined.  For example, +G causes  _l_e_s_s
+              to  initially display each file starting at the end
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   7
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              rather than the beginning.
+
+       V      Prints the version number of _l_e_s_s being run.
+
+       q or Q or :q or :Q or ZZ
+              Exits _l_e_s_s_.
+
+       The following four commands  may  or  may  not  be  valid,
+       depending on your particular installation.
+
+
+       v      Invokes  an  editor  to edit the current file being
+              viewed.  The editor is taken from  the  environment
+              variable  VISUAL if defined, or EDITOR if VISUAL is
+              not defined, or defaults to "vi" if neither  VISUAL
+              nor  EDITOR is defined.  See also the discussion of
+              LESSEDIT under the section on PROMPTS below.
+
+       ! shell-command
+              Invokes a shell to run the shell-command given.   A
+              percent  sign (%) in the command is replaced by the
+              name of the current file.   A  pound  sign  (#)  is
+              replaced  by  the  name  of the previously examined
+              file.  "!!" repeats the last  shell  command.   "!"
+              with  no  shell command simply invokes a shell.  On
+              Unix systems, the shell is taken from the  environ-
+              ment  variable  SHELL, or defaults to "sh".  On MS-
+              DOS and OS/2 systems, the shell is the normal  com-
+              mand processor.
+
+       | <m> shell-command
+              <m> represents any mark letter.  Pipes a section of
+              the input file to the  given  shell  command.   The
+              section  of  the  file  to  be piped is between the
+              first line on the current screen and  the  position
+              marked  by  the  letter.  <m> may also be ^ or $ to
+              indicate beginning or end of file respectively.  If
+              <m> is . or newline, the current screen is piped.
+
+       s filename
+              Save  the  input to a file.  This only works if the
+              input is a pipe, not an ordinary file.
+
+
+OOPPTTIIOONNSS
+       Command line options are described  below.   Most  options
+       may be changed while _l_e_s_s is running, via the "-" command.
+
+       Most options may be given in one of two  forms:  either  a
+       dash  followed  by a single letter, or two dashes followed
+       by a long option name.  A long option name may be abbrevi-
+       ated  as  long  as  the  abbreviation is unambiguous.  For
+       example, --quit-at-eof may be abbreviated --quit, but  not
+       --qui,  since  both  --quit-at-eof  and --quiet begin with
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   8
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       --qui.  Some long option names are in uppercase,  such  as
+       --QUIT-AT-EOF,   as  distinct  from  --quit-at-eof.   Such
+       option names need only have their  first  letter  capital-
+       ized;  the  remainder  of  the name may be in either case.
+       For example, --Quit-at-eof is equivalent to --QUIT-AT-EOF.
+
+       Options  are  also  taken  from  the  environment variable
+       "LESS".  For example, to avoid typing "less -options  ..."
+       each time _l_e_s_s is invoked, you might tell _c_s_h_:
+
+       setenv LESS "-options"
+
+       or if you use _s_h_:
+
+       LESS="-options"; export LESS
+
+       On  MS-DOS,  you  don't  need  the  quotes, but you should
+       replace any percent signs in the options string by  double
+       percent signs.
+
+       The  environment  variable  is  parsed  before the command
+       line, so command line options override the  LESS  environ-
+       ment variable.  If an option appears in the LESS variable,
+       it can be reset to its default value on the  command  line
+       by beginning the command line option with "-+".
+
+       For options like -P or -D which take a following string, a
+       dollar sign ($) must be used to  signal  the  end  of  the
+       string.  For example, to set two -D options on MS-DOS, you
+       must have a dollar sign between them, like this:
+
+       LESS="-Dn9.1$-Ds4.1"
+
+
+       -? or --help
+              This option displays  a  summary  of  the  commands
+              accepted  by  _l_e_s_s  (the  same  as  the h command).
+              (Depending on how your shell interprets  the  ques-
+              tion  mark,  it may be necessary to quote the ques-
+              tion mark, thus: "-\?".)
+
+       -a or --search-skip-screen
+              Causes searches to start after the last  line  dis-
+              played  on the screen, thus skipping all lines dis-
+              played on the screen.  By default,  searches  start
+              at the second line on the screen (or after the last
+              found line; see the -j option).
+
+       -b_n or --buffers=_n
+              Specifies the number of buffers _l_e_s_s will  use  for
+              each  file.   Buffers  are  1K,  and  by default 10
+              buffers are used for each file (except if the  file
+              is a pipe; see the -B option).  The number _n speci-
+              fies a different number of buffers to use.
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                   9
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       -B or --auto-buffers
+              By default, when data is read from a pipe,  buffers
+              are  allocated automatically as needed.  If a large
+              amount of data is read  from  the  pipe,  this  can
+              cause  a  large  amount  of memory to be allocated.
+              The -B option disables this automatic allocation of
+              buffers  for  pipes,  so  that  only  the number of
+              buffers specified by the -b option are used.  Warn-
+              ing:  use  of  -B  can result in erroneous display,
+              since only the most recently  viewed  part  of  the
+              file is kept in memory; any earlier data is lost.
+
+       -c or --clear-screen
+              Causes  full screen repaints to be painted from the
+              top line down.  By default,  full  screen  repaints
+              are  done  by  scrolling  from  the  bottom  of the
+              screen.
+
+       -C or --CLEAR-SCREEN
+              The -C option is like -c, but the screen is cleared
+              before it is repainted.
+
+       -d or --dumb
+              The -d option suppresses the error message normally
+              displayed if the terminal is dumb; that  is,  lacks
+              some  important  capability, such as the ability to
+              clear the screen or scroll backward.  The -d option
+              does not otherwise change the behavior of _l_e_s_s on a
+              dumb terminal).
+
+       -Dxx_c_o_l_o_r or --color=xx_c_o_l_o_r
+              [MS-DOS only] Sets the color of the text displayed.
+              xx  is  a single character which selects the type of
+              text whose color is being set:  n=normal,  s=stand-
+              out,  d=bold,  u=underlined,  k=blink.   _c_o_l_o_r is a
+              pair of numbers separated by a period.   The  first
+              number  selects the foreground color and the second
+              selects the background color of the text.  A single
+              number _N is the same as _N_._0.
+
+       -e or --quit-at-eof
+              Causes  _l_e_s_s  to automatically exit the second time
+              it reaches end-of-file.  By default, the  only  way
+              to exit _l_e_s_s is via the "q" command.
+
+       -E or --QUIT-AT-EOF
+              Causes _l_e_s_s to automatically exit the first time it
+              reaches end-of-file.
+
+       -f or --force
+              Forces non-regular files to be opened.  (A non-reg-
+              ular file is a directory or a device special file.)
+              Also suppresses the warning message when  a  binary
+              file  is  opened.   By default, _l_e_s_s will refuse to
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  10
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              open non-regular files.
+
+       -F or --quit-if-one-screen
+              Causes _l_e_s_s to automatically  exit  if  the  entire
+              file can be displayed on the first screen.
+
+       -g or --hilite-search
+              Normally,  _l_e_s_s  will  highlight  ALL strings which
+              match the  last  search  command.   The  -g  option
+              changes this behavior to highlight only the partic-
+              ular string which was found by the last search com-
+              mand.   This  can cause _l_e_s_s to run somewhat faster
+              than the default.
+
+       -G or --HILITE-SEARCH
+              The  -G  option  suppresses  all  highlighting   of
+              strings found by search commands.
+
+       -h_n or ---max-back-scroll=_n
+              Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll back-
+              ward.  If it is necessary to scroll  backward  more
+              than  _n lines, the screen is repainted in a forward
+              direction instead.  (If the terminal does not  have
+              the ability to scroll backward, -h0 is implied.)
+
+       -i or --ignore-case
+              Causes  searches to ignore case; that is, uppercase
+              and  lowercase  are  considered  identical.    This
+              option  is  ignored if any uppercase letters appear
+              in the search pattern; in other words, if a pattern
+              contains  uppercase  letters, then that search does
+              not ignore case.
+
+       -I or --IGNORE-CASE
+              Like -i, but searches ignore case even if the  pat-
+              tern contains uppercase letters.
+
+       -j_n or --jump-target=_n
+              Specifies  a  line on the screen where the "target"
+              line is to be positioned.  A  target  line  is  the
+              object of a text search, tag search, jump to a line
+              number, jump to a file percentage,  or  jump  to  a
+              marked position.  The screen line is specified by a
+              number: the top line on the screen is 1,  the  next
+              is  2,  and  so  on.  The number may be negative to
+              specify a  line  relative  to  the  bottom  of  the
+              screen:  the  bottom  line on the screen is -1, the
+              second to the bottom is -2, and so on.  If  the  -j
+              option  is used, searches begin at the line immedi-
+              ately after the target line.  For example, if "-j4"
+              is  used, the target line is the fourth line on the
+              screen, so searches begin at the fifth line on  the
+              screen.
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  11
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       -k_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e or --lesskey-file=_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e
+              Causes _l_e_s_s to open and interpret the named file as
+              a _l_e_s_s_k_e_y (1) file.  Multiple  -k  options  may  be
+              specified.   If the LESSKEY or LESSKEY_SYSTEM envi-
+              ronment variable is set, or if a  lesskey  file  is
+              found in a standard place (see KEY BINDINGS), it is
+              also used as a _l_e_s_s_k_e_y file.
+
+       -m or --long-prompt
+              Causes _l_e_s_s to prompt verbosely (like  _m_o_r_e),  with
+              the  percent  into  the  file.   By  default,  _l_e_s_s
+              prompts with a colon.
+
+       -M or --LONG-PROMPT
+              Causes _l_e_s_s to  prompt  even  more  verbosely  than
+              _m_o_r_e_.
+
+       -n or --line-numbers
+              Suppresses  line numbers.  The default (to use line
+              numbers) may cause _l_e_s_s to run more slowly in  some
+              cases,  especially  with  a  very large input file.
+              Suppressing line numbers with the  -n  option  will
+              avoid  this problem.  Using line numbers means: the
+              line number will be displayed in the verbose prompt
+              and  in  the = command, and the v command will pass
+              the current line number to the editor (see also the
+              discussion of LESSEDIT in PROMPTS below).
+
+       -N or --LINE-NUMBERS
+              Causes  a line number to be displayed at the begin-
+              ning of each line in the display.
+
+       -o_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e or --log-file=_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e
+              Causes _l_e_s_s to copy its input to the named file  as
+              it  is  being  viewed.   This applies only when the
+              input file is a pipe, not an ordinary file.  If the
+              file already exists, _l_e_s_s will ask for confirmation
+              before overwriting it.
+
+       -O_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e or --LOG-FILE=_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e
+              The -O option is like -o, but it will overwrite  an
+              existing file without asking for confirmation.
+
+              If  no  log  file has been specified, the -o and -O
+              options can be used from within _l_e_s_s to  specify  a
+              log  file.   Without  a file name, they will simply
+              report the name of the log file.  The  "s"  command
+              is equivalent to specifying -o from within _l_e_s_s_.
+
+       -p_p_a_t_t_e_r_n or --pattern=_p_a_t_t_e_r_n
+              The  -p option on the command line is equivalent to
+              specifying +/_p_a_t_t_e_r_n; that is,  it  tells  _l_e_s_s  to
+              start  at  the  first  occurrence of _p_a_t_t_e_r_n in the
+              file.
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  12
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       -P_p_r_o_m_p_t or --prompt=_p_r_o_m_p_t
+              Provides a way to tailor the three prompt styles to
+              your own preference.  This option would normally be
+              put in the LESS environment variable,  rather  than
+              being  typed  in  with  each _l_e_s_s command.  Such an
+              option must either be the last option in  the  LESS
+              variable,  or  be terminated by a dollar sign.  -Ps
+              followed by a string changes  the  default  (short)
+              prompt to that string.  -Pm changes the medium (-m)
+              prompt.  -PM changes the  long  (-M)  prompt.   -Ph
+              changes  the  prompt  for  the  help  screen.   -P=
+              changes the message printed by the = command.   All
+              prompt strings consist of a sequence of letters and
+              special  escape  sequences.   See  the  section  on
+              PROMPTS for more details.
+
+       -q or --quiet or --silent
+              Causes  moderately  "quiet" operation: the terminal
+              bell is not rung if an attempt is  made  to  scroll
+              past the end of the file or before the beginning of
+              the file.  If the terminal has a "visual bell",  it
+              is  used instead.  The bell will be rung on certain
+              other errors, such as typing an invalid  character.
+              The  default  is  to  ring the terminal bell in all
+              such cases.
+
+       -Q or --QUIET or --SILENT
+              Causes totally "quiet" operation: the terminal bell
+              is never rung.
+
+       -r or --raw-control-chars
+              Causes  "raw"  control  characters to be displayed.
+              The default is to display control characters  using
+              the caret notation; for example, a control-A (octal
+              001) is displayed as "^A".  Warning:  when  the  -r
+              option  is  used,  _l_e_s_s  cannot  keep  track of the
+              actual appearance of the screen (since this depends
+              on  how the screen responds to each type of control
+              character).  Thus,  various  display  problems  may
+              result, such as long lines being split in the wrong
+              place.
+
+       -R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS
+              Like -r, but tries to  keep  track  of  the  screen
+              appearance  where possible.  This works only if the
+              input consists of normal  text  and  possibly  some
+              ANSI  "color" escape sequences, which are sequences
+              of the form:
+
+                   ESC [ ... m
+
+              where the "..." is zero or  more  characters  other
+              than  "m".   For  the  purpose  of keeping track of
+              screen appearance, all control characters  and  all
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  13
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              ANSI color escape sequences are assumed to not move
+              the cursor.  You can make _l_e_s_s think  that  charac-
+              ters  other  than  "m"  can  end  ANSI color escape
+              sequences  by  setting  the  environment   variable
+              LESSANSIENDCHARS  to  the  list of characters which
+              can end a color escape sequence.
+
+       -s or --squeeze-blank-lines
+              Causes consecutive blank lines to be squeezed  into
+              a  single  blank line.  This is useful when viewing
+              _n_r_o_f_f output.
+
+       -S or --chop-long-lines
+              Causes lines longer than the  screen  width  to  be
+              chopped rather than folded.  That is, the remainder
+              of a long line is simply discarded.  The default is
+              to  fold long lines; that is, display the remainder
+              on the next line.
+
+       -t_t_a_g or --tag=_t_a_g
+              The -t option, followed immediately by a TAG,  will
+              edit  the  file  containing  that tag.  For this to
+              work, there must be a file  called  "tags"  in  the
+              current  directory,  which  was previously built by
+              the _c_t_a_g_s (1) command.  This  option  may  also  be
+              specified from within _l_e_s_s (using the - command) as
+              a way of examining a new file.  The command ":t" is
+              equivalent to specifying -t from within _l_e_s_s_.
+
+       -T_t_a_g_s_f_i_l_e or --tag-file=_t_a_g_s_f_i_l_e
+              Specifies a tags file to be used instead of "tags".
+
+       -u or --underline-special
+              Causes  backspaces  and  carriage  returns  to   be
+              treated  as printable characters; that is, they are
+              sent to the terminal when they appear in the input.
+
+       -U or --UNDERLINE-SPECIAL
+              Causes  backspaces, tabs and carriage returns to be
+              treated as control characters; that  is,  they  are
+              handled as specified by the -r option.
+
+              By   default,  if  neither  -u  nor  -U  is  given,
+              backspaces which appear adjacent to  an  underscore
+              character  are  treated  specially:  the underlined
+              text is displayed  using  the  terminal's  hardware
+              underlining  capability.   Also,  backspaces  which
+              appear between two identical characters are treated
+              specially: the overstruck text is printed using the
+              terminal's  hardware  boldface  capability.   Other
+              backspaces  are  deleted,  along with the preceding
+              character.  Carriage returns  immediately  followed
+              by  a  newline are deleted.  other carriage returns
+              are handled as specified by the  -r  option.   Text
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  14
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              which  is  overstruck or underlined can be searched
+              for if neither -u nor -U is in effect.
+
+       -V or --version
+              Displays the version number of _l_e_s_s_.
+
+       -w or --hilite-unread
+              Temporarily highlights the first "new" line after a
+              forward  movement  of a full page.  The first "new"
+              line is the line  immediately  following  the  line
+              previously at the bottom of the screen.  Also high-
+              lights the target line after a g or p command.  The
+              highlight  is  removed  at  the  next command which
+              causes movement.
+
+       -W or --HILITE-UNREAD
+              Like -w, but temporarily highlights the  first  new
+              line after any forward movement command larger than
+              one line.
+
+       -x_n or --tabs=_n
+              Sets tab stops every _n positions.  The default  for
+              _n is 8.
+
+       -X or --no-init
+              Disables  sending  the  termcap  initialization and
+              deinitialization strings to the terminal.  This  is
+              sometimes  desirable if the deinitialization string
+              does  something  unnecessary,  like  clearing   the
+              screen.
+
+       -y_n or --max-forw-scroll=_n
+              Specifies  a maximum number of lines to scroll for-
+              ward.  If it is necessary to  scroll  forward  more
+              than _n lines, the screen is repainted instead.  The
+              -c or -C option may be used to repaint from the top
+              of  the screen if desired.  By default, any forward
+              movement causes scrolling.
+
+       -[z]_n or --window=_n
+              Changes the default  scrolling  window  size  to  _n
+              lines.   The default is one screenful.  The z and w
+              commands can also be  used  to  change  the  window
+              size.   The  "z"  may  be omitted for compatibility
+              with _m_o_r_e_.  If the number _n is negative,  it  indi-
+              cates  _n  lines  less than the current screen size.
+              For example, if the screen is 24 lines,  _-_z_-_4  sets
+              the scrolling window to 20 lines.  If the screen is
+              resized to 40 lines, the scrolling window automati-
+              cally changes to 36 lines.
+
+       -"_c_c or --quotes=_c_c
+              Changes  the  filename quoting character.  This may
+              be necessary if you are trying to name a file which
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  15
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              contains  both  spaces  and quote characters.  Fol-
+              lowed by a single character, this changes the quote
+              character  to that character.  Filenames containing
+              a space should then be surrounded by that character
+              rather  than  by  double  quotes.   Followed by two
+              characters, changes the open  quote  to  the  first
+              character,  and the close quote to the second char-
+              acter.  Filenames containing a space should then be
+              preceded  by  the open quote character and followed
+              by the close quote character.  Note that even after
+              the  quote  characters  are  changed,  this  option
+              remains -" (a dash followed by a double quote).
+
+       -~ or --tilde
+              Normally lines after end of file are displayed as a
+              single  tilde  (~).  This option causes lines after
+              end of file to be displayed as blank lines.
+
+       --     A command line argument of "--" marks  the  end  of
+              option arguments.  Any arguments following this are
+              interpreted as filenames.  This can be useful  when
+              viewing a file whose name begins with a "-" or "+".
+
+       +      If a command line option begins with ++, the remain-
+              der  of  that option is taken to be an initial com-
+              mand to _l_e_s_s_.  For example, +G tells _l_e_s_s to  start
+              at  the  end of the file rather than the beginning,
+              and +/xyz tells it to start at the first occurrence
+              of "xyz" in the file.  As a special case, +<number>
+              acts like +<number>g; that is, it starts  the  dis-
+              play at the specified line number (however, see the
+              caveat under the "g" command above).  If the option
+              starts  with  ++,  the  initial  command applies to
+              every file being viewed, not just  the  first  one.
+              The + command described previously may also be used
+              to set (or change) an  initial  command  for  every
+              file.
+
+
+LLIINNEE EEDDIITTIINNGG
+       When  entering  command  line  at the bottom of the screen
+       (for example, a filename for the :e command, or  the  pat-
+       tern  for  a  search command), certain keys can be used to
+       manipulate the command line.  Most commands have an alter-
+       nate  form in [ brackets ] which can be used if a key does
+       not exist on a particular keyboard.  (The bracketed  forms
+       do  not work in the MS-DOS version.)  Any of these special
+       keys may be entered literally by  preceding  it  with  the
+       "literal"  character, either ^V or ^A.  A backslash itself
+       may also be entered literally by entering two backslashes.
+
+       LEFTARROW [ ESC-h ]
+              Move the cursor one space to the left.
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  16
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       RIGHTARROW [ ESC-l ]
+              Move the cursor one space to the right.
+
+       ^LEFTARROW [ ESC-b or ESC-LEFTARROW ]
+              (That  is,  CONTROL  and LEFTARROW simultaneously.)
+              Move the cursor one word to the left.
+
+       ^RIGHTARROW [ ESC-w or ESC-RIGHTARROW ]
+              (That is, CONTROL and  RIGHTARROW  simultaneously.)
+              Move the cursor one word to the right.
+
+       HOME [ ESC-0 ]
+              Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.
+
+       END [ ESC-$ ]
+              Move the cursor to the end of the line.
+
+       BACKSPACE
+              Delete  the character to the left of the cursor, or
+              cancel the command if the command line is empty.
+
+       DELETE or [ ESC-x ]
+              Delete the character under the cursor.
+
+       ^BACKSPACE [ ESC-BACKSPACE ]
+              (That is, CONTROL  and  BACKSPACE  simultaneously.)
+              Delete the word to the left of the cursor.
+
+       ^DELETE [ ESC-X or ESC-DELETE ]
+              (That   is,  CONTROL  and  DELETE  simultaneously.)
+              Delete the word under the cursor.
+
+       UPARROW [ ESC-k ]
+              Retrieve the previous command line.
+
+       DOWNARROW [ ESC-j ]
+              Retrieve the next command line.
+
+       TAB    Complete the partial filename to the  left  of  the
+              cursor.   If it matches more than one filename, the
+              first match  is  entered  into  the  command  line.
+              Repeated  TABs  will  cycle thru the other matching
+              filenames.  If the completed filename is  a  direc-
+              tory,  a  "/" is appended to the filename.  (On MS-
+              DOS systems, a "\" is appended.)   The  environment
+              variable  LESSSEPARATOR  can  be  used to specify a
+              different character to append to a directory  name.
+
+       BACKTAB [ ESC-TAB ]
+              Like, TAB, but cycles in the reverse direction thru
+              the matching filenames.
+
+       ^L     Complete the partial filename to the  left  of  the
+              cursor.   If it matches more than one filename, all
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  17
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+              matches are entered into the command line (if  they
+              fit).
+
+       ^U (Unix) or ESC (MS-DOS)
+              Delete  the entire command line, or cancel the com-
+              mand if the command line is  empty.   If  you  have
+              changed  your  line-kill character in Unix to some-
+              thing other than ^U, that character is used instead
+              of ^U.
+
+
+KKEEYY BBIINNDDIINNGGSS
+       You may define your own _l_e_s_s commands by using the program
+       _l_e_s_s_k_e_y (1) to create a lesskey file.  This file specifies
+       a  set  of command keys and an action associated with each
+       key.  You may also use _l_e_s_s_k_e_y to change the  line-editing
+       keys (see LINE EDITING), and to set environment variables.
+       If the environment variable LESSKEY is set, _l_e_s_s uses that
+       as the name of the lesskey file.  Otherwise, _l_e_s_s looks in
+       a standard place for the lesskey file:  On  Unix  systems,
+       _l_e_s_s  looks  for  a lesskey file called "$HOME/.less".  On
+       MS-DOS and Windows systems, _l_e_s_s looks for a lesskey  file
+       called  "$HOME/_less",  and if it is not found there, then
+       looks for a lesskey file called "_less" in  any  directory
+       specified  in the PATH environment variable.  On OS/2 sys-
+       tems,   _l_e_s_s   looks   for   a   lesskey    file    called
+       "$HOME/less.ini", and if it is not found, then looks for a
+       lesskey file called "less.ini" in any directory  specified
+       in  the  INIT  environment  variable,  and if it not found
+       there, then looks for a lesskey file called "less.ini"  in
+       any  directory specified in the PATH environment variable.
+       See the _l_e_s_s_k_e_y manual page for more details.
+
+       A system-wide lesskey file may also be set up  to  provide
+       key bindings.  If a key is defined in both a local lesskey
+       file and in the system-wide  file,  key  bindings  in  the
+       local  file  take precedence over those in the system-wide
+       file.  If the environment variable LESSKEY_SYSTEM is  set,
+       _l_e_s_s  uses  that  as  the  name of the system-wide lesskey
+       file.  Otherwise, _l_e_s_s looks in a standard place  for  the
+       system-wide lesskey file: On Unix systems, the system-wide
+       lesskey file  is  /usr/local/bin/.sysless.   (However,  if
+       _l_e_s_s  was  built  with  a  different binary directory than
+       /usr/local/bin, that directory is where the .sysless  file
+       is found.)  On MS-DOS and Windows systems, the system-wide
+       lesskey file is c:\_sysless.  On OS/2 systems, the system-
+       wide lesskey file is c:\sysless.ini.
+
+
+IINNPPUUTT PPRREEPPRROOCCEESSSSOORR
+       You  may  define an "input preprocessor" for _l_e_s_s_.  Before
+       _l_e_s_s opens a file, it first gives your input  preprocessor
+       a  chance  to  modify the way the contents of the file are
+       displayed.  An input preprocessor is simply an  executable
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  18
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       program  (or  shell  script), which writes the contents of
+       the file to a different file, called the replacement file.
+       The contents of the replacement file are then displayed in
+       place of the contents of the original file.   However,  it
+       will appear to the user as if the original file is opened;
+       that is, _l_e_s_s will display the original  filename  as  the
+       name of the current file.
+
+       An  input preprocessor receives one command line argument,
+       the original filename, as entered by the user.  It  should
+       create  the replacement file, and when finished, print the
+       name of the replacement file to its standard  output.   If
+       the input preprocessor does not output a replacement file-
+       name, _l_e_s_s uses the original file, as normal.   The  input
+       preprocessor  is  not  called when viewing standard input.
+       To set up an input preprocessor, set the LESSOPEN environ-
+       ment  variable  to  a  command line which will invoke your
+       input preprocessor.  This command line should include  one
+       occurrence  of  the string "%s", which will be replaced by
+       the  filename  when  the  input  preprocessor  command  is
+       invoked.
+
+       When _l_e_s_s closes a file opened in such a way, it will call
+       another program, called the input postprocessor, which may
+       perform  any desired clean-up action (such as deleting the
+       replacement  file  created  by  LESSOPEN).   This  program
+       receives two command line arguments, the original filename
+       as entered by the user, and the name  of  the  replacement
+       file.  To set up an input postprocessor, set the LESSCLOSE
+       environment variable to a command line which  will  invoke
+       your  input postprocessor.  It may include two occurrences
+       of the string "%s"; the first is replaced with the  origi-
+       nal  name  of the file and the second with the name of the
+       replacement file, which was output by LESSOPEN.
+
+       For example, on many Unix systems, these two scripts  will
+       allow  you  to  keep files in compressed format, but still
+       let _l_e_s_s view them directly:
+
+       lessopen.sh:
+            #! /bin/sh
+            case "$1" in
+            *.Z) uncompress -c $1  >/tmp/less.$$  2>/dev/null
+                 if [ -s /tmp/less.$$ ]; then
+                      echo /tmp/less.$$
+                 else
+                      rm -f /tmp/less.$$
+                 fi
+                 ;;
+            esac
+
+       lessclose.sh:
+            #! /bin/sh
+            rm $2
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  19
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       To use these scripts, put them both where they can be exe-
+       cuted     and     set    LESSOPEN="lessopen.sh %s",    and
+       LESSCLOSE="lessclose.sh %s %s".  More complex LESSOPEN and
+       LESSCLOSE  scripts may be written to accept other types of
+       compressed files, and so on.
+
+       It is also possible to set up  an  input  preprocessor  to
+       pipe  the  file data directly to _l_e_s_s_, rather than putting
+       the data into a replacement file.  This avoids the need to
+       decompress the entire file before starting to view it.  An
+       input preprocessor that works this way is called an  input
+       pipe.   An  input  pipe,  instead of writing the name of a
+       replacement file on its standard output, writes the entire
+       contents  of  the replacement file on its standard output.
+       If the input pipe does not write  any  characters  on  its
+       standard  output,  then  there  is no replacement file and
+       _l_e_s_s uses the original file, as normal.  To use  an  input
+       pipe, make the first character in the LESSOPEN environment
+       variable a vertical bar (|) to signify that the input pre-
+       processor is an input pipe.
+
+       For  example,  on many Unix systems, this script will work
+       like the previous example scripts:
+
+       lesspipe.sh:
+            #! /bin/sh
+            case "$1" in
+            *.Z) uncompress -c $1  2>/dev/null
+                 ;;
+            esac
+
+       To use this script, put it where it can  be  executed  and
+       set  LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh  %s".   When  an input pipe is
+       used, a LESSCLOSE postprocessor can be  used,  but  it  is
+       usually  not  necessary since there is no replacement file
+       to clean up.  In this  case,  the  replacement  file  name
+       passed to the LESSCLOSE postprocessor is "-".
+
+
+NNAATTIIOONNAALL CCHHAARRAACCTTEERR SSEETTSS
+       There are three types of characters in the input file:
+
+       normal characters
+              can be displayed directly to the screen.
+
+       control characters
+              should  not be displayed directly, but are expected
+              to  be  found  in  ordinary  text  files  (such  as
+              backspace and tab).
+
+       binary characters
+              should  not  be  displayed  directly  and  are  not
+              expected to be found in text files.
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  20
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       A "character set" is simply a description of which charac-
+       ters  are  to  be  considered normal, control, and binary.
+       The LESSCHARSET environment variable may be used to select
+       a character set.  Possible values for LESSCHARSET are:
+
+       ascii  BS,  TAB,  NL, CR, and formfeed are control charac-
+              ters, all chars with values between 32 and 126  are
+              normal, and all others are binary.
+
+       iso8859
+              Selects  an  ISO  8859  character set.  This is the
+              same as ASCII, except characters  between  160  and
+              255 are treated as normal characters.
+
+       latin1 Same as iso8859.
+
+       dos    Selects a character set appropriate for MS-DOS.
+
+       ebcdic Selects an EBCDIC character set.
+
+       koi8-r Selects a Russian character set.
+
+       next   Selects  a  character set appropriate for NeXT com-
+              puters.
+
+       utf-8  Selects the UTF-8 encoding of the ISO 10646 charac-
+              ter set.
+
+       If  the  LESSCHARSET  environment variable is not set, the
+       default character set is latin1.  However, if  the  string
+       "UTF-8"  is found in the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE or LANG environ-
+       ment variables, then the default character  set  is  utf-8
+       instead.
+
+       In  special cases, it may be desired to tailor _l_e_s_s to use
+       a character set other than the  ones  definable  by  LESS-
+       CHARSET.   In  this  case,  the environment variable LESS-
+       CHARDEF can be used to define a character set.  It  should
+       be set to a string where each character in the string rep-
+       resents one character in the character set.  The character
+       "."  is  used for a normal character, "c" for control, and
+       "b" for binary.  A decimal number may be used for  repeti-
+       tion.   For  example,  "bccc4b." would mean character 0 is
+       binary, 1, 2 and 3 are control, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are  binary,
+       and  8 is normal.  All characters after the last are taken
+       to be the same as the last, so characters  9  through  255
+       would be normal.  (This is an example, and does not neces-
+       sarily represent any real character set.)
+
+       This table shows the value of LESSCHARDEF which is equiva-
+       lent to each of the possible values for LESSCHARSET:
+
+            ascii     8bcccbcc18b95.b
+            dos       8bcccbcc12bc5b95.b.
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  21
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+            ebcdic    5bc6bcc7bcc41b.9b7.9b5.b..8b6.10b6.b9.7b
+                      9.8b8.17b3.3b9.7b9.8b8.6b10.b.b.b.
+            iso8859   8bcccbcc18b95.33b.
+            koi8-r    8bcccbcc18b95.b128.
+            latin1    8bcccbcc18b95.33b.
+            next      8bcccbcc18b95.bb125.bb
+
+       If  neither  LESSCHARSET  nor LESSCHARDEF is set, but your
+       system supports the _s_e_t_l_o_c_a_l_e  interface,  _l_e_s_s  will  use
+       setlocale  to  determine  the character set.  setlocale is
+       controlled by setting the  LANG  or  LC_CTYPE  environment
+       variables.
+
+       Control  and  binary  characters are displayed in standout
+       (reverse video).  Each  such  character  is  displayed  in
+       caret notation if possible (e.g. ^A for control-A).  Caret
+       notation is used only if inverting the 0100 bit results in
+       a normal printable character.  Otherwise, the character is
+       displayed as a hex number in angle brackets.  This  format
+       can be changed by setting the LESSBINFMT environment vari-
+       able.  LESSBINFMT may begin with a "*" and  one  character
+       to select the display attribute: "*k" is blinking, "*d" is
+       bold, "*u" is underlined, "*s" is standout,  and  "*n"  is
+       normal.   If  LESSBINFMT does not begin with a "*", normal
+       attribute is assumed.  The remainder of  LESSBINFMT  is  a
+       string  which may include one printf-style escape sequence
+       (a % followed by x, X, o, d, etc.).  For example, if LESS-
+       BINFMT  is  "*u[%x]",  binary  characters are displayed in
+       underlined  hexadecimal  surrounded  by   brackets.    The
+       default if no LESSBINFMT is specified is "*s<%X>".
+
+
+PPRROOMMPPTTSS
+       The  -P  option  allows  you  to tailor the prompt to your
+       preference.  The string given to the  -P  option  replaces
+       the  specified  prompt  string.  Certain characters in the
+       string are interpreted specially.  The prompt mechanism is
+       rather  complicated  to provide flexibility, but the ordi-
+       nary user need not understand the details of  constructing
+       personalized prompt strings.
+
+       A  percent sign followed by a single character is expanded
+       according to what the following character is:
+
+       %b_X    Replaced by the byte offset into the current  input
+              file.   The  b  is  followed  by a single character
+              (shown as _X above) which specifies the  line  whose
+              byte  offset  is to be used.  If the character is a
+              "t", the byte offset of the top line in the display
+              is  used,  an  "m" means use the middle line, a "b"
+              means use the bottom line, a "B" means use the line
+              just after the bottom line, and a "j" means use the
+              "target" line, as specified by the -j option.
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  22
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       %B     Replaced by the size of the current input file.
+
+       %c     Replaced by the column number of the text appearing
+              in the first column of the screen.
+
+       %d_X    Replaced  by the page number of a line in the input
+              file.  The line to be used is determined by the  _X,
+              as with the %b option.
+
+       %D     Replaced  by the number of pages in the input file,
+              or equivalently, the page number of the  last  line
+              in the input file.
+
+       %E     Replaced by the name of the editor (from the VISUAL
+              environment variable,  or  the  EDITOR  environment
+              variable  if  VISUAL is not defined).  See the dis-
+              cussion of the LESSEDIT feature below.
+
+       %f     Replaced by the name of the current input file.
+
+       %i     Replaced by the index of the current  file  in  the
+              list of input files.
+
+       %l_X    Replaced  by the line number of a line in the input
+              file.  The line to be used is determined by the  _X,
+              as with the %b option.
+
+       %L     Replaced by the line number of the last line in the
+              input file.
+
+       %m     Replaced by the total number of input files.
+
+       %p_X    Replaced by the  percent  into  the  current  input
+              file,  based  on  byte  offsets.   The line used is
+              determined by the _X as with the %b option.
+
+       %P_X    Replaced by the  percent  into  the  current  input
+              file,  based  on  line  numbers.   The line used is
+              determined by the _X as with the %b option.
+
+       %s     Same as %B.
+
+       %t     Causes any trailing spaces to be removed.   Usually
+              used  at the end of the string, but may appear any-
+              where.
+
+       %x     Replaced by the name of the next input file in  the
+              list.
+
+       If  any  item  is  unknown  (for example, the file size if
+       input is a pipe), a question mark is printed instead.
+
+       The format of the prompt string can be  changed  depending
+       on  certain  conditions.   A  question  mark followed by a
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  23
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       single character acts like an "IF": depending on the  fol-
+       lowing character, a condition is evaluated.  If the condi-
+       tion is true, any characters following the  question  mark
+       and  condition  character, up to a period, are included in
+       the prompt.  If the condition is  false,  such  characters
+       are  not included.  A colon appearing between the question
+       mark and the period can be used to  establish  an  "ELSE":
+       any  characters  between  the  colon  and  the  period are
+       included in the string if and only if the IF condition  is
+       false.   Condition  characters  (which  follow  a question
+       mark) may be:
+
+       ?a     True if any characters have been  included  in  the
+              prompt so far.
+
+       ?b_X    True  if  the  byte offset of the specified line is
+              known.
+
+       ?B     True if the size of current input file is known.
+
+       ?c     True if the text is horizontally shifted (%c is not
+              zero).
+
+       ?d_X    True  if  the  page number of the specified line is
+              known.
+
+       ?e     True if at end-of-file.
+
+       ?f     True if there is an input  filename  (that  is,  if
+              input is not a pipe).
+
+       ?l_X    True  if  the  line number of the specified line is
+              known.
+
+       ?L     True if the line number of the  last  line  in  the
+              file is known.
+
+       ?m     True if there is more than one input file.
+
+       ?n     True  if  this  is  the first prompt in a new input
+              file.
+
+       ?p_X    True if the percent into the  current  input  file,
+              based  on  byte  offsets,  of the specified line is
+              known.
+
+       ?P_X    True if the percent into the  current  input  file,
+              based  on  line  numbers,  of the specified line is
+              known.
+
+       ?s     Same as "?B".
+
+       ?x     True if there is a next input file (that is, if the
+              current input file is not the last one).
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  24
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       Any characters other than the special ones (question mark,
+       colon, period, percent, and  backslash)  become  literally
+       part  of the prompt.  Any of the special characters may be
+       included in the prompt literally by preceding  it  with  a
+       backslash.
+
+       Some examples:
+
+       ?f%f:Standard input.
+
+       This  prompt  prints the filename, if known; otherwise the
+       string "Standard input".
+
+       ?f%f .?ltLine %lt:?pt%pt\%:?btByte %bt:-...
+
+       This prompt would print the filename, if known.  The file-
+       name  is  followed by the line number, if known, otherwise
+       the percent if known, otherwise the byte offset if  known.
+       Otherwise,  a  dash  is printed.  Notice how each question
+       mark has a matching period, and how the % after the %pt is
+       included literally by escaping it with a backslash.
+
+       ?n?f%f .?m(file %i of %m) ..?e(END) ?x- Next\: %x..%t
+
+       This  prints the filename if this is the first prompt in a
+       file, followed by the "file N of N" message  if  there  is
+       more than one input file.  Then, if we are at end-of-file,
+       the string "(END)" is printed followed by the name of  the
+       next  file, if there is one.  Finally, any trailing spaces
+       are truncated.  This is the default  prompt.   For  refer-
+       ence,  here are the defaults for the other two prompts (-m
+       and -M respectively).  Each is broken into two lines  here
+       for readability only.
+
+       ?n?f%f .?m(file %i of %m) ..?e(END) ?x- Next\: %x.:
+            ?pB%pB\%:byte %bB?s/%s...%t
+
+       ?f%f .?n?m(file %i of %m) ..?ltlines %lt-%lb?L/%L. :
+            byte %bB?s/%s. .?e(END) ?x- Next\: %x.:?pB%pB\%..%t
+
+       And here is the default message produced by the = command:
+
+       ?f%f .?m(file %i of %m) .?ltlines %lt-%lb?L/%L. .
+            byte %bB?s/%s. ?e(END) :?pB%pB\%..%t
+
+       The prompt expansion features are also  used  for  another
+       purpose:  if  an environment variable LESSEDIT is defined,
+       it is used as the command to be executed when the  v  com-
+       mand  is  invoked.  The LESSEDIT string is expanded in the
+       same way as the prompt strings.   The  default  value  for
+       LESSEDIT is:
+
+            %E ?lm+%lm. %f
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  25
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       Note that this expands to the editor name, followed by a +
+       and the line number, followed by the file name.   If  your
+       editor  does  not  accept the "+linenumber" syntax, or has
+       other differences in invocation syntax, the LESSEDIT vari-
+       able can be changed to modify this default.
+
+
+SSEECCUURRIITTYY
+       When the environment variable LESSSECURE is set to 1, _l_e_s_s
+       runs in a "secure" mode.  This means  these  features  are
+       disabled:
+
+              !      the shell command
+
+              |      the pipe command
+
+              :e     the examine command.
+
+              v      the editing command
+
+              s  -o  log files
+
+              -k     use of lesskey files
+
+              -t     use of tags files
+
+                     metacharacters in filenames, such as *
+
+                     filename completion (TAB, ^L)
+
+       Less  can  also  be compiled to be permanently in "secure"
+       mode.
+
+
+EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT VVAARRIIAABBLLEESS
+       Environment variables may be specified either in the  sys-
+       tem  environment  as  usual, or in a _l_e_s_s_k_e_y (1) file.  If
+       environment variables are defined in more than one  place,
+       variables  defined in a local lesskey file take precedence
+       over variables defined in the  system  environment,  which
+       take  precedence over variables defined in the system-wide
+       lesskey file.
+
+       COLUMNS
+              Sets the number of columns on  the  screen.   Takes
+              precedence  over the number of columns specified by
+              the TERM variable.  (But if you  have  a  windowing
+              system  which  supports TIOCGWINSZ or WIOCGETD, the
+              window system's  idea  of  the  screen  size  takes
+              precedence  over  the LINES and COLUMNS environment
+              variables.)
+
+       EDITOR The name of the editor (used for the v command).
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  26
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       HOME   Name of the user's home directory (used to  find  a
+              lesskey file on Unix systems).
+
+       HOMEDRIVE, HOMEPATH
+              Concatenation  of  the HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH envi-
+              ronment variables is the name of  the  user's  home
+              directory  if the HOME variable is not set (only in
+              the Windows version).
+
+       INIT   Name of the user's init directory (used to  find  a
+              lesskey file on OS/2 systems).
+
+       LANG   Language for determining the character set.
+
+       LC_CTYPE
+              Language for determining the character set.
+
+       LESS   Options which are passed to _l_e_s_s automatically.
+
+       LESSANSIENDCHARS
+              Characters  which  are assumed to end an ANSI color
+              escape sequence (default "m").
+
+       LESSBINFMT
+              Format for  displaying  non-printable,  non-control
+              characters.
+
+       LESSCHARDEF
+              Defines a character set.
+
+       LESSCHARSET
+              Selects a predefined character set.
+
+       LESSCLOSE
+              Command  line  to invoke the (optional) input-post-
+              processor.
+
+       LESSECHO
+              Name of the lessecho program (default  "lessecho").
+              The  lessecho program is needed to expand metachar-
+              acters, such as * and ?, in filenames on Unix  sys-
+              tems.
+
+       LESSEDIT
+              Editor  prototype  string (used for the v command).
+              See discussion under PROMPTS.
+
+       LESSKEY
+              Name of the default lesskey(1) file.
+
+       LESSKEY_SYSTEM
+              Name of the default system-wide lesskey(1) file.
+
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  27
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       LESSMETACHARS
+              List of characters which are considered  "metachar-
+              acters" by the shell.
+
+       LESSMETAESCAPE
+              Prefix  which less will add before each metacharac-
+              ter in a command  sent  to  the  shell.   If  LESS-
+              METAESCAPE  is an empty string, commands containing
+              metacharacters will not be passed to the shell.
+
+       LESSOPEN
+              Command line to invoke the (optional) input-prepro-
+              cessor.
+
+       LESSSECURE
+              Runs  less  in "secure" mode.  See discussion under
+              SECURITY.
+
+       LESSSEPARATOR
+              String to be appended to a directory name in  file-
+              name completion.
+
+       LINES  Sets  the  number  of  lines  on the screen.  Takes
+              precedence over the number of  lines  specified  by
+              the  TERM  variable.   (But if you have a windowing
+              system which supports TIOCGWINSZ or  WIOCGETD,  the
+              window  system's  idea  of  the  screen  size takes
+              precedence over the LINES and  COLUMNS  environment
+              variables.)
+
+       PATH   User's  search path (used to find a lesskey file on
+              MS-DOS and OS/2 systems).
+
+       SHELL  The shell used to execute the ! command, as well as
+              to expand filenames.
+
+       TERM   The type of terminal on which _l_e_s_s is being run.
+
+       VISUAL The name of the editor (used for the v command).
+
+
+SSEEEE AALLSSOO
+       lesskey(1)
+
+
+WWAARRNNIINNGGSS
+       The  =  command  and prompts (unless changed by -P) report
+       the line numbers of the lines at the top and bottom of the
+       screen, but the byte and percent of the line after the one
+       at the bottom of the screen.
+
+       If the :e command is used to name more than one file,  and
+       one of the named files has been viewed previously, the new
+       files may be entered into the list in an unexpected order.
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  28
+
+
+
+
+
+LESS(1)                                                   LESS(1)
+
+
+       On  certain  older terminals (the so-called "magic cookie"
+       terminals), search highlighting will  cause  an  erroneous
+       display.   On  such terminals, search highlighting is dis-
+       abled by default to avoid possible problems.
+
+       In certain cases, when search highlighting is enabled  and
+       a  search  pattern  begins  with  a  ^, more text than the
+       matching string may be highlighted.   (This  problem  does
+       not  occur  when less is compiled to use the POSIX regular
+       expression package.)
+
+       On some systems, _s_e_t_l_o_c_a_l_e claims that ASCII characters  0
+       thru  31 are control characters rather than binary charac-
+       ters.  This causes _l_e_s_s to  treat  some  binary  files  as
+       ordinary,  non-binary  files.  To workaround this problem,
+       set the environment variable LESSCHARSET  to  "ascii"  (or
+       whatever character set is appropriate).
+
+       See  http://www.flash.net/~marknu/less for the latest list
+       of known bugs in this version of less.
+
+
+CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT
+       Copyright (C) 2000  Mark Nudelman
+
+       less is part of the GNU project and is free software.  You
+       can  redistribute  it  and/or modify it under the terms of
+       either (1) the GNU General Public License as published  by
+       the  Free  Software  Foundation;  or (2) the Less License.
+       See the file README in  the  less  distribution  for  more
+       details   regarding   redistribution.    You  should  have
+       received a copy of the GNU General  Public  License  along
+       with  the  source for less; see the file COPYING.  If not,
+       write to the Free Software Foundation,  59  Temple  Place,
+       Suite  330,  Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.  You should also
+       have received a copy of the Less  License;  see  the  file
+       LICENSE.
+
+       less  is  distributed  in the hope that it will be useful,
+       but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even  the  implied  war-
+       ranty  of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PUR-
+       POSE.   See  the  GNU  General  Public  License  for  more
+       details.
+
+
+AAUUTTHHOORR
+       Mark Nudelman <marknu@flash.net>
+       Send  bug  reports  or comments to the above address or to
+       bug-less@gnu.org.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     Version 354: 23 Mar 2000                  29
+
+