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LESS(1) 							       LESS(1)



NAME
       less - opposite of more

SYNOPSIS
       less -?
       less --help
       less -V
       less --version
       less [-[+]aBcCdeEfFgGiIJKLmMnNqQrRsSuUVwWX~]
	    [-b space] [-h lines] [-j line] [-k keyfile]
	    [-{oO} logfile] [-p pattern] [-P prompt] [-t tag]
	    [-T tagsfile] [-x tab,...] [-y lines] [-[z] lines]
	    [-# shift] [+[+]cmd] [--] [filename]...
       (See  the  OPTIONS section for alternate option syntax with long option
       names.)


DESCRIPTION
       Less is a program similar to more (1), but which allows backward  move
       ment in the file as well as forward movement.  Also, less does not have
       to read the entire input file before  starting,	so  with  large  input
       files  it  starts  up  faster than text editors like vi (1).  Less uses
       termcap (or terminfo on some systems), so it can run on	a  variety  of
       terminals.   There is even limited support for hardcopy terminals.  (On
       a hardcopy terminal, lines which should be printed at the  top  of  the
       screen are prefixed with a caret.)

       Commands  are based on both more and vi.  Commands may be preceded by a
       decimal number, called N in the descriptions below.  The number is used
       by some commands, as indicated.


COMMANDS
       In  the following descriptions, ^X means control-X.  ESC stands for the
       ESCAPE  key;  for  example  ESC-v  means  the  two  character  sequence
       "ESCAPE", then "v".

       h or H Help:  display  a  summary of these commands.  If you forget all
	      the other commands, remember this one.

       SPACE or ^V or f or ^F
	      Scroll forward N	lines,	default  one  window  (see  option  -z
	      below).	If  N  is  more  than  the screen size, only the final
	      screenful is displayed.  Warning: some systems use ^V as a  spe
	      cial literalization character.

       z      Like  SPACE,  but  if  N is specified, it becomes the new window
	      size.

       ESC-SPACE
	      Like SPACE, but scrolls a full screenful,  even  if  it  reaches
	      end-of-file in the process.

       RETURN or ^N or e or ^E or j or ^J
	      Scroll  forward N lines, default 1.  The entire N lines are dis
	      played, even if N is more than the screen size.

       d or ^D
	      Scroll forward N lines, default one half of the screen size.  If
	      N  is specified, it becomes the new default for subsequent d and
	      u commands.

       b or ^B or ESC-v
	      Scroll backward N lines,	default  one  window  (see  option  -z
	      below).	If  N  is  more  than  the screen size, only the final
	      screenful is displayed.

       w      Like ESC-v, but if N is specified, it  becomes  the  new	window
	      size.

       y or ^Y or ^P or k or ^K
	      Scroll backward N lines, default 1.  The entire N lines are dis
	      played, even if N is more than the screen size.	Warning:  some
	      systems use ^Y as a special job control character.

       u or ^U
	      Scroll  backward	N  lines, default one half of the screen size.
	      If N is specified, it becomes the new default for  subsequent  d
	      and u commands.

       ESC-) or RIGHTARROW
	      Scroll  horizontally right N characters, default half the screen
	      width (see the -# option).  If  a  number  N  is	specified,  it
	      becomes  the  default  for  future RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW com
	      mands.  While the text is scrolled, it acts  as  though  the  -S
	      option (chop lines) were in effect.

       ESC-( or LEFTARROW
	      Scroll  horizontally  left N characters, default half the screen
	      width (see the -# option).  If  a  number  N  is	specified,  it
	      becomes  the  default  for  future RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW com
	      mands.

       r or ^R or ^L
	      Repaint the screen.

       R      Repaint the screen, discarding any buffered  input.   Useful  if
	      the file is changing while it is being viewed.

       F      Scroll  forward, and keep trying to read when the end of file is
	      reached.	Normally this command would be used  when  already  at
	      the  end of the file.  It is a way to monitor the tail of a file
	      which is growing while it is being  viewed.   (The  behavior  is
	      similar to the "tail -f" command.)

       g or < or ESC-<
	      Go to line N in the file, default 1 (beginning of file).	(Warn
	      ing: this may be slow if N is large.)

       G or > or ESC->
	      Go to line N in the file, default the end of the	file.	(Warn
	      ing:  this  may  be slow if N is large, or if N is not specified
	      and standard input, rather than a file, is being read.)

       p or % Go to a position N percent into the file.  N should be between 0
	      and 100.

       {      If a left curly bracket appears in the top line displayed on the
	      screen, the { command  will  go  to  the	matching  right  curly
	      bracket.	 The matching right curly bracket is positioned on the
	      bottom line of the screen.  If there is more than one left curly
	      bracket  on  the top line, a number N may be used to specify the
	      N-th bracket on the line.

       }      If a right curly bracket appears in the bottom line displayed on
	      the  screen,  the  }  command will go to the matching left curly
	      bracket.	The matching left curly bracket is positioned  on  the
	      top  line  of the screen.  If there is more than one right curly
	      bracket on the top line, a number N may be used to  specify  the
	      N-th bracket on the line.

       (      Like {, but applies to parentheses rather than curly brackets.

       )      Like }, but applies to parentheses rather than curly brackets.

       [      Like  {, but applies to square brackets rather than curly brack
	      ets.

       ]      Like }, but applies to square brackets rather than curly	brack
	      ets.

       ESC-^F Followed	by two characters, acts like {, but uses the two char
	      acters as open and close brackets, respectively.	 For  example,
	      "ESC  ^F < >" could be used to go forward to the > which matches
	      the < in the top displayed line.

       ESC-^B Followed by two characters, acts like }, but uses the two  char
	      acters  as  open and close brackets, respectively.  For example,
	      "ESC ^B < >" could be used to go backward to the < which matches
	      the > in the bottom displayed line.

       m      Followed	by  any  lowercase  letter, marks the current position
	      with that letter.

	     (Single quote.)  Followed by any lowercase  letter,  returns  to
	      the position which was previously marked with that letter.  Fol
	      lowed by another single quote, returns to the position at  which
	      the last "large" movement command was executed.  Followed by a ^
	      or $, jumps to the beginning or end of  the  file  respectively.
	      Marks  are  preserved when a new file is examined, so the  com
	      mand can be used to switch between input files.

       ^X^X   Same as single quote.

       /pattern
	      Search forward in the file for the N-th line containing the pat
	      tern.  N defaults to 1.  The pattern is a regular expression, as
	      recognized by the regular expression library  supplied  by  your
	      system.  The search starts at the second line displayed (but see
	      the -a and -j options, which change this).

	      Certain characters are special if entered at  the  beginning  of
	      the  pattern;  they modify the type of search rather than become
	      part of the pattern:

	      ^N or !
		     Search for lines which do NOT match the pattern.

	      ^E or *
		     Search multiple files.  That is, if  the  search  reaches
		     the  END of the current file without finding a match, the
		     search continues in the next file	in  the  command  line
		     list.

	      ^F or @
		     Begin  the  search at the first line of the FIRST file in
		     the command line list, regardless of  what  is  currently
		     displayed	on  the screen or the settings of the -a or -j
		     options.

	      ^K     Highlight any text which matches the pattern on the  cur
		     rent screen, but dont move to the first match (KEEP cur
		     rent position).

	      ^R     Dont interpret regular expression	metacharacters;  that
		     is, do a simple textual comparison.

       ?pattern
	      Search  backward	in  the  file for the N-th line containing the
	      pattern.	The search starts at the line immediately  before  the
	      top line displayed.

	      Certain characters are special as in the / command:

	      ^N or !
		     Search for lines which do NOT match the pattern.

	      ^E or *
		     Search  multiple  files.	That is, if the search reaches
		     the beginning of  the  current  file  without  finding  a
		     match,  the  search continues in the previous file in the
		     command line list.

	      ^F or @
		     Begin the search at the last line of the last file in the
		     command  line  list, regardless of what is currently dis
		     played on the screen or the settings  of  the  -a	or  -j
		     options.

	      ^K     As in forward searches.

	      ^R     As in forward searches.

       ESC-/pattern
	      Same as "/*".

       ESC-?pattern
	      Same as "?*".

       n      Repeat  previous	search, for N-th line containing the last pat
	      tern.  If the previous search was modified by ^N, the search  is
	      made  for the N-th line NOT containing the pattern.  If the pre
	      vious search was modified by ^E, the  search  continues  in  the
	      next  (or  previous)  file if not satisfied in the current file.
	      If the previous search was modified by ^R, the  search  is  done
	      without  using  regular  expressions.  There is no effect if the
	      previous search was modified by ^F or ^K.

       N      Repeat previous search, but in the reverse direction.

       ESC-n  Repeat previous  search,	but  crossing  file  boundaries.   The
	      effect is as if the previous search were modified by *.

       ESC-N  Repeat  previous search, but in the reverse direction and cross
	      ing file boundaries.

       ESC-u  Undo search highlighting.   Turn	off  highlighting  of  strings
	      matching the current search pattern.  If highlighting is already
	      off because of a previous ESC-u command, turn highlighting  back
	      on.   Any  search  command  will also turn highlighting back on.
	      (Highlighting can also be disabled by toggling the -G option; in
	      that case search commands do not turn highlighting back on.)

       :e [filename]
	      Examine  a  new file.  If the filename is missing, the "current"
	      file (see the :n and :p commands below) from the list  of  files
	      in  the  command line is re-examined.  A percent sign (%) in the
	      filename is replaced by the name of the current file.   A  pound
	      sign  (#)  is  replaced  by  the name of the previously examined
	      file.   However,	two  consecutive  percent  signs  are	simply
	      replaced with a single percent sign.  This allows you to enter a
	      filename that contains a percent sign in the  name.   Similarly,
	      two  consecutive	pound  signs  are replaced with a single pound
	      sign.  The filename is inserted into the command	line  list  of
	      files  so  that it can be seen by subsequent :n and :p commands.
	      If the filename consists of several files, they are all inserted
	      into  the  list  of files and the first one is examined.	If the
	      filename contains one or more spaces, the entire filename should
	      be enclosed in double quotes (also see the -" option).

       ^X^V or E
	      Same  as :e.  Warning: some systems use ^V as a special literal
	      ization character.  On such systems, you may not be able to  use
	      ^V.

       :n     Examine  the next file (from the list of files given in the com
	      mand line).  If a number N is specified, the N-th next  file  is
	      examined.

       :p     Examine the previous file in the command line list.  If a number
	      N is specified, the N-th previous file is examined.

       :x     Examine the first file in the command line list.	If a number  N
	      is specified, the N-th file in the list is examined.

       :d     Remove the current file from the list of files.

       t      Go  to the next tag, if there were more than one matches for the
	      current tag.  See the -t option for more details about tags.

       T      Go to the previous tag, if there were more than one matches  for
	      the current tag.

       = or ^G or :f
	      Prints  some  information about the file being viewed, including
	      its name and the line number and byte offset of the bottom  line
	      being  displayed.  If possible, it also prints the length of the
	      file, the number of lines in the file and  the  percent  of  the
	      file above the last displayed line.

       -      Followed	by one of the command line option letters (see OPTIONS
	      below), this will change the setting of that option and print  a
	      message  describing  the	new  setting.	If a ^P (CONTROL-P) is
	      entered immediately after the dash, the setting of the option is
	      changed  but  no message is printed.  If the option letter has a
	      numeric value (such as -b or -h), or a string value (such as  -P
	      or  -t), a new value may be entered after the option letter.  If
	      no new value is entered, a message describing the  current  set
	      ting is printed and nothing is changed.

       --     Like  the  -  command, but takes a long option name (see OPTIONS
	      below) rather than a  single  option  letter.   You  must  press
	      RETURN after typing the option name.  A ^P immediately after the
	      second dash suppresses printing of a message describing the  new
	      setting, as in the - command.

       -+     Followed	by  one  of  the command line option letters this will
	      reset the option to its default  setting	and  print  a  message
	      describing  the  new  setting.  (The "-+X" command does the same
	      thing as "-+X" on the command line.)  This  does	not  work  for
	      string-valued options.

       --+    Like  the -+ command, but takes a long option name rather than a
	      single option letter.

       -!     Followed by one of the command line option  letters,  this  will
	      reset  the  option  to the "opposite" of its default setting and
	      print a message describing the new setting.  This does not  work
	      for numeric or string-valued options.

       --!    Like  the -! command, but takes a long option name rather than a
	      single option letter.

       _      (Underscore.)  Followed by one of the command line  option  let
	      ters,  this  will print a message describing the current setting
	      of that option.  The setting of the option is not changed.

       __     (Double underscore.)  Like the _ (underscore) command, but takes
	      a long option name rather than a single option letter.  You must
	      press RETURN after typing the option name.

       +cmd   Causes the specified cmd to be executed each time a new file  is
	      examined.  For example, +G causes less to initially display each
	      file starting at the end rather than the beginning.

       V      Prints the version number of less being run.

       q or Q or :q or :Q or ZZ
	      Exits less.

       The following four commands may or may not be valid, depending on  your
       particular installation.


       v      Invokes  an  editor  to edit the current file being viewed.  The
	      editor is taken from the environment variable VISUAL if defined,
	      or  EDITOR if VISUAL is not defined, or defaults to "vi" if nei
	      ther VISUAL nor EDITOR is defined.  See also the	discussion  of
	      LESSEDIT under the section on PROMPTS below.

       ! shell-command
	      Invokes  a shell to run the shell-command given.	A percent sign
	      (%) in the command is replaced by the name of the current  file.
	      A pound sign (#) is replaced by the name of the previously exam
	      ined file.  "!!" repeats the last shell command.	 "!"  with  no
	      shell  command  simply  invokes  a  shell.  On Unix systems, the
	      shell is taken from the environment variable SHELL, or  defaults
	      to  "sh".   On  MS-DOS and OS/2 systems, the shell is the normal
	      command processor.

       |  shell-command
	       represents any mark letter.  Pipes a section	of  the  input
	      file  to the given shell command.  The section of the file to be
	      piped is between the first line on the current  screen  and  the
	      position	marked by the letter.   may also be ^ or $ to indi
	      cate beginning or end of file respectively.  If  is . or new
	      line, the current screen is piped.

       s filename
	      Save  the  input	to  a file.  This only works if the input is a
	      pipe, not an ordinary file.


OPTIONS
       Command line options are described below.  Most options may be  changed
       while less is running, via the "-" command.

       Most  options  may be given in one of two forms: either a dash followed
       by a single letter, or two dashes followed by a long  option  name.   A
       long  option  name  may	be  abbreviated as long as the abbreviation is
       unambiguous.  For example, --quit-at-eof may be abbreviated --quit, but
       not --qui, since both --quit-at-eof and --quiet begin with --qui.  Some
       long option names are in uppercase, such as --QUIT-AT-EOF, as  distinct
       from  --quit-at-eof.   Such  option  names  need  only have their first
       letter capitalized; the remainder of the name may be  in  either  case.
       For example, --Quit-at-eof is equivalent to --QUIT-AT-EOF.

       Options are also taken from the environment variable "LESS".  For exam
       ple, to avoid typing "less -options ..." each time less is invoked, you
       might tell csh:

       setenv LESS "-options"

       or if you use sh:

       LESS="-options"; export LESS

       On  MS-DOS,  you dont need the quotes, but you should replace any per
       cent signs in the options string by double percent signs.

       The environment variable is parsed before the command line, so  command
       line  options  override	the  LESS  environment variable.  If an option
       appears in the LESS variable, it can be reset to its default  value  on
       the command line by beginning the command line option with "-+".

       For  options like -P or -D which take a following string, a dollar sign
       ($) must be used to signal the end of the string.  For example, to  set
       two  -D	options  on  MS-DOS, you must have a dollar sign between them,
       like this:

       LESS="-Dn9.1$-Ds4.1"


       -? or --help
	      This option displays a summary of the commands accepted by  less
	      (the  same  as  the  h  command).   (Depending on how your shell
	      interprets the question mark, it may be necessary to  quote  the
	      question mark, thus: "-\?".)

       -a or --search-skip-screen
	      Causes  searches	to  start after the last line displayed on the
	      screen, thus skipping all lines displayed  on  the  screen.   By
	      default,	searches  start  at  the second line on the screen (or
	      after the last found line; see the -j option).

       -bn or --buffers=n
	      Specifies the amount of buffer space  less  will	use  for  each
	      file,  in  units	of  kilobytes (1024 bytes).  By default 64K of
	      buffer space is used for each file (unless the file is  a  pipe;
	      see  the	-B  option).   The  -b option specifies instead that n
	      kilobytes of buffer space should be used for each file.  If n is
	      -1,  buffer space is unlimited; that is, the entire file is read
	      into memory.

       -B or --auto-buffers
	      By default, when data is read from a pipe, buffers are allocated
	      automatically as needed.	If a large amount of data is read from
	      the pipe, this can cause a large amount of memory  to  be  allo
	      cated.   The  -B	option	disables  this automatic allocation of
	      buffers for pipes, so that only 64K  (or	the  amount  of  space
	      specified  by the -b option) is used for the pipe.  Warning: use
	      of -B can result in  erroneous  display,	since  only  the  most
	      recently	viewed part of the file is kept in memory; any earlier
	      data is lost.

       -c or --clear-screen
	      Causes full screen repaints to be  painted  from	the  top  line
	      down.   By  default,  full screen repaints are done by scrolling
	      from the bottom of the screen.

       -C or --CLEAR-SCREEN
	      The -C option is like -c, but the screen is cleared before it is
	      repainted.

       -d or --dumb
	      The -d option suppresses the error message normally displayed if
	      the terminal is dumb; that is, lacks some important  capability,
	      such as the ability to clear the screen or scroll backward.  The
	      -d option does not otherwise change the behavior of  less  on  a
	      dumb terminal.

       -Dxcolor or --color=xcolor
	      [MS-DOS only] Sets the color of the text displayed.  x is a sin
	      gle character which selects the type  of	text  whose  color  is
	      being  set: n=normal, s=standout, d=bold, u=underlined, k=blink.
	      color is a pair of numbers separated by  a  period.   The  first
	      number  selects  the foreground color and the second selects the
	      background color of the text.  A single number N is the same  as
	      N.0.

       -e or --quit-at-eof
	      Causes  less  to	automatically  exit the second time it reaches
	      end-of-file.  By default, the only way to exit less is  via  the
	      "q" command.

       -E or --QUIT-AT-EOF
	      Causes less to automatically exit the first time it reaches end-
	      of-file.

       -f or --force
	      Forces non-regular files to be opened.  (A non-regular file is a
	      directory  or a device special file.)  Also suppresses the warn
	      ing message when a binary file is opened.  By default, less will
	      refuse to open non-regular files.

       -F or --quit-if-one-screen
	      Causes less to automatically exit if the entire file can be dis
	      played on the first screen.

       -g or --hilite-search
	      Normally, less will highlight ALL strings which match  the  last
	      search  command.	 The  -g option changes this behavior to high
	      light only the particular string which was  found  by  the  last
	      search command.  This can cause less to run somewhat faster than
	      the default.

       -G or --HILITE-SEARCH
	      The -G option suppresses all highlighting of  strings  found  by
	      search commands.

       -hn or --max-back-scroll=n
	      Specifies  a  maximum number of lines to scroll backward.  If it
	      is necessary to scroll backward more than n lines, the screen is
	      repainted in a forward direction instead.  (If the terminal does
	      not have the ability to scroll backward, -h0 is implied.)

       -i or --ignore-case
	      Causes searches to ignore case; that is, uppercase and lowercase
	      are  considered identical.  This option is ignored if any upper
	      case letters appear in the search pattern; in other words, if  a
	      pattern  contains  uppercase  letters, then that search does not
	      ignore case.

       -I or --IGNORE-CASE
	      Like -i, but searches ignore case even if the  pattern  contains
	      uppercase letters.

       -jn or --jump-target=n
	      Specifies  a line on the screen where the "target" line is to be
	      positioned.  A target line is the object of a text  search,  tag
	      search,  jump  to  a  line number, jump to a file percentage, or
	      jump to a marked position.  The screen line is  specified  by  a
	      number:  the  top line on the screen is 1, the next is 2, and so
	      on.  The number may be negative to specify a  line  relative  to
	      the  bottom  of the screen: the bottom line on the screen is -1,
	      the second to the bottom is -2, and so on.  If the -j option  is
	      used,  searches  begin  at the line immediately after the target
	      line.  For example, if "-j4" is used, the  target  line  is  the
	      fourth  line  on the screen, so searches begin at the fifth line
	      on the screen.

       -J or --status-column
	      Displays a status column at the left edge of  the  screen.   The
	      status  column  shows the lines that matched the current search.
	      The status column is also used if the -w	or  -W	option	is  in
	      effect.

       -kfilename or --lesskey-file=filename
	      Causes  less  to	open and interpret the named file as a lesskey
	      (1) file.  Multiple -k options may be specified.	If the LESSKEY
	      or  LESSKEY_SYSTEM  environment variable is set, or if a lesskey
	      file is found in a standard place (see KEY BINDINGS), it is also
	      used as a lesskey file.

       -K or --quit-on-intr
	      Causes  less  to	exit  immediately  when an interrupt character
	      (usually ^C) is typed.  Normally, an interrupt character	causes
	      less  to	stop  whatever	it  is doing and return to its command
	      prompt.

       -L or --no-lessopen
	      Ignore the LESSOPEN environment variable (see the INPUT  PREPRO
	      CESSOR section below).  This option can be set from within less,
	      but it will apply only to files opened subsequently, not to  the
	      file which is currently open.

       -m or --long-prompt
	      Causes  less  to	prompt verbosely (like more), with the percent
	      into the file.  By default, less prompts with a colon.

       -M or --LONG-PROMPT
	      Causes less to prompt even more verbosely than more.

       -n or --line-numbers
	      Suppresses line numbers.	The default (to use line numbers)  may
	      cause  less  to run more slowly in some cases, especially with a
	      very large input file.  Suppressing line	numbers  with  the  -n
	      option  will  avoid this problem.  Using line numbers means: the
	      line number will be displayed in the verbose prompt and in the =
	      command,	and the v command will pass the current line number to
	      the editor (see also  the  discussion  of  LESSEDIT  in  PROMPTS
	      below).

       -N or --LINE-NUMBERS
	      Causes  a  line  number to be displayed at the beginning of each
	      line in the display.

       -ofilename or --log-file=filename
	      Causes less to copy its input to the named file as it  is  being
	      viewed.  This applies only when the input file is a pipe, not an
	      ordinary file.  If the file already exists, less	will  ask  for
	      confirmation before overwriting it.

       -Ofilename or --LOG-FILE=filename
	      The -O option is like -o, but it will overwrite an existing file
	      without asking for confirmation.

	      If no log file has been specified, the -o and -O options can  be
	      used  from  within  less	to specify a log file.	Without a file
	      name, they will simply report the name of the log file.  The "s"
	      command is equivalent to specifying -o from within less.

       -ppattern or --pattern=pattern
	      The  -p  option  on the command line is equivalent to specifying
	      +/pattern; that is, it tells less to start at the  first	occur
	      rence of pattern in the file.

       -Pprompt or --prompt=prompt
	      Provides	a  way	to  tailor the three prompt styles to your own
	      preference.  This option would normally be put in the LESS envi
	      ronment variable, rather than being typed in with each less com
	      mand.  Such an option must either be the last option in the LESS
	      variable,  or be terminated by a dollar sign.  -Ps followed by a
	      string changes the default (short) prompt to that  string.   -Pm
	      changes  the  medium  (-m)  prompt.   -PM  changes the long (-M)
	      prompt.  -Ph changes  the  prompt  for  the  help  screen.   -P=
	      changes  the  message printed by the = command.  -Pw changes the
	      message printed while waiting for data (in the F command).   All
	      prompt  strings  consist	of  a  sequence of letters and special
	      escape sequences.  See the section on PROMPTS for more  details.

       -q or --quiet or --silent
	      Causes  moderately  "quiet"  operation: the terminal bell is not
	      rung if an attempt is made to scroll past the end of the file or
	      before the beginning of the file.  If the terminal has a "visual
	      bell", it is used instead.  The bell will  be  rung  on  certain
	      other  errors, such as typing an invalid character.  The default
	      is to ring the terminal bell in all such cases.

       -Q or --QUIET or --SILENT
	      Causes totally "quiet" operation: the  terminal  bell  is  never
	      rung.

       -r or --raw-control-chars
	      Causes "raw" control characters to be displayed.	The default is
	      to display control characters  using  the  caret	notation;  for
	      example, a control-A (octal 001) is displayed as "^A".  Warning:
	      when the -r option is used, less cannot keep track of the actual
	      appearance  of  the screen (since this depends on how the screen
	      responds to each type of control character).  Thus, various dis
	      play  problems may result, such as long lines being split in the
	      wrong place.

       -R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS
	      Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences  are  output  in
	      "raw" form.  Unlike -r, the screen appearance is maintained cor
	      rectly  in  most	cases.	 ANSI  "color"	escape	sequences  are
	      sequences of the form:

		   ESC [ ... m

	      where  the  "..." is zero or more color specification characters
	      For the purpose of keeping  track  of  screen  appearance,  ANSI
	      color  escape sequences are assumed to not move the cursor.  You
	      can make less think that characters other than "m" can end  ANSI
	      color  escape  sequences	by  setting  the  environment variable
	      LESSANSIENDCHARS to the list of characters which can end a color
	      escape  sequence.   And  you can make less think that characters
	      other than the standard ones may appear between the ESC and  the
	      m  by  setting  the environment variable LESSANSIMIDCHARS to the
	      list of characters which can appear.

       -s or --squeeze-blank-lines
	      Causes consecutive blank lines to  be  squeezed  into  a	single
	      blank line.  This is useful when viewing nroff output.

       -S or --chop-long-lines
	      Causes  lines  longer than the screen width to be chopped rather
	      than folded.  That is, the portion of a long line that does  not
	      fit  in  the  screen width is not shown.	The default is to fold
	      long lines; that is, display the remainder on the next line.

       -ttag or --tag=tag
	      The -t option, followed immediately by a TAG, will edit the file
	      containing  that tag.  For this to work, tag information must be
	      available; for example, there may  be  a	file  in  the  current
	      directory called "tags", which was previously built by ctags (1)
	      or an equivalent command.  If the environment variable LESSGLOB
	      ALTAGS  is set, it is taken to be the name of a command compati
	      ble with global (1), and that command is executed  to  find  the
	      tag.  (See http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).  The
	      -t option may also be specified from within less	(using	the  -
	      command)	as a way of examining a new file.  The command ":t" is
	      equivalent to specifying -t from within less.

       -Ttagsfile or --tag-file=tagsfile
	      Specifies a tags file to be used instead of "tags".

       -u or --underline-special
	      Causes backspaces and carriage returns to be treated  as	print
	      able  characters;  that  is,  they are sent to the terminal when
	      they appear in the input.

       -U or --UNDERLINE-SPECIAL
	      Causes backspaces, tabs and carriage returns to  be  treated  as
	      control  characters;  that  is, they are handled as specified by
	      the -r option.

	      By default, if neither -u nor  -U  is  given,  backspaces  which
	      appear  adjacent	to  an	underscore  character are treated spe
	      cially: the underlined text is displayed	using  the  terminals
	      hardware	underlining capability.  Also, backspaces which appear
	      between two identical  characters  are  treated  specially:  the
	      overstruck  text	is printed using the terminals hardware bold
	      face capability.	Other backspaces are deleted, along  with  the
	      preceding character.  Carriage returns immediately followed by a
	      newline are deleted.  other  carriage  returns  are  handled  as
	      specified  by the -r option.  Text which is overstruck or under
	      lined can be searched for if neither -u nor -U is in effect.

       -V or --version
	      Displays the version number of less.

       -w or --hilite-unread
	      Temporarily highlights the first	"new"  line  after  a  forward
	      movement of a full page.	The first "new" line is the line imme
	      diately following the line  previously  at  the  bottom  of  the
	      screen.  Also highlights the target line after a g or p command.
	      The highlight is removed at the next command which causes  move
	      ment.   The  entire line is highlighted, unless the -J option is
	      in effect, in which case only the status column is  highlighted.

       -W or --HILITE-UNREAD
	      Like -w, but temporarily highlights the first new line after any
	      forward movement command larger than one line.

       -xn,... or --tabs=n,...
	      Sets tab stops.  If only one n is specified, tab stops  are  set
	      at  multiples  of n.  If multiple values separated by commas are
	      specified, tab stops are set at those positions, and  then  con
	      tinue  with  the	same  spacing  as  the last two.  For example,
	      -x9,17 will set tabs at positions  9,  17,  25,  33,  etc.   The
	      default for n is 8.

       -X or --no-init
	      Disables sending the termcap initialization and deinitialization
	      strings to the terminal.	This is  sometimes  desirable  if  the
	      deinitialization	string does something unnecessary, like clear
	      ing the screen.

       --no-keypad
	      Disables sending the keypad initialization and  deinitialization
	      strings to the terminal.	This is sometimes useful if the keypad
	      strings make the numeric keypad behave in an undesirable manner.

       -yn or --max-forw-scroll=n
	      Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll forward.  If it is
	      necessary to scroll forward more than n  lines,  the  screen  is
	      repainted  instead.   The -c or -C option may be used to repaint
	      from the top of the screen if desired.  By default, any  forward
	      movement causes scrolling.

       -[z]n or --window=n
	      Changes  the  default  scrolling	window	size  to n lines.  The
	      default is one screenful.  The z and w commands can also be used
	      to  change the window size.  The "z" may be omitted for compati
	      bility with more.  If the number n is negative, it  indicates  n
	      lines  less  than  the current screen size.  For example, if the
	      screen is 24 lines, -z-4 sets the scrolling window to 20	lines.
	      If the screen is resized to 40 lines, the scrolling window auto
	      matically changes to 36 lines.

       -"cc or --quotes=cc
	      Changes the filename quoting character.  This may  be  necessary
	      if  you are trying to name a file which contains both spaces and
	      quote characters.  Followed by a single character, this  changes
	      the  quote  character to that character.	Filenames containing a
	      space should then be surrounded by that character rather than by
	      double  quotes.	Followed  by  two characters, changes the open
	      quote to the first character, and the close quote to the	second
	      character.  Filenames containing a space should then be preceded
	      by the open quote character and  followed  by  the  close  quote
	      character.   Note  that  even  after  the  quote	characters are
	      changed, this option remains -" (a dash  followed  by  a	double
	      quote).

       -~ or --tilde
	      Normally lines after end of file are displayed as a single tilde
	      (~).  This option causes lines after end of file to be displayed
	      as blank lines.

       -# or --shift
	      Specifies the default number of positions to scroll horizontally
	      in the RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW commands.  If the number	speci
	      fied  is	zero,  it  sets the default number of positions to one
	      half of the screen width.

       --     A command line argument of "--" marks the end  of  option  argu
	      ments.   Any  arguments  following this are interpreted as file
	      names.  This can be useful when viewing a file whose name begins
	      with a "-" or "+".

       +      If  a  command  line option begins with +, the remainder of that
	      option is taken to be an initial command to less.  For  example,
	      +G  tells  less  to start at the end of the file rather than the
	      beginning, and +/xyz tells it to start at the  first  occurrence
	      of  "xyz"  in  the file.	As a special case, + acts like
	      +g; that is, it starts the display at the specified line
	      number  (however,  see  the caveat under the "g" command above).
	      If the option starts with ++, the  initial  command  applies  to
	      every  file being viewed, not just the first one.  The + command
	      described previously may also be used to set (or change) an ini
	      tial command for every file.


LINE EDITING
       When  entering command line at the bottom of the screen (for example, a
       filename for the :e command, or the  pattern  for  a  search  command),
       certain keys can be used to manipulate the command line.  Most commands
       have an alternate form in [ brackets ] which can be used if a key  does
       not  exist  on a particular keyboard.  (The bracketed forms do not work
       in the MS-DOS version.)	Any of these special keys may be entered  lit
       erally  by  preceding it with the "literal" character, either ^V or ^A.
       A backslash itself may also be entered literally by entering two  back
       slashes.

       LEFTARROW [ ESC-h ]
	      Move the cursor one space to the left.

       RIGHTARROW [ ESC-l ]
	      Move the cursor one space to the right.

       ^LEFTARROW [ ESC-b or ESC-LEFTARROW ]
	      (That  is, CONTROL and LEFTARROW simultaneously.)  Move the cur
	      sor one word to the left.

       ^RIGHTARROW [ ESC-w or ESC-RIGHTARROW ]
	      (That is, CONTROL and RIGHTARROW simultaneously.)  Move the cur
	      sor one word to the right.

       HOME [ ESC-0 ]
	      Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.

       END [ ESC-$ ]
	      Move the cursor to the end of the line.

       BACKSPACE
	      Delete  the  character  to the left of the cursor, or cancel the
	      command if the command line is empty.

       DELETE or [ ESC-x ]
	      Delete the character under the cursor.

       ^BACKSPACE [ ESC-BACKSPACE ]
	      (That is, CONTROL and  BACKSPACE	simultaneously.)   Delete  the
	      word to the left of the cursor.

       ^DELETE [ ESC-X or ESC-DELETE ]
	      (That  is,  CONTROL and DELETE simultaneously.)  Delete the word
	      under the cursor.

       UPARROW [ ESC-k ]
	      Retrieve the previous command line.

       DOWNARROW [ ESC-j ]
	      Retrieve the next command line.

       TAB    Complete the partial filename to the left of the cursor.	If  it
	      matches  more than one filename, the first match is entered into
	      the command line.  Repeated  TABs  will  cycle  thru  the  other
	      matching filenames.  If the completed filename is a directory, a
	      "/" is appended to the filename.	(On MS-DOS systems, a  "\"  is
	      appended.)   The	environment variable LESSSEPARATOR can be used
	      to specify a different character to append to a directory  name.

       BACKTAB [ ESC-TAB ]
	      Like, TAB, but cycles in the reverse direction thru the matching
	      filenames.

       ^L     Complete the partial filename to the left of the cursor.	If  it
	      matches more than one filename, all matches are entered into the
	      command line (if they fit).

       ^U (Unix and OS/2) or ESC (MS-DOS)
	      Delete the entire command line, or cancel  the  command  if  the
	      command line is empty.  If you have changed your line-kill char
	      acter in Unix to something other than ^U, that character is used
	      instead of ^U.


KEY BINDINGS
       You  may define your own less commands by using the program lesskey (1)
       to create a lesskey file.  This file specifies a set  of  command  keys
       and  an	action	associated with each key.  You may also use lesskey to
       change the line-editing keys (see LINE EDITING), and to set environment
       variables.   If the environment variable LESSKEY is set, less uses that
       as the name of the lesskey file.  Otherwise, less looks in  a  standard
       place  for  the lesskey file: On Unix systems, less looks for a lesskey
       file called "$HOME/.less".  On MS-DOS and Windows systems,  less  looks
       for  a lesskey file called "$HOME/_less", and if it is not found there,
       then looks for a lesskey file called "_less" in any directory specified
       in  the	PATH  environment variable.  On OS/2 systems, less looks for a
       lesskey file called "$HOME/less.ini", and if  it  is  not  found,  then
       looks  for  a lesskey file called "less.ini" in any directory specified
       in the INIT environment variable, and if it not found there, then looks
       for  a lesskey file called "less.ini" in any directory specified in the
       PATH environment variable.   See  the  lesskey  manual  page  for  more
       details.

       A  system-wide lesskey file may also be set up to provide key bindings.
       If a key is defined in both a local lesskey file and in the system-wide
       file,  key bindings in the local file take precedence over those in the
       system-wide file.  If the environment variable LESSKEY_SYSTEM  is  set,
       less uses that as the name of the system-wide lesskey file.  Otherwise,
       less looks in a standard place for the  system-wide  lesskey  file:  On
       Unix  systems,  the system-wide lesskey file is /usr/local/etc/sysless.
       (However, if less was built with a  different  sysconf  directory  than
       /usr/local/etc, that directory is where the sysless file is found.)  On
       MS-DOS and Windows systems, the system-wide lesskey  file  is  c:\_sys
       less.  On OS/2 systems, the system-wide lesskey file is c:\sysless.ini.


INPUT PREPROCESSOR
       You may define an "input preprocessor" for less.  Before less  opens  a
       file, it first gives your input preprocessor a chance to modify the way
       the contents of the file are displayed.	An input preprocessor is  sim
       ply  an executable program (or shell script), which writes the contents
       of the file to a different file, called the replacement file.  The con
       tents  of  the replacement file are then displayed in place of the con
       tents of the original file.  However, it will appear to the user as  if
       the  original  file  is opened; that is, less will display the original
       filename as the name of the current file.

       An input preprocessor receives one command line argument, the  original
       filename,  as  entered  by  the user.  It should create the replacement
       file, and when finished, print the name of the replacement file to  its
       standard  output.  If the input preprocessor does not output a replace
       ment filename, less uses the original file, as normal.  The input  pre
       processor  is  not  called  when  viewing standard input.  To set up an
       input preprocessor, set the LESSOPEN environment variable to a  command
       line  which  will  invoke  your	input preprocessor.  This command line
       should include one  occurrence  of  the	string	"%s",  which  will  be
       replaced  by  the  filename  when  the  input  preprocessor  command is
       invoked.

       When less closes a file opened in such a way, it will call another pro
       gram,  called  the  input  postprocessor, which may perform any desired
       clean-up action (such as  deleting  the	replacement  file  created  by
       LESSOPEN).  This program receives two command line arguments, the orig
       inal filename as entered by the user, and the name of  the  replacement
       file.   To set up an input postprocessor, set the LESSCLOSE environment
       variable to a command line which will invoke your input	postprocessor.
       It  may	include  two  occurrences  of  the  string  "%s"; the first is
       replaced with the original name of the file and	the  second  with  the
       name of the replacement file, which was output by LESSOPEN.

       For  example, on many Unix systems, these two scripts will allow you to
       keep files in compressed format, but still let less view them directly:

       lessopen.sh:
	    #! /bin/sh
	    case "$1" in
	    *.Z) uncompress -
		 if [ -s /tmp/less.$$ ]; then
		      echo /tmp/less.$$
		 else
		      rm -f /tmp/less.$$
		 fi
		 ;;
	    esac

       lessclose.sh:
	    #! /bin/sh
	    rm $2

       To  use these scripts, put them both where they can be executed and set
       LESSOPEN="lessopen.sh %s",  and	LESSCLOSE="lessclose.sh %s %s".   More
       complex	LESSOPEN  and LESSCLOSE scripts may be written to accept other
       types of compressed files, and so on.

       It is also possible to set up an input preprocessor to  pipe  the  file
       data  directly to less, rather than putting the data into a replacement
       file.  This avoids the need to decompress the entire file before start
       ing to view it.	An input preprocessor that works this way is called an
       input pipe.  An input pipe, instead of writing the name of  a  replace
       ment  file  on  its  standard output, writes the entire contents of the
       replacement file on its standard output.  If the input  pipe  does  not
       write  any characters on its standard output, then there is no replace
       ment file and less uses the original file, as normal.  To use an  input
       pipe,  make  the first character in the LESSOPEN environment variable a
       vertical bar (|) to signify that the input  preprocessor  is  an  input
       pipe.

       For  example, on many Unix systems, this script will work like the pre
       vious example scripts:

       lesspipe.sh:
	    #! /bin/sh
	    case "$1" in
	    *.Z) uncompress -c $1  2>/dev/null
		 ;;
	    esac

       To  use	this  script,  put  it	where  it  can	be  executed  and  set
       LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh  %s".   When  an input pipe is used, a LESSCLOSE
       postprocessor can be used, but it is usually not necessary since  there
       is no replacement file to clean up.  In this case, the replacement file
       name passed to the LESSCLOSE postprocessor is "-".


NATIONAL CHARACTER SETS
       There are three types of characters in the input file:

       normal characters
	      can be displayed directly to the screen.

       control characters
	      should not be displayed directly, but are expected to  be  found
	      in ordinary text files (such as backspace and tab).

       binary characters
	      should  not  be  displayed  directly  and are not expected to be
	      found in text files.

       A "character set" is simply a description of which characters are to be
       considered  normal,  control,  and binary.  The LESSCHARSET environment
       variable may be used to select a character set.	 Possible  values  for
       LESSCHARSET are:

       ascii  BS,  TAB, NL, CR, and formfeed are control characters, all chars
	      with values between 32 and 126 are normal, and  all  others  are
	      binary.

       iso8859
	      Selects  an  ISO 8859 character set.  This is the same as ASCII,
	      except characters between 160 and  255  are  treated  as	normal
	      characters.

       latin1 Same as iso8859.

       latin9 Same as iso8859.

       dos    Selects a character set appropriate for MS-DOS.

       ebcdic Selects an EBCDIC character set.

       IBM-1047
	      Selects  an  EBCDIC  character set used by OS/390 Unix Services.
	      This is the EBCDIC analogue of latin1.  You get similar  results
	      by setting either LESSCHARSET=IBM-1047 or LC_CTYPE=en_US in your
	      environment.

       koi8-r Selects a Russian character set.

       next   Selects a character set appropriate for NeXT computers.

       utf-8  Selects the UTF-8 encoding of the ISO 10646 character set.

       windows
	      Selects a character set appropriate for  Microsoft  Windows  (cp
	      1251).

       In  special  cases, it may be desired to tailor less to use a character
       set other than the ones definable by LESSCHARSET.  In  this  case,  the
       environment variable LESSCHARDEF can be used to define a character set.
       It should be set to a string where each character in the string	repre
       sents  one  character  in the character set.  The character "." is used
       for a normal character, "c" for control, and "b" for binary.  A decimal
       number  may  be used for repetition.  For example, "bccc4b." would mean
       character 0 is binary, 1, 2 and 3 are  control,	4,  5,	6  and	7  are
       binary, and 8 is normal.  All characters after the last are taken to be
       the same as the last, so characters 9  through  255  would  be  normal.
       (This  is an example, and does not necessarily represent any real char
       acter set.)

       This table shows the value of LESSCHARDEF which is equivalent  to  each
       of the possible values for LESSCHARSET:

	    ascii     8bcccbcc18b95.b
	    dos       8bcccbcc12bc5b95.b.
	    ebcdic    5bc6bcc7bcc41b.9b7.9b5.b..8b6.10b6.b9.7b
		      9.8b8.17b3.3b9.7b9.8b8.6b10.b.b.b.
	    IBM-1047  4cbcbc3b9cbccbccbb4c6bcc5b3cbbc4bc4bccbc
		      191.b
	    iso8859   8bcccbcc18b95.33b.
	    koi8-r    8bcccbcc18b95.b128.
	    latin1    8bcccbcc18b95.33b.
	    next      8bcccbcc18b95.bb125.bb

       If  neither  LESSCHARSET nor LESSCHARDEF is set, but any of the strings
       "UTF-8", "UTF8", "utf-8" or "utf8" is found in the LC_ALL,  LC_TYPE  or
       LANG environment variables, then the default character set is utf-8.

       If  that  string  is  not found, but your system supports the setlocale
       interface, less will use setlocale  to  determine  the  character  set.
       setlocale  is  controlled  by  setting the LANG or LC_CTYPE environment
       variables.

       Finally, if the setlocale interface is also not available, the  default
       character set is latin1.

       Control	and  binary  characters  are  displayed  in  standout (reverse
       video).	Each such character is displayed in caret notation if possible
       (e.g.  ^A for control-A).  Caret notation is used only if inverting the
       0100 bit results in a normal printable character.  Otherwise, the char
       acter  is displayed as a hex number in angle brackets.  This format can
       be changed by setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.   LESSBINFMT
       may begin with a "*" and one character to select the display attribute:
       "*k" is blinking, "*d" is bold, "*u" is underlined, "*s"  is  standout,
       and  "*n"  is  normal.  If LESSBINFMT does not begin with a "*", normal
       attribute is assumed.  The remainder of LESSBINFMT is  a  string  which
       may  include one printf-style escape sequence (a % followed by x, X, o,
       d, etc.).  For example, if LESSBINFMT is  "*u[%x]",  binary  characters
       are  displayed  in  underlined hexadecimal surrounded by brackets.  The
       default if no LESSBINFMT is specified is "*s<%X>".  The default	if  no
       LESSBINFMT  is specified is "*s<%02X>".	Warning: the result of expand
       ing the character via LESSBINFMT must be less than 31 characters.

       When the character set is utf-8, the LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable
       acts similarly to LESSBINFMT but it applies to Unicode code points that
       were successfully decoded but are unsuitable for display  (e.g.,  unas
       signed  code  points).	Its  default  value is "".  Note that
       LESSUTFBINFMT and LESSBINFMT  share  their  display  attribute  setting
       ("*x")  so specifying one will affect both; LESSUTFBINFMT is read after
       LESSBINFMT so its setting, if any,  will  have  priority.   Problematic
       octets  in  a  UTF-8  file (octets of a truncated sequence, octets of a
       complete but non-shortest form  sequence,  illegal  octets,  and  stray
       trailing  octets)  are displayed individually using LESSBINFMT so as to
       facilitate diagnostic of how the UTF-8 file is ill-formed.


PROMPTS
       The -P option allows you to tailor the prompt to your preference.   The
       string  given  to  the  -P option replaces the specified prompt string.
       Certain characters in the string are interpreted specially.  The prompt
       mechanism  is  rather complicated to provide flexibility, but the ordi
       nary user need not understand the details of constructing  personalized
       prompt strings.

       A  percent sign followed by a single character is expanded according to
       what the following character is:

       %bX    Replaced by the byte offset into the current input file.	The  b
	      is followed by a single character (shown as X above) which spec
	      ifies the line whose byte offset is to be used.  If the  charac
	      ter  is a "t", the byte offset of the top line in the display is
	      used, an "m" means use the middle line, a "b" means use the bot
	      tom  line,  a "B" means use the line just after the bottom line,
	      and a "j" means use the "target" line, as specified  by  the  -j
	      option.

       %B     Replaced by the size of the current input file.

       %c     Replaced by the column number of the text appearing in the first
	      column of the screen.

       %dX    Replaced by the page number of a line in the  input  file.   The
	      line to be used is determined by the X, as with the %b option.

       %D     Replaced	by  the  number of pages in the input file, or equiva
	      lently, the page number of the last line in the input file.

       %E     Replaced by the name of the editor (from the VISUAL  environment
	      variable,  or  the  EDITOR environment variable if VISUAL is not
	      defined).  See the discussion of the LESSEDIT feature below.

       %f     Replaced by the name of the current input file.

       %i     Replaced by the index of the current file in the list  of  input
	      files.

       %lX    Replaced	by  the  line number of a line in the input file.  The
	      line to be used is determined by the X, as with the %b option.

       %L     Replaced by the line number of the last line in the input  file.

       %m     Replaced by the total number of input files.

       %pX    Replaced	by  the  percent into the current input file, based on
	      byte offsets.  The line used is determined by the X as with  the
	      %b option.

       %PX    Replaced	by  the  percent into the current input file, based on
	      line numbers.  The line used is determined by the X as with  the
	      %b option.

       %s     Same as %B.

       %t     Causes  any  trailing spaces to be removed.  Usually used at the
	      end of the string, but may appear anywhere.

       %x     Replaced by the name of the next input file in the list.

       If any item is unknown (for example, the file size if input is a pipe),
       a question mark is printed instead.

       The  format  of	the  prompt string can be changed depending on certain
       conditions.  A question mark followed by a single character  acts  like
       an  "IF":  depending  on the following character, a condition is evalu
       ated.  If the condition is true, any characters following the  question
       mark  and  condition  character,  up  to  a period, are included in the
       prompt.	If the condition is false, such characters are	not  included.
       A  colon appearing between the question mark and the period can be used
       to establish an "ELSE": any characters between the colon and the period
       are  included  in  the string if and only if the IF condition is false.
       Condition characters (which follow a question mark) may be:

       ?a     True if any characters have been included in the prompt so  far.

       ?bX    True if the byte offset of the specified line is known.

       ?B     True if the size of current input file is known.

       ?c     True if the text is horizontally shifted (%c is not zero).

       ?dX    True if the page number of the specified line is known.

       ?e     True if at end-of-file.

       ?f     True  if	there is an input filename (that is, if input is not a
	      pipe).

       ?lX    True if the line number of the specified line is known.

       ?L     True if the line number of the last line in the file is known.

       ?m     True if there is more than one input file.

       ?n     True if this is the first prompt in a new input file.

       ?pX    True if the percent into the current input file, based  on  byte
	      offsets, of the specified line is known.

       ?PX    True  if	the percent into the current input file, based on line
	      numbers, of the specified line is known.

       ?s     Same as "?B".

       ?x     True if there is a next input file  (that  is,  if  the  current
	      input file is not the last one).

       Any  characters	other  than  the  special  ones (question mark, colon,
       period, percent, and backslash) become literally part  of  the  prompt.
       Any  of	the special characters may be included in the prompt literally
       by preceding it with a backslash.

       Some examples:

       ?f%f:Standard input.

       This prompt prints the filename, if known; otherwise the string	"Stan
       dard input".

       ?f%f .?ltLine %lt:?pt%pt\%:?btByte %bt:-...

       This  prompt  would print the filename, if known.  The filename is fol
       lowed by the line number, if known, otherwise  the  percent  if	known,
       otherwise  the  byte  offset  if  known.  Otherwise, a dash is printed.
       Notice how each question mark has a matching  period,  and  how	the  %
       after the %pt is included literally by escaping it with a backslash.

       ?n?f%f .?m(file %i of %m) ..?e(END) ?x- Next\: %x..%t

       This  prints  the  filename if this is the first prompt in a file, fol
       lowed by the "file N of N" message if there  is	more  than  one  input
       file.   Then,  if  we are at end-of-file, the string "(END)" is printed
       followed by the name of the next file, if there is one.	 Finally,  any
       trailing spaces are truncated.  This is the default prompt.  For refer
       ence, here are the defaults for	the  other  two  prompts  (-m  and  -M
       respectively).	Each  is  broken  into	two lines here for readability
       only.

       ?n?f%f .?m(file %i of %m) ..?e(END) ?x- Next\: %x.:
	    ?pB%pB\%:byte %bB?s/%s...%t

       ?f%f .?n?m(file %i of %m) ..?ltlines %lt-%lb?L/%L. :
	    byte %bB?s/%s. .?e(END) ?x- Next\: %x.:?pB%pB\%..%t

       And here is the default message produced by the = command:

       ?f%f .?m(file %i of %m) .?ltlines %lt-%lb?L/%L. .
	    byte %bB?s/%s. ?e(END) :?pB%pB\%..%t

       The prompt expansion features are also used for another purpose: if  an
       environment  variable LESSEDIT is defined, it is used as the command to
       be executed when the v command is  invoked.   The  LESSEDIT  string  is
       expanded  in the same way as the prompt strings.  The default value for
       LESSEDIT is:

	    %E ?lm+%lm. %f

       Note that this expands to the editor name, followed by a + and the line
       number,	followed by the file name.  If your editor does not accept the
       "+linenumber" syntax, or has other differences  in  invocation  syntax,
       the LESSEDIT variable can be changed to modify this default.


SECURITY
       When  the  environment  variable LESSSECURE is set to 1, less runs in a
       "secure" mode.  This means these features are disabled:

	      !      the shell command

	      |      the pipe command

	      :e     the examine command.

	      v      the editing command

	      s  -o  log files

	      -k     use of lesskey files

	      -t     use of tags files

		     metacharacters in filenames, such as *

		     filename completion (TAB, ^L)

       Less can also be compiled to be permanently in "secure" mode.


ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       Environment variables may be specified either in the system environment
       as  usual,  or  in  a  lesskey  (1) file.  If environment variables are
       defined in more than one place, variables defined in  a	local  lesskey
       file  take precedence over variables defined in the system environment,
       which take precedence over variables defined in the system-wide lesskey
       file.

       COLUMNS
	      Sets the number of columns on the screen.  Takes precedence over
	      the number of columns specified by the TERM variable.   (But  if
	      you  have  a  windowing  system  which  supports	TIOCGWINSZ  or
	      WIOCGETD, the window systems idea  of  the  screen  size	takes
	      precedence over the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables.)

       EDITOR The name of the editor (used for the v command).

       HOME   Name  of	the users home directory (used to find a lesskey file
	      on Unix and OS/2 systems).

       HOMEDRIVE, HOMEPATH
	      Concatenation of the HOMEDRIVE and  HOMEPATH  environment  vari
	      ables is the name of the users home directory if the HOME vari
	      able is not set (only in the Windows version).

       INIT   Name of the users init directory (used to find a	lesskey  file
	      on OS/2 systems).

       LANG   Language for determining the character set.

       LC_CTYPE
	      Language for determining the character set.

       LESS   Options which are passed to less automatically.

       LESSANSIENDCHARS
	      Characters  which may end an ANSI color escape sequence (default
	      "m").

       LESSANSIMIDCHARS
	      Characters which may appear between the ESC  character  and  the
	      end   character  in  an  ANSI  color  escape  sequence  (default
	      "0123456789;[?!"#%()*+ ".

       LESSBINFMT
	      Format for displaying non-printable, non-control characters.

       LESSCHARDEF
	      Defines a character set.

       LESSCHARSET
	      Selects a predefined character set.

       LESSCLOSE
	      Command line to invoke the (optional) input-postprocessor.

       LESSECHO
	      Name of the lessecho program (default "lessecho").  The lessecho
	      program  is needed to expand metacharacters, such as * and ?, in
	      filenames on Unix systems.

       LESSEDIT
	      Editor prototype string (used for the v command).   See  discus
	      sion under PROMPTS.

       LESSGLOBALTAGS
	      Name  of	the command used by the -t option to find global tags.
	      Normally should be set to "global" if your system has the global
	      (1) command.  If not set, global tags are not used.

       LESSHISTFILE
	      Name  of	the  history file used to remember search commands and
	      shell commands between invocations of less.  If set  to  "-",  a
	      history  file  is  not used.  The default is "$HOME/.lesshst" on
	      Unix systems, "$HOME/_lesshst" on DOS and  Windows  systems,  or
	      "$HOME/lesshst.ini" or "$INIT/lesshst.ini" on OS/2 systems.

       LESSHISTSIZE
	      The maximum number of commands to save in the history file.  The
	      default is 100.

       LESSKEY
	      Name of the default lesskey(1) file.

       LESSKEY_SYSTEM
	      Name of the default system-wide lesskey(1) file.

       LESSMETACHARS
	      List of characters which are considered "metacharacters" by  the
	      shell.

       LESSMETAESCAPE
	      Prefix  which  less will add before each metacharacter in a com
	      mand sent to the shell.  If LESSMETAESCAPE is an	empty  string,
	      commands	containing  metacharacters  will  not be passed to the
	      shell.

       LESSOPEN
	      Command line to invoke the (optional) input-preprocessor.

       LESSSECURE
	      Runs less in "secure" mode.  See discussion under SECURITY.

       LESSSEPARATOR
	      String to be appended to a directory name  in  filename  comple
	      tion.

       LESSUTFBINFMT
	      Format for displaying non-printable Unicode code points.

       LINES  Sets  the  number of lines on the screen.  Takes precedence over
	      the number of lines specified by the TERM variable.  (But if you
	      have  a  windowing system which supports TIOCGWINSZ or WIOCGETD,
	      the window systems idea of the  screen  size  takes  precedence
	      over the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables.)

       PATH   Users  search  path  (used to find a lesskey file on MS-DOS and
	      OS/2 systems).

       SHELL  The shell used to execute the ! command, as well	as  to	expand
	      filenames.

       TERM   The type of terminal on which less is being run.

       VISUAL The name of the editor (used for the v command).


SEE ALSO
       lesskey(1)


WARNINGS
       The  =  command and prompts (unless changed by -P) report the line num
       bers of the lines at the top and bottom of the screen, but the byte and
       percent of the line after the one at the bottom of the screen.

       If  the	:e  command is used to name more than one file, and one of the
       named files has been viewed previously, the new files  may  be  entered
       into the list in an unexpected order.

       On  certain  older  terminals (the so-called "magic cookie" terminals),
       search highlighting will cause an erroneous display.   On  such	termi
       nals,  search  highlighting  is	disabled  by default to avoid possible
       problems.

       In certain cases, when search highlighting is enabled and a search pat
       tern  begins  with a ^, more text than the matching string may be high
       lighted.  (This problem does not occur when less is compiled to use the
       POSIX regular expression package.)

       When  viewing  text containing ANSI color escape sequences using the -R
       option, searching will not find	text  containing  an  embedded	escape
       sequence.   Also,  search  highlighting may change the color of some of
       the text which follows the highlighted text.

       On some systems, setlocale claims that ASCII characters 0 thru  31  are
       control	characters rather than binary characters.  This causes less to
       treat some binary files as ordinary, non-binary files.	To  workaround
       this  problem,  set the environment variable LESSCHARSET to "ascii" (or
       whatever character set is appropriate).

       This manual is too long.

       See http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less for the list of known bugs in
       all versions of less.


COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 1984-2005	Mark Nudelman

       less  is  part of the GNU project and is free software.	You can redis
       tribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either (1) the GNU  Gen
       eral  Public  License  as published by the Free Software Foundation; or
       (2) the Less License.  See the file README in the less distribution for
       more details regarding redistribution.  You should have received a copy
       of the GNU General Public License along with the source for  less;  see
       the  file  COPYING.   If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, 59
       Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.  You should  also
       have received a copy of the Less License; see the file LICENSE.

       less is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
       WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or  FIT
       NESS  FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.	See the GNU General Public License for
       more details.


AUTHOR
       Mark Nudelman 
       Send  bug  reports  or  comments  to  the  above  address  or  to  bug-
       less@gnu.org.
       For  more  information,	see the less homepage at http://www.greenwood
       software.com/less.



			   Version 394: 03 Dec 2005		       LESS(1)




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