more(1)more(1)NAME
more, page - browse or page through a text file
SYNOPSISmore [-ceisudfrN] [-n lines] [-p posn] [-t tag] [-x tabs]
[+/pattern] [-lines] [+linenumber] [file ...]
page [-ceisudfrN] [-n lines] [-p posn] [-t tag] [-x tabs]
[+/pattern] [-lines] [+linenumber] [file ...]
DESCRIPTIONmore is a filter that displays the contents of a file on the terminal,
one screenful at a time. After each screenful more prints a prompt and
pauses awaiting user commands. The prompt usually contains the name of
the file and an indication (percentage) of the current location within
the file.
more scrolls up to display one more line in response to a RETURN
character; it displays another screenful in response to a SPACE
character. Other commands are listed below.
When used to move to a specific line (by line number or pattern search)
the target line is displayed as the third line from the top of the
display. If it lies within the last screen then that final screen is
displayed.
page functions identically to more.
If the standard output is not a terminal, more acts just like cat(1V).
OPTIONS
The more has the following options:
-c Clear before displaying. Redrawing the screen instead of
scrolling for faster displays. This option is ignored if the
terminal does not have the ability to clear to the end of a
line.
-d Display error messages rather than ringing the terminal bell
if an unrecognized command is used. This is helpful for
inexperienced users.
-e Exit immediately at the end of input. By default more waits
at the end of the last screen.
-i Ignore case when performing pattern searches.
-f Do not fold long lines. This is useful when lines contain
nonprinting characters or escape sequences, such as those
generated when nroff(1) output is piped through ul(1).
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more(1)more(1)-n lines Use a screen of the indicated size rather than the default.
The lines displayed will be one less than this number.
-p posn The posn string is a positioning command which is executed at
the start of each input file. Examples are line numbers and
pattern searches.
-r Normally, more ignores control characters that it does not
interpret in some way. The -r option causes these to be
displayed as ^C where C stands for any such control
character.
-s Squeeze. Replace multiple blank lines with a single blank
line. This is helpful when viewing nroff(1) output.
-t tag Start output with the screen containing the specified tag.
-u Suppress generation of underlining escape sequences.
Normally, more handles underlining, such as that produced by
nroff(1), in a manner appropriate to the terminal. If the
terminal can perform underlining or has a stand-out mode,
more supplies appropriate escape sequences.
-x tabs Change the tabstop from 8 to tabs.
-N By default line numbers are remembered by more, this option
disables the line number facility which can slow down access
to very large files.
+/pattern Start output two lines above the line containing the regular
expression pattern. This pattern does not end with a `/'; a
trailing slash is interpreted as a character in the search
pattern.
-lines Display the indicated number of lines in each screenful (see
-n lines).
+linenumber Start output at linenumber.
USAGE
Environment
more uses the terminal's termcap(5) entry to determine its display
characteristics. Environment variables modify this behaviour which may
be further altered by command line options.
EDITOR Specify the editor command to invoke (see v command), the
default is vi(1).
COLUMNS Specify screen width.
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more(1)more(1)
LINES Specify screen length (depth).
MORE Specify preset command line options. For instance, to page
through files using the -c mode by default, set the value of
this variable to -c. When more is invoked any command line
options are processed after those of the MORE environment
variable.
Commands
Single character commands take effect immediately; more does not expect a
carriage return character. Multi-character commands are echoed on the
prompt line as they are typed.
In the following commands, i is an optional numerical argument.
h Show command help information.
if
i^F
iSPACE
iz Display next screenful, or i lines.
id
i^D Display next half-screen, or i lines. If i is specified it
becomes the new half-screen scroll value.
ij
iRETURN Display next line, or i lines.
ib
i^B Display previous screenful, or i lines.
iu
i^U Display previous half-screen, or i lines. If i is specified
it becomes the new half-screen scroll value.
ij Display previous line, or i lines.
is Skip 1 line forward, or i lines.
ig Skip to the beginning of the file, or ith line.
iG Skip to the end of the file, or ith line.
i%
ip Skip to beginning of the file, or i per cent into the file.
This command does not work when reading from a pipeline.
r
^L Refresh the screen.
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more(1)more(1)
R Refresh the screen and flush buffered input if reading from a
pipeline.
mletter Attach a mark, named as letter (lower case letter), to the
current line in the file.
'letter Return to the mark named by letter.
'' Return to the place in the file at which the last positioning
command was issued.
=
^G
:f Display details of the current location in the file.
i/pattern Search forward for the next (or ith) occurrence of the
regular expression pattern. Display the screenful starting
two lines before the line that contains the match for the
regular expression pattern. The previous search pattern is
used if the current command omits it. If pattern is prefixed
with a ! (exclamation mark) then the search is negated, that
is, it locates lines which do not match pattern.
i?pattern As for i/pattern but the search starts toward the start of
the file (backwards).
in Repeat the last search command.
iN Repeat the last search but reverse the direction.
:efilename
Efilename Display new file. If filename is omitted more returns to the
original file. A filename of # is requested more returns to
the previously displayed file.
i:n Display the next (or ith next) filename given on the command
line.
i:p
iP Display the previous (or ith previous) filename given on the
command line.
:a List the filenames given on the command line.
i:ttag Display the file and line named by tag.
v Start the editor indicated by the EDITOR environment variable
with current file. If the editor is ex(1) or vi(1) editing
will start at the current line. The default editor is vi(1).
Exiting the editor resumes more.
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more(1)more(1)
!command Invoke a shell to execute command. The characters % and !,
when used within command are replaced with the current
filename and the previous shell command, respectively. If
there is no current filename, % is not expanded. Prepend a
backslash to these characters to escape expansion.
. Repeat the previous command.
q
Q
:q
:Q
ZZ Exit from more.
FILES
/usr/share/lib/termcap
terminal data base
/usr/lib/more.help
help file
SEE ALSOcat(1), ctags(1), man(1), sh(1), vi(1), environ(5V), termcap(5)NOTES
A few old IRIX features do not exist in the current XPG4 version.
The -l and -w options have been dropped (incompatible with XPG4).
The v edit command defaults to vi(1) and not ed(1).
The z command does not change the size of the screen if given a count.
The single-quote command clashes with XPG4 commands which replace it.
If stderr is not readable more will exit with an error message; it will
not try to use /dev/tty instead.
Headers are no longer printed when stdout is not a tty.
There is no overlap between forward or backward paging.
The CTRL-\ sequence does not interrupt processing.
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