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author | delphij <delphij@FreeBSD.org> | 2009-05-08 23:34:35 +0000 |
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committer | delphij <delphij@FreeBSD.org> | 2009-05-08 23:34:35 +0000 |
commit | d069efd47cacc3156036ed37d5532d6a1d4f55c3 (patch) | |
tree | 2526f6b109843b646672c1537476dc51e56c0454 /contrib/less/less.nro | |
parent | 6aa3e25391d160482339ee072c010bcd22dfbbd1 (diff) | |
download | FreeBSD-src-d069efd47cacc3156036ed37d5532d6a1d4f55c3.zip FreeBSD-src-d069efd47cacc3156036ed37d5532d6a1d4f55c3.tar.gz |
Flatten all tags of the dist tree of less.
Diffstat (limited to 'contrib/less/less.nro')
-rw-r--r-- | contrib/less/less.nro | 1692 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 1692 deletions
diff --git a/contrib/less/less.nro b/contrib/less/less.nro deleted file mode 100644 index d5dfb05..0000000 --- a/contrib/less/less.nro +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1692 +0,0 @@ -.TH LESS 1 "Version 416: 22 Nov 2007" -.SH NAME -less \- opposite of more -.SH SYNOPSIS -.B "less \-?" -.br -.B "less \-\-help" -.br -.B "less \-V" -.br -.B "less \-\-version" -.br -.B "less [\-[+]aBcCdeEfFgGiIJKLmMnNqQrRsSuUVwWX~]" -.br -.B " [\-b \fIspace\fP] [\-h \fIlines\fP] [\-j \fIline\fP] [\-k \fIkeyfile\fP]" -.br -.B " [\-{oO} \fIlogfile\fP] [\-p \fIpattern\fP] [\-P \fIprompt\fP] [\-t \fItag\fP]" -.br -.B " [\-T \fItagsfile\fP] [\-x \fItab\fP,...] [\-y \fIlines\fP] [\-[z] \fIlines\fP]" -.br -.B " [\-# \fIshift\fP] [+[+]\fIcmd\fP] [\-\-] [\fIfilename\fP]..." -.br -(See the OPTIONS section for alternate option syntax with long option names.) - -.SH DESCRIPTION -.I Less -is a program similar to -.I more -(1), but which allows backward movement -in the file as well as forward movement. -Also, -.I less -does not have to read the entire input file before starting, -so with large input files it starts up faster than text editors like -.I vi -(1). -.I Less -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.) -.PP -Commands are based on both -.I more -and -.I vi. -Commands may be preceded by a decimal number, -called N in the descriptions below. -The number is used by some commands, as indicated. - -.SH COMMANDS -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". -.IP "h or H" -Help: display a summary of these commands. -If you forget all the other commands, remember this one. -.IP "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. -Warning: some systems use ^V as a special literalization character. -.IP "z" -Like SPACE, but if N is specified, it becomes the new window size. -.IP "ESC-SPACE" -Like SPACE, but scrolls a full screenful, even if it reaches -end-of-file in the process. -.IP "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. -.IP "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. -.IP "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. -.IP "w" -Like ESC-v, but if N is specified, it becomes the new window size. -.IP "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. -.IP "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. -.IP "ESC-) or RIGHTARROW" -Scroll horizontally right N characters, default half the screen width -(see the \-# option). -If a number N is specified, it becomes the default for future RIGHTARROW -and LEFTARROW commands. -While the text is scrolled, it acts as though the \-S option -(chop lines) were in effect. -.IP "ESC-( or LEFTARROW" -Scroll horizontally left N characters, default half the screen width -(see the \-# option). -If a number N is specified, it becomes the default for future RIGHTARROW -and LEFTARROW commands. -.IP "r or ^R or ^L" -Repaint the screen. -.IP R -Repaint the screen, discarding any buffered input. -Useful if the file is changing while it is being viewed. -.IP "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 similar to the "tail \-f" command.) -.IP "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.) -.IP "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.) -.IP "p or %" -Go to a position N percent into the file. -N should be between 0 and 100, and may contain a decimal point. -.IP "P" -Go to the line containing byte offset N in the file. -.IP "{" -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. -.IP "}" -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. -.IP "(" -Like {, but applies to parentheses rather than curly brackets. -.IP ")" -Like }, but applies to parentheses rather than curly brackets. -.IP "[" -Like {, but applies to square brackets rather than curly brackets. -.IP "]" -Like }, but applies to square brackets rather than curly brackets. -.IP "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. -.IP "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. -.IP m -Followed by any lowercase letter, -marks the current position with that letter. -.IP "'" -(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. -.IP "^X^X" -Same as single quote. -.IP /pattern -Search forward in the file for the N-th line containing the pattern. -N defaults to 1. -The pattern is a regular expression, as recognized by -the regular expression library supplied by your system. -The search starts at the second line displayed -(but see the \-a and \-j options, which change this). -.sp -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: -.RS -.IP "^N or !" -Search for lines which do NOT match the pattern. -.IP "^E or *" -Search multiple files. -That is, if the search reaches the END of the current file -without finding a match, -the search continues in the next file in the command line list. -.IP "^F or @" -Begin the search at the first line of the FIRST file -in the command line list, -regardless of what is currently displayed on the screen -or the settings of the \-a or \-j options. -.IP "^K" -Highlight any text which matches the pattern on the current screen, -but don't move to the first match (KEEP current position). -.IP "^R" -Don't interpret regular expression metacharacters; -that is, do a simple textual comparison. -.RE -.IP ?pattern -Search backward in the file for the N-th line containing the pattern. -The search starts at the line immediately before the top line displayed. -.sp -Certain characters are special as in the / command: -.RS -.IP "^N or !" -Search for lines which do NOT match the pattern. -.IP "^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 command line list. -.IP "^F or @" -Begin the search at the last line of the last file -in the command line list, -regardless of what is currently displayed on the screen -or the settings of the \-a or \-j options. -.IP "^K" -As in forward searches. -.IP "^R" -As in forward searches. -.RE -.IP "ESC-/pattern" -Same as "/*". -.IP "ESC-?pattern" -Same as "?*". -.IP n -Repeat previous search, for N-th line containing the last pattern. -If the previous search was modified 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. -.IP N -Repeat previous search, but in the reverse direction. -.IP "ESC-n" -Repeat previous search, but crossing file boundaries. -The effect is as if the previous search were modified by *. -.IP "ESC-N" -Repeat previous search, but in the reverse direction -and crossing file boundaries. -.IP "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.) -.IP ":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 previously 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. -Similarly, 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). -.IP "^X^V or E" -Same as :e. -Warning: some systems use ^V as a special literalization character. -On such systems, you may not be able to use ^V. -.IP ":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. -.IP ":p" -Examine the previous file in the command line list. -If a number N is specified, the N-th previous file is examined. -.IP ":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. -.IP ":d" -Remove the current file from the list of files. -.IP "t" -Go to the next tag, if there were more than one matches for the current tag. -See the \-t option for more details about tags. -.IP "T" -Go to the previous tag, if there were more than one matches for the current tag. -.IP "= 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, -the number of lines in the file -and the percent of the file above the last displayed line. -.IP \- -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 immediately 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. -.IP \-\- -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. -.IP \-+ -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 "\-+\fIX\fP" command does the same thing -as "\-+\fIX\fP" on the command line.) -This does not work for string-valued options. -.IP \-\-+ -Like the \-+ command, but takes a long option name -rather than a single option letter. -.IP \-! -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. -.IP \-\-! -Like the \-! command, but takes a long option name -rather than a single option letter. -.IP _ -(Underscore.) -Followed by one of the command line option letters, -this will print a message describing the current setting of that option. -The setting of the option is not changed. -.IP __ -(Double underscore.) -Like the _ (underscore) command, but takes a long option name -rather than a single option letter. -You must press RETURN after typing the option name. -.IP +cmd -Causes the specified cmd to be executed each time a new file is examined. -For example, +G causes -.I less -to initially display each file starting at the end -rather than the beginning. -.IP V -Prints the version number of -.I less -being run. -.IP "q or Q or :q or :Q or ZZ" -Exits -.I less. -.PP -The following -four -commands may or may not be valid, depending on your particular installation. -.PP -.IP 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. -.IP "! 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 environment variable SHELL, -or defaults to "sh". -On MS-DOS and OS/2 systems, the shell is the normal command processor. -.IP "| <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. -.IP "s filename" -Save the input to a file. -This only works if the input is a pipe, not an ordinary file. -.PP -.SH OPTIONS -Command line options are described below. -Most options may be changed while -.I less -is running, via the "\-" command. -.PP -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 abbreviated 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 \-\-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 capitalized; -the remainder of the name may be in either case. -For example, \-\-Quit-at-eof is equivalent to \-\-QUIT-AT-EOF. -.PP -Options are also taken from the environment variable "LESS". -For example, -to avoid typing "less \-options ..." each time -.I less -is invoked, you might tell -.I csh: -.sp -setenv LESS "-options" -.sp -or if you use -.I sh: -.sp -LESS="-options"; export LESS -.sp -On MS-DOS, you don't need the quotes, but you should replace any -percent signs in the options string by double percent signs. -.sp -The environment variable is parsed before the command line, -so command line options override the LESS environment 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 "\-+". -.sp -For options like \-P or \-D which take a following string, -a dollar sign ($) must be used to signal the end of the string. -For example, to set two \-D options on MS-DOS, you must have -a dollar sign between them, like this: -.sp -LESS="-Dn9.1$-Ds4.1" -.sp -.IP "\-? or \-\-help" -This option displays a summary of the commands accepted by -.I less -(the same as the h command). -(Depending on how your shell interprets the question mark, -it may be necessary to quote the question mark, thus: "\-\e?".) -.IP "\-a or \-\-search-skip-screen" -Causes searches to start after the last line -displayed on the screen, -thus skipping all lines displayed on the screen. -By default, searches start at the second line on the screen -(or after the last found line; see the \-j option). -.IP "\-b\fIn\fP or \-\-buffers=\fIn\fP" -Specifies the amount of buffer space -.I less -will use for each file, in units of kilobytes (1024 bytes). -By default 64K of buffer space is used for each file -(unless the file is a pipe; see the \-B option). -The \-b option specifies instead that \fIn\fP kilobytes of -buffer space should be used for each file. -If \fIn\fP is \-1, buffer space is unlimited; that is, -the entire file can be read into memory. -.IP "\-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 64K -(or the amount of space specified by the \-b option) -is used for the pipe. -Warning: use of \-B can result in erroneous display, since only the -most recently viewed part of the piped data is kept in memory; -any earlier data is lost. -.IP "\-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. -.IP "\-C or \-\-CLEAR-SCREEN" -Same as \-c, for compatibility with older versions of -.I less. -.IP "\-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 -.I less -on a dumb terminal. -.IP "\-D\fBx\fP\fIcolor\fP or \-\-color=\fBx\fP\fIcolor\fP" -[MS-DOS only] -Sets the color of the text displayed. -\fBx\fP is a single character which selects the type of text whose color is -being set: n=normal, s=standout, d=bold, u=underlined, k=blink. -\fIcolor\fP 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 \fIN\fP is the same as \fIN.0\fP. -.IP "\-e or \-\-quit-at-eof" -Causes -.I less -to automatically exit -the second time it reaches end-of-file. -By default, the only way to exit -.I less -is via the "q" command. -.IP "\-E or \-\-QUIT-AT-EOF" -Causes -.I less -to automatically exit the first time it reaches end-of-file. -.IP "\-f or \-\-force" -Forces non-regular files to be opened. -(A non-regular file is a directory or a device special file.) -Also suppresses the warning message when a binary file is opened. -By default, -.I less -will refuse to open non-regular files. -Note that some operating systems will not allow directories -to be read, even if \-f is set. -.IP "\-F or \-\-quit-if-one-screen" -Causes -.I less -to automatically exit -if the entire file can be displayed on the first screen. -.IP "\-g or \-\-hilite-search" -Normally, -.I less -will highlight ALL strings which match the last search command. -The \-g option changes this behavior to highlight only the particular string -which was found by the last search command. -This can cause -.I less -to run somewhat faster than the default. -.IP "\-G or \-\-HILITE-SEARCH" -The \-G option suppresses all highlighting of strings found by search commands. -.IP "\-h\fIn\fP or \-\-max-back-scroll=\fIn\fP" -Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll backward. -If it is necessary to scroll backward more than \fIn\fP lines, -the screen is repainted in a forward direction instead. -(If the terminal does not have the ability to scroll -backward, \-h0 is implied.) -.IP "\-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. -.IP "\-I or \-\-IGNORE-CASE" -Like \-i, but searches ignore case even if -the pattern contains uppercase letters. -.IP "\-j\fIn\fP or \-\-jump-target=\fIn\fP" -Specifies a line on the screen where the "target" line -is to be positioned. -The target line is the line specified by any command to -search for a pattern, jump to a line number, -jump to a file percentage or jump to a tag. -The screen line may be 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. -Alternately, the screen line may be specified as a fraction of the height -of the screen, starting with a decimal point: .5 is in the middle of the -screen, .3 is three tenths down from the first line, and so on. -If the line is specified as a fraction, the actual line number -is recalculated if the terminal window is resized, so that the -target line remains at the specified fraction of the screen height. -If any form of the \-j option is used, -forward searches begin at the line immediately after the target line, -and backward searches begin at the target line. -For example, if "\-j4" is used, the target line is the -fourth line on the screen, so forward searches begin at the fifth line -on the screen. -.IP "\-J or \-\-status-column" -Displays a status column at the left edge of the screen. -The status column shows the lines that matched the current search. -The status column is also used if the \-w or \-W option is in effect. -.IP "\-k\fIfilename\fP or \-\-lesskey-file=\fIfilename\fP" -Causes -.I less -to open and interpret the named file as a -.I lesskey -(1) file. -Multiple \-k options may be specified. -If the LESSKEY or LESSKEY_SYSTEM environment variable is set, or -if a lesskey file is found in a standard place (see KEY BINDINGS), -it is also used as a -.I lesskey -file. -.IP "\-K or \-\-quit-on-intr" -Causes -.I less -to exit immediately when an interrupt character (usually ^C) is typed. -Normally, an interrupt character causes -.I less -to stop whatever it is doing and return to its command prompt. -Note that use of this option makes it impossible to return to the -command prompt from the "F" command. -.IP "\-L or \-\-no-lessopen" -Ignore the LESSOPEN environment variable -(see the INPUT PREPROCESSOR section below). -This option can be set from within \fIless\fP, -but it will apply only to files opened subsequently, not to the -file which is currently open. -.IP "\-m or \-\-long-prompt" -Causes -.I less -to prompt verbosely (like \fImore\fP), -with the percent into the file. -By default, -.I less -prompts with a colon. -.IP "\-M or \-\-LONG-PROMPT" -Causes -.I less -to prompt even more verbosely than -.I more. -.IP "\-n or \-\-line-numbers" -Suppresses line numbers. -The default (to use line numbers) may cause -.I less -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). -.IP "\-N or \-\-LINE-NUMBERS" -Causes a line number to be displayed at the beginning of -each line in the display. -.IP "\-o\fIfilename\fP or \-\-log-file=\fIfilename\fP" -Causes -.I less -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, -.I less -will ask for confirmation before overwriting it. -.IP "\-O\fIfilename\fP or \-\-LOG-FILE=\fIfilename\fP" -The \-O option is like \-o, but it will overwrite an existing -file without asking for confirmation. -.sp -If no log file has been specified, -the \-o and \-O options can be used from within -.I less -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 -.I less. -.IP "\-p\fIpattern\fP or \-\-pattern=\fIpattern\fP" -The \-p option on the command line is equivalent to -specifying +/\fIpattern\fP; -that is, it tells -.I less -to start at the first occurrence of \fIpattern\fP in the file. -.IP "\-P\fIprompt\fP or \-\-prompt=\fIprompt\fP" -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 -.I less -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. --Pw changes the message printed while waiting for data (in the F command). -All prompt strings consist of a sequence of -letters and special escape sequences. -See the section on PROMPTS for more details. -.IP "\-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. -.IP "\-Q or \-\-QUIET or \-\-SILENT" -Causes totally "quiet" operation: -the terminal bell is never rung. -.IP "\-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, -.I less -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. -.IP "\-R or \-\-RAW-CONTROL-CHARS" -Like \-r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences are output in "raw" form. -Unlike \-r, the screen appearance is maintained correctly in most cases. -ANSI "color" escape sequences are sequences of the form: -.sp - ESC [ ... m -.sp -where the "..." is zero or more color specification characters -For the purpose of keeping track of screen appearance, -ANSI color escape sequences are assumed to not move the cursor. -You can make -.I less -think that characters 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. -And you can make -.I less -think that characters other than the standard ones may appear between -the ESC and the m by setting the environment variable LESSANSIMIDCHARS -to the list of characters which can appear. -.IP "\-s or \-\-squeeze-blank-lines" -Causes consecutive blank lines to be squeezed into a single blank line. -This is useful when viewing -.I nroff -output. -.IP "\-S or \-\-chop-long-lines" -Causes lines longer than the screen width to be -chopped rather than folded. -That is, the portion of a long line that does not fit in -the screen width is not shown. -The default is to fold long lines; that is, display the remainder -on the next line. -.IP "\-t\fItag\fP or \-\-tag=\fItag\fP" -The \-t option, followed immediately by a TAG, -will edit the file containing that tag. -For this to work, tag information must be available; -for example, there may be a file in the current directory called "tags", -which was previously built by -.I ctags -(1) or an equivalent command. -If the environment variable LESSGLOBALTAGS is set, it is taken to be -the name of a command compatible with -.I global -(1), and that command is executed to find the tag. -(See http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). -The \-t option may also be specified from within -.I less -(using the \- command) as a way of examining a new file. -The command ":t" is equivalent to specifying \-t from within -.I less. -.IP "\-T\fItagsfile\fP or \-\-tag-file=\fItagsfile\fP" -Specifies a tags file to be used instead of "tags". -.IP "\-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. -.IP "\-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. -.sp -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 which is overstruck or underlined can be searched for -if neither \-u nor \-U is in effect. -.IP "\-V or \-\-version" -Displays the version number of -.I less. -.IP "\-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 highlights the target line after a g or p command. -The highlight is removed at the next command which causes movement. -The entire line is highlighted, unless the \-J option is in effect, -in which case only the status column is highlighted. -.IP "\-W or \-\-HILITE-UNREAD" -Like \-w, but temporarily highlights the first new line after any -forward movement command larger than one line. -.IP "\-x\fIn\fP,... or \-\-tabs=\fIn\fP,..." -Sets tab stops. -If only one \fIn\fP is specified, tab stops are set at multiples of \fIn\fP. -If multiple values separated by commas are specified, tab stops -are set at those positions, and then continue with the same spacing as the -last two. -For example, \fI-x9,17\fP will set tabs at positions 9, 17, 25, 33, etc. -The default for \fIn\fP is 8. -.IP "\-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. -.IP "\-y\fIn\fP or \-\-max-forw-scroll=\fIn\fP" -Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll forward. -If it is necessary to scroll forward more than \fIn\fP 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. -.IP "\-[z]\fIn\fP or \-\-window=\fIn\fP" -Changes the default scrolling window size to \fIn\fP 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 some versions of -.I more. -If the number -.I n -is negative, it indicates -.I n -lines less than the current screen size. -For example, if the screen is 24 lines, \fI\-z-4\fP sets the -scrolling window to 20 lines. If the screen is resized to 40 lines, -the scrolling window automatically changes to 36 lines. -.IP "\-\fI\(dqcc\fP\ or\ \-\-quotes=\fIcc\fP" -Changes the filename quoting character. -This may be necessary if you are trying to name a file -which contains both spaces and quote characters. -Followed 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 character. -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). -.IP "\-~ 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. -.IP "\-# or \-\-shift" -Specifies the default number of positions to scroll horizontally -in the RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW commands. -If the number specified is zero, it sets the default number of -positions to one half of the screen width. -.IP "\-\-no-keypad" -Disables sending the keypad initialization and deinitialization strings -to the terminal. -This is sometimes useful if the keypad strings make the numeric -keypad behave in an undesirable manner. -.IP "\-\-follow-name" -Normally, if the input file is renamed while an F command is executing, -.I less -will continue to display the contents of the original file despite -its name change. -If \-\-follow-name is specified, during an F command -.I less -will periodically attempt to reopen the file by name. -If the reopen succeeds and the file is a different file from the original -(which means that a new file has been created -with the same name as the original (now renamed) file), -.I less -will display the contents of that new file. -.IP \-\- -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 "+". -.IP + -If a command line option begins with \fB+\fP, -the remainder of that option is taken to be an initial command to -.I less. -For example, +G tells -.I less -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 display 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. - -.SH "LINE EDITING" -When entering command line at the bottom of the screen -(for example, a filename for the :e command, -or the pattern for a search command), -certain keys can be used to manipulate the command line. -Most commands have an alternate 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. -.IP "LEFTARROW [ ESC-h ]" -Move the cursor one space to the left. -.IP "RIGHTARROW [ ESC-l ]" -Move the cursor one space to the right. -.IP "^LEFTARROW [ ESC-b or ESC-LEFTARROW ]" -(That is, CONTROL and LEFTARROW simultaneously.) -Move the cursor one word to the left. -.IP "^RIGHTARROW [ ESC-w or ESC-RIGHTARROW ]" -(That is, CONTROL and RIGHTARROW simultaneously.) -Move the cursor one word to the right. -.IP "HOME [ ESC-0 ]" -Move the cursor to the beginning of the line. -.IP "END [ ESC-$ ]" -Move the cursor to the end of the line. -.IP "BACKSPACE" -Delete the character to the left of the cursor, -or cancel the command if the command line is empty. -.IP "DELETE or [ ESC-x ]" -Delete the character under the cursor. -.IP "^BACKSPACE [ ESC-BACKSPACE ]" -(That is, CONTROL and BACKSPACE simultaneously.) -Delete the word to the left of the cursor. -.IP "^DELETE [ ESC-X or ESC-DELETE ]" -(That is, CONTROL and DELETE simultaneously.) -Delete the word under the cursor. -.IP "UPARROW [ ESC-k ]" -Retrieve the previous command line. -.IP "DOWNARROW [ ESC-j ]" -Retrieve the next command line. -.IP "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 directory, a "/" is appended to the filename. -(On MS-DOS systems, a "\e" is appended.) -The environment variable LESSSEPARATOR can be used to specify a -different character to append to a directory name. -.IP "BACKTAB [ ESC-TAB ]" -Like, TAB, but cycles in the reverse direction thru the matching filenames. -.IP "^L" -Complete the partial filename to the left of the cursor. -If it matches more than one filename, all matches are entered into -the command line (if they fit). -.IP "^U (Unix and OS/2) or ESC (MS-DOS)" -Delete the entire command line, -or cancel the command if the command line is empty. -If you have changed your line-kill character in Unix to something -other than ^U, that character is used instead of ^U. - -.SH "KEY BINDINGS" -You may define your own -.I less -commands by using the program -.I lesskey -(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 -.I lesskey -to change the line-editing keys (see LINE EDITING), -and to set environment variables. -If the environment variable LESSKEY is set, -.I less -uses that as the name of the lesskey file. -Otherwise, -.I less -looks in a standard place for the lesskey file: -On Unix systems, -.I less -looks for a lesskey file called "$HOME/.less". -On MS-DOS and Windows systems, -.I less -looks for a lesskey file called "$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 systems, -.I less -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 -.I lesskey -manual page for more details. -.P -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, -.I less -uses that as the name of the system-wide lesskey file. -Otherwise, -.I less -looks in a standard place for the system-wide lesskey file: -On Unix systems, the system-wide lesskey file is /usr/local/etc/sysless. -(However, if -.I less -was built with a different sysconf directory than /usr/local/etc, -that directory is where the sysless file is found.) -On MS-DOS and Windows systems, the system-wide lesskey file is c:\e_sysless. -On OS/2 systems, the system-wide lesskey file is c:\esysless.ini. - -.SH "INPUT PREPROCESSOR" -You may define an "input preprocessor" for -.I less. -Before -.I less -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 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, -.I less -will display the original filename as the name of the current file. -.PP -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 filename, -.I less -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 environment 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. -.PP -When -.I less -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 original name of the file and -the second with the name of the replacement file, -which was output by LESSOPEN. -.PP -For example, on many Unix systems, these two scripts will allow you -to keep files in compressed format, but still let -.I less -view them directly: -.PP -lessopen.sh: -.br - #! /bin/sh -.br - case "$1" in -.br - *.Z) uncompress -\c $1 >/tmp/less.$$ 2>/dev/null -.br - if [ \-s /tmp/less.$$ ]; then -.br - echo /tmp/less.$$ -.br - else -.br - rm \-f /tmp/less.$$ -.br - fi -.br - ;; -.br - esac -.PP -lessclose.sh: -.br - #! /bin/sh -.br - rm $2 -.PP -To use these scripts, put them both where they can be executed 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. -.PP -It is also possible to set up an input preprocessor to -pipe the file data directly to -.I less, -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 -.I less -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 preprocessor is an input pipe. -.PP -For example, on many Unix systems, this script will work like the -previous example scripts: -.PP -lesspipe.sh: -.br - #! /bin/sh -.br - case "$1" in -.br - *.Z) uncompress \-c $1 2>/dev/null -.br - ;; -.br - esac -.br -.PP -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 "\-". - -.SH "NATIONAL CHARACTER SETS" -There are three types of characters in the input file: -.IP "normal characters" -can be displayed directly to the screen. -.IP "control characters" -should not be displayed directly, but are expected to be found -in ordinary text files (such as backspace and tab). -.IP "binary characters" -should not be displayed directly and are not expected to be found -in text files. -.PP -A "character set" is simply a description of which characters 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: -.IP ascii -BS, TAB, NL, CR, and formfeed are control characters, -all chars with values between 32 and 126 are normal, -and all others are binary. -.IP iso8859 -Selects an ISO 8859 character set. -This is the same as ASCII, except characters between 160 and 255 are -treated as normal characters. -.IP latin1 -Same as iso8859. -.IP latin9 -Same as iso8859. -.IP dos -Selects a character set appropriate for MS-DOS. -.IP ebcdic -Selects an EBCDIC character set. -.IP IBM-1047 -Selects an EBCDIC character set used by OS/390 Unix Services. -This is the EBCDIC analogue of latin1. You get similar results -by setting either LESSCHARSET=IBM-1047 or LC_CTYPE=en_US -in your environment. -.IP koi8-r -Selects a Russian character set. -.IP next -Selects a character set appropriate for NeXT computers. -.IP utf-8 -Selects the UTF-8 encoding of the ISO 10646 character set. -UTF-8 is special in that it supports multi-byte characters in the input file. -It is the only character set that supports multi-byte characters. -.IP windows -Selects a character set appropriate for Microsoft Windows (cp 1251). -.PP -In special cases, it may be desired to tailor -.I less -to use a character set other than the ones definable by LESSCHARSET. -In this case, the environment variable LESSCHARDEF can be used -to define a character set. -It should be set to a string where each character in the string represents -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 repetition. -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 necessarily -represent any real character set.) -.PP -This table shows the value of LESSCHARDEF which is equivalent -to each of the possible values for LESSCHARSET: -.sp - ascii\ 8bcccbcc18b95.b -.br - dos\ \ \ 8bcccbcc12bc5b95.b. -.br - ebcdic 5bc6bcc7bcc41b.9b7.9b5.b..8b6.10b6.b9.7b -.br - \ \ \ \ \ \ 9.8b8.17b3.3b9.7b9.8b8.6b10.b.b.b. -.br - IBM-1047 4cbcbc3b9cbccbccbb4c6bcc5b3cbbc4bc4bccbc -.br - \ \ \ \ \ \ 191.b -.br - iso8859 8bcccbcc18b95.33b. -.br - koi8-r 8bcccbcc18b95.b128. -.br - latin1 8bcccbcc18b95.33b. -.br - next\ \ 8bcccbcc18b95.bb125.bb -.PP -If neither LESSCHARSET nor LESSCHARDEF is set, -but any of the strings "UTF-8", "UTF8", "utf-8" or "utf8" -is found in the LC_ALL, LC_TYPE or LANG -environment variables, then the default character set is utf-8. -.PP -If that string is not found, but your system supports the -.I setlocale -interface, -.I less -will use setlocale to determine the character set. -setlocale is controlled by setting the LANG or LC_CTYPE environment -variables. -.PP -Finally, if the -.I setlocale -interface is also not available, the default character set is latin1. -.PP -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 variable. -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 LESSBINFMT is "*u[%x]", binary characters -are displayed in underlined hexadecimal surrounded by brackets. -The default if no LESSBINFMT is specified is "*s<%X>". -The default if no LESSBINFMT is specified is "*s<%02X>". -Warning: the result of expanding the character via LESSBINFMT must -be less than 31 characters. -.PP -When the character set is utf-8, the LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable -acts similarly to LESSBINFMT but it applies to Unicode code points -that were successfully decoded but are unsuitable for display (e.g., -unassigned code points). -Its default value is "<U+%04lX>". -Note that LESSUTFBINFMT and LESSBINFMT share their display attribute -setting ("*x") so specifying one will affect both; -LESSUTFBINFMT is read after LESSBINFMT so its setting, if any, -will have priority. -Problematic octets in a UTF-8 file (octets of a truncated sequence, -octets of a complete but non-shortest form sequence, illegal octets, -and stray trailing octets) -are displayed individually using LESSBINFMT so as to facilitate diagnostic -of how the UTF-8 file is ill-formed. - -.SH "PROMPTS" -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 ordinary user need not understand the details of constructing -personalized prompt strings. -.sp -A percent sign followed by a single character is expanded -according to what the following character is: -.IP "%b\fIX\fP" -Replaced by the byte offset into the current input file. -The b is followed by a single character (shown as \fIX\fP 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. -.IP "%B" -Replaced by the size of the current input file. -.IP "%c" -Replaced by the column number of the text appearing in the first -column of the screen. -.IP "%d\fIX\fP" -Replaced by the page number of a line in the input file. -The line to be used is determined by the \fIX\fP, as with the %b option. -.IP "%D" -Replaced by the number of pages in the input file, -or equivalently, the page number of the last line in the input file. -.IP "%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 discussion of the LESSEDIT feature below. -.IP "%f" -Replaced by the name of the current input file. -.IP "%i" -Replaced by the index of the current file in the list of -input files. -.IP "%l\fIX\fP" -Replaced by the line number of a line in the input file. -The line to be used is determined by the \fIX\fP, as with the %b option. -.IP "%L" -Replaced by the line number of the last line in the input file. -.IP "%m" -Replaced by the total number of input files. -.IP "%p\fIX\fP" -Replaced by the percent into the current input file, based on byte offsets. -The line used is determined by the \fIX\fP as with the %b option. -.IP "%P\fIX\fP" -Replaced by the percent into the current input file, based on line numbers. -The line used is determined by the \fIX\fP as with the %b option. -.IP "%s" -Same as %B. -.IP "%t" -Causes any trailing spaces to be removed. -Usually used at the end of the string, but may appear anywhere. -.IP "%x" -Replaced by the name of the next input file in the list. -.PP -If any item is unknown (for example, the file size if input -is a pipe), a question mark is printed instead. -.PP -The format of the prompt string can be changed -depending on certain conditions. -A question mark followed by a single character acts like an "IF": -depending on the following character, a condition is evaluated. -If the condition 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: -.IP "?a" -True if any characters have been included in the prompt so far. -.IP "?b\fIX\fP" -True if the byte offset of the specified line is known. -.IP "?B" -True if the size of current input file is known. -.IP "?c" -True if the text is horizontally shifted (%c is not zero). -.IP "?d\fIX\fP" -True if the page number of the specified line is known. -.IP "?e" -True if at end-of-file. -.IP "?f" -True if there is an input filename -(that is, if input is not a pipe). -.IP "?l\fIX\fP" -True if the line number of the specified line is known. -.IP "?L" -True if the line number of the last line in the file is known. -.IP "?m" -True if there is more than one input file. -.IP "?n" -True if this is the first prompt in a new input file. -.IP "?p\fIX\fP" -True if the percent into the current input file, based on byte offsets, -of the specified line is known. -.IP "?P\fIX\fP" -True if the percent into the current input file, based on line numbers, -of the specified line is known. -.IP "?s" -Same as "?B". -.IP "?x" -True if there is a next input file -(that is, if the current input file is not the last one). -.PP -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. -.PP -Some examples: -.sp -?f%f:Standard input. -.sp -This prompt prints the filename, if known; -otherwise the string "Standard input". -.sp -?f%f .?ltLine %lt:?pt%pt\e%:?btByte %bt:-... -.sp -This prompt would print the filename, if known. -The filename 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. -.sp -?n?f%f\ .?m(file\ %i\ of\ %m)\ ..?e(END)\ ?x-\ Next\e:\ %x..%t -.sp -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 reference, here are the defaults for -the other two prompts (\-m and \-M respectively). -Each is broken into two lines here for readability only. -.nf -.sp -?n?f%f\ .?m(file\ %i\ of\ %m)\ ..?e(END)\ ?x-\ Next\e:\ %x.: - ?pB%pB\e%:byte\ %bB?s/%s...%t -.sp -?f%f\ .?n?m(file\ %i\ of\ %m)\ ..?ltlines\ %lt-%lb?L/%L.\ : - byte\ %bB?s/%s.\ .?e(END)\ ?x-\ Next\e:\ %x.:?pB%pB\e%..%t -.sp -.fi -And here is the default message produced by the = command: -.nf -.sp -?f%f\ .?m(file\ %i\ of\ %m)\ .?ltlines\ %lt-%lb?L/%L.\ . - byte\ %bB?s/%s.\ ?e(END)\ :?pB%pB\e%..%t -.fi -.PP -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 command is invoked. -The LESSEDIT string is expanded in the same way as the prompt strings. -The default value for LESSEDIT is: -.nf -.sp - %E\ ?lm+%lm.\ %f -.sp -.fi -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 variable can be -changed to modify this default. - -.SH SECURITY -When the environment variable LESSSECURE is set to 1, -.I less -runs in a "secure" mode. -This means these features are disabled: -.RS -.IP "!" -the shell command -.IP "|" -the pipe command -.IP ":e" -the examine command. -.IP "v" -the editing command -.IP "s \-o" -log files -.IP "\-k" -use of lesskey files -.IP "\-t" -use of tags files -.IP " " -metacharacters in filenames, such as * -.IP " " -filename completion (TAB, ^L) -.RE -.PP -Less can also be compiled to be permanently in "secure" mode. - -.SH "COMPATIBILITY WITH MORE" -If the environment variable LESS_IS_MORE is set to 1, -or if the program is invoked via a file link named "more", -.I less -behaves (mostly) in conformance with the POSIX "more" command specification. -In this mode, less behaves differently in these ways: -.PP -The \-e option works differently. -If the \-e option is not set, -.I less -behaves as if the \-E option were set. -If the \-e option is set, -.I less -behaves as if the \-e and \-F options were set. -.PP -The \-m option works differently. -If the \-m option is not set, the medium prompt is used, -and it is prefixed with the string "--More--". -If the \-m option is set, the short prompt is used. -.PP -The \-n option acts like the \-z option. -The normal behavior of the \-n option is unavailable in this mode. -.PP -The parameter to the \-p option is taken to be a -.I less -command rather than a search pattern. -.PP -The LESS environment variable is ignored, -and the MORE environment variable is used in its place. - -.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES" -Environment variables may be specified either in the system environment -as usual, or in a -.I lesskey -(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. -.IP 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.) -.IP EDITOR -The name of the editor (used for the v command). -.IP HOME -Name of the user's home directory -(used to find a lesskey file on Unix and OS/2 systems). -.IP "HOMEDRIVE, HOMEPATH" -Concatenation of the HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH environment variables is -the name of the user's home directory if the HOME variable is not set -(only in the Windows version). -.IP INIT -Name of the user's init directory (used to find a lesskey file on OS/2 systems). -.IP LANG -Language for determining the character set. -.IP LC_CTYPE -Language for determining the character set. -.IP LESS -Options which are passed to -.I less -automatically. -.IP LESSANSIENDCHARS -Characters which may end an ANSI color escape sequence -(default "m"). -.IP LESSANSIMIDCHARS -Characters which may appear between the ESC character and the -end character in an ANSI color escape sequence -(default "0123456789;[?!"'#%()*+\ ". -.IP LESSBINFMT -Format for displaying non-printable, non-control characters. -.IP LESSCHARDEF -Defines a character set. -.IP LESSCHARSET -Selects a predefined character set. -.IP LESSCLOSE -Command line to invoke the (optional) input-postprocessor. -.IP LESSECHO -Name of the lessecho program (default "lessecho"). -The lessecho program is needed to expand metacharacters, such as * and ?, -in filenames on Unix systems. -.IP LESSEDIT -Editor prototype string (used for the v command). -See discussion under PROMPTS. -.IP LESSGLOBALTAGS -Name of the command used by the \-t option to find global tags. -Normally should be set to "global" if your system has the -.I global -(1) command. If not set, global tags are not used. -.IP LESSHISTFILE -Name of the history file used to remember search commands and -shell commands between invocations of -.I less. -If set to "\-" or "/dev/null", a history file is not used. -The default is "$HOME/.lesshst" on Unix systems, "$HOME/_lesshst" on -DOS and Windows systems, or "$HOME/lesshst.ini" or "$INIT/lesshst.ini" -on OS/2 systems. -.IP LESSHISTSIZE -The maximum number of commands to save in the history file. -The default is 100. -.IP LESSKEY -Name of the default lesskey(1) file. -.IP LESSKEY_SYSTEM -Name of the default system-wide lesskey(1) file. -.IP LESSMETACHARS -List of characters which are considered "metacharacters" by the shell. -.IP LESSMETAESCAPE -Prefix which less will add before each metacharacter in a -command sent to the shell. -If LESSMETAESCAPE is an empty string, commands containing -metacharacters will not be passed to the shell. -.IP LESSOPEN -Command line to invoke the (optional) input-preprocessor. -.IP LESSSECURE -Runs less in "secure" mode. -See discussion under SECURITY. -.IP LESSSEPARATOR -String to be appended to a directory name in filename completion. -.IP LESSUTFBINFMT -Format for displaying non-printable Unicode code points. -.IP LESS_IS_MORE -Emulate the -.I more -(1) command. -.IP 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.) -.IP PATH -User's search path (used to find a lesskey file -on MS-DOS and OS/2 systems). -.IP SHELL -The shell used to execute the ! command, as well as to expand filenames. -.IP TERM -The type of terminal on which -.I less -is being run. -.IP VISUAL -The name of the editor (used for the v command). - -.SH "SEE ALSO" -lesskey(1) - -.SH WARNINGS -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. -.PP -On certain older terminals (the so-called "magic cookie" terminals), -search highlighting will cause an erroneous display. -On such terminals, search highlighting is disabled by default -to avoid possible problems. -.PP -When searching in a binary file, text which follows a null byte -may not be found. -This problem does not occur when searching with regular expressions turned -off via ^R, and also does not occur when -.I less -is compiled to use the PCRE regular expression library. -.PP -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.) -.PP -On some systems, -.I setlocale -claims that ASCII characters 0 thru 31 are control characters -rather than binary characters. -This causes -.I less -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). -.PP -This manual is too long. -.PP -See http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less for the latest list of known bugs in less. - -.SH COPYRIGHT -Copyright (C) 1984-2007 Mark Nudelman -.PP -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. -.PP -less is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but -WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY -or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. -See the GNU General Public License for more details. - -.SH AUTHOR -.PP -Mark Nudelman <markn@greenwoodsoftware.com> -.br -Send bug reports or comments to the above address or to -.br -bug-less@gnu.org. -.br -For more information, see the less homepage at -.br -http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less. |