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Manual page for PG(1V)

pg - page through a file on a soft-copy terminal

SYNOPSIS

/usr/5bin/pg [ -cefns ] [ -number ] [ -p string ] [ +linenumber ] [ +/pattern/ ] [ filename ... ]

AVAILABILITY

This command is available with the System V software installation option. Refer to [a manual with the abbreviation INSTALL] for information on how to install optional software.

DESCRIPTION

pg is a filter that allows you to page through filename, one screenful at a time, on a soft-copy terminal. With a filename of `-', or no filename specified, pg reads from the standard input. Each screenful is followed by a prompt. If the user types a RETURN, another page is displayed; other possibilities are enumerated below.

This command is different from previous paginators in that it allows you to back up and review something that has already passed. The method for doing this is explained below.

In order to determine terminal attributes, pg scans the terminfo.5v data base for the terminal type specified by the environment variable TERM. If TERM is not defined, the terminal type dumb is assumed.

The responses that may be typed when pg pauses can be divided into three categories: those causing further perusal, those that search, and those that modify the perusal environment.

Commands which cause further perusal normally take a preceding address, an optionally signed number indicating the point from which further text should be displayed. This address is interpreted in either pages or lines depending on the command. A signed address specifies a point relative to the current page or line, and an unsigned address specifies an address relative to the beginning of the file. Each command has a default address that is used if none is provided.

The perusal commands and their defaults are as follows:

(+1) NEWLINE or SPACE: Display one page. The address is specified in pages.
(+1) l: With a relative address pg will simulate scrolling the screen, forward or backward, the number of lines specified. With an absolute address this command prints a screenful beginning at the specified line.
(+1) d or ^D: Simulate scrolling half a screen forward or backward.

The following perusal commands take no address.

. or ^L: Redisplay the current page of text.
$: Display the last full window in the file. Use with caution when the input is a pipe.

The following commands are available for searching for text patterns in the text. The regular expressions described in ed.1 are available. They must always be terminated by a NEWLINE, even if the -n option is specified.

i/pattern/: Search forward for the ith (default i=1) occurrence of pattern. Searching begins immediately after the current page and continues to the end of the current file, without wrap-around.

i^pattern^

i?pattern?: Search backwards for the ith (default i=1) occurrence of pattern. Searching begins immediately before the current page and continues to the beginning of the current file, without wrap-around. The ^ notation is useful for Adds 100 terminals which will not properly handle the ?.

After searching, pg will normally display the line found at the top of the screen. This can be modified by appending m or b to the search command to leave the line found in the middle or at the bottom of the window from now on. The suffix t can be used to restore the original situation.

The user of pg can modify the environment of perusal with the following commands:

in: Begin perusing the ith next file in the command line. The i is an unsigned number, default value is 1.
ip: Begin perusing the ith previous file in the command line. i is an unsigned number, default is 1.
iw: Display another window of text. If i is present, set the window size to i.
s filename: Save the input in the named file. Only the current file being perused is saved. The white space between the s and filename is optional. This command must always be terminated by a NEWLINE, even if the -n option is specified.
h: Help by displaying an abbreviated summary of available commands.
q or Q: Quit pg.
!command: command is passed to the shell, whose name is taken from the SHELL environment variable. If this is not available, the default shell is used. This command must always be terminated by a NEWLINE, even if the -n option is specified.

At any time when output is being sent to the terminal, the user can hit the quit key, normally CTRL-\ or the BREAK (interrupt) key. This causes pg to stop sending output, and display the prompt. The user may then enter one of the above commands in the normal manner. Unfortunately, some output is lost when this is done, due to the fact that any characters waiting in the terminal's output queue are flushed when the quit signal occurs.

If the standard output is not a terminal, then pg acts just like cat.1v except that a header is printed before each file (if there is more than one).

OPTIONS

The command line options are:

-number: An integer specifying the size (in lines) of the window that pg is to use instead of the default. (On a terminal containing 24 lines, the default window size is 23).
-p string: Use string as the prompt. If the prompt string contains a `%d', the first occurrence of `%d' in the prompt will be replaced by the current page number when the prompt is issued. The default prompt string is `:'.
-c: Home the cursor and clear the screen before displaying each page. This option is ignored if clear_screen is not defined for this terminal type in the terminfo.5v data base.
-e: Do not pause at the end of each file.
-f: Inhibit pg from splitting lines. Normally, pg splits lines longer than the screen width, but some sequences of characters in the text being displayed (for instance, escape sequences for underlining) generate undesirable results.
-n: Automatic end of command as soon as a command letter is entered. Normally, commands must be terminated by a NEWLINE character.
-s: Print all messages and prompts in standout mode (usually inverse video).
+linenumber: Start up at linenumber.
+/pattern/: Start up at the first line containing the regular expression pattern.

EXAMPLES

A sample usage of pg in reading system news would be

: news | pg -p '(Page %d):'

FILES

/usr/share/lib/terminfo/*: terminal information data base
/tmp/pg*: temporary file when input is from a pipe

BUGS

If terminal TAB characters are not set every eight positions, undesirable results may occur.

When using pg as a filter with another command that changes the terminal I/O options (for instance, crypt.1 terminal settings may not be restored correctly.

NOTES

While waiting for terminal input, pg responds to BREAK , DEL , and ^ by terminating execution. Between prompts, however, these signals interrupt pg's current task and place the user in prompt mode. These should be used with caution when input is being read from a pipe, since an interrupt is likely to terminate the other commands in the pipeline.

Users of more.1 will find that the z and f commands are available, and that the terminal `/', `^', or `?' may be omitted from the searching commands.