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Learn Why ‘less’ is Faster Than ‘more’ Command for Effective File Navigation
More is a command to view (but not modify) the contents of a text file, one screen at a time. It is available on Unix and Unix-like systems, DOS, OS/2, and Microsoft Windows. Programs of this sort are called pagers. More is a very basic pager, originally allowing only forward navigation through a file, though newer implementations which allows for limited backward movement.
The basics of more command should be like this –
$ more /var/log/dkpg.log
The sample output should be like this –
2016-12-02 11:30:45 startup archives unpack 2016-12-02 11:30:45 install python-ptyprocess:all <none> 0.5-1 2016-12-02 11:30:45 status half-installed python-ptyprocess:all 0.5-1 2016-12-02 11:30:45 status unpacked python-ptyprocess:all 0.5-1 2016-12-02 11:30:45 status unpacked python-ptyprocess:all 0.5-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 install python-pexpect:all <none> 4.0.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status half-installed python-pexpect:all 4.0.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-pexpect:all 4.0.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-pexpect:all 4.0.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 install python-simplegeneric:all <none> 0.8.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status half-installed python-simplegeneric:all 0.8.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-simplegeneric:all 0.8.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-simplegeneric:all 0.8.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:47 install ipython:all <none> 2.4.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status half-installed ipython:all 2.4.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status triggers-pending man-db:amd64 2.7.5-1 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status triggers-pending hicolor-icon-theme:all 0.15-0ubuntu1 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status half-installed ipython:all 2.4.1-1 .........................................................................................
Cat command is as shown below –
$ cat /var/log/boot.log | more
The sample output should be like this –
[ OK ] Started File System Check on /dev/disk/by-uuid/8E9A-D511. Mounting /boot/efi... [ OK ] Mounted /boot/efi. [ OK ] Reached target Local File Systems. Starting Clean up any mess left by 0dns-up... Starting Set console font and keymap... Starting LSB: AppArmor initialization... Starting Tell Plymouth To Write Out Runtime Data... Starting Create Volatile Files and Directories... [ OK ] Started Tell Plymouth To Write Out Runtime Data. [ OK ] Started Clean up any mess left by 0dns-up. Starting Nameserver information manager... [ OK ] Started Nameserver information manager. [ OK ] Started Set console font and keymap. [ OK ] Created slice system-getty.slice. [ OK ] Started Create Volatile Files and Directories. Starting Update UTMP about System Boot/Shutdown... Starting Network Time Synchronization... [ OK ] Started Update UTMP about System Boot/Shutdown. [ OK ] Started Network Time Synchronization. [ OK ] Reached target System Time Synchronized. [ OK ] Started LSB: AppArmor initialization. [ OK ] Reached target System Initialization.
In order to navigate, press Enter key or press Spacebar key to navigate one page. To exit the command just press q key or CTRL+C key.To set the number of lines a page should contain,use the following command –
$ more -5 /var/log/kern.log
The above command shows only first 10 lines. The sample output should be like this –
Dec 6 12:27:33 khushboo-HP-15-Notebook-PC kernel: [ 2941.623182] nouveau 0000:09:00.0: DRM: resuming kernel object tree… Dec 6 12:27:33 khushboo-HP-15-Notebook-PC kernel: [ 2941.740892] nouveau 0000:09:00.0: bus: MMIO write of 0000001f FAULT at 6013d4 [ IBUS ] Dec 6 12:27:33 khushboo-HP-15-Notebook-PC kernel: [ 2941.741404] nouveau 0000:0
To get more information about more command, use the following command
$ more -h
The sample output should be like this –
more: unknown option -h Usage: more [options] ... A file perusal filter for CRT viewing. Options: -d display help instead of ringing bell -f count logical rather than screen lines -l suppress pause after form feed -c do not scroll, display text and clean line ends -p do not scroll, clean screen and display text -s squeeze multiple blank lines into one -u suppress underlining - the number of lines per screenful + display file beginning from line number +/ display file beginning from search string match -V display version information and exit For more details see more(1).
Learn Linux ‘less’ Command
Less command allows you to view the contents of a file and navigate through file. The sample of less command should be like this –
$ less /var/log/dpkg.log
The sample output should be like this –
2016-12-02 11:30:48 status half-installed ipython:all 2.4.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status triggers-pending bamfdaemon:amd64 0.5.3~bzr0+16.04.20 160701-0ubuntu1 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status triggers-pending mime-support:all 3.59ubuntu1 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status unpacked ipython:all 2.4.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status unpacked ipython:all 2.4.1-1 2016-12-02 11:30:48 upgrade libmysqlclient20:i386 5.7.13-0ubuntu0.16.04.2 5.7.16-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status triggers-pending libc-bin:amd64 2.23-0ubuntu3 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status half-configured libmysqlclient20:i386 5.7.13-0ubuntu0.16.04.2 2016-12-02 11:30:48 status unpacked libmysqlclient20:i386 5.7.13-0ubuntu0.16.04.2
By Enter key, You can navigate through the file line by line pressing. To get more information about less command, use the following command
$ less --help
The sample output should be like this –
SUMMARY OF LESS COMMANDS Commands marked with * may be preceded by a number, N. Notes in parentheses indicate the behavior if N is given. A key preceded by a caret indicates the Ctrl key; thus ^K is ctrl-K. h H Display this help. q :q Q :Q ZZ Exit. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOVING e ^E j ^N CR * Forward one line (or N lines). y ^Y k ^K ^P * Backward one line (or N lines). f ^F ^V SPACE * Forward one window (or N lines). b ^B ESC-v * Backward one window (or N lines). z * Forward one window (and set window to N). w * Backward one window (and set window to N). ESC-SPACE * Forward one window, but don't stop at end-of-file. d ^D * Forward one half-window (and set half-window to N). u ^U * Backward one half-window (and set half-window to N). ESC-) RightArrow * Left one half screen width (or N positions).
If you need to find the number of every line, use the -N option as shown below –
$ less -N /var/log/dpkg.log
The sample output should be like this –
1 2016-12-02 11:30:45 startup archives unpack 2 2016-12-02 11:30:45 install python-ptyprocess:all <none> 0.5-1 3 2016-12-02 11:30:45 status half-installed python-ptyprocess:all 0.5-1 4 2016-12-02 11:30:45 status unpacked python-ptyprocess:all 0.5-1 5 2016-12-02 11:30:45 status unpacked python-ptyprocess:all 0.5-1 6 2016-12-02 11:30:46 install python-pexpect:all <none> 4.0.1-1 7 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status half-installed python-pexpect:all 4.0.1-1 8 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-pexpect:all 4.0.1-1 9 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-pexpect:all 4.0.1-1 10 2016-12-02 11:30:46 install python-simplegeneric:all <none> 0.8.1-1 11 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status half-installed python-simplegeneric:all 0.8.1 11 -1 12 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-simplegeneric:all 0.8.1-1 13 2016-12-02 11:30:46 status unpacked python-simplegeneric:all 0.8.1-1 14 2016-12-02 11:30:47 install ipython:all <none> 2.4.1-1 15 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status half-installed ipython:all 2.4.1-1 16 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status triggers-pending man-db:amd64 2.7.5-1 17 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status triggers-pending hicolor-icon-theme:all 0.15- 17 0ubuntu1 18 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status half-installed ipython:all 2.4.1-1 19 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status triggers-pending gnome-menus:amd64 3.13.3-6ub 19 untu3.1 20 2016-12-02 11:30:47 status triggers-pending desktop-file-utils:amd64 0.2
To exit from the less command use q key or CTRL+C key. To change this behavior and automatically exit file when reaching the end of file use the following command
After this article, you will be able to understand – How to Use ‘less’ and ‘more’ Commands with Examples in Linux, we will come up with more Linux based tricks and tips. Keep reading!
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