$ whatis less

less - opposite of more

Examples:

less /etc/hosts

whatis less less less (1) - opposite of more Examples: The command 'less' is similar to command 'more' , but it allows backward movement in the file as well as forward movement. The syntax is simmilar to the 'vi' editor. A list of commands can be displayed by simply pressing 'h or H' for help while using the less command.

$ less -V

less comes with NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. p

For information about the terms of redistribution,

see the file named README in the less distribution.

Homepage: http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less

You can get a the list of commands at least four ways, by performaning the command 'man less', or running the command 'less -?', or 'less help', or 'less [FILENAME] and then type 'h or H' while reading the file [FILENAME]'. The list of commands to use are provided to you below, please practice some these commands to learn how to naviagate within less commands. What you learn here could also benefit you with the list of commands that you could use within the ' vi and vim' editor.

$ less --help

SUMMARY OF LESS COMMANDS

Commands marked with * may be preceded by a number, N.

Notes in parentheses indicate the behavior if N is given.

h H Display this help.

q :q Q :Q ZZ Exit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MOVING

e ^E j ^N CR * Forward one line (or N lines).

y ^Y k ^K ^P * Backward one line (or N lines).

f ^F ^V SPACE * Forward one window (or N lines).

b ^B ESC-v * Backward one window (or N lines).

z * Forward one window (and set window to N).

w * Backward one window (and set window to N).

ESC-SPACE * Forward one window, but don't stop at end-of-file.

d ^D * Forward one half-window (and set half-window to N).

u ^U * Backward one half-window (and set half-window to N).

ESC-) RightArrow * Left one half screen width (or N positions).

ESC-( LeftArrow * Right one half screen width (or N positions).

F Forward forever; like "tail -f".

r ^R ^L Repaint screen.

R Repaint screen, discarding buffered input.

---------------------------------------------------

Default "window" is the screen height.

Default "half-window" is half of the screen height.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SEARCHING

/pattern * Search forward for (N-th) matching line.

?pattern * Search backward for (N-th) matching line.

n * Repeat previous search (for N-th occurrence).

N * Repeat previous search in reverse direction.

ESC-n * Repeat previous search, spanning files.

ESC-N * Repeat previous search, reverse dir. & spanning files.

ESC-u Undo (toggle) search highlighting.

---------------------------------------------------

Search patterns may be modified by one or more of:

^N or ! Search for NON-matching lines.

^E or * Search multiple files (pass thru END OF FILE).

^F or @ Start search at FIRST file (for /) or last file (for ?).

^K Highlight matches, but don't move (KEEP position).

^R Don't use REGULAR EXPRESSIONS.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

JUMPING

g < ESC-< * Go to first line in file (or line N).

G > ESC-> * Go to last line in file (or line N).

p % * Go to beginning of file (or N percent into file).

t * Go to the (N-th) next tag.

T * Go to the (N-th) previous tag.

{ ( [ * Find close bracket } ) ].

} ) ] * Find open bracket { ( [.

ESC-^F * Find close bracket .

ESC-^B * Find open bracket

---------------------------------------------------

Each "find close bracket" command goes forward to the close bracket

matching the (N-th) open bracket in the top line.

Each "find open bracket" command goes backward to the open bracket

matching the (N-th) close bracket in the bottom line.

m Mark the current position with .

' Go to a previously marked position.

'' Go to the previous position.

^X^X Same as '.

---------------------------------------------------

A mark is any upper-case or lower-case letter.

Certain marks are predefined:

^ means beginning of the file

$ means end of the file

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHANGING FILES

:e [file] Examine a new file.

^X^V Same as :e.

:n * Examine the (N-th) next file from the command line.

:p * Examine the (N-th) previous file from the command line.

:x * Examine the first (or N-th) file from the command line.

:d Delete the current file from the command line list.

= ^G :f Print current file name.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS

- Toggle a command line option [see OPTIONS below].

-- Toggle a command line option, by name.

_ Display the setting of a command line option.

__ Display the setting of an option, by name.

+cmd Execute the less cmd each time a new file is examined.

!command Execute the shell command with $SHELL.

|Xcommand Pipe file between current pos & mark X to shell command.

v Edit the current file with $VISUAL or $EDITOR.

V Print version number of "less".

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPTIONS

Most options may be changed either on the command line,

or from within less by using the - or -- command.

Options may be given in one of two forms: either a single

character preceded by a -, or a name preceeded by --.

-? ........ --help

Display help (from command line).

-a ........ --search-skip-screen

Forward search skips current screen.

-b [N] .... --buffers=[N]

Number of buffers.

-B ........ --auto-buffers

Don't automatically allocate buffers for pipes.

-c ........ --clear-screen

Repaint by clearing rather than scrolling.

-d ........ --dumb

Dumb terminal.

-D [xn.n] . --color=xn.n

Set screen colors. (MS-DOS only)

-e -E .... --quit-at-eof --QUIT-AT-EOF

Quit at end of file.

-f ........ --force

Force open non-regular files.

-F ........ --quit-if-one-screen Quit if entire file fits on first screen.

-g ........ --hilite-search

Highlight only last match for searches.

-G ........ --HILITE-SEARCH

Don't highlight any matches for searches.

-h [N] .... --max-back-scroll=[N]

Backward scroll limit.

-i ........ --ignore-case

Ignore case in searches that do not contain uppercase.

-I ........ --IGNORE-CASE

Ignore case in all searches.

-j [N] .... --jump-target=[N]

Screen position of target lines.

-J ........ --status-column

Display a status column at left edge of screen.

-k [file] . --lesskey-file=[file]

Use a lesskey file.

-L ........ --no-lessopen

Ignore the LESSOPEN environment variable.

-m -M .... --long-prompt --LONG-PROMPT

Set prompt style.

-n -N .... --line-numbers --LINE-NUMBERS

Don't use line numbers.

-o [file] . --log-file=[file]

Copy to log file (standard input only).

-O [file] . --LOG-FILE=[file]

Copy to log file (unconditionally overwrite).

-p [pattern] --pattern=[pattern]

Start at pattern (from command line).

-P [prompt] --prompt=[prompt] Define new prompt.

-q -Q .... --quiet --QUIET --silent --SILENT

Quiet the terminal bell.

-r -R .... --raw-control-chars --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS

Output "raw" control characters.

-s ........ --squeeze-blank-lines

Squeeze multiple blank lines.

-S ........ --chop-long-lines

Chop long lines.

-t [tag] .. --tag=[tag]

Find a tag.

-T [tagsfile] --tag-file=[tagsfile]

Use an alternate tags file.

-u -U .... --underline-special --UNDERLINE-SPECIAL

Change handling of backspaces.

-V ........ --version

Display the version number of "less".

-w ........ --hilite-unread

Highlight first new line after forward-screen.

-W ........ --HILITE-UNREAD

Highlight first new line after any forward movement.

-x [N[,...]] --tabs=[N[,...]] Set tab stops.

-X ........ --no-init

Don't use termcap init/deinit strings.

--no-ke ypad

Don't use termcap keypad init/deinit strings.

-y [N] .... --max-forw-scroll=[N]

Forward scroll limit.

-z [N] .... --window=[N]

Set size of window.

-" [c[c]] . --quotes=[c[c]]

Set shell quote characters.

-~ ........ --tilde

Don't d isplay tildes after end of file.

-# [N] .... --shift=[N]

Horizontal scroll amount (0 = one half screen width)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

LINE EDITING

These keys can be used to edit text being entered on the "command line" at the bottom of the screen.

RightArrow ESC-l Move cursor right one character.

LeftArrow ESC-h Move cursor left one character.

CNTL-RightArrow ESC-RightArrow ESC-w Move cursor right one word.

CNTL-LeftArrow ESC-LeftArrow ESC-b Move cursor left one word.

HOME ESC-0 Move cursor to start of line.

END ESC-$ Move cursor to end of line.

BACKSPACE Delete char to left of cursor.

DELETE ESC-x Delete char under cursor.

CNTL-BACKSPACE ESC-BACKSPACE Delete word to left of cursor.

CNTL-DELETE ESC-DELETE ESC-X Delete word under cursor.

CNTL-U ESC (MS-DOS only) Delete entire line.

UpArrow ESC-k Retrieve previous command line.

DownArrow ESC-j Retrieve next command line.

TAB Complete filename & cycle.

SHIFT-TAB ESC-TAB Complete filename & reverse cycle. -la

CNTL-L Complete filename, list all.

Please click on "man less " to see the Manual Page for this command.