lesskey
key bindings for lesss
lesskey - specify key bindings for less
lesskey [-o output] [--] [input]
lesskey [--output=output] [--] [input]
lesskey -V
lesskey --version
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 bind-
ings. 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 systems $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 version 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 section 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
#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 action [extra-string]
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 be-
low. The characters in the string may appear literally, or be prefixed by a caret to indicate a control key. A backslash fol-
lowed by one to three octal digits may be used to specify a character by its octal value. A backslash followed by certain char-
acters 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.
An action may be followed by an "extra" string. When such a command is entered while running less, the action is performed, 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 example, 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 command 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
^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
' goto-mark
^X^X goto-mark
E examine
:e examine
^X^V examine
:n next-file
:p prev-file
t next-tag
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 commands 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 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
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 system 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