pg — browse pagewise through text files
pg [−amount] [ −p prompt ] [−cefnrs] [+line] [+/pattern/] [
file... ]
pg displays a text file on a CRT one screenful at once. After each page, a prompt is displayed. The user may then either press the newline key to view the next page or one of the keys described below.
If no filename is given on the command line, pg reads from standard input. If standard output is not a terminal, pg acts like cat(1) but precedes each file with its name if there is more than one.
If input comes from a pipe, pg stores the data in a buffer file while reading, to make navigation possible.
pg accepts the following options:
numberStart at the given line number.
+/pattern/Start at the line containing the Basic Regular
Expression pattern given.
−numberThe number of lines per page. By default, this is the number of CRT lines minus one.
−cClear the screen before a page is displayed, if the terminfo entry for the terminal provides this capability.
−eDo not pause and display (EOF) at the end of a file.
−fDo not split long lines.
−nWithout this option, commands must be terminated by a newline character. With this option, pg advances once a command letter is entered.
−pstringInstead of the normal prompt :, string is displayed.
If string
contains %d,
its first occurrence is replaced by the number of the
current page.
−rDisallow the shell escape.
−sPrint messages in standout mode, if the
terminfo entry for the terminal provides this
capability.
−V,
−−versionDisaplay version information and exit.
−h,
−−helpDisplay help text and exit.
The following commands may be entered at the prompt.
Commands preceded by i in this
document accept a number as argument, positive or negative.
If this argument starts with +
or −, it is
interpreted relative to the current position in the input
file, otherwise relative to the beginning.
i<Enter>Display the next or the indicated page.
id or
^DDisplay the next halfpage. If i is given, it is always interpreted
relative to the current position.
ilDisplay the next or the indicated line.
ifSkip a page forward. i
must be a positive number and is always interpreted
relative to the current position.
iw or
izAs <Enter> except
that i becomes the new
page size.
. or
^LRedraw the screen.
$Advance to the last line of the input file.
i/
pattern /Search forward until the first or the i-th occurrence of the Basic Regular
Expression pattern is found. The
search starts after the current page and stops at the
end of the file. No wrap-around is performed.
i must be a positive
number.
i?pattern?
or i^pattern^Search backward until the first or the i-th occurrence of the Basic Regular
Expression pattern is found. The
search starts before the current page and stops at the
beginning of the file. No wrap-around is performed.
i must be a positive
number.
The search commands accept an added letter. If
t is given, the line containing
the pattern is displayed at the top of the screen, which is
the default. m selects the
middle and b the bottom of the
screen. The selected position is used in following searches,
too.
inAdvance to the next file or i files forward.
ipReread the previous file or i files backward.
sfilenameSave the current file to the given filename.
hDisplay a command summary.
!commandExecute command using the
shell.
q or
QQuit.
If the user presses the interrupt or quit key while pg reads from the input file or writes on the terminal, pg will immediately display the prompt. In all other situations these keys will terminate pg.
The following environment variables affect the behavior of pg:
COLUMNSOverrides the system-supplied number of columns if set.
LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGESSee locale(7).
LINESOverrides the system-supplied number of lines if set.
SHELLUsed by the !
command.
TERMDetermines the terminal type.