LESS(1)                     General Commands Manual                    LESS(1)



[1mNAME[0m
       less - opposite of more

[1mSYNOPSIS[0m
       [1mless -?[0m
       [1mless --help[0m
       [1mless -V[0m
       [1mless --version[0m
       [1mless [-[+]aABcCdeEfFgGiIJKLmMnNqQrRsSuUVwWX~][0m
            [1m[-b [4m[22mspace[24m[1m] [-h [4m[22mlines[24m[1m] [-j [4m[22mline[24m[1m] [-k [4m[22mkeyfile[24m[1m][0m
            [1m[-{oO} [4m[22mlogfile[24m[1m] [-p [4m[22mpattern[24m[1m] [-P [4m[22mprompt[24m[1m] [-t [4m[22mtag[24m[1m][0m
            [1m[-T [4m[22mtagsfile[24m[1m] [-x [4m[22mtab[24m[1m,...] [-y [4m[22mlines[24m[1m] [-[z] [4m[22mlines[24m[1m][0m
            [1m[-# [4m[22mshift[24m[1m] [+[+][4m[22mcmd[24m[1m] [--] [[4m[22mfilename[24m[1m]...[0m
       (See  the  OPTIONS section for alternate option syntax with long option
       names.)

[1mDESCRIPTION[0m
       [1mLess [22mis a program similar to [1mmore[22m(1), but which allows  backward  move-
       ment in the file as well as forward movement.  Also, [1mless [22mdoes not have
       to read the entire input file before  starting,  so  with  large  input
       files  it  starts  up  faster  than text editors like [1mvi[22m(1).  [1mLess [22muses
       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 [1mmore [22mand [1mvi[22m.  Commands may be preceded by a
       decimal number, called N in the descriptions below.  The number is used
       by some commands, as indicated.

[1mCOMMANDS[0m
       In  the following descriptions, ^X means control-X.  ESC stands for the
       ESCAPE key; for example ESC-v means the  two  character  sequence  "ES-
       CAPE", 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  be-
              low).  If N is more than the screen size, only the final screen-
              ful is displayed.  Warning: some systems use  ^V  as  a  special
              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.

       ENTER or 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  be-
              low).  If N is more than the screen size, only the final screen-
              ful 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.

       J      Like j, but continues to scroll beyond the end of the file.

       K or Y Like  k,  but  continues  to  scroll beyond the beginning of the
              file.

       ESC-) or RIGHTARROW
              Scroll horizontally right N characters, default half the  screen
              width  (see  the -# option).  If a number N is specified, it be-
              comes the default for future RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW  commands.
              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 be-
              comes the default for future RIGHTARROW and LEFTARROW commands.

       ESC-} or ^RIGHTARROW
              Scroll horizontally right to show the end of  the  longest  dis-
              played line.

       ESC-{ or ^LEFTARROW
              Scroll horizontally left back to the first column.

       r or ^R or ^L
              Repaint the screen.

       R      Repaint  the  screen,  discarding  any buffered input.  That is,
              reload the current file.  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.)  To stop waiting for more
              data, enter the interrupt character (usually  ^C).   On  systems
              which support [1mpoll[22m(1) you can also use ^X or the character spec-
              ified by the --intr option.  If the input  is  a  pipe  and  the
              --exit-follow-on-close  option is in effect, [1mless [22mwill automati-
              cally stop waiting for data when the input side of the  pipe  is
              closed.

       ESC-F  Like  F,  but  as soon as a line is found which matches the last
              search pattern, the terminal bell is rung and forward  scrolling
              stops.

       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.)

       ESC-G  Same as G, except if no number N is specified and the  input  is
              standard  input,  goes  to  the  last  line  which  is currently
              buffered.

       p or % Go to a position N percent into the file.  N should be between 0
              and 100, and may contain a decimal point.

       P      Go to the line containing byte offset N in the file.

       {      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 bottom 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 or uppercase letter, marks the first
              displayed line with that letter.  If the status  column  is  en-
              abled  via  the  -J  option,  the status column shows the marked
              line.

       M      Acts like m, except the last displayed  line  is  marked  rather
              than the first displayed line.

       '      (Single  quote.)  Followed by any lowercase or uppercase letter,
              returns to the position which was previously  marked  with  that
              letter.   Followed by another single quote, returns to the posi-
              tion 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 ' command can be used to switch between input files.

       ^X^X   Same as single quote.

       ESC-m  Followed  by  any lowercase or uppercase letter, clears the mark
              identified by that letter.

       /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 first 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 don't move to the first match (KEEP cur-
                     rent position).

              ^R     Don't interpret regular expression  metacharacters;  that
                     is, do a simple textual comparison.

              ^S     Followed  by  a digit N between 1 and 5.  Only text which
                     has a non-empty match for the N-th parenthesized SUB-PAT-
                     TERN will be considered to match the pattern.  (Supported
                     only if [1mless [22mis built with one of the regular  expression
                     libraries  [1mposix[22m, [1mpcre[22m, or [1mpcre2[22m.)  Multiple ^S modifiers
                     can be specified, to match more than one sub-pattern.

              ^W     WRAP around the current file.  That  is,  if  the  search
                     reaches  the  end  of  the current file without finding a
                     match, the search continues from the first  line  of  the
                     current  file up to the line where it started.  If the ^W
                     modifier is set, the ^E modifier is ignored.

       ?pattern
              Search backward in the file for the  N-th  line  containing  the
              pattern.   The search starts at the last line displayed (but see
              the -a and -j options, which change this).

              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 op-
                     tions.

              ^K     As in forward searches.

              ^R     As in forward searches.

              ^S     As in forward searches.

              ^W     WRAP around the current file.  That  is,  if  the  search
                     reaches the beginning of the current file without finding
                     a match, the search continues from the last line  of  the
                     current file up to the line where it started.

       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  ef-
              fect 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.)

       ESC-U  Like  ESC-u  but  also  clears the saved search pattern.  If the
              status column is enabled via the  -J  option,  this  clears  all
              search matches marked in the status column.

       &pattern
              Display  only  lines which match the pattern; lines which do not
              match the pattern are not displayed.  If pattern  is  empty  (if
              you  type  &  immediately  followed  by ENTER), any filtering is
              turned off, and all lines are displayed.  While filtering is  in
              effect,  an  ampersand  is  displayed  at  the  beginning of the
              prompt, as a reminder that some lines in the file may be hidden.
              Multiple  &  commands  may  be entered, in which case only lines
              which match all of the patterns will be displayed.

              Certain characters are special as in the / command:

              ^N or !
                     Display only lines which do NOT match the pattern.

              ^R     Don't interpret regular expression  metacharacters;  that
                     is, do a simple textual comparison.

       :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  re-
              placed  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 en-
              tered 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 ENTER
              or  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 re-
              set the option to its default setting and print  a  message  de-
              scribing  the  new  setting.   (The  "-+[4mX[24m" command does the same
              thing as "-+[4mX[24m" 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 ENTER or 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 [1mless [22mto initially display each
              file starting at the end rather than the beginning.

       V      Prints the version number of [1mless [22mbeing run.

       q or Q or :q or :Q or ZZ
              Exits [1mless[22m.

       The following six 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
              Similar to the "!" command, except that the command is  expanded
              in the same way as prompt strings.  For example, the name of the
              current file would be given as "%f".

       | <m> shell-command
              <m> 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 position marked by the letter and the  cur-
              rent  screen.  The entire current screen is included, regardless
              of whether the marked position is before or  after  the  current
              screen.   <m> may also be ^ or $ to indicate beginning or end of
              file respectively.  If <m> is . or newline, the  current  screen
              is piped.

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

       ^X     When the "Waiting for data" message is displayed, such as  while
              in  the  F  command, pressing ^X will stop [1mless [22mfrom waiting and
              return to a prompt.  This may cause [1mless [22mto think that the  file
              ends  at the current position, so it may be necessary to use the
              R or F command to see more data.  The --intr option can be  used
              to  specify  a  different  character to use instead of ^X.  This
              command works only on systems that support the [1mpoll[22m(1) function.
              On systems without [1mpoll[22m(1), the interrupt character (usually ^C)
              can be used instead.

[1mOPTIONS[0m
       Command line options are described below.  Most options may be  changed
       while [1mless [22mis running, via the "-" command.

       Some  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 un-
       ambiguous.  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 let-
       ter 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 [1mless [22mis invoked, you
       might tell [1mcsh[22m:

       setenv LESS "-options"

       or if you use [1msh[22m:

       LESS="-options"; export LESS

       On  MS-DOS,  you don't 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 ap-
       pears in the LESS variable, it can be reset to its default value on the
       command line by beginning the command line option with "-+".

       Some  options  like -k or -D require a string to follow the option let-
       ter.  The string for that option is considered to  end  when  a  dollar
       sign ($) is found.  For example, you can set two -D options like this:

       LESS="Dn9.1$Ds4.1"

       If  the  --use-backslash  option appears earlier in the options, then a
       dollar sign or backslash may be included literally in an option  string
       by preceding it with a backslash.  If the --use-backslash option is not
       in effect, then backslashes are not treated specially, and there is  no
       way to include a dollar sign in the option string.

       -? or --help
              This  option displays a summary of the commands accepted by [1mless[0m
              (the same as the h command).  (Depending on how your  shell  in-
              terprets  the  question  mark,  it may be necessary to quote the
              question mark, thus: "-\?".)

       -a or --search-skip-screen
              By default, forward searches start at the top of  the  displayed
              screen  and  backwards  searches start at the bottom of the dis-
              played screen (except for repeated searches invoked by the n  or
              N  commands,  which  start after or before the "target" line re-
              spectively; see the -j option for more about the  target  line).
              The  -a  option  causes forward searches to instead start at the
              bottom of the screen and backward searches to start at  the  top
              of the screen, thus skipping all lines displayed on the screen.

       -A or --SEARCH-SKIP-SCREEN
              Causes  all forward searches (not just non-repeated searches) to
              start just after the target line, and all backward  searches  to
              start  just before the target line.  Thus, forward searches will
              skip part of the displayed screen (from the first line up to and
              including  the  target line).  Similarly backwards searches will
              skip the displayed screen from the last line up to and including
              the target line.  This was the default behavior in less versions
              prior to 441.

       -b[4mn[24m or --buffers=[4mn[0m
              Specifies the amount of buffer space  [1mless  [22mwill  use  for  each
              file,  in  units of kilobytes (1024 bytes).  By default 64 KB of
              buffer space is used for each file (unless the file is  a  pipe;
              see  the  -B  option).   The  -b option specifies instead that [4mn[0m
              kilobytes of buffer space should be used for each file.  If [4mn[24m is
              -1,  buffer  space is unlimited; that is, the entire file can be
              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 buf-
              fers for pipes, so that only 64 KB (or the amount of space spec-
              ified  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  piped data is kept in memory; any earlier
              data is lost.  Lost characters are displayed as question marks.

       -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
              Same as -c, for compatibility with older versions of [1mless[22m.

       -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 [1mless [22mon a
              dumb terminal.

       -D[1mx[4m[22mcolor[24m or --color=[1mx[4m[22mcolor[0m
              Changes the color of different parts of the displayed  text.   [1mx[0m
              is a single character which selects the type of text whose color
              is being set:

              B      Binary characters.

              C      Control characters.

              E      Errors and informational messages.

              H      Header lines and columns, set via the --header option.

              M      Mark letters in the status column.

              N      Line numbers enabled via the -N option.

              P      Prompts.

              R      The rscroll character.

              S      Search results.

              1-5    The text in a  search  result  which  matches  the  first
                     through  fifth  parenthesized  sub-pattern.   Sub-pattern
                     coloring works only if [1mless [22mis built with one of the reg-
                     ular expression libraries [1mposix[22m, [1mpcre[22m, or [1mpcre2[22m.

              W      The highlight enabled via the -w option.

              d      Bold text.

              k      Blinking text.

              s      Standout text.

              u      Underlined text.

              The  uppercase  letters  and  digits  can  be used only when the
              --use-color option is enabled.  When text color is specified  by
              both  an  uppercase letter and a lowercase letter, the uppercase
              letter takes precedence.  For example, error messages  are  nor-
              mally  displayed  as  standout text.  So if both "s" and "E" are
              given a color, the "E" color applies to error messages, and  the
              "s"  color applies to other standout text.  The "d" and "u" let-
              ters refer to bold and underline  text  formed  by  overstriking
              with  backspaces (see the -U option), not to text using ANSI es-
              cape sequences with the -R option.

              A lowercase letter may be followed by a + to indicate  that  the
              normal  format  change  and  the  specified color should both be
              used.  For example, -Dug displays underlined text as green with-
              out  underlining;  the green color has replaced the usual under-
              line formatting.  But -Du+g displays  underlined  text  as  both
              green and in underlined format.

              [4mcolor[24m is either a 4-bit color string or an 8-bit color string:

              A  4-bit  color string is zero, one or two characters, where the
              first character specifies the foreground color  and  the  second
              specifies the background color as follows:

              b      Blue

              c      Cyan

              g      Green

              k      Black

              m      Magenta

              r      Red

              w      White

              y      Yellow

              The  corresponding  uppercase letter denotes a brighter shade of
              the color.  For example, -DNGk displays line numbers  as  bright
              green  text on a black background, and -DEbR displays error mes-
              sages as blue text on a bright red background.  If either  char-
              acter  is a "-" or is omitted, the corresponding color is set to
              that of normal text.

              An 8-bit color string is one or two decimal  integers  separated
              by a dot, where the first integer specifies the foreground color
              and the second specifies the background color.  Each integer  is
              a  value  between 0 and 255 inclusive which selects a "CSI 38;5"
              color value (see
              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR)  If   either
              integer  is  a "-" or is omitted, the corresponding color is set
              to that of normal text.  On MS-DOS versions of [1mless[22m, 8-bit color
              is  not  supported;  instead,  decimal values are interpreted as
              4-bit CHAR_INFO.Attributes values (see
              https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/console/char-info-str).

       -e or --quit-at-eof
              Causes [1mless [22mto automatically exit the  second  time  it  reaches
              end-of-file.   By  default, the only way to exit [1mless [22mis via the
              "q" command.

       -E or --QUIT-AT-EOF
              Causes [1mless [22mto 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, [1mless [22mwill
              refuse to open non-regular files.  Note that some operating sys-
              tems will not allow directories to be read, even if -f is set.

       -F or --quit-if-one-screen
              Causes [1mless [22mto automatically exit if the entire file can be dis-
              played on the first screen.

       -g or --hilite-search
              Normally, [1mless [22mwill 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 [1mless [22mto run somewhat faster than
              the default.

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

       -h[4mn[24m or --max-back-scroll=[4mn[0m
              Specifies  a  maximum number of lines to scroll backward.  If it
              is necessary to scroll backward more than [4mn[24m 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.

       -j[4mn[24m or --jump-target=[4mn[0m
              Specifies  a line on the screen where the "target" line is to be
              positioned.  The target line is the line specified by  any  com-
              mand  to  search for a pattern, jump to a line number, jump to a
              file percentage or jump to a tag.  The screen line may be speci-
              fied  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 rel-
              ative to the bottom of the screen: the bottom line on the screen
              is -1, the second to the bottom is -2, and so on.   Alternately,
              the  screen line may be specified as a fraction of the height of
              the screen, starting with a decimal point: .5 is in  the  middle
              of  the screen, .3 is three tenths down from the first line, and
              so on.  If the line is specified as a fraction, the actual  line
              number  is  recalculated  if the terminal window is resized.  If
              any form of the -j option is  used,  repeated  forward  searches
              (invoked  with  "n"  or "N") begin at the line immediately after
              the target line, and repeated backward  searches  begin  at  the
              target  line, unless changed by -a or -A.  For example, if "-j4"
              is used, the target line is the fourth line on  the  screen,  so
              forward searches begin at the fifth line on the screen.  However
              nonrepeated searches (invoked with "/" or "?")  always begin  at
              the start or end of the current screen respectively.

       -J or --status-column
              Displays  a  status  column at the left edge of the screen.  The
              character displayed in the status column may be one of:

              >      The line is chopped with the -S option, and the text that
                     is  chopped  off beyond the right edge of the screen con-
                     tains a match for the current search.

              <      The line is horizontally shifted, and the  text  that  is
                     shifted  beyond  the  left  side of the screen contains a
                     match for the current search.

              =      The line is both  chopped  and  shifted,  and  there  are
                     matches beyond both sides of the screen.

              *      There  are  matches  in  the visible part of the line but
                     none to the right or left of it.

              a-z, A-Z
                     The line has been marked with  the  corresponding  letter
                     via the m command.

       -k[4mfilename[24m or --lesskey-file=[4mfilename[0m
              Causes [1mless [22mto open and interpret the named file as a [1mlesskey[22m(1)
              binary 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 [1mlesskey [22mfile.

       --lesskey-src=[4mfilename[0m
              Causes [1mless [22mto open and interpret the named file as a [1mlesskey[22m(1)
              source file.  If the LESSKEYIN or  LESSKEYIN_SYSTEM  environment
              variable is set, or if a lesskey source file is found in a stan-
              dard place (see KEY BINDINGS), it is  also  used  as  a  [4mlesskey[0m
              [4msource[24m  file.   Prior to version 582, the [1mlesskey [22mprogram needed
              to be run to convert a [4mlesskey[24m [4msource[24m file to a  [4mlesskey[24m  [4mbinary[0m
              file  for  [1mless [22mto use.  Newer versions of [1mless [22mread the [4mlesskey[0m
              [4msource[24m file directly and ignore the binary file  if  the  source
              file exists.

       -K or --quit-on-intr
              Causes  [1mless  [22mto exit immediately (with status 2) when an inter-
              rupt character (usually ^C) is typed.   Normally,  an  interrupt
              character causes [1mless [22mto stop whatever it is doing and return to
              its command prompt.  Note that use of this option makes  it  im-
              possible to return to the command prompt from the "F" command.

       -L or --no-lessopen
              Ignore  the  LESSOPEN  environment  variable (see the INPUT PRE-
              PROCESSOR section below).  This option can be  set  from  within
              [1mless[22m,  but  it will apply only to files opened subsequently, not
              to the file which is currently open.

       -m or --long-prompt
              Causes [1mless [22mto prompt verbosely (like [1mmore[22m(1)), with the percent
              into the file.  By default, [1mless [22mprompts with a colon.

       -M or --LONG-PROMPT
              Causes [1mless [22mto prompt even more verbosely than [1mmore[22m(1).

       -n or --line-numbers
              Suppresses  line numbers.  The default (to use line numbers) may
              cause [1mless [22mto run more slowly in some cases, especially  with  a
              very large input file.  Suppressing line numbers with the -n op-
              tion 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 be-
              low).

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

       -o[4mfilename[24m or --log-file=[4mfilename[0m
              Causes  [1mless  [22mto 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, [1mless [22mwill ask for
              confirmation before overwriting it.

       -O[4mfilename[24m or --LOG-FILE=[4mfilename[0m
              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 [1mless [22mto 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 [1mless[22m.

       -p[4mpattern[24m or --pattern=[4mpattern[0m
              The -p option on the command line is  equivalent  to  specifying
              +/[4mpattern[24m;  that  is, it tells [1mless [22mto start at the first occur-
              rence of [4mpattern[24m in the file.

       -P[4mprompt[24m or --prompt=[4mprompt[0m
              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 [1mless [22mcom-
              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.   If  the  terminal has a "visual bell", it is used in all
              cases where the terminal bell would have been 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 ex-
              ample, a control-A (octal 001) is displayed as "^A"  (with  some
              exceptions as described under the -U option).  Warning: when the
              -r option is used, [1mless [22mcannot keep track of the actual  appear-
              ance  of  the  screen  (since this depends on how the screen re-
              sponds to each type of control character).  Thus,  various  dis-
              play  problems may result, such as long lines being split in the
              wrong place.

              USE OF THE -r OPTION IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

       -R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS
              Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences and OSC 8 hyper-
              link  sequences are output in "raw" form.  Unlike -r, the screen
              appearance is maintained correctly, provided that there  are  no
              escape  sequences  in  the file other than these types of escape
              sequences.  Color escape sequences are only supported  when  the
              color  is  changed  within one line, not across lines.  In other
              words, the beginning of each line is assumed to be normal  (non-
              colored),  regardless of any escape sequences in previous lines.
              For the purpose of keeping track of screen appearance, these es-
              cape sequences are assumed to not move the cursor.

              OSC 8 hyperlinks are sequences of the form:

                   ESC ] 8 ; ... \7

              The  terminating  sequence may be either a BEL character (\7) or
              the two-character sequence "ESC \".

              ANSI color escape sequences are sequences of the form:

                   ESC [ ... m

              where the "..." is zero or more color specification  characters.
              You  can  make [1mless [22mthink 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 [1mless  [22mthink  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 [1mnroff [22moutput.

       -S or --chop-long-lines
              Causes lines longer than the screen width to be  chopped  (trun-
              cated) rather than wrapped.  That is, the portion of a long line
              that does not fit in the screen width is not displayed until you
              press  RIGHT-ARROW.  The default is to wrap long lines; that is,
              display the remainder on the next line.  See also the --wordwrap
              option.

       -t[4mtag[24m or --tag=[4mtag[0m
              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 di-
              rectory called "tags", which was previously built by [1mctags[22m(1) or
              an equivalent command.  If the environment variable LESSGLOBALT-
              AGS is set, it is taken to be the name of a  command  compatible
              with  [1mglobal[22m(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 [1mless [22m(using the - com-
              mand) as a way of examining a new file.   The  command  ":t"  is
              equivalent to specifying -t from within [1mless[22m.

       -T[4mtagsfile[24m or --tag-file=[4mtagsfile[0m
              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, carriage returns and "formatting char-
              acters" (as defined by Unicode) to be treated as control charac-
              ters; that is, they are handled as specified by the -r option.

              By  default, if neither -u nor -U is given, backspaces which ap-
              pear adjacent to an underscore character are treated  specially:
              the  underlined  text is displayed using the terminal's hardware
              underlining capability.  Also, backspaces which  appear  between
              two  identical  characters are treated specially: the overstruck
              text is printed using the terminal's hardware boldface capabili-
              ty.   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.  Unicode formatting characters, such as the  Byte
              Order  Mark, are sent to the terminal.  Text which is overstruck
              or underlined can be searched for if neither -u nor -U is in ef-
              fect.

              See also the --proc-backspace, --proc-tab, and --proc-return op-
              tions.

       -V or --version
              Displays the version number of [1mless[22m.

       -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.  If the --status-line option is in effect, the entire line
              (the width of the screen) is highlighted.  Otherwise,  only  the
              text  in the line is highlighted, unless the -J option is in ef-
              fect, 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.

       -x[4mn[24m,... or --tabs=[4mn[24m,...
              Sets  tab  stops.  If only one [4mn[24m is specified, tab stops are set
              at multiples of [4mn[24m.  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 de-
              fault for [4mn[24m 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.

       -y[4mn[24m or --max-forw-scroll=[4mn[0m
              Specifies a maximum number of lines to scroll forward.  If it is
              necessary to scroll forward more than [4mn[24m lines, the screen is re-
              painted  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[4mn[24m or --window=[4mn[24m or -[4mn[0m
              Changes  the  default scrolling window size to [4mn[24m lines.  The de-
              fault 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 some versions of [1mmore[22m(1).  If the number [4mn[24m is  nega-
              tive,  it  indicates  [4mn[24m lines less than the current screen size.
              For example, if the screen is 24 lines, [4m-z-4[24m sets the  scrolling
              window  to  20 lines.  If the screen is resized to 40 lines, the
              scrolling window automatically changes to 36 lines.

       -"[4mcc[24m or --quotes=[4mcc[0m
              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.  Alternately, the number may be speci-
              fied  as  a fraction of the width of the screen, starting with a
              decimal point: .5 is half of  the  screen  width,  .3  is  three
              tenths  of the screen width, and so on.  If the number is speci-
              fied as a fraction, the actual number of scroll positions is re-
              calculated if the terminal window is resized.

       --exit-follow-on-close
              When  using  the  "F" command on a pipe, [1mless [22mwill automatically
              stop waiting for more data when the input side of  the  pipe  is
              closed.

       --file-size
              If --file-size is specified, [1mless [22mwill determine the size of the
              file immediately after opening the file.  Then the  "="  command
              will  display the number of lines in the file.  Normally this is
              not done, because it can be slow if the input file is  non-seek-
              able (such as a pipe) and is large.

       --follow-name
              Normally, if the input file is renamed while an F command is ex-
              ecuting, [1mless [22mwill continue to display the contents of the orig-
              inal  file  despite its name change.  If --follow-name is speci-
              fied, during an F command [1mless [22mwill periodically attempt to  re-
              open the file by name.  If the reopen succeeds and the file is a
              different file from the original (which means that  a  new  file
              has  been  created  with  the same name as the original (now re-
              named) file), [1mless [22mwill display the contents of that new file.

       --header=[4mN[,M][0m
              Sets the number of header lines and  columns  displayed  on  the
              screen.   The  value  may be of the form "N,M" where N and M are
              integers, to set the header lines to N and the header columns to
              M, or it may be a single integer "N" which sets the header lines
              to N and the header columns to zero, or it  may  be  ",M"  which
              sets the header columns to M and the header lines to zero.  When
              N is nonzero, the first N lines at the top of the screen are re-
              placed  with  the  first N lines of the file, regardless of what
              part of the file are being viewed.  When M is nonzero, the char-
              acters displayed at the beginning of each line are replaced with
              the first M characters of the line, even if the rest of the line
              is  scrolled horizontally.  If either N or M is zero, [1mless [22mstops
              displaying header lines or columns, respectively.  (Note that it
              may  be  necessary to change the setting of the -j option to en-
              sure that  the  target  line  is  not  obscured  by  the  header
              line(s).)

       --incsearch
              Subsequent  search commands will be "incremental"; that is, [1mless[0m
              will advance to the next line containing the search  pattern  as
              each character of the pattern is typed in.

       --intr=[4mc[0m
              Use  the  character [4mc[24m instead of ^X to interrupt a read when the
              "Waiting for data" message is displayed.  [4mc[24m  must  be  an  ASCII
              character;  that  is,  one with a value between 1 and 127 inclu-
              sive.  A caret followed by a single character  can  be  used  to
              specify a control character.

       --line-num-width=[4mn[0m
              Sets  the minimum width of the line number field when the -N op-
              tion is in effect to [4mn[24m characters.  The default is 7.

       --modelines=[4mn[0m
              Before displaying a file, [1mless [22mwill read the first  [4mn[24m  lines  to
              try  to find a vim-compatible [4mmodeline[24m.  If [4mn[24m is zero, [1mless [22mdoes
              not try to find modelines.  By using a modeline, the file itself
              can specify the tab stops that should be used when viewing it.

              A modeline contains, anywhere in the line, a program name ("vi",
              "vim", "ex", or "less"), followed by a colon, possibly  followed
              by  the  word "set", and finally followed by zero or more option
              settings.  If the word "set" is used, option settings are  sepa-
              rated  by spaces, and end at the first colon.  If the word "set"
              is not used, option settings may be separated by  either  spaces
              or  colons.   The  word "set" is required if the program name is
              "less" but optional if any of the other three  names  are  used.
              If any option setting is of the form "tabstop=[4mn[24m" or "ts=[4mn[24m", then
              tab stops are automatically set as if --tabs=[4mn[24m had  been  given.
              See the --tabs description for acceptable values of [4mn[24m.

       --mouse
              Enables  mouse  input: scrolling the mouse wheel down moves for-
              ward in the file, scrolling the mouse wheel up  moves  backwards
              in  the  file,  and  clicking the mouse sets the "#" mark to the
              line where the mouse is clicked.  The number of lines to  scroll
              when  the wheel is moved can be set by the --wheel-lines option.
              Mouse input works only on terminals which support X11 mouse  re-
              porting, and on the Windows version of [1mless[22m.

       --MOUSE
              Like --mouse, except the direction scrolled on mouse wheel move-
              ment is reversed.

       --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.

       --no-histdups
              This option changes the behavior so that if a search  string  or
              file  name  is  typed  in, and the same string is already in the
              history list, the existing copy is removed from the history list
              before  the  new one is added.  Thus, a given string will appear
              only once in the history list.  Normally, a  string  may  appear
              multiple times.

       --no-number-headers
              Header  lines (defined via the --header option) are not assigned
              line numbers.  Line number 1 is assigned to the first line after
              any header lines.

       --no-search-headers
              Searches do not include header lines or header columns.

       --no-vbell
              Disables the terminal's visual bell.

       --proc-backspace
              If  set,  backspaces are handled as if neither the -u option nor
              the -U option were set.  That is, a backspace adjacent to an un-
              derscore  causes  text  to be displayed in underline mode, and a
              backspace between identical characters cause  text  to  be  dis-
              played  in  boldface  mode.  This option overrides the -u and -U
              options, so that display of backspaces can be  controlled  sepa-
              rate from tabs and carriage returns.  If not set, backspace dis-
              play is controlled by the -u and -U options.

       --PROC-BACKSPACE
              If set, backspaces are handled as if the  -U  option  were  set;
              that is backspaces are treated as control characters.

       --proc-return
              If set, carriage returns are handled as if neither the -u option
              nor the -U option were set.  That is, a carriage return  immedi-
              ately before a newline is deleted.  This option overrides the -u
              and -U options, so that display of carriage returns can be  con-
              trolled  separate from that of backspaces and tabs.  If not set,
              carriage return display is controlled by the -u and -U options.

       --PROC-RETURN
              If set, carriage returns are handled as if the  -U  option  were
              set; that is carriage returns are treated as control characters.

       --proc-tab
              If set, tabs are handled as if the -U option were not set.  That
              is, tabs are expanded to spaces.  This option overrides  the  -U
              option,  so that display of tabs can be controlled separate from
              that of backspaces and carriage returns.  If not set,  tab  dis-
              play is controlled by the -U options.

       --PROC-TAB
              If  set,  tabs are handled as if the -U option were set; that is
              tabs are treated as control characters.

       --redraw-on-quit
              When  quitting,  after  sending  the  terminal  deinitialization
              string, redraws the entire last screen.  On terminals whose ter-
              minal deinitialization string causes the terminal to switch from
              an  alternate  screen, this makes the last screenful of the cur-
              rent file remain visible after [1mless [22mhas quit.

       --rscroll=[4mc[0m
              This option changes the character used to mark truncated  lines.
              It may begin with a two-character attribute indicator like LESS-
              BINFMT does.  If there is no attribute  indicator,  standout  is
              used.  If set to "-", truncated lines are not marked.

       --save-marks
              Save  marks  in  the  history file, so marks are retained across
              different invocations of [1mless[22m.

       --search-options=[4m...[0m
              Sets default search modifiers.  The value is a string of one  or
              more of the characters E, F, K, N, R or W.  Setting any of these
              has the same effect as typing that control character at the  be-
              ginning of every search pattern.  For example, setting --search-
              options=W is the same as typing ^W at  the  beginning  of  every
              pattern.   The  value  may also contain a digit between 1 and 5,
              which has the same effect as typing ^S followed by that digit at
              the  beginning  of every search pattern.  The value "-" disables
              all default search modifiers.

       --show-preproc-errors
              If a preprocessor produces data, then exits with a non-zero exit
              code, [1mless [22mwill display a warning.

       --status-col-width=[4mn[0m
              Sets the width of the status column when the -J option is in ef-
              fect.  The default is 2 characters.

       --status-line
              If a line is marked, the entire line (rather than just the  sta-
              tus  column)  is highlighted.  Also lines highlighted due to the
              -w option will have the entire line highlighted.  If --use-color
              is set, the line is colored rather than highlighted.

       --use-backslash
              This  option changes the interpretations of options which follow
              this one.  After the --use-backslash option, any backslash in an
              option  string  is  removed and the following character is taken
              literally.  This allows a dollar sign to be included  in  option
              strings.

       --use-color
              Enables  colored  text  in various places.  The -D option can be
              used to change the colors.  Colored text works only if the  ter-
              minal  supports  ANSI  color escape sequences (as defined in EC-
              MA-48 SGR; see
              https://www.ecma-international.org/publications-and-
              standards/standards/ecma-48).

       --wheel-lines=[4mn[0m
              Set  the  number  of  lines  to  scroll  when the mouse wheel is
              scrolled and the --mouse or --MOUSE option is  in  effect.   The
              default is 1 line.

       --wordwrap
              When  the  -S option is not in use, wrap each line at a space or
              tab if possible, so that a word is not split between two  lines.
              The default is to wrap at any character.

       --     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 [1m+[22m, the  remainder  of  that
              option  is taken to be an initial command to [1mless[22m.  For example,
              +G tells [1mless [22mto 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,  +<number>  acts  like
              +<number>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 ev-
              ery 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.

[1mLINE EDITING[0m
       When entering a 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.  (Note  that  the  forms  beginning
       with  ESC do not work in some MS-DOS and Windows systems because ESC is
       the line erase character.)  Any of these special keys  may  be  entered
       literally  by  preceding  it with the "literal" character, either ^V or
       ^A.  A backslash itself may also be entered literally by  entering  two
       backslashes.

       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.  If  you  first  enter  some
              text  and then press UPARROW, it will retrieve the previous com-
              mand which begins with that text.

       DOWNARROW [ ESC-j ]
              Retrieve the next command line.  If you first  enter  some  text
              and  then  press  DOWNARROW,  it  will retrieve the next command
              which begins with that text.

       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.

       ^G     Delete the entire command line and return to the main prompt.

[1mKEY BINDINGS[0m
       You may define your own [1mless [22mcommands  by  creating  a  lesskey  source
       file.   This file specifies a set of command keys and an action associ-
       ated with each key.  You may also change  the  line-editing  keys  (see
       LINE  EDITING),  and  set  environment variables used by [1mless[22m.  See the
       [1mlesskey[22m(1) manual page for details about the file format.

       If the environment variable LESSKEYIN is set, [1mless  [22muses  that  as  the
       name  of  the lesskey source file.  Otherwise, [1mless [22mlooks in a standard
       place for the lesskey source file: On Unix systems, [1mless  [22mlooks  for  a
       lesskey   file   called   "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lesskey"   or  "$HOME/.con-
       fig/lesskey" or "$HOME/.lesskey".  On MS-DOS and Windows systems,  [1mless[0m
       looks  for  a  lesskey  file  called "$HOME/_lesskey", and if it is not
       found there, then looks for a lesskey file called "_lesskey" in any di-
       rectory  specified  in the PATH environment variable.  On OS/2 systems,
       [1mless [22mlooks for a lesskey file called "$HOME/lesskey.ini", and if it  is
       not  found,  then  looks for a lesskey file called "lesskey.ini" in any
       directory specified in the INIT environment variable,  and  if  it  not
       found  there, then looks for a lesskey file called "lesskey.ini" in any
       directory specified in the PATH environment variable.

       A system-wide lesskey source 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
       LESSKEYIN_SYSTEM is set, [1mless [22muses that as the name of the  system-wide
       lesskey  file.   Otherwise, [1mless [22mlooks in a standard place for the sys-
       tem-wide lesskey file: On Unix systems, the system-wide lesskey file is
       /usr/local/etc/syslesskey.   (However, if [1mless [22mwas built with a differ-
       ent 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:\_syslesskey.   On  OS/2  systems,  the  system-wide
       lesskey file is c:\syslesskey.ini.

       Previous versions of [1mless [22m(before v582) used lesskey files with a bina-
       ry format, produced by the [1mlesskey [22mprogram. It is no  longer  necessary
       to use the [1mlesskey [22mprogram.

[1mINPUT PREPROCESSOR[0m
       You  may  define an "input preprocessor" for [1mless[22m.  Before [1mless [22mopens 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, [1mless [22mwill  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, [1mless [22muses the original file, as normal.  The input pre-
       processor is not called when viewing standard input.  To set up an  in-
       put  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 re-
       placed by the filename when the input preprocessor command is invoked.

       When [1mless [22mcloses 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 re-
       placed 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 [1mless [22mview them directly:

       lessopen.sh:
            #! /bin/sh
            case "$1" in
            *.Z) TEMPFILE=$(mktemp)
                 uncompress -c $1  >$TEMPFILE  2>/dev/null
                 if [ -s $TEMPFILE ]; then
                      echo $TEMPFILE
                 else
                      rm -f $TEMPFILE
                 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 [1mless[22m, 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 re-
       placement  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 [1mless [22muses 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.  As with non-pipe input preprocessors, the  command  string  must
       contain  one  occurrence  of %s, which is replaced with the filename of
       the input file.

       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
                 ;;
            *)   exit 1
                 ;;
            esac
            exit $?

       To  use  this  script,  put  it  where  it  can  be  executed  and  set
       LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh %s".

       Note that a preprocessor cannot output an empty file, since that is in-
       terpreted  as meaning there is no replacement, and the original file is
       used.  To avoid this, if LESSOPEN starts with two  vertical  bars,  the
       exit  status  of  the script determines the behavior when the output is
       empty.  If the output is empty and the exit status is zero,  the  empty
       output  is  considered  to be replacement text.  If the output is empty
       and the exit status is nonzero, the original file is used.  For compat-
       ibility  with  previous  versions of [1mless[22m, if LESSOPEN starts with only
       one vertical bar, the exit status of the preprocessor is ignored.

       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 "-".

       For  compatibility with previous versions of [1mless[22m, the input preproces-
       sor or pipe is not used if [1mless [22mis viewing standard input.  However, if
       the  first  character of LESSOPEN is a dash (-), the input preprocessor
       is used on standard input as well as other files.  In  this  case,  the
       dash  is  not  considered  to  be part of the preprocessor command.  If
       standard input is being viewed, the input preprocessor is passed a file
       name  consisting of a single dash.  Similarly, if the first two charac-
       ters of LESSOPEN are vertical bar and dash (|-) or  two  vertical  bars
       and  a  dash (||-), the input pipe is used on standard input as well as
       other files.  Again, in this case the dash is not considered to be part
       of the input pipe command.

[1mNATIONAL CHARACTER SETS[0m
       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.
              UTF-8 is special in that it supports  multi-byte  characters  in
              the input file.  It is the only character set that supports mul-
              ti-byte characters.

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

       In  rare cases, it may be desired to tailor [1mless [22mto use a character set
       other than the ones definable by LESSCHARSET.  In this case, the  envi-
       ronment variable LESSCHARDEF can be used to define a character set.  It
       should be set to a string where each character in the string represents
       one  character  in  the character set.  The character "." is used for a
       normal character, "c" for control, and "b" for binary.  A decimal  num-
       ber  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  bina-
       ry, 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 character
       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_CTYPE  or
       LANG environment variables, then the default character set is utf-8.

       If that string is not found, but your system supports the [1msetlocale [22min-
       terface, [1mless [22mwill use setlocale to determine the character set.   set-
       locale  is controlled by setting the LANG or LC_CTYPE environment vari-
       ables.

       Finally, if the [4msetlocale[24m 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<%02X>".  Warning: the  re-
       sult  of  expanding  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 "<U+%04lX>".  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,  invalid  octets,  and  stray
       trailing  octets)  are displayed individually using LESSBINFMT so as to
       facilitate diagnostic of how the UTF-8 file is ill-formed.

       When the character set is utf-8, in rare cases it may be  desirable  to
       override the Unicode definition of the type of certain characters.  For
       example, characters in a Private Use Area are normally treated as  con-
       trol  characters,  but  if  you  are using a custom font with printable
       characters in that range, it may be desirable to  tell  [1mless  [22mto  treat
       such  characters as printable.  This can be done by setting the LESSUT-
       FCHARDEF environment variable to a comma-separated  list  of  [4mcharacter[0m
       [4mtype[24m  definitions.   Each  character type definition consists of either
       one hexadecimal codepoint or a pair of codepoints separated by a  dash,
       followed  by  a colon and a type character.  Each hexadecimal codepoint
       may optionally be preceded by a "U" or "U+".  If a pair  of  codepoints
       is  given,  the  type is set for all characters inclusively between the
       two values.  If there are multiple  comma-separated  codepoint  values,
       they  must  be in ascending numerical order.  The type character may be
       one of:

              p      A normal printable character.

              w      A wide (2-space) printable character.

              b      A binary (non-printable) character.

              c      A composing (zero width) character.

       For example, setting LESSUTFCHARDEF to

               E000-F8FF:p,F0000-FFFFD:p,100000-10FFFD:p

       would make all Private Use Area characters be treated as printable.

[1mPROMPTS[0m
       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.  (References to the  input  file  size
       below refer to the preprocessed size, if an input preprocessor is being
       used.)

       %b[4mX[24m    Replaced by the byte offset into the current input file.  The  b
              is followed by a single character (shown as [4mX[24m 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.

       %d[4mX[24m    Replaced by the page number of a line in the  input  file.   The
              line to be used is determined by the [4mX[24m, 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.

       %F     Replaced by the last component of the name of the current  input
              file.

       %g     Replaced  by  the  shell-escaped name of the current input file.
              This is useful when the expanded string will be used in a  shell
              command, such as in LESSEDIT.

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

       %l[4mX[24m    Replaced by the line number of a line in the  input  file.   The
              line to be used is determined by the [4mX[24m, 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.

       %p[4mX[24m    Replaced  by  the  percent into the current input file, based on
              byte offsets.  The line used is determined by the [4mX[24m as with  the
              %b option.

       %P[4mX[24m    Replaced  by  the  percent into the current input file, based on
              line numbers.  The line used is determined by the [4mX[24m 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.

       %T     Normally expands to the word "file".  However if  viewing  files
              via  a  tags  list  using  the -t option, it expands to the word
              "tag".

       %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 evaluat-
       ed.  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.

       ?b[4mX[24m    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).

       ?d[4mX[24m    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).

       ?l[4mX[24m    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.

       ?p[4mX[24m    True  if  the percent into the current input file, based on byte
              offsets, of the specified line is known.

       ?P[4mX[24m    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 in-
              put file is not the last one).

       Any characters other than the special ones (question mark, colon, peri-
       od,  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.  No-
       tice  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(%T %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 re-
       spectively).  Each is broken into two lines here for readability only.

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

       ?f%f .?n?m(%T %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(%T %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  ex-
       panded  in  the  same way as the prompt strings.  The default value for
       LESSEDIT is:

               %E ?lm+%lm. %g

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

[1mSECURITY[0m
       When the environment variable LESSSECURE is set to 1, [1mless  [22mruns  in  a
       "secure" mode.  This means these features are disabled:

              !      the shell command

              #      the pshell 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)

                     history file

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

[1mCOMPATIBILITY WITH MORE[0m
       If the environment variable LESS_IS_MORE is set to 1, or if the program
       is invoked via a file link named "more", [1mless [22mbehaves (mostly) in  con-
       formance  with  the POSIX [1mmore[22m(1) command specification.  In this mode,
       less behaves differently in these ways:

       The -e option works differently.  If the -e option is not set, [1mless [22mbe-
       haves  as if the -e option were set.  If the -e option is set, [1mless [22mbe-
       haves as if the -E option were set.

       The -m option works differently.  If the -m  option  is  not  set,  the
       medium  prompt  is used, and it is prefixed with the string "--More--".
       If the -m option is set, the short prompt is used.

       The -n option acts like the -z option.  The normal behavior of  the  -n
       option is unavailable in this mode.

       The  parameter  to  the  -p option is taken to be a [1mless [22mcommand rather
       than a search pattern.

       The LESS environment variable is  ignored,  and  the  MORE  environment
       variable is used in its place.

[1mENVIRONMENT VARIABLES[0m
       Environment variables may be specified either in the system environment
       as usual, or in a [1mlesskey[22m(1) file.  If environment  variables  are  de-
       fined 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 system's 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 user's 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 user's home directory if the HOME vari-
              able is not set (only in the Windows version).

       INIT   Name of the user's 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 [1mless [22mautomatically.

       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  [1mglob-[0m
              [1mal[22m(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 [1mless[22m.  If set  to  "-"  or
              "/dev/null", a history file is not used.  The default depends on
              the operating system, but is usually:

              Linux and Unix
                     "$XDG_STATE_HOME/lesshst" or "$HOME/.local/state/lesshst"
                     or "$XDG_DATA_HOME/lesshst" or "$HOME/.lesshst".

              Windows and MS-DOS
                     "$HOME/_lesshst".

              OS/2   "$HOME/lesshst.ini" or "$INIT/lesshst.ini".

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

       LESSKEYIN
              Name of the default [4mlesskey[24m [4msource[24m file.

       LESSKEY
              Name  of  the  default  [4mlesskey[24m  [4mbinary[24m  file.  (Not   used   if
              "$LESSKEYIN" exists.)

       LESSKEYIN_SYSTEM
              Name of the default system-wide [4mlesskey[24m [4msource[24m file.

       LESSKEY_SYSTEM
              Name  of  the default system-wide [4mlesskey[24m [4mbinary[24m file. (Not used
              if "$LESSKEYIN_SYSTEM" exists.)

       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.

       LESSUTFCHARDEF
              Overrides the type of specified Unicode characters.

       LESS_COLUMNS
              Sets the number of columns on the screen.  Unlike COLUMNS, takes
              precedence over the system's idea of the screen size, so it  can
              be  used  to  make [1mless [22muse less than the full screen width.  If
              set to a negative number, sets the number  of  columns  used  to
              this much less than the actual screen width.

       LESS_LINES
              Sets  the  number  of  lines on the screen.  Unlike LINES, takes
              precedence over the system's idea of the screen size, so it  can
              be  used  to make [1mless [22muse less than the full screen height.  If
              set to a negative number, sets the number of lines used to  this
              much  less  than  the  actual screen height.  When set, [1mless [22mre-
              paints the entire screen on every movement command, so scrolling
              may be slower.

       LESS_DATA_DELAY
              Duration  (in milliseconds) after starting to read data from the
              input, after which the "Waiting for data" message will  be  dis-
              played.  The default is 4000 (4 seconds).

       LESS_IS_MORE
              Emulate the [1mmore[22m(1) command.

       LESS_TERMCAP_xx
              Where  "xx"  is  any two characters, overrides the definition of
              the termcap "xx" capability for the terminal.

       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  system's  idea  of the screen size takes precedence
              over the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables.)

       MORE   Options which are passed to [1mless [22mautomatically when  running  in
              [1mmore[22m-compatible mode.

       PATH   User's  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 [1mless [22mis being run.

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

       XDG_CONFIG_HOME
              Possible location of the [1mlesskey [22mfile; see the KEY BINDINGS sec-
              tion.

       XDG_DATA_HOME
              Possible location of the history file; see  the  description  of
              the LESSHISTFILE environment variable.

       XDG_STATE_HOME
              Possible  location  of  the history file; see the description of
              the LESSHISTFILE environment variable.

[1mSEE ALSO[0m
       [1mlesskey[22m(1), [1mlessecho[22m(1)

[1mCOPYRIGHT[0m
       Copyright (C) 1984-2023  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.

[1mAUTHOR[0m
       Mark Nudelman
       Report bugs at https://github.com/gwsw/less/issues.
       For more information, see the less homepage at
       https://greenwoodsoftware.com/less



                           Version 633: 03 May 2023                    LESS(1)
