more(1)
Name
more, page − display file data at your terminal
Syntax
more [−cdflsu] [−n] [+linenumber] [+/pattern] [name...]
page more options
Description
The more filter allows you to examine a file one screenful of text at a time on a soft-copy 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 presses the space bar, another screenful is displayed.
Options
+linenumberStart up at linenumber.
+/patternStart up two lines before the line containing the regular expression pattern. The command line options are:
−cBegins each page at the top of the screen and erases each line just before it draws on it. This avoids scrolling the screen, making it easier to read while more is writing. This option is ignored if the terminal does not have the ability to clear to the end of a line.
−dDisplays extended continuation prompt at end of each display. The more command prompts the user with the message "Press space to continue, ´q´ to quit." at the end of each screenful, and responds to subsequent illegal user input by printing "Press ´h´ for instructions." instead of ringing the bell. This is useful if more is being used as a filter in some setting, such as a class, where many users may be unsophisticated.
−fCounts logical text lines (does not fold long lines). 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.
−lIgnores line feeds (CTRL/Ls) and normally, pauses at line feeds. If this option is not given, more pauses after any line that contains a ^L, as if the end of a screenful had been reached. Also, if a file begins with a form feed, the screen is cleared before the file is printed.
−nSpecifies number of line more displays.
−sSqueezes multiple blank lines from the output, producing only one blank line. Especially helpful when viewing nroff output, this option maximizes the useful information present on the screen.
−uIgnores all underlining in the data. If the terminal can perform underlining or has a stand-out mode, more outputs appropriate escape sequences to enable underlining or stand-out mode for underlined information in the source file. The −u option suppresses this processing.
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 the terminal can display.
The more command 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.
The more command looks in the environment variable MORE to pre-set any flags desired. For example, if you prefer to view files using the −c mode of operation, the csh command setenv MORE -c or the sh command sequence MORE=’-c’ ; export MORE would cause all invocations of more, including invocations by programs such as man and msgs, to use this mode. Normally, the user places the command sequence which sets up the MORE environment variable in the .cshrc or .profile file.
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.
Other sequences which may be typed when more pauses, and their effects, are as follows (i is an optional integer argument, defaulting to 1) :
i<space>Display i more lines, (or another screenful if no argument is given)
^DDisplay 11 more lines (a “scroll”). If i is given, then the scroll size is set to i.
dSame as ^D (control-D)
izSame as typing a space except that i, if present, becomes the new window size.
isSkip i lines and print a screenful of lines
ifSkip i screenfuls and print a screenful of lines
ib or i^BSkip back i screenfuls and print a screenful of lines
q or QExit from more.
=Display the current line number.
vStart up the editor vi at the current line.
h or ?Help command; give a description of all the more commands.
i/exprSearch 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. of the last regular expression entered.
inSearch for the i-th occurrence
’(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.
!commandInvoke a shell with command. The characters ‘%’ and ‘!’ in "command" are replaced with the current file name and the previous shell command respectively. If there is no current file name, ‘%’ is not expanded. The sequences "\%" and "\!" are replaced by "%" and "!" respectively.
i:nskip to the i-th next file given in the command line (skips to last file if n doesn’t make sense)
i:pSkip 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.
:fDisplay the current file name and line number.
:q or :QExit from more
.(dot) Repeat the previous command.
The commands take effect immediately, that is, 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−\). The more command stops sending output, and displays 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. What you type not show on your terminal, except for the / and ! commands.
If the standard output is not a teletype, then more acts just like cat, except that a header is printed before each file (if there is more than one).
A sample usage of more in previewing nroff output would be
nroff −ms +2 doc.n | more -s
Files
/etc/termcapTerminal data base
/usr/lib/more.helpHelp file