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less(1)

NAME

       less - opposite of more

SYNOPSIS

       less -?
       less --help
       less -V
       less --version
       less [-[+]aBcCdeEfFgGiIJLmMnNqQrRsSuUVwWX~]
	    [-b space] [-h lines] [-j line] [-k keyfile]
	    [-{oO} logfile] [-p pattern] [-P prompt] [-t tag]
	    [-T tagsfile] [-x tab,...] [-y lines] [-[z] lines]
	    [-# shift] [+[+]cmd] [--] [filename]...
       (See  the  OPTIONS section for alternate option syntax with long option
       names.)

DESCRIPTION

       Less is a program similar to more (1), but which allows backward  move-
       ment in the file as well as forward movement.  Also, 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 vi (1).  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.)

       Commands  are based on both more and vi.  Commands may be preceded by a
       decimal number, called N in the descriptions below.  The number is used
       by some commands, as indicated.

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".

       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.  Warning: some systems use ^V as a  spe-
	      cial literalization 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  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 dis-
	      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 dis-
	      played, 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 com-
	      mands.  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 com-
	      mands.

       r or ^R or ^L
	      Repaint the screen.

       R      Repaint the screen, discarding any buffered  input.   Useful  if
	      the file is changing while it is being viewed.

       F      Scroll  forward, and keep trying to read when the end of file is
	      reached.	Normally this command would be used  when  already  at
	      the  end of the file.  It is a way to monitor the tail of a file
	      which is growing while it is being  viewed.   (The  behavior  is
	      similar to the "tail -f" command.)

       g or < or ESC-<
	      Go to line N in the file, default 1 (beginning of file).	(Warn-
	      ing: 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.	(Warn-
	      ing:  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
	      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 brack-
	      ets.

       ]      Like }, but applies to square brackets rather than curly	brack-
	      ets.

       ESC-^F Followed	by two characters, acts like {, but uses the two char-
	      acters 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  char-
	      acters  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.

       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.  Fol-
	      lowed 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 ' com-
	      mand 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 containing the pat-
	      tern.  N defaults to 1.  The pattern is a regular expression, as
	      recognized by ed.  The search starts at  the  second  line  dis-
	      played (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 pattern.

	      ^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.

	      ^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

       ?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.

	      Certain characters are special as in the / command:

	      ^N or !
		     Search for lines which do NOT match the pattern.

	      ^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.

	      ^F or @
		     Begin the search at the last line of the last file in the
		     command line list, regardless of what is  currently  dis-
		     played  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  pat-
	      tern.   If the previous search was modified by ^N, the search is
	      made for the N-th line NOT containing the pattern.  If the  pre-
	      vious  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 direction.

       ESC-n  Repeat  previous	search,  but  crossing	file  boundaries.  The
	      effect is as if the previous search were modified by *.

       ESC-N  Repeat previous search, but in the reverse direction and	cross-
	      ing 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]
	      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 special  literal-
	      ization  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  com-
	      mand  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 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 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 set-
	      ting 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
	      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 let-
	      ters, this will print a message describing the  current  setting
	      of that option.  The setting of the option is not changed.

       __     (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.

       +cmd   Causes  the specified cmd to be executed each time a new file is
	      examined.  For example, +G causes less to initially display each
	      file starting at the end rather than the beginning.

       V      Prints the version number of less being run.

       q or Q or :q or :Q or ZZ
	      Exits less.

       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  nei-
	      ther  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 exam-
	      ined  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.

       | <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  indi-
	      cate beginning or end of file respectively.  If <m> is . or new-
	      line, 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.

OPTIONS

       Command	line options are described below.  Most options may be changed
       while less is running, via the "-" command.
       ter  capitalized; 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 exam-
       ple, to avoid typing "less -options ..." each time less is invoked, you
       might tell csh:

       setenv LESS "-options"

       or if you use sh:

       LESS="-options"; export LESS

       On MS-DOS, you don't need the quotes, but you should replace  any  per-
       cent 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  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 "-+".

       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 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: "-\?".)

       -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).

       -bn or --buffers=n
	      Specifies  the  amount  of  buffer  space 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  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 allo-
	      cated.  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
       -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 less on a
	      dumb terminal.

       -Dxcolor or --color=xcolor
	      [MS-DOS only] Sets the color of the text displayed.  x is a sin-
	      gle  character  which  selects  the  type of text whose color is
	      being set: n=normal, s=standout, d=bold, u=underlined,  k=blink.
	      color  is  a  pair  of numbers separated by a period.  The first
	      number selects the foreground color and the second  selects  the
	      background  color of the text.  A single number N is the same as
	      N.0.

       -e or --quit-at-eof
	      Causes less to automatically exit the  second  time  it  reaches
	      end-of-file.   By  default, the only way to exit less is via the
	      "q" command.

       -E or --QUIT-AT-EOF
	      Causes less to automatically exit the first time it reaches end-
	      of-file.

       -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  warn-
	      ing message when a binary file is opened.  By default, less will
	      refuse to open non-regular files.

       -F or --quit-if-one-screen
	      Causes less to automatically exit if the entire file can be dis-
	      played on the first screen.

       -g or --hilite-search
	      Normally,  less  will highlight ALL strings which match the last
	      search command.  The -g option changes this  behavior  to  high-
	      light  only  the	particular  string which was found by the last
	      search command.  This can cause less to run somewhat faster than
	      the default.

       -G or --HILITE-SEARCH
	      The  -G  option  suppresses all highlighting of strings found by
	      search commands.

       -hn or ---max-back-scroll=n
	      Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll backward.	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

       -jn or --jump-target=n
	      Specifies a line on the screen where the "target" line is to  be
	      positioned.   A  target line is the object of a text search, tag
	      search, jump to a line number, jump to  a  file  percentage,  or
	      jump  to	a  marked position.  The screen line is specified by a
	      number: the top line on the screen is 1, the next is 2,  and  so
	      on.   The  number  may be negative to specify a line relative to
	      the bottom of the screen: the bottom line on the screen  is  -1,
	      the  second to the bottom is -2, and so on.  If the -j option is
	      used, searches begin at the line immediately  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.

       -kfilename or --lesskey-file=filename
	      Causes less to open and interpret the named file	as  a  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 lesskey file.

       -L or --no-lessopen
	      Ignore the LESSOPEN environment variable	(see  the  INPUT  PRE-
	      PROCESSOR  section  below).   This option can be set from within
	      less, but it will apply only to files opened  subsequently,  not
	      to the file which is currently open.

       -m or --long-prompt
	      Causes  less  to	prompt verbosely (like more), with the percent
	      into the file.  By default, less prompts with a colon.

       -M or --LONG-PROMPT
	      Causes less to prompt even more verbosely than more.

       -n or --line-numbers
	      Suppresses line numbers.	The default (to use line numbers)  may
	      cause  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).

       -N or --LINE-NUMBERS
	      Causes  a  line  number to be displayed at the beginning of each
	      line in the display.

       -ofilename or --log-file=filename
	      Causes 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
	      used  from  within  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 less.

       -ppattern or --pattern=pattern
	      The  -p  option  on the command line is equivalent to specifying
	      +/pattern; that is, it tells less to start at the  first	occur-
	      rence of pattern in the file.

       -Pprompt or --prompt=prompt
	      Provides	a  way	to  tailor the three prompt styles to your own
	      preference.  This option would normally be put in the LESS envi-
	      ronment variable, rather than being typed in with each less com-
	      mand.  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.	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, 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 dis-
	      play  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 less  think  that  characters
	      other  than  "m"	can end ANSI color escape sequences by setting
	      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.

       -ttag or --tag=tag
	      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 ctags (1)
	      or an equivalent command.  If the environment variable LESSGLOB-
	      ALTAGS is set, it is taken to be the name of a command  compati-
	      ble  with  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 less (using the -
	      command) as a way of examining a new file.  The command ":t"  is
	      equivalent to specifying -t from within less.

       -Ttagsfile or --tag-file=tagsfile
	      Specifies a tags file to be used instead of "tags".

       -u or --underline-special
	      Causes  backspaces  and carriage returns to be treated as print-
	      able 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  spe-
	      cially:  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  bold-
	      face  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	under-
	      lined can be searched for if neither -u nor -U is in effect.

       -V or --version
	      Displays the version number of less.

       -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 imme-
	      diately  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 move-
	      ment.  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 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	clear-
	      ing 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.

       -yn or --max-forw-scroll=n
	      Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll forward.  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  compati-
	      bility  with  more.  If the number n is negative, it indicates 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 auto-
	      matically changes to 36 lines.

       -"cc or --quotes=cc
	      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).

       -~ 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 commands.  If the number speci-
	      fied 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 argu-
	      ments.  Any arguments following this are	interpreted  as  file-
	      names.  This can be useful when viewing a file whose name begins
	      with a "-" or "+".
	      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 ini-
	      tial command for every file.

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), cer-
       tain 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 lit-
       erally by preceding it with the "literal" character, either ^V  or  ^A.
       A  backslash itself may also be entered literally by entering two back-
       slashes.

       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  cur-
	      sor one word to the left.

       ^RIGHTARROW [ ESC-w or ESC-RIGHTARROW ]
	      (That is, CONTROL and RIGHTARROW simultaneously.)  Move the cur-
	      sor 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.

       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 command if the
	      command line is empty.  If you have changed your line-kill char-
	      acter in Unix to something other than ^U, that character is used
	      instead of ^U.

KEY BINDINGS

       You may define your own less commands by using the program 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  lesskey  to
       change the line-editing keys (see LINE EDITING), and to set environment
       variables.  If the environment variable LESSKEY is set, less uses  that
       as  the	name of the lesskey file.  Otherwise, less looks in a standard
       place for the lesskey file: On Unix systems, less looks for  a  lesskey
       file  called  "$HOME/.less".  On MS-DOS and Windows systems, less looks
       for a lesskey file called "$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, 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	lesskey  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,
       less uses that as the name of the system-wide lesskey file.  Otherwise,
       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  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:\_sys-
       less.  On OS/2 systems, the system-wide lesskey file is c:\sysless.ini.

INPUT PREPROCESSOR

       You  may  define an "input preprocessor" for less.  Before 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 sim-
       ply an executable program (or shell script), which writes the  contents
       of the file to a different file, called the replacement file.  The con-
       tents of the replacement file are then displayed in place of  the  con-
       tents  of the original file.  However, it will appear to the user as if
       the original file is opened; that is, less will	display  the  original
       filename as the name of the current file.

       should  include	one  occurrence  of  the  string  "%s",  which will be
       replaced by  the  filename  when  the  input  preprocessor  command  is
       invoked.

       When less closes a file opened in such a way, it will call another pro-
       gram, 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 orig-
       inal  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.

       For example, on many Unix systems, these two scripts will allow you  to
       keep files in compressed format, but still let less 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 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.

       It  is  also  possible to set up an input preprocessor to pipe the file
       data directly to less, rather than putting the data into a  replacement
       file.  This avoids the need to decompress the entire file before start-
       ing 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 replace-
       ment 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  replace-
       ment  file and 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.

       For example, on many Unix systems, this script will work like the  pre-
       vious example scripts:

       lesspipe.sh:
	    #! /bin/sh
	    case "$1" in
       name passed to the LESSCLOSE postprocessor is "-".

NATIONAL CHARACTER SETS

       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 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:

       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.

       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 LESSCHARSET=IBM-1047 or LC_CTYPE=en_US in your
	      environment.

       koi8-r Selects a Russian character set.

       next   Selects a character set appropriate for NeXT computers.

       utf-8  Selects the UTF-8 encoding of the ISO 10646 character set.

       In  special  cases, it may be desired to tailor 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	repre-
       sents  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

	    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
	    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 setlocale
       interface, less will use setlocale  to  determine  the  character  set.
       setlocale  is  controlled  by  setting the LANG or LC_CTYPE environment
       variables.

       Finally, if the setlocale 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 char-
       acter  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>".

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 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:

       %bX    Replaced by the byte offset into the current input file.	The  b
	      is followed by a single character (shown as X above) which spec-
	      ifies the line whose byte offset is to be used.  If the  charac-
	      ter  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 bot-
	      tom  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
	      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 equiva-
	      lently, 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 discussion 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.

       %lX    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.

       %pX    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.

       %PX    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 anywhere.

       %x     Replaced by the name of the next input file in the list.

       If any item is unknown (for example, the file size if input is a pipe),
       a question mark is printed instead.

       The  format  of	the  prompt string can be changed depending on certain
       conditions.  A question mark followed by a single character  acts  like
       an  "IF":  depending  on the following character, a condition is evalu-
       ated.  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.

       ?bX    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).


       ?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.

       ?pX    True if the percent into the current input file, based  on  byte
	      offsets, of the specified line is known.

       ?PX    True  if	the percent into the current input file, based on line
	      numbers, of the specified line is known.

       ?s     Same as "?B".

       ?x     True if there is a next input file  (that  is,  if  the  current
	      input file is not the last one).

       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	"Stan-
       dard input".

       ?f%f .?ltLine %lt:?pt%pt\%:?btByte %bt:-...

       This  prompt  would print the filename, if known.  The filename is fol-
       lowed 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, fol-
       lowed 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. .

	    %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 variable can be changed to modify this default.

SECURITY

       When  the  environment  variable LESSSECURE is set to 1, less 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.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       Environment variables may be specified either in the system environment
       as  usual,  or  in  a  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.

       COLUMNS
	      Sets the number of columns on the screen.  Takes precedence over
	      the number of columns specified by the TERM variable.   (But  if
	      you  have  a  windowing  system  which  supports	TIOCGWINSZ  or
	      WIOCGETD, the window system's idea  of  the  screen  size  takes
	      precedence over the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables.)

       EDITOR The name of the editor (used for the v command).

       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  environment  vari-
	      ables is the name of the user's home directory if the HOME vari-
	      able is not set (only in the Windows version).

       LESS   Options which are passed to less 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-postprocessor.

       LESSECHO
	      Name of the lessecho program (default "lessecho").  The lessecho
	      program  is needed to expand metacharacters, such as * and ?, in
	      filenames on Unix systems.

       LESSEDIT
	      Editor prototype string (used for the v command).   See  discus-
	      sion under PROMPTS.

       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 global
	      (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 "metacharacters" by the
	      shell.

       LESSMETAESCAPE
	      Prefix which less will add before each metacharacter in  a  com-
	      mand  sent  to the shell.  If LESSMETAESCAPE is an empty string,
	      commands containing metacharacters will not  be  passed  to  the
	      shell.

       LESSOPEN
	      Command line to invoke the (optional) input-preprocessor.

       LESSSECURE
	      Runs less in "secure" mode.  See discussion under SECURITY.

       LESSSEPARATOR
	      String  to  be  appended to a directory name in filename comple-
	      tion.


       SHELL  The  shell  used	to execute the ! command, as well as to expand
	      filenames.

       TERM   The type of terminal on which less is being run.

       VISUAL The name of the editor (used for the v command).

SEE ALSO

       lesskey(1)

WARNINGS

       The = command and prompts (unless changed by -P) report the  line  num-
       bers 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 termi-
       nals, search highlighting is disabled  by  default  to  avoid  possible
       problems.

       In certain cases, when search highlighting is enabled and a search pat-
       tern begins with a ^, more text than the matching string may  be  high-
       lighted.  (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 containing an embedded escape
       sequence.  Also, search highlighting may change the color  of  some  of
       the text which follows the highlighted text.

       On  some  systems, setlocale claims that ASCII characters 0 thru 31 are
       control characters rather than binary characters.  This causes 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).

       See  http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less for the latest list of known
       bugs in this version of less.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2002  Mark Nudelman

       less is part of the GNU project and is free software.  You  can	redis-
       tribute	it and/or modify it under the terms of either (1) the GNU Gen-
       eral 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

AUTHOR

       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.greenwood-
       software.com/less.

			   Version 381: 17 Jan 2003		       LESS(1)

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