less

Question 1

less

Answer 1

less is a filter for paging through text one screenful at a time.

Question 2

less [MOVING]

e

y

f

b

Answer 2

e, Forward one line.

y, Backward one line.

f, Forward one window.

b, Backward one window.

Question 3

less [SEARCHING]

/pattern

?pattern

n

N

Answer 3

/pattern, Search forward for matching lines.

?pattern, Search backward for matching lines.

n, Repeat previous search for another occurance.

N, Repeat previous search in the reverse direction.

Question 4

less [JUMPING]

g

G

p

t

T

Answer 4

g, Goto first line in a file.

G, Goto last line in a file.

p, Goto beginning of file(or N percent into file)

t, Goto the next tag.

T, Goto the previous tag.

Question 5

less [CHANGING FILES]

:e [file]

:n

:p

:x

:d

=

Answer 5

:e [file], Examine a new file.

:n, Examine the next file from the command line.

:p, Examine the previous file from the command line.

:x, Examine the first file from the command line list.

:d, Delete the current file from the command line list.

=, Print current file name.

Question 6

less [MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS]

v

Answer 6

v, Edit the current file with $VISUAL or $EDITOR

Question 7

less [OPTIONS]

• ?
• a
• A
• b
• B
• c

Answer 7

• ?, –help, Display help.
• a, –search-skip-screen, Search skips current screen.
• A, –SEARCH-SKIP-SCREEN, Search starts just after target line.
• b [N], –buffers=[N], Number of buffers.
• B, –auto-buffers, Don’t automatically allocate buffers for pipes.
• c, –clear-screen, Repaint by clearing rather than scrolling.

Question 8

less [OPTIONS]

• d
• D [xn.n]
• e, -E
• f
• F

Answer 8

• d, –dumb, Dumb terminal.
• D [xn.n], –color=xn.n, Set screen colors. (MS-DOS only).
• e, -E, –quit-at-eof, –QUIT-AT-EOF, Quit at end of file.
• f, –force, Force open non-regular files.
• F, –quit-if-one-screen, Quit if entire file fits on first screen.

Question 9

less [OPTIONS]

• g
• G
• h [N]
• i
• I
• j [N]

Answer 9

• g, –hilite-search, Highlight only last match for searches.
• G, –HILITE-SEARCH, Don’t highlight any matches for searches.
• h [N], –max-back-scroll=[N], Backward scroll limit.
• i, –ignore-case, Ignore case in searches that do not contain uppercase.
• I, –IGNORE-CASE, Ignore case in all searches.
• j [N], –jump-target=[N], Screen position of target lines.

Question 10

less [OPTIONS]

• J
• k [file]
• K
• L
• m, -M
• n, -N

Answer 10

• J, –status-column, Display a status column at left edge of screen.
• k [file], –lesskey-file=[file], Use a lesskey file.
• K, –quit-on-intr, Exit less in reponse to crtl-C.
• L, –no-lessopen, Ignore the LESSOPEN environment variable.
• m, -M, –long-prompt, –LONG-PROMPT, Set prompt style.
• n, -N, –line-numbers, –LINE-NUMBERS, Don’t use line numbers.

Question 11

less [OPTIONS]

• o [file]
• O [file]
• p [pattern]
• P [prompt]
• q, -Q
• r, -R

Answer 11

• o [file], –log-file=[file], Copy to log file (stdin only)
• O [file], –LOG-FILE=[file], Copy to log file (unconditionally overwrite).
• p [pattern], –pattern=[pattern], Start at pattern (from command line).
• P [prompt], –prompt=[prompt], Define new prompt.
• q, -Q, –quiet, –QUIET, –silent, –SILENT, Quiet the terminal bell.
• r, -R, –raw-control-chars, –RAW-CONTROL-CHARS, Output “raw” control characters.

Question 12

less [OPTIONS]

• s
• S
• t [tag]
• T [tagsfile]
• u, -U
• V

Answer 12

• s, –squeeze-blank-lines, Squeeze multiple blank lines.
• S, –chop-long-lines, Chop (truncate) long lines rather than wrapping.
• t [tag], –tag=[tag], Find a tag.
• T [tagsfile], –tag-file=[tagsfile], Use an alternate tags file.
• u, -U, –underline-special, –UNDERLINE-SPECIAL, Change handling of backspaces.
• V, –version, Display version number.

Question 13

less [OPTIONS]

• w
• W
• x [N[…]]
• X
• y [N]
• z [N]

Answer 13

• w, –hilite-unread, Highlight first new line after forward screen.
• W, –HILITE-UNREAD, Highlight first new line after any forward movement.
• x [N[…]], –tabs=[N[…]], Set tab stops.
• X, –no-init, Don’t use termcap init/deinit strings.
• y [N], –max-forw-scroll=[N], Forward scroll limit.
• z [N], –window=[N], Set size of window.

Question 14

less {OPTIONS]

• ” [c[c]]
• ~
• # [N]

–no-keypad

–follow-name

–use-backslash

Answer 14

• ” [c[c]], –quotes=[c[c]], Set shell quote characters.
• ~, –tilde, Don’t display tildes after end of file.
• # [N], –shift=[N], Horizontal scroll amount (0 = one half screen width)

–no-keypad, Don’t send termcap keypad init/deinit strings.

–follow-name, The F command changes files if the input file is renamed.

–use-backslash, Subsequent options use backslash as escape char.