more, page - Displays a file one screenful at a time
Current Syntax
more [-NWcdefhiqrsuvxz] [-n number] [-p command]
[+line_number | [-t tagstring] +/pattern] [file...]
page [-NWcdefhiqrsuvxz] [-n number] [-p command]
[+line_number | +/pattern] [-t tagstring] [file...]
Obsolescent Syntax [Toc] [Back]
more [-NWcdefhiqrsuvxz] [-number] [-p command] [+G]
[+line_number | +/pattern] [-t tagstring] [file...]
page [-NWcdefhiqrsuvxz] [-number] [-p command] [+G]
[+line_number | +/pattern] [-t tagstring] [file...]
The more command invokes a filter that allows examination
of continuous text, one screenful at a time, on a
soft-copy terminal.
[Tru64 UNIX] The page command is equivalent to more, but
erases the screen before displaying each screenful.
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to
industry standards as follows:
more: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information
about industry standards and associated tags.
Suppresses line numbering. The default display, with line
numbers, can slow the more command's performance on very
large input files. The line numbering feature displays the
line number in the = subcommand and passes the line number
to the editor (if it is the vi editor. Provides optional
extensions to the more command. Currently, the following
two options are supported:
notite Prevents the more command from sending the
terminal initialization string before displaying
the file. This argument also prevents the more
command from sending the terminal de-initialization
string before exiting.
tite Causes the more command to send the initialization
and the de-initialization strings, by
default. Starts each screenful at the top of the
screen and erases existing output on each line
before displaying a new line. This avoids
scrolling the screen, making it easier to read
while more is writing. It is also faster than
scrolling on many terminals. This option is
ignored if the terminal does not have the ability
to clear to the end of a line. This option does
not work with -h. [Tru64 UNIX] Prompts you to
continue, quit, or obtain help after each screenful
of text. Exits immediately after writing the last
line of the last file in the argument list. [Tru64
UNIX] Counts logical lines rather than screen
lines; that is, long lines are not folded. This
option is recommended if nroff output is piped
through ul, or if more reads any text that contains
escape sequences. Escape sequences contain characters
that would ordinarily occupy screen positions,
but which do not print when they are sent to the
terminal as part of an escape sequences. Thus more
may think that lines are longer than they actually
are, and fold lines erroneously. [Tru64
UNIX] Help mode. Perform pattern matching in
searches without regard to case. Specifies the
number of lines per screenful. The number argument
is a positive decimal integer. The -n option overrides
any values obtained from the environment.
For each file examined, initially execute the more
command in the command argument. If the command is
a positioning command, such as a line number or a
regular expression search, set the current position
to represent the final results of the command,
without writing any intermediate lines of the file.
For example, the two commands: more -p 1000j file
more -p 1000G file
would be equivalent and start the display with the
current position at line 1000, bypassing the lines
that j would write and scroll off the screen if it
had been issued during the file examination. If
the positioning command is unsuccessful, the first
line in the file will be the current position.
[Tru64 UNIX] Requires an explicit quit command,
rather than quitting automatically, when the spacebar
is hit at the end of file. [Tru64
UNIX] Ignores most control characters that it does
not interpret in some way. Control characters that
are not understood are displayed as ^C where C represents
any such character. Squeezes multiple
empty lines from the output, producing only one
empty line. Especially helpful when viewing nroff
output, this option maximizes the amount of useful
information present on the screen. Suppresses processing
of underlined text for terminal display.
Normally, more handles underlining in a manner
appropriate to the particular terminal: if the terminal
can perform underlining or has a highlight
mode, more outputs appropriate escape sequences to
enable underlining or highlight mode for underlined
information in the source file. Write the screenful
of the file containing the tag named by the
tagstring argument. See the ctags(1) reference
page. [Tru64 UNIX] Does not display nonprinting
characters graphically. Without this option, all
non-ASCII and control characters (except <Tab>,
<Backspace>, and <Return>) are displayed visibly in
the form ^X for <Ctrl-x>, or M-x for non-ASCII
character x. Set the tabstops every tabs position.
The default value for the tabs argument is 8.
[Tru64 UNIX] Same as if the -v option is not
given, but in addition, <Backspace> is displayed as
^H, <Return> as ^M, and <Tab> as ^I. [Tru64
UNIX] Starts up at line_number. [Tru64
UNIX] Starts up at the last screenful in the file.
This gives you an opportunity to scroll or page
backward through the file. Starts up at the line
containing the regular expression pattern. [Tru64
UNIX] Sets the number of lines in the display window
to number. The default is two lines less than
the number of lines displayed by the terminal; on a
screen that displays 24 lines, the default is 22.
The more utility reads files and either writes them to the
terminal on a page-by-page basis or filters them to standard
output. If standard output is not a terminal device,
all input files are copied to standard output in their
entirety, without modification. If standard output is a
terminal device, the files are displayed (one screenful)
at a time under the control of user commands. The more
command pauses when it encounters a page break (embedded
^L) in text.
The number of lines available per screen is determined by
the -n option, if specified, or by examining values in the
environment (see ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES). If neither
method yields a number, an unspecified number of lines is
displayed. The actual number of lines written is one less
than this number, as the last line of the screen is used
to display a user prompt and user input. If the number of
lines available per screen is less than four, the results
are undefined.
If the terminal type can be determined, the more command
looks in the terminfo database to determine terminal characteristics,
and to determine the default window size. On
a terminal capable of displaying 24 lines, the default
window size is 22 lines.
If the program is invoked as page, then the screen is
cleared before each screenful is printed (but only if a
full screenful is being printed), and k minus 1 rather
than k minus 2 lines are printed in each screenful, where
k is the number of lines the terminal can display.
The more command provides the following subcommands that
you can type when more pauses. These commands are
designed to be similar to the commands supported by the vi
editor; (i is an optional integer argument, defaulting to
1.) Regular expressions (as referred to here) are
described under grep. All three forms display i more
lines. Displays i more lines, or another screenful if i
is not specified. Scrolls one-half screen forward (displays
the next k/2 lines, where k is the number of lines
displayed by the <Space> command). If i is specified,
then the scroll size is set to i. Same as <Ctrl-d>.
Scrolls one-half screen backward. If i is specified, then
the scroll size is set to i. Note that if your line kill
character is <Ctrl-u>, then you must use the u command to
scroll backward. Same as <Ctrl-u>. Scroll back i lines.
Same as <Ctrl-y>. Displays i more lines. Goes to line i
and displays a screenful, making line i the top line on
the screen. If i is not specified, then more displays the
first screenful in the file. Skips i screenfuls and
prints a screenful. Skips i lines and prints a screenful.
Skips back i screenfuls and prints a screenful. Same as
b. Exits from more. Displays the current line number.
Starts up the vi editor at the current line. Displays a
description of all the more subcommands. Searches for the
ith occurrence of the regular expression expression. If
there are less than i occurrences of expression, and the
input is a file rather than a pipe, then the position in
the file remains unchanged. Otherwise, a screenful is
displayed, starting with the line matching expression. You
can use Erase and Kill characters to edit the regular
expression, which must be terminated by pressing <Return>
(with no trailing / character). Erasing back past the
first column cancels the search command. If expression is
null, more uses the last regular expression entered. Same
as /, but searches backward in the file. Searches for the
ith occurrence of the last regular expression entered.
Searches for the ith occurrence of the last regular
expression entered, but reverses the direction of that
search. Returns to the point from which the last search
started. If no search was performed in the current file,
returns to the beginning of the file. Invokes a shell
with command. The % (percent sign) and ! (exclamation
point) characters in command are replaced with the current
file name and the previous shell command, respectively.
If there is no current file name, % is not expanded. The
sequences \% and \! are replaced by % and !, respectively.
Skips to the ith next file specified in the command
line. Skips to the ith previous file given in the
command line. If this command is given during display of
a file, more returns to the beginning of the file. If
more is not reading from a file, the bell is rung and
nothing else happens. Displays the current file name and
line number. Exits from more (same as q or Q). Repeats
the previous command. Redraws the screen. Displays help
information.
The commands take effect immediately; it is not necessary
to type a carriage-return. Up to the time when the command
character itself is given, you can enter the line
Kill character to cancel the numerical argument being
formed. In addition, you can enter the Erase character to
redisplay the prompt.
At any time when output is being sent to the terminal, you
can press q. The more command stops sending output, and
displays the usual prompt. You can then enter one of the
preceding commands in the normal manner. Some output is
lost when this is done, due to the fact that any characters
waiting in the terminal's output queue are flushed
when the QUIT signal occurs.
The terminal is set to noecho mode by this program so that
the output can be continuous. Thus, subcommands you enter
do not show on your terminal, except for the / (slash), ?
(question mark), and ! (exclamation point) commands.
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion.
An error occurred.
The input files being examined must be text files. If
standard output is a terminal, standard error is used to
read commands from the user. If standard output is a terminal,
standard error is not readable, and command input
is needed, more terminates with an error indicating that
it was unable to read user commands. If standard output
is not a terminal, no error results if standard error cannot
be opened for reading.
The following is a sample use of more in previewing nroff
output: nroff -ms doc.n | more -s -f
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES [Toc] [Back] [Tru64 UNIX] Normally, you place the command sequence
that sets up the environment variables in the files. Setting
them in or will prevent possibly unnecessary reevaluation
of the variable assignments. Since it is unlikely
that you will ever want to remotely execute more (for
example, rsh <host> more), it is not as important to place
them in the files.
The following environment variables affect the execution
of more: Overrides the system-selected horizontal screen
size. Used by the v subcommand to select an editor. If
this variable is unset, the editor is /usr/bin/vi. Provides
a default value for the internationalization variables
that are unset or null. If LANG is unset or null,
the corresponding value from the default locale is used.
If any of the internationalization variables contain an
invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none of the
variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty string
value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization
variables. Determines the locale for the interpretation
of sequences of bytes of text data as characters
(for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte characters
in arguments) and the behavior of character classes
in regular expressions.. Determines the locale for the
format and contents of diagnostic messages written to
standard error. Determines the location of message catalogues
for the processing of LC_MESSAGES. The LINES variable
overrides the system-selected vertical screen size,
used as the number of lines in a screenful. The -n option
takes precedence over the LINES variable for determining
the number of lines in a screenful. The more command
looks in the MORE environment variable to preset any
desired options; for example, assume that you prefer to
view files using the -c and -e options. The csh command
setenv MORE -c -e, or the ksh or sh command sequence
MORE='-c -e' ; export MORE would cause all invocations of
more, including invocations by programs such as man and
mesg, to use this mode.
The MORE variable no longer supports options without
hyphens. It only supports white space separated
hyphenated variables. Any command-line
options are processed after those in the MORE variable,
as if the command line were: more $MORE
options operands The TERM variable determines the
name of the terminal type.
Terminal information database.
Commands: cat(1), csh(1), ctags(1), grep(1), ksh(1),
man(1), nroff(1), pg(1), script(1), Bourne shell sh(1b),
POSIX shell sh(1p), ul(1)
Files: terminfo(4)
Standards: standards(5)
more(1)
[ Back ] |
