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Text File | 2002-01-14 | 80KB | 2,047 lines

LESS(1) LESS(1) NNAAMMEE less - opposite of more SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS lleessss --?? lleessss ----hheellpp lleessss --VV lleessss ----vveerrssiioonn lleessss [[--[[++]]aaBBccCCddeeEEffFFggGGiiIIJJmmMMnnNNqqQQrrRRssSSuuUUVVwwWWXX]] [[--bb _s_p_a_c_e]] [[--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 373: 14 Jan 2002 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 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. 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. 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 2 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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.) 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, Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 3 LESS(1) LESS(1) respectively. For example, "ESC ^B < >" could be used to go backward to the < which matches the > in the bottom displayed line. 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 4 LESS(1) LESS(1) comparison. ?pattern Search backward in the file for the N-th line con¡ taining 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 *. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 5 LESS(1) LESS(1) ESC-N Repeat previous search, but in the reverse direc¡ tion and crossing file boundaries. 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. t Go to the next tag, if there were more than one matches for the current tag. See the -t option for Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 6 LESS(1) LESS(1) more details about tags. T Go to the previous tag, if there were more than one matches for the current tag. = 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. - 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 7 LESS(1) LESS(1) setting 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 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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 8 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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 --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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 9 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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). -b_n or --buffers=_n Specifies the amount of buffer space _l_e_s_s 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 _n kilobytes of buffer space should be used for each file. If _n is -1, buffer space is unlimited; that is, the entire file is read into memory. -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 erro¡ neous 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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 10 LESS(1) LESS(1) -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 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 11 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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. -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. -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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 12 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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. -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. -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. -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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 13 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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 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, tag information must be available; for exam¡ ple, there may be a file in the current directory called "tags", which was previously built by _c_t_a_g_s (1) or an equivalent command. If the environment variable LESSGLOBALTAGS is set, it is taken to be the name of a command compatible with _g_l_o_b_a_l (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 _l_e_s_s (using the - command) as a way of examining a Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 14 LESS(1) LESS(1) new file. The command ":t" is equivalent to speci¡ fying -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 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. The entire line is highlighted, unless the -J option is in effect, in which case only the status column is highlighted. -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. If only one _n is specified, tab stops are set at multiples of _n. If multiple val¡ ues separated by commas are specified, tab stops Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 15 LESS(1) LESS(1) are set at those positions, and then continue with the same spacing as the last two. For example, _-_x_9_,_1_7 will set tabs at positions 9, 17, 25, 33, etc. 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. --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. -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 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). Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 16 LESS(1) LESS(1) -~ 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. -# or --shift Specifies the default number of positions to scroll horizontally in the RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW com¡ mands. If the number specified is zero, it sets the default number of positions to one half of the screen width. -- 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. 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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 17 LESS(1) LESS(1) ^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 matches are entered into the command line (if they fit). ^U (Unix and OS/2) 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 18 LESS(1) LESS(1) something 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/etc/sysless. (However, if _l_e_s_s 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:\_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 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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 19 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 20 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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. 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 21 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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. latin9 Same as iso8859. dos Selects a character set appropriate for MS-DOS. ebcdic Selects an EBCDIC character set. 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 LESS¡ CHARSET=IBM-1047 or LC_CTYPE=en_US in your environ¡ ment. 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. 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. ebcdic 5bc6bcc7bcc41b.9b7.9b5.b..8b6.10b6.b9.7b 9.8b8.17b3.3b9.7b9.8b8.6b10.b.b.b. IBM-1047 4cbcbc3b9cbccbccbb4c6bcc5b3cbbc4bc4bccbc 191.b Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 22 LESS(1) LESS(1) iso8859 8bcccbcc18b95.33b. koi8-r 8bcccbcc18b95.b128. latin1 8bcccbcc18b95.33b. next 8bcccbcc18b95.bb125.bb If neither LESSCHARSET nor LESSCHARDEF is set, but the string "UTF-8" is found in the LC_ALL, LC_TYPE or LANG environment variables, then the default character set is utf-8. If that string is not found, 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. Finally, if the _s_e_t_l_o_c_a_l_e interface is also not available, the default character set is latin1. 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 23 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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. %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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 24 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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 sin¡ gle character acts like an "IF": depending on the follow¡ ing 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: ?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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 25 LESS(1) LESS(1) ?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). 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 26 LESS(1) LESS(1) same way as the prompt strings. The default value for LESSEDIT is: %E ?lm+%lm. %f 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 Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 27 LESS(1) LESS(1) precedence over the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables.) EDITOR The name of the editor (used for the v command). HOME Name of the user's home directory (used to find a lesskey file on Unix and OS/2 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. LESSGLOBALTAGS Name of the command used by the -t option to find Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 28 LESS(1) LESS(1) global tags. Normally should be set to "global" if your system has the _g_l_o_b_a_l (1) command. If not set, global tags are not used. LESSKEY Name of the default lesskey(1) file. LESSKEY_SYSTEM Name of the default system-wide lesskey(1) file. 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) Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 29 LESS(1) LESS(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. 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.) When viewing text containing ANSI color escape sequences using the -R option, searching will not find text contain¡ ing an embedded escape sequence. Also, search highlight¡ ing may change the color of some of the text which follows the highlighted text. 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.greenwoodsoftware.com/less for the latest list of known bugs in this version of less. CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT Copyright (C) 2001 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. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 30 LESS(1) LESS(1) 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 <markn@greenwoodsoftware.com> Send bug reports or comments to the above address or to bug-less@gnu.org. For more information, see the less homepage at http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less. Version 373: 14 Jan 2002 31