Help with the "less" command


 
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# 1  
Old 12-04-2009
Question Help with the "less" command

I've noticed that on Ubuntu, the "more" and "less" command seem to behave quite differently. I imagine the same is true with other distros, but I know for sure that what I'm about to describe is true with Ubuntu.

When using the "less" command in a shell script, it outputs the text as though it's a separate program, and then once it's done outputting, the script's output goes back to where it left off. It's pretty difficult to explain, so maybe I should just post the code:

--------------------------------------------------
Code:
#!/bin/bash

if [ ! -d "/tmp/script_test/" ]; then
    mkdir "/tmp/script_test/"
fi

for (( i = 1 ; i <= 40 ; i++ ))
do
    if [ $i == 1 ]; then
        echo "Title 1" > "/tmp/script_test/list_of_titles.txt"
    else
        echo "Title $i" >> "/tmp/script_test/list_of_titles.txt"
    fi

    echo "       This is a description of Title $i" > "/tmp/script_test/Title $i Description.txt"
done

BYELLOW="\E[1;33;40m"
WHITE="\E[0;37;40m"

function list_display() {
    i=1
    while read Title
    do
        echo -e "${BYELLOW}${i}: ${Title}${WHITE}"

        if [ -e "/tmp/script_test/$Title Description.txt" ]; then
            cat "/tmp/script_test/$Title Description.txt"
        fi

        i=`expr $i + 1`
    done < /tmp/script_test/list_of_titles.txt
}

echo
echo ---
echo "Displaying the list using 'more'..."
echo ---
sleep 2
list_display | more

echo
echo ---
echo "Displaying the list using 'less'..."
echo ---
sleep 2
list_display | less -E -F -r --prompt="Press Space for more or q when done"

--------------------------------------------------
Any help would be appreciated.

Last edited by pludi; 12-05-2009 at 06:29 AM.. Reason: code tags, please...
# 2  
Old 12-04-2009
Check for the "-X" option or its presence in the environment variable LESS.
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