more(1) more(1)
NAME
more, page - browse or page through a text file
SYNOPSIS
more [-cdflrsuw] [-lines] [+linenumber] [+/pattern] [filename . . . ]
page [-cdflrsuw] [-lines] [+linenumber] [+/pattern] [filename . . . ]
DESCRIPTION
more is a filter that displays the contents of a text file on
the terminal, one screenful at a time. It normally pauses
after each screenful, and prints --More-- at the bottom of the
screen. more provides a two-line overlap between screens for
continuity. If more is reading from a file rather than a
pipe, the percentage of characters displayed so far is also
shown.
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.
page clears the screen before displaying the next screenful of
text; it only provides a one-line overlap between screens.
more sets the terminal to noecho mode, so that the output can
be continuous. Commands that you type do not normally show up
on your terminal, except for the / and ! commands.
If the standard output is not a terminal, more acts just like
cat(1), except that a header is printed before each file in a
series.
OPTIONS
The following options are available with more:
-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.
-f Do not fold long lines. This is useful when lines
contain nonprinting characters or escape sequences,
such as those generated when nroff(1BSD) output is
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more(1) more(1)
piped through ul(1BSD).
-l Do not treat FORMFEED characters (CTRL-d) as page
breaks. If -l is not used, more pauses to accept
commands after any line containing a ^L character
(CTRL-d). Also, if a file begins with a FORMFEED, the
screen is cleared before the file is printed.
-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(1BSD)
output, on the screen.
-u Suppress generation of underlining escape sequences.
Normally, more handles underlining, such as that
produced by nroff(1BSD), in a manner appropriate to the
terminal. If the terminal can perform underlining or
has a stand-out mode, more supplies appropriate escape
sequences as called for in the text file.
-w Normally, more exits when it comes to the end of its
input. With -w, however, more prompts and waits for
any key to be struck before exiting.
-lines Display the indicated number of lines in each screenful,
rather than the default (the number of lines in the
terminal screen less two).
+linenumber
Start up at linenumber.
+/pattern
Start up two lines above the line containing the
regular expression pattern. Note: unlike editors, this
construct should not end with a `/'. If it does, then
the trailing slash is taken as a character in the
search pattern.
USAGE
Environment
more uses the terminal's terminfo(4) entry to determine its
display characteristics, and looks in the MORE environment
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more(1) more(1)
variable for any preset options. For instance, to page
through files using the -c mode by default, set the value of
this variable to c. (Normally, the command sequence to set up
this environment variable is placed in the .login or .profile
file).
Commands
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, the user may type the line kill
character to cancel the numerical argument being formed. In
addition, the user may type the erase character to redisplay
the `--More--(xx%)' message.
In the following commands, i is a numerical argument (1 by
default).
iSPACE Display another screenful, or i more lines if i is
specified.
iRETURN
Display another line, or i more lines, if specified.
i^D (CTRL-d) Display (scroll down) 11 more lines. If i is
given, the scroll size is set to i.
id Same as ^D.
iz Same as SPACE, except that i, if present, becomes the
new default number of lines per screenful.
is Skip i lines and then print a screenful.
if Skip i screenfuls and then print a screenful.
i^B (CTRL-b) Skip back i screenfuls and then print a
screenful.
b Same as ^B (CTRL-d).
q
Q Exit from more.
= Display the current line number.
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more(1) more(1)
v Drop into the editor indicated by the EDITOR environment
variable, at the current line of the current file. The
default editor is ed(1).
h Help. Give a description of all the more commands.
i/pattern
Search forward for the ith occurrence of the regular
expression pattern. Display the screenful starting two
lines before the line that contains the ith match for
the regular expression pattern, or the end of a pipe,
whichever comes first. If more is displaying a file
and there is no such match, its position in the file
remains unchanged. Regular expressions can be edited
using erase and kill characters. Erasing back past the
first column cancels the search command.
in Search for the ith occurrence of the last pattern
entered.
' Single quote. Go to the point from which the last
search started. If no search has been performed in the
current file, go to the beginning of the file.
!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.
i:n Skip to the ith next filename given in the command line,
or to the last filename in the list if i is out of
range.
i:p Skip to the ith previous filename given in the command
line, or to the first filename if i is out of range.
If given while more is positioned within a file, go to
the beginning of the file. If more is reading from a
pipe, more simply rings the terminal bell.
:f Display the current filename and line number.
:q
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more(1) more(1)
:Q Exit from more (same as q or Q).
. Dot. Repeat the previous command.
^\ Halt a partial display of text. more stops sending
output, and displays the usual --More-- prompt.
Unfortunately, some output is lost as a result.
FILES
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/*
terminal data base
/usr/lib/more.help help file
REFERENCES
cat(1), csh(1), environ(5), man(1), script(1), sh(1), term(4),
terminfo(4)
NOTICES
Skipping backwards is too slow on large files.
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