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lesskey(1)




LESSKEY(1)               USER COMMANDS                 LESSKEY(1)


NAME

     lesskey - specify key bindings for less


SYNOPSIS

     lesskey [-o output] [--] [input]
     lesskey [--output=output] [--] [input]
     lesskey -V
     lesskey --version


DESCRIPTION

     Lesskey is used to specify a set of key bindings to be  used
     by  less.  The input file is a text file which describes the
     key bindings.  If the input file is "-", standard  input  is
     read.  If no input file is specified, a standard filename is
     used as the name of the input file,  which  depends  on  the
     system being used:  On Unix systems, $HOME/.lesskey is used;
     on MS-DOS systems, $HOME/_lesskey is used; and on OS/2  sys-
     tems  $HOME/lesskey.ini  is  used,  or  $INIT/lesskey.ini if
     $HOME is undefined.  The output file is a binary file  which
     is  used  by  less.  If no output file is specified, and the
     environment variable LESSKEY is set, the value of LESSKEY is
     used  as the name of the output file.  Otherwise, a standard
     filename is used as the  name  of  the  output  file,  which
     depends on the system being used:  On Unix and OS-9 systems,
     $HOME/.less is used; on MS-DOS systems, $HOME/_less is used;
     and   on   OS/2   systems,   $HOME/less.ini   is   used,  or
     $INIT/less.ini if $HOME is undefined.  If  the  output  file
     already exists, lesskey will overwrite it.

     The -V or --version option causes lesskey to print its  ver-
     sion  number  and  immediately  exit.  If -V or --version is
     present, other options and arguments are ignored.

     The input file consists of one or more sections.  Each  sec-
     tion starts with a line that identifies the type of section.
     Possible sections are:

     #command
          Defines new command keys.

     #line-edit
          Defines new line-editing keys.

     #env Defines environment variables.

     Blank lines and lines which start with a pound sign (#)  are
     ignored, except for the special section header lines.


COMMAND SECTION

     The command section begins with the line

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     #command

     If the command section is the first  section  in  the  file,
     this  line  may be omitted.  The command section consists of
     lines of the form:

          string <whitespace> action [extra-string] <newline>

     Whitespace is any sequence of  one  or  more  spaces  and/or
     tabs.   The  string  is  the command key(s) which invoke the
     action.  The string may  be  a  single  command  key,  or  a
     sequence  of  up  to 15 keys.  The action is the name of the
     less action, from the list below.   The  characters  in  the
     string  may  appear  literally, or be prefixed by a caret to
     indicate a control key.  A  backslash  followed  by  one  to
     three octal digits may be used to specify a character by its
     octal value.  A backslash  followed  by  certain  characters
     specifies input characters as follows:

     \b   BACKSPACE

     \e   ESCAPE

     \n   NEWLINE

     \r   RETURN

     \t   TAB

     \ku  UP ARROW

     \kd  DOWN ARROW

     \kr  RIGHT ARROW

     \kl  LEFT ARROW

     \kU  PAGE UP

     \kD  PAGE DOWN

     \kh  HOME

     \ke  END

     \kx  DELETE

     A backslash followed by any other character  indicates  that
     character  is  to be taken literally.  Characters which must
     be preceded by backslash include caret, space, tab  and  the
     backslash itself.

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     An action may be followed by an "extra" string.  When such a
     command  is  entered  while running less, the action is per-
     formed, and then the extra string is parsed, just as  if  it
     were  typed  in to less. This feature can be used in certain
     cases to extend the functionality of a command.   For  exam-
     ple,  see  the  "{"  and ":t" commands in the example below.
     The extra string  has  a  special  meaning  for  the  "quit"
     action:   when  less  quits,  first  character  of the extra
     string is used as its exit status.


EXAMPLE

     The following input file describes the set of  default  com-
     mand keys used by less:

          #command
          \r        forw-line
          \n        forw-line
          e         forw-line
          j         forw-line
          \kd       forw-line
          ^E        forw-line
          ^N        forw-line
          k         back-line
          y         back-line
          ^Y        back-line
          ^K        back-line
          ^P        back-line
          J         forw-line-force
          K         back-line-force
          Y         back-line-force
          d         forw-scroll
          ^D        forw-scroll
          u         back-scroll
          ^U        back-scroll
          \40       forw-screen
          f         forw-screen
          ^F        forw-screen
          ^V        forw-screen
          \kD       forw-screen
          b         back-screen
          ^B        back-screen
          \ev       back-screen
          \kU       back-screen
          z         forw-window
          w         back-window
          \e\40          forw-screen-force
          F         forw-forever
          \eF       forw-until-hilite
          R         repaint-flush
          r         repaint
          ^R        repaint

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LESSKEY(1)               USER COMMANDS                 LESSKEY(1)

          ^L        repaint
          \eu       undo-hilite
          g         goto-line
          \kh       goto-line
          <         goto-line
          \e<       goto-line
          p         percent
          %         percent
          \e[       left-scroll
          \e]       right-scroll
          \e(       left-scroll
          \e)       right-scroll
          \kl       left-scroll
          \kr       right-scroll
          \e{       no-scroll
          \e}       end-scroll
          {         forw-bracket {}
          }         back-bracket {}
          (         forw-bracket ()
          )         back-bracket ()
          [         forw-bracket []
          ]         back-bracket []
          \e^F      forw-bracket
          \e^B      back-bracket
          G         goto-end
          \e>       goto-end
          >         goto-end
          \ke       goto-end
          \eG       goto-end-buffered
          =         status
          ^G        status
          :f        status
          /         forw-search
          ?         back-search
          \e/       forw-search *
          \e?       back-search *
          n         repeat-search
          \en       repeat-search-all
          N         reverse-search
          \eN       reverse-search-all
          &         filter
          m         set-mark
          M         set-mark-bottom
          \em       clear-mark
          '         goto-mark
          ^X^X      goto-mark
          E         examine
          :e        examine
          ^X^V      examine
          :n        next-file
          :p        prev-file
          t         next-tag

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LESSKEY(1)               USER COMMANDS                 LESSKEY(1)

          T         prev-tag
          :x        index-file
          :d        remove-file
          -         toggle-option
          :t        toggle-option t
          s         toggle-option o
          _         display-option
          |         pipe
          v         visual
          !         shell
          +         firstcmd
          H         help
          h         help
          V         version
          0         digit
          1         digit
          2         digit
          3         digit
          4         digit
          5         digit
          6         digit
          7         digit
          8         digit
          9         digit
          q         quit
          Q         quit
          :q        quit
          :Q        quit
          ZZ        quit


PRECEDENCE

     Commands specified  by  lesskey  take  precedence  over  the
     default  commands.  A default command key may be disabled by
     including it in the input file with  the  action  "invalid".
     Alternatively,  a  key may be defined to do nothing by using
     the action "noaction".  "noaction" is similar to  "invalid",
     but  less  will give an error beep for an "invalid" command,
     but not for a "noaction" command.  In addition, ALL  default
     commands  may be disabled by adding this control line to the
     input file:

     #stop

     This will cause all default commands  to  be  ignored.   The
     #stop  line  should  be the last line in that section of the
     file.

     Be aware that #stop can be dangerous. Since all default com-
     mands  are  disabled,  you  must provide sufficient commands
     before the #stop line to enable all necessary actions.   For
     example,  failure  to  provide  a "quit" command can lead to

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LESSKEY(1)               USER COMMANDS                 LESSKEY(1)

     frustration.


LINE EDITING SECTION

     The line-editing section begins with the line:

     #line-edit

     This section specifies new key bindings for the line editing
     commands,  in  a  manner similar to the way key bindings for
     ordinary commands are specified  in  the  #command  section.
     The  line-editing  section  consists  of  a list of keys and
     actions, one per line as in the example below.


EXAMPLE

     The following input file describes the set of default  line-
     editing keys used by less:

          #line-edit
          \t        forw-complete
          \17       back-complete
          \e\t      back-complete
          ^L        expand
          ^V        literal
          ^A        literal
          \el       right
          \kr       right
          \eh       left
          \kl       left
          \eb       word-left
          \e\kl     word-left
          \ew       word-right
          \e\kr     word-right
          \ei       insert
          \ex       delete
          \kx       delete
          \eX       word-delete
          \ekx      word-delete
          \e\b      word-backspace
          \e0       home
          \kh       home
          \e$       end
          \ke       end
          \ek       up
          \ku       up
          \ej       down
          ^G        abort

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LESSKEY(1)               USER COMMANDS                 LESSKEY(1)


LESS ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

     The environment variable section begins with the line

     #env

     Following this  line  is  a  list  of  environment  variable
     assignments.   Each line consists of an environment variable
     name, an equals sign (=) and the value to be assigned to the
     environment  variable.   White  space  before  and after the
     equals sign is ignored.  Variables assigned in this way  are
     visible only to less. If a variable is specified in the sys-
     tem environment and also in a lesskey file, the value in the
     lesskey  file  takes  precedence.  Although the lesskey file
     can be used to override variables set  in  the  environment,
     the  main purpose of assigning variables in the lesskey file
     is simply to have all less configuration information  stored
     in one file.


EXAMPLE

     The following input file sets the -i option whenever less is
     run, and specifies the character set to be "latin1":

          #env
          LESS = -i
          LESSCHARSET = latin1


SEE ALSO

     less(1)


WARNINGS

     On MS-DOS and OS/2 systems, certain keys send a sequence  of
     characters  which  start with a NUL character (0).  This NUL
     character should be represented as \340 in a lesskey file.


COPYRIGHT

     Copyright (C) 1984-2017  Mark Nudelman

     less is part of the GNU project and is free  software.   You
     can  redistribute  it  and/or  modify  it under the terms of
     either (1) the GNU General 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

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LESSKEY(1)               USER COMMANDS                 LESSKEY(1)

     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 FITNESS FOR A  PARTICULAR  PURPOSE.   See
     the GNU General Public License for more details.


AUTHOR

     Mark Nudelman
     Send bug reports or comments to <bug-less@gnu.org>.

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