lesskey.man revision 60786
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4LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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7NNAAMMEE
8       lesskey - specify key bindings for less
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10SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
11       lleesssskkeeyy [[--oo oouuttppuutt]] [[----]] [[iinnppuutt]]
12       lleesssskkeeyy [[----oouuttppuutt==oouuttppuutt]] [[----]] [[iinnppuutt]]
13       lleesssskkeeyy --VV
14       lleesssskkeeyy ----vveerrssiioonn
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16DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
17       _L_e_s_s_k_e_y  is  used  to  specify a set of key bindings to be
18       used by _l_e_s_s_.   The  input  file  is  a  text  file  which
19       describes  the  key  bindings,  If  the input file is "-",
20       standard input is read.  If no input file is specified,  a
21       standard  filename  is used as the name of the input file,
22       which depends on the system being used: On  Unix  systems,
23       $HOME/.lesskey  is used; on MS-DOS systems, $HOME/_lesskey
24       is used; and on OS/2 systems $HOME/lesskey.ini is used, or
25       $INIT/lesskey.ini  if $HOME is undefined.  The output file
26       is a binary file which is used by _l_e_s_s_.  If no output file
27       is specified, and the environment variable LESSKEY is set,
28       the value of LESSKEY is used as the  name  of  the  output
29       file.   Otherwise, a standard filename is used as the name
30       of the output file, which  depends  on  the  system  being
31       used:  On  Unix  and OS-9 systems, $HOME/.less is used; on
32       MS-DOS systems, $HOME/_less is used; and on OS/2  systems,
33       $HOME/less.ini  is  used,  or  $INIT/less.ini  if $HOME is
34       undefined.  If the output  file  already  exists,  _l_e_s_s_k_e_y
35       will overwrite it.
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37       The  -V  or  --version  option causes _l_e_s_s_k_e_y to print its
38       version number and immediately exit.  If -V  or  --version
39       is present, other options and arguments are ignored.
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41       The  input  file  consists  of one or more _s_e_c_t_i_o_n_s_.  Each
42       section starts with a line that  identifies  the  type  of
43       section.  Possible sections are:
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45       #command
46              Defines new command keys.
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48       #line-edit
49              Defines new line-editing keys.
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51       #env   Defines environment variables.
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53       Blank  lines  and  lines which start with a pound sign (#)
54       are ignored, except for the special section header  lines.
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57CCOOMMMMAANNDD SSEECCTTIIOONN
58       The command section begins with the line
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60       #command
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70LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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73       If  the  command section is the first section in the file,
74       this line may be omitted.  The command section consists of
75       lines of the form:
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77            _s_t_r_i_n_g <whitespace> _a_c_t_i_o_n [extra-string] <newline>
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79       Whitespace  is  any  sequence of one or more spaces and/or
80       tabs.  The _s_t_r_i_n_g is the command key(s) which  invoke  the
81       action.   The  _s_t_r_i_n_g  may  be  a single command key, or a
82       sequence of up to 15 keys.  The _a_c_t_i_o_n is the name of  the
83       less  action,  from the list below.  The characters in the
84       _s_t_r_i_n_g may appear literally, or be prefixed by a caret  to
85       indicate  a  control  key.  A backslash followed by one to
86       three octal digits may be used to specify a  character  by
87       its  octal value.  A backslash followed by certain charac-
88       ters specifies input characters as follows:
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90       \b     BACKSPACE
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92       \e     ESCAPE
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94       \n     NEWLINE
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96       \r     RETURN
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98       \t     TAB
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100       \ku    UP ARROW
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102       \kd    DOWN ARROW
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104       \kr    RIGHT ARROW
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106       \kl    LEFT ARROW
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108       \kU    PAGE UP
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110       \kD    PAGE DOWN
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112       \kh    HOME
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114       \ke    END
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116       \kx    DELETE
117
118       A backslash followed by any other character indicates that
119       character is to be taken literally.  Characters which must
120       be preceded by backslash include caret, space, tab and the
121       backslash itself.
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123       An action may be followed by an "extra" string.  When such
124       a command is entered while running  _l_e_s_s_,  the  action  is
125       performed, and then the extra string is parsed, just as if
126       it were typed in to _l_e_s_s_.  This feature  can  be  used  in
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136LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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139       certain  cases  to  extend the functionality of a command.
140       For example, see the "{" and ":t" commands in the  example
141       below.   The  extra  string  has a special meaning for the
142       "quit" action: when _l_e_s_s quits,  first  character  of  the
143       extra string is used as its exit status.
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146EEXXAAMMPPLLEE
147       The following input file describes the set of default com-
148       mand keys used by less:
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150            #command
151            \r        forw-line
152            \n        forw-line
153            e         forw-line
154            j         forw-line
155            \kd  forw-line
156            ^E        forw-line
157            ^N        forw-line
158            k         back-line
159            y         back-line
160            ^Y        back-line
161            ^K        back-line
162            ^P        back-line
163            J         forw-line-force
164            K         back-line-force
165            Y         back-line-force
166            d         forw-scroll
167            ^D        forw-scroll
168            u         back-scroll
169            ^U        back-scroll
170            \40  forw-screen
171            f         forw-screen
172            ^F        forw-screen
173            ^V        forw-screen
174            \kD  forw-screen
175            b         back-screen
176            ^B        back-screen
177            \ev       back-screen
178            \kU  back-screen
179            z         forw-window
180            w         back-window
181            \e\40          forw-screen-force
182            F         forw-forever
183            R         repaint-flush
184            r         repaint
185            ^R        repaint
186            ^L        repaint
187            \eu       undo-hilite
188            g         goto-line
189            <         goto-line
190            \e<       goto-line
191            p         percent
192            %         percent
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202LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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205            \e[       left-scroll
206            \e]       right-scroll
207            \e(       left-scroll
208            \e)       right-scroll
209            {         forw-bracket {}
210            }         back-bracket {}
211            (         forw-bracket ()
212            )         back-bracket ()
213            [         forw-bracket []
214            ]         back-bracket []
215            \e^F      forw-bracket
216            \e^B      back-bracket
217            G         goto-end
218            \e>       goto-end
219            >         goto-end
220            =         status
221            ^G        status
222            :f        status
223            /         forw-search
224            ?         back-search
225            \e/       forw-search *
226            \e?       back-search *
227            n         repeat-search
228            \en       repeat-search-all
229            N         reverse-search
230            \eN       reverse-search-all
231            m         set-mark
232            '         goto-mark
233            ^X^X      goto-mark
234            E         examine
235            :e        examine
236            ^X^V      examine
237            :n        next-file
238            :p        prev-file
239            :x        index-file
240            -         toggle-option
241            :t        toggle-option t
242            s         toggle-option o
243            _         display-option
244            |         pipe
245            v         visual
246            !         shell
247            +         firstcmd
248            H         help
249            h         help
250            V         version
251            q         quit
252            Q         quit
253            :q        quit
254            :Q        quit
255            ZZ        quit
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268LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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271PPRREECCEEDDEENNCCEE
272       Commands specified by _l_e_s_s_k_e_y  take  precedence  over  the
273       default  commands.   A default command key may be disabled
274       by  including  it  in  the  input  file  with  the  action
275       "invalid".   Alternatively,  a  key  may  be defined to do
276       nothing by using the  action  "noaction".   "noaction"  is
277       similar to "invalid", but _l_e_s_s will give an error beep for
278       an "invalid" command, but not for  a  "noaction"  command.
279       In  addition,  ALL  default  commands  may  be disabled by
280       adding this control line to the input file:
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282       #stop
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284       This will cause all default commands to be  ignored.   The
285       #stop  line should be the last line in that section of the
286       file.
287
288       Be aware that #stop can be dangerous.  Since  all  default
289       commands  are  disabled,  you must provide sufficient com-
290       mands before  the  #stop  line  to  enable  all  necessary
291       actions.  For example, failure to provide a "quit" command
292       can lead to frustration.
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294
295LLIINNEE EEDDIITTIINNGG SSEECCTTIIOONN
296       The line-editing section begins with the line:
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298       #line-edit
299
300       This section specifies new key bindings for the line edit-
301       ing  commands, in a manner similar to the way key bindings
302       for ordinary commands are specified in the  #command  sec-
303       tion.  The line-editing section consists of a list of keys
304       and actions, one per line as in the example below.
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306
307EEXXAAMMPPLLEE
308       The following input file  describes  the  set  of  default
309       line-editing keys used by less:
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311            #line-edit
312            \t        forw-complete
313            \17       back-complete
314            \e\t      back-complete
315            ^L        expand
316            ^V        literal
317            ^A        literal
318            \el       right
319            \kr       right
320            \eh       left
321            \kl       left
322            \eb       word-left
323            \e\kl     word-left
324            \ew       word-right
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334LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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337            \e\kr     word-right
338            \ei       insert
339            \ex       delete
340            \kx       delete
341            \eX       word-delete
342            \ekx      word-delete
343            \e\b      word-backspace
344            \e0       home
345            \kh       home
346            \e$       end
347            \ke       end
348            \ek       up
349            \ku       up
350            \ej       down
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354LLEESSSS EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT VVAARRIIAABBLLEESS
355       The environment variable section begins with the line
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357       #env
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359       Following  this  line  is  a  list of environment variable
360       assignments.  Each line consists of an  environment  vari-
361       able name, an equals sign (=) and the value to be assigned
362       to the environment variable.  White space before and after
363       the  equals  sign  is ignored.  Variables assigned in this
364       way are visible only to _l_e_s_s_.  If a variable is  specified
365       in  the system environment and also in a lesskey file, the
366       value in the lesskey file takes precedence.  Although  the
367       lesskey  file can be used to override variables set in the
368       environment, the main purpose of  assigning  variables  in
369       the  lesskey file is simply to have all _l_e_s_s configuration
370       information stored in one file.
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372
373EEXXAAMMPPLLEE
374       The following input file sets the -i option whenever  _l_e_s_s
375       is run, and specifies the character set to be "latin1":
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377            #env
378            LESS = -i
379            LESSCHARSET = latin1
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383SSEEEE AALLSSOO
384       less(1)
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387WWAARRNNIINNGGSS
388       It  is not possible to specify special keys, such as upar-
389       row, in a keyboard-independent manner.  The  only  way  to
390       specify  such keys is to specify the escape sequence which
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400LESSKEY(1)                                             LESSKEY(1)
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403       a particular keyboard sends when such a keys is pressed.
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405       On MS-DOS and OS/2 systems, certain keys send  a  sequence
406       of  characters which start with a NUL character (0).  This
407       NUL character should be represented as \340 in  a  lesskey
408       file.
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410
411CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT
412       Copyright (C) 2000  Mark Nudelman
413
414       lesskey  is  part of the GNU project and is free software;
415       you can redistribute it and/or modify it under  the  terms
416       of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
417       Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
418       any later version.
419
420       lesskey is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
421       but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even  the  implied  war-
422       ranty  of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PUR-
423       POSE.   See  the  GNU  General  Public  License  for  more
424       details.
425
426       You  should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
427       License along with lesskey; see the file COPYING.  If not,
428       write  to  the  Free Software Foundation, 59 Temple Place,
429       Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
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431
432AAUUTTHHOORR
433       Mark Nudelman <marknu@flash.net>
434       Send bug reports or comments to the above  address  or  to
435       bug-less@gnu.org.
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