1 2 SSUUMMMMAARRYY OOFF LLEESSSS CCOOMMMMAANNDDSS 3 4 Commands marked with * may be preceded by a number, _N. 5 Notes in parentheses indicate the behavior if _N is given. 6 7 h H Display this help. 8 q :q Q :Q ZZ Exit. 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 11 MMOOVVIINNGG 12 13 e ^E j ^N CR * Forward one line (or _N lines). 14 y ^Y k ^K ^P * Backward one line (or _N lines). 15 f ^F ^V SPACE * Forward one window (or _N lines). 16 b ^B ESC-v * Backward one window (or _N lines). 17 z * Forward one window (and set window to _N). 18 w * Backward one window (and set window to _N). 19 ESC-SPACE * Forward one window, but don't stop at end-of-file. 20 d ^D * Forward one half-window (and set half-window to _N). 21 u ^U * Backward one half-window (and set half-window to _N). 22 ESC-( RightArrow * Left 8 character positions (or _N positions). 23 ESC-) LeftArrow * Right 8 character positions (or _N positions). 24 F Forward forever; like "tail -f". 25 r ^R ^L Repaint screen. 26 R Repaint screen, discarding buffered input. 27 --------------------------------------------------- 28 Default "window" is the screen height. 29 Default "half-window" is half of the screen height. 30 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 32 SSEEAARRCCHHIINNGG 33 34 /_p_a_t_t_e_r_n * Search forward for (_N-th) matching line. 35 ?_p_a_t_t_e_r_n * Search backward for (_N-th) matching line. 36 n * Repeat previous search (for _N-th occurrence). 37 N * Repeat previous search in reverse direction. 38 ESC-n * Repeat previous search, spanning files. 39 ESC-N * Repeat previous search, reverse dir. & spanning files. 40 ESC-u Undo (toggle) search highlighting. 41 --------------------------------------------------- 42 Search patterns may be modified by one or more of: 43 ^N or ! Search for NON-matching lines. 44 ^E or * Search multiple files (pass thru END OF FILE). 45 ^F or @ Start search at FIRST file (for /) or last file (for ?). 46 ^K Highlight matches, but don't move (KEEP position). 47 ^R Don't use REGULAR EXPRESSIONS. 48 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 49 50 JJUUMMPPIINNGG 51 52 g < ESC-< * Go to first line in file (or line _N). 53 G > ESC-> * Go to last line in file (or line _N). 54 p % * Go to beginning of file (or _N percent into file). 55 { ( [ * Find close bracket } ) ]. 56 } ) ] * Find open bracket { ( [. 57 ESC-^F _<_c_1_> _<_c_2_> * Find close bracket _<_c_2_>. 58 ESC-^B _<_c_1_> _<_c_2_> * Find open bracket _<_c_1_> 59 --------------------------------------------------- 60 Each "find close bracket" command goes forward to the close bracket 61 matching the (_N-th) open bracket in the top line. 62 Each "find open bracket" command goes backward to the open bracket 63 matching the (_N-th) close bracket in the bottom line. 64 65 m_<_l_e_t_t_e_r_> Mark the current position with <letter>. 66 '_<_l_e_t_t_e_r_> Go to a previously marked position. 67 '' Go to the previous position. 68 ^X^X Same as '. 69 --------------------------------------------------- 70 A mark is any upper-case or lower-case letter. 71 Certain marks are predefined: 72 ^ means beginning of the file 73 $ means end of the file 74 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 75 76 CCHHAANNGGIINNGG FFIILLEESS 77 78 :e [_f_i_l_e] Examine a new file. 79 ^X^V Same as :e. 80 :n * Examine the (_N-th) next file from the command line. 81 :p * Examine the (_N-th) previous file from the command line. 82 :x * Examine the first (or _N-th) file from the command line. 83 :d Delete the current file from the command line list. 84 = ^G :f Print current file name. 85 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 86 87 MMIISSCCEELLLLAANNEEOOUUSS CCOOMMMMAANNDDSS 88 89 -_<_f_l_a_g_> Toggle a command line option [see OPTIONS below]. 90 --_<_n_a_m_e_> Toggle a command line option, by name. 91 __<_f_l_a_g_> Display the setting of a command line option. 92 ___<_n_a_m_e_> Display the setting of an option, by name. 93 +_c_m_d Execute the less cmd each time a new file is examined. 94 95 !_c_o_m_m_a_n_d Execute the shell command with $SHELL. 96 |XX_c_o_m_m_a_n_d Pipe file between current pos & mark XX to shell command. 97 v Edit the current file with $VISUAL or $EDITOR. 98 V Print version number of "less". 99 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100 101 OOPPTTIIOONNSS 102 103 Most options may be changed either on the command line, 104 or from within less by using the - or -- command. 105 Options may be given in one of two forms: either a single 106 character preceded by a -, or a name preceeded by --. 107 108 -? ........ --help 109 Display help (from command line). 110 -a ........ --search-skip-screen 111 Forward search skips current screen. 112 -b [_N] .... --buffers=[_N] 113 Number of buffers. 114 -B ........ --auto-buffers 115 Don't automatically allocate buffers for pipes. 116 -c -C .... --clear-screen --CLEAR-SCREEN 117 Repaint by scrolling/clearing. 118 -d ........ --dumb 119 Dumb terminal. 120 -D [_x_n_._n] . --color=_x_n_._n 121 Set screen colors. (MS-DOS only) 122 -e -E .... --quit-at-eof --QUIT-AT-EOF 123 Quit at end of file. 124 -f ........ --force 125 Force open non-regular files. 126 -F ........ --quit-if-one-screen 127 Quit if entire file fits on first screen. 128 -g ........ --hilite-search 129 Highlight only last match for searches. 130 -G ........ --HILITE-SEARCH 131 Don't highlight any matches for searches. 132 -h [_N] .... --max-back-scroll=[_N] 133 Backward scroll limit. 134 -i ........ --ignore-case 135 Ignore case in searches that do not contain uppercase. 136 -I ........ --IGNORE-CASE 137 Ignore case in all searches. 138 -j [_N] .... --jump-target=[_N] 139 Screen position of target lines. 140 -J ........ --status-column 141 Display a status column at left edge of screen. 142 -k [_f_i_l_e] . --lesskey-file=[_f_i_l_e] 143 Use a lesskey file. 144 -m -M .... --long-prompt --LONG-PROMPT 145 Set prompt style. 146 -n -N .... --line-numbers --LINE-NUMBERS 147 Use line numbers. 148 -o [_f_i_l_e] . --log-file=[_f_i_l_e] 149 Copy to log file (standard input only). 150 -O [_f_i_l_e] . --LOG-FILE=[_f_i_l_e] 151 Copy to log file (unconditionally overwrite). 152 -p [_p_a_t_t_e_r_n] --pattern=[_p_a_t_t_e_r_n] 153 Start at pattern (from command line). 154 -P [_p_r_o_m_p_t] --prompt=[_p_r_o_m_p_t] 155 Define new prompt. 156 -q -Q .... --quiet --QUIET --silent --SILENT 157 Quiet the terminal bell. 158 -r -R .... --raw-control-chars --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS 159 Output "raw" control characters. 160 -s ........ --squeeze-blank-lines 161 Squeeze multiple blank lines. 162 -S ........ --chop-long-lines 163 Chop long lines. 164 -t [_t_a_g] .. --tag=[_t_a_g] 165 Find a tag. 166 -T [_t_a_g_s_f_i_l_e] --tag-file=[_t_a_g_s_f_i_l_e] 167 Use an alternate tags file. 168 -u -U .... --underline-special --UNDERLINE-SPECIAL 169 Change handling of backspaces. 170 -V ........ --version 171 Display the version number of "less". 172 -w ........ --hilite-unread 173 Highlight first new line after forward-screen. 174 -W ........ --HILITE-UNREAD 175 Highlight first new line after any forward movement. 176 -x [_N] .... --tabs=[_N] 177 Set tab stops. 178 -X ........ --no-init 179 Don't use termcap init/deinit strings. 180 -y [_N] .... --max-forw-scroll=[_N] 181 Forward scroll limit. 182 -z [_N] .... --window=[_N] 183 Set size of window. 184 -" [_c[_c]] . --quotes=[_c[_c]] 185 Set shell quote characters. 186 -~ ........ --tilde 187 Don't display tildes after end of file. 188 -# [_N] .... --shift=[_N] 189 Horizontal scroll amount (0 = one half screen width) 190 191 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 192 193 LLIINNEE EEDDIITTIINNGG 194 195 These keys can be used to edit text being entered 196 on the "command line" at the bottom of the screen. 197 198 RightArrow ESC-l Move cursor right one character. 199 LeftArrow ESC-h Move cursor left one character. 200 CNTL-RightArrow ESC-RightArrow ESC-w Move cursor right one word. 201 CNTL-LeftArrow ESC-LeftArrow ESC-b Move cursor left one word. 202 HOME ESC-0 Move cursor to start of line. 203 END ESC-$ Move cursor to end of line. 204 BACKSPACE Delete char to left of cursor. 205 DELETE ESC-x Delete char under cursor. 206 CNTL-BACKSPACE ESC-BACKSPACE Delete word to left of cursor. 207 CNTL-DELETE ESC-DELETE ESC-X Delete word under cursor. 208 CNTL-U ESC (MS-DOS only) Delete entire line. 209 UpArrow ESC-k Retrieve previous command line. 210 DownArrow ESC-j Retrieve next command line. 211 TAB Complete filename & cycle. 212 SHIFT-TAB ESC-TAB Complete filename & reverse cycle. 213 CNTL-L Complete filename, list all. 214 215