LESSKEY(1)                  General Commands Manual                 LESSKEY(1)



[1mNAME[0m
       lesskey - specify key bindings for less

[1mSYNOPSIS[0m
       [1mlesskey [-o output] [--] [input][0m
       [1mlesskey [--output=output] [--] [input][0m
       [1mlesskey -V[0m
       [1mlesskey --version[0m

[1mDESCRIPTION[0m
       [4mLesskey[24m  is  used  to specify a set of key bindings to be used by [4mless.[0m
       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 speci-
       fied, 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 [4mless.[24m  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, [4mlesskey[24m will overwrite it.

       The  -V  or --version option causes [4mlesskey[24m 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 [4msections.[24m  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.


[1mCOMMAND SECTION[0m
       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:

            [4mstring[24m <whitespace> [4maction[24m [extra-string] <newline>

       Whitespace  is  any  sequence  of  one or more spaces and/or tabs.  The
       [4mstring[24m is the command key(s) which invoke the action.  The  [4mstring[24m  may
       be a single command key, or a sequence of up to 15 keys.  The [4maction[24m is
       the name of the less action, from the list below.   The  characters  in
       the  [4mstring[24m 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 fol-
       lowed 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.

       An action may be followed by an "extra" string.  When such a command is
       entered while running [4mless,[24m the action is performed, and then the extra
       string is parsed, just as if it were typed in to  [4mless.[24m   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 [4mless[0m
       quits, first character of the extra string is used as its exit status.


[1mEXAMPLE[0m
       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


[1mPRECEDENCE[0m
       Commands  specified  by  [4mlesskey[24m  take precedence over the default com-
       mands.  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 [4mless[24m 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.


[1mLINE EDITING SECTION[0m
       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.


[1mEXAMPLE[0m
       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



[1mLESS ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES[0m
       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 [4mless.[24m  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 over-
       ride variables set in the environment, the main  purpose  of  assigning
       variables  in the lesskey file is simply to have all [4mless[24m configuration
       information stored in one file.


[1mEXAMPLE[0m
       The following input file sets the -i option whenever [4mless[24m is  run,  and
       specifies the character set to be "latin1":

            #env
            LESS = -i
            LESSCHARSET = latin1



[1mSEE ALSO[0m
       less(1)


[1mWARNINGS[0m
       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.


[1mCOPYRIGHT[0m
       Copyright (C) 1984-2016  Mark Nudelman

       less  is  part of the GNU project and is free software.  You can redis-
       tribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either (1) the GNU  Gen-
       eral  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 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  FIT-
       NESS  FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for
       more details.


[1mAUTHOR[0m
       Mark Nudelman
       Send bug reports or comments to <bug-less@gnu.org>.



                           Version 487: 25 Oct 2016                 LESSKEY(1)
