pg - Formats files for a terminal display
pg [-cefns] [-p string] [+line_number | +/pattern/] [-number]
[file...]
The pg command reads the specified file or files (or standard
input by default) and writes them to standard output
one screen at a time. At the end of each screen you can
display the next screen or enter various subcommands,
including those that let you back up to review something
that has already passed.
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to
industry standards as follows:
pg: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information
about industry standards and associated tags.
Moves the cursor to the home position and clears the is
not defined for your terminal type in the terminfo file.
Does not pause at the end of each file. However, pg still
pauses at the beginning of each file. Does not split
lines. Normally, pg splits (wraps) lines longer than the
screen width. Stops processing when a pg command letter
is entered. Normally, commands must end with a newline
character. Uses string as the prompt. If the string contains
%d, %d is replaced by the current page number in the
prompt. The default prompt is : (colon). If string contains
spaces, you must quote it. In addition, if string
contains either the < or > characters, you must quote it;
otherwise, these characters are treated as shell redirection
commands. Highlights all messages and prompts.
Starts at line_number. Specifies the number of lines in
the window. Starts at the first line that contains pattern.
The name of a file to be read and displayed. If you specify
file as a - (dash) or run pg without arguments, pg
reads standard input.
To determine terminal attributes, pg looks up the terminal
type specified by the TERM environment variable in the
terminfo database. The default type is dumb.
At any time during the operation of pg, you can enter the
Quit (usually <Ctrl-\> ) or Interrupt (usually <Ctrl-c>)
key sequences. If pg is sending output, it interrupts
output and displays the prompt, and you can then enter one
of the subcommands in the normal manner. If the prompt is
already displayed, the Quit and Interrupt sequences terminate
pg. (Note that on a high-speed display it may be
difficult to enter a Quit or Interrupt between prompts,
because the interval between them is so short.)
Note that some output is lost when you use the Quit or
Interrupt sequences during output because any characters
waiting in the output queue are purged when the QUIT or
INTERRUPT signal is received. When you use pg in a pipe,
an Interrupt is likely to end the other commands in the
pipe.
If standard output is not a terminal, pg acts like the cat
command, writing the input to standard output without any
formatting or special treatment, except that a header is
displayed before each file.
If terminal tabs are not set for every eight positions,
unpredictable results can occur.
The pg utility is marked LEGACY in XCU Issue 5.
When pg pauses and displays its prompt, you can enter a
subcommand. Some of these subcommands change the display
to a particular place in the file, some search for specific
patterns in the text, and others change the environment
in which pg works.
Location Subcommands [Toc] [Back]
The following commands display a selected place in the
file: Displays page number number. Displays the page number
pages after the current page. Displays the page number
pages before the current page. Scrolls the display
one line forward. [Tru64 UNIX] Displays a screen with
the specified line number at the top. Scrolls the display
number lines forward. Scrolls the display number lines
backward. Scrolls half a screen forward. Pressing <Ctrld>
(and <Return> if you have not specified -n) has the
same effect. Scrolls half a screen backward. Pressing -
and then <Ctrl-d> (and <Return> if you have not specified
-n) has the same effect. [Tru64 UNIX] Skips number
screens forward. [Tru64 UNIX] Skips number screens backward.
Displays the current page again. A single (dot)
also does this. Displays the last page in the file. Do
not use this when the input is from a pipeline.
Search Subcommands [Toc] [Back]
The following commands search for patterns in the text.
You can use the regular expressions described in grep.
They must always end with a newline character, even if the
-n option is used. In an expression such as [a-z], the
dash means through according to the current collating
sequence. The collating sequence is determined by the
value of the LC_COLLATE environment variable. Searches
for the number'th occurrence of pattern. The search
begins immediately after the current page and continues to
the end of the current file, without wrapping around. The
default for number is 1. Searches backward for the number'th
occurrence of pattern. The search begins immediately
before the current page and continues to the beginning
of the current file, without wraparound. The ^ (circumflex)
is useful for the Adds 100 terminal, which cannot
handle a ? (question mark). The default for number is 1.
After searching, pg normally displays the line found at
the top of the screen. You can change this by adding m or
b to the search command to leave the line found in the
middle or at the bottom of the window with all succeeding
subcommands. Use the suffix t to return to displaying the
line with the pattern to the top of the screen.
Environment Subcommands [Toc] [Back]
You can change the pg environment with the following subcommands:
Begins examining the number'th next file in the
command line. The default number is 1. Begins examining
the number'th previous file on the command line. The
default number is 1. Sets the window size to number. If
number is not present, displays another window of text.
Same as w. Saves the input in file. Only the current
file being examined is saved. This command must always
end with a newline character, even if you specify the -n
option. Displays an abbreviated summary of available subcommands.
Quits pg. Sends the specified command to the
shell named in the SHELL environment variable. If this is
not available, the default shell is used. This command
must always end with a newline character, even if the -n
option is used.
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion.
An error occurred.
To look at the contents of file file1 one page at a time,
enter: pg file1
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES [Toc] [Back] The following environment variables affect the execution
of pg: Determines the horizontal screen size. If this
variable is unset, TERM is used. 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 number of lines to be displayed on the
screen. If this variable is unset, TERM is used. Determines
the location of message catalogues for the processing
of LC_MESSAGES. Determines the name of the command
interpreter executed for a ! subcommand. Determines the
terminal attributes.
Terminal capability database. Temporary file used when
input is from a pipe.
Commands: cat(1), grep(1), more(1)
Files: locale(4) terminfo(4)
Standards: standards(5)
pg(1)
[ Back ] | 