NAME

more, page − file perusal filter for crt viewing

SYNOPSIS

more [ −cdflsun ] [ +linenumber | +/pattern ] [ name ... ]

page [ −cdflsun ] [ +linenumber | +/pattern ] [ name ... ]

DESCRIPTION

more is a filter which allows examination of a continuous text one screenful at a time on a CRT terminal.  It normally pauses after each screenful, printing “--More--” at the bottom of the screen. 

If the user then types a carriage return, one more line is displayed.  If the user hits a space, another screenful is displayed.  If a space is preceded by an integer, that number of lines is printed.  If the user hits d or control-D, 11 more lines are displayed (a “scroll”). 

more looks in the file /etc/termcap 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 more is reading from a file, rather than a pipe, then a percentage is displayed along with the “--More--” prompt.  This gives the fraction of the file (in characters, not lines) that has been read so far. 

The following options are available:

−n Integer size (in lines) of the window which more will use instead of the default. 

−c more will draw each page by beginning at the top of the screen and erasing each line just before it draws it.  Redrawing the screen in this manner, avoids scrolling the screen, making it easier to read while more is writing.  This option will be ignored if the terminal does not have the ability to clear to the end of the line. 

−d At the end of each screenful, causes more to prompt the user with the message “Hit space to continue, Rubout to abort”. 

−f Causes more to count logical, rather than screen lines.  That is, long lines are not folded.  This option is recommended if nroff output is being piped through ul, since the latter may generate escape sequences. These escape sequences contain characters which would ordinarily occupy screen positions, but which do not print when they are sent to the terminal as part of an escape sequence.  Thus, more may think that lines are longer than they actually are, and fold lines erroneously. 

−l Causes more not to treat control-L (form feed) specially.  If this option is not given, more will pause after any line that contains a control-L, as if the end of a screenful had been reached.  Also, if a file begins with a form feed, the screen will be cleared before the file is printed. 

−s Squeeze multiple blank lines from the output, producing only one blank line.  This option is especially helpful when viewing nroff output.  This option maximizes the useful information presented on the screen. 

−u Normally, more will handle underlining such as produced by nroff in a manner appropriate to the particular terminal.  If the terminal can perform underlining or has a standout mode, more will output appropriate escape sequences to enable underlining or stand-out mode for underlined information in the source file.  The −u option suppresses this processing. 

+linenumber
Causes more to start up at linenumber

+/pattern
Causes more to start up two lines before the line containing the regular expression pattern. 

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−1 rather than k−2 lines are printed in each screenful, where k is the number of lines in the terminal display. 

Once inside more, other sequences may be typed when more pauses.  The sequences and their effects are as follows (i is an optional integer argument, defaulting to 1) :

iz Same as typing a space except that i, if present, becomes the new window size.

is Skip i lines and print a screenful of lines

if Skip i screenfuls and print a screenful of lines

in Skip to the i-th next file given in the command line (skips to last file if n doesn’t make sense)

ip Skip to the i-th previous file given in the command line. If this command is given in the middle of printing out a file, then more goes back to the beginning of the file. If i doesn’t make sense, more skips back to the first file.  If more is not reading from a file, the bell is rung and nothing else happens. 

q or Q
Exit from more.

i/expr
Search for the i-th occurrence of the regular expression expr.  If there are less than i occurrences of expr and the input is a file (rather than a pipe), then the position in the file remains unchanged.  Otherwise, a screenful is displayed, starting two lines before the place where the expression was found.  The user’s erase and kill characters may be used to edit the regular expression.  Erasing back past the first column cancels the search command. 

’ (single quote) Go to the point from which the last search started.  If no search has been performed in the current file, this command goes back to the beginning of the file. 

!command
Invoke a shell with command. 

The commands take effect immediately, i.e., it is not necessary to type a carriage return.  Up to the time when the command character itself is given, the user may hit the line kill character to cancel the numerical argument being formed.  In addition, the user may hit the erase character to redisplay the “--More--(xx%)” message. 

At any time when output is being sent to the terminal, the user can hit the quit key (normally control−\).  More will stop sending output, and will display the usual “--More--” prompt.  The user may then enter one of the above commands in the normal manner.  Unfortunately, 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, what you type does not show on your terminal, except for the ‘/’ and ‘!’ commands. 

If the standard output is not a terminal, then more acts just like cat(1), except that a header is printed before each file (if there is more than one).

EXAMPLE

nroff −ms +2 doc.n | more

would show the nroff output on the terminal screen. 

FILES

/etc/termcapterminal data base
/usr/lib/more.helphelp file

AUTHOR

Eric Shienbrood

Version 3.6  —  December 20, 1987