more

Example output of the more command
Developer(s)	Daniel Halbert
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	system utility
License	BSD License

In computing, more is a command to view (but not modify) the contents of a text file one screen at a time (terminal pager). It is available on Unix and Unix-like systems, DOS, OS/2, and Microsoft Windows. Programs of this sort are called pagers.^[1] more is a very basic pager, originally allowing only forward navigation through a file, though newer implementations do allow for limited backward movement.

History[link]

The more command was originally written by Daniel Halbert, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1978. It was first included in 3.0 BSD, and has since become a standard program in all Unix systems. less, a similar command with the extended capability of allowing both forward and backward navigation through the file was written by Mark Nudelman during 1983-85 and is now included in most Unix and Unix-like systems.

Usage[link]

Unix[link]

The command-syntax is:

more [options] [file_name]

If no file name is provided, more looks for input from stdin.

Once more has obtained input, it displays as much as can fit on the current screen and waits for user input to advance, with the exception that a form feed (^L) will also cause more to wait at that line, regardless of the amount of text on the screen. In the lower-left corner of the screen is displayed the text "--More--" and a percentage, representing the percent of the file that more has paged through. (This percentage includes the text displayed on the current screen.) When more reaches the end of a file (100%) it exits. The most common methods of navigating through a file are Enter, which advances the output by one line, and Space, which advances the output by one screen.

There are also other commands that can be used while navigating through the document; consult more's man page for more details.^[2]

Options[link]

Options are typically entered before the file name, but can also be entered in the environment variable $MORE. Options entered in the actual command line will override those entered in the $MORE environment variable. Available options may vary between Unix systems, but a typical set of options is as follows:

• -num: This option specifies an integer which is the screen size (in lines).
• -d: more will prompt the user with the message "[Press space to continue, 'q' to quit.]" and will display "[Press 'h' for instructions.]" instead of ringing the bell when an illegal key is pressed.
• -l: more usually treats ^L (form feed) as a special character, and will pause after any line that contains a form feed. The -l option will prevent this behavior.
• -f: Causes more to count logical, rather than screen lines (i.e., long lines are not folded).
• -p: Do not scroll. Instead, clear the whole screen and then display the text.
• -c: Do not scroll. Instead, paint each screen from the top, clearing the remainder of each line as it is displayed.
• -s: Squeeze multiple blank lines into one.
• -u: Suppress underlining.
• +/: The +/ option specifies a string that will be searched for before each file is displayed. (Ex.: more +/Preamble gpl.txt)
• +num: Start at line number num.

Microsoft Windows[link]

The command-syntax is:^[3]

command | more [/c] [/p] [/s] [/tn] [+n]
more [[/c] [/p] [/s] [/tn] [+n]] < [Drive:] [Path] FileName
more [/c] [/p] [/s] [/tn] [+n] [files]

Examples[link]

To display the file named letter.txt on the screen, the user can type either of the following two commands:

more < letter.txt
type letter.txt | more 

The command displays the first screen of information from letter.txt, and then the following prompt appears:

-- More --

When the spacebar is pressed, the next screen of information will be displayed. It is also possible to clear the screen and remove all extra blank lines before displaying the file:

more /c /s < letter.txt
type letter.txt | more /c /s 

OS/2[link]

The command-syntax is:

MORE < [drive:][path]filename
command | more

• drive:\path\filename – Specifies the location of the file to display one screen at a time.
• command | – Specifies the command whose output will be displayed.

Example[link]

Return the content of the OS/2 system directory using the dir command and display it one screen at a time using the more command:

<source lang="text"> [C:\]dir C:\OS2 | more </source>

See also[link]

• pg (Unix)
• less (Unix)
• most (Unix)

References[link]

External links[link]

• "FOLDOC entry for pager"; see definition #2.
• manpage of more
• Early history of the more command

Look up More or more in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

More or Mores may refer to:

Computers[link]

• MORE (application), a Mac OS outliner application
• more (command), a shell command
• MORE protocol, a routing protocol

Film[link]

• More (1969 film), a 1969 film directed by Barbet Schroeder
• More (1998 film), a short film by Mark Osborne

Language and culture[link]

• Morè (clan), a Maratha clan of India
• Mores, strongly held norms or customs
• Mòoré language or Moré, a language spoken primarily in Burkina Faso by the Mossi
• Moré, one of the 36 official languages of Bolivia

Magazines[link]

• More!, a British women's fashion magazine
• More (magazine), an American women's lifestyle magazine
• More (Punk magazine from Belgium)

Music[link]

• More (British band), a 1980s heavy metal band
• More (Croatian band), a 1980s band featuring Doris Dragović

Albums[link]

• More! (album), by Booka Shade, 2010
• More (Mary Alessi album), 2005
• More... (Montell Jordan album), 1996
• More (Tamia album), or the title song, 2004
• More... (Trace Adkins album), or the title song (see below), 1999
• More (Vitamin C album), 2001
• Soundtrack from the Film More, by Pink Floyd with music from the 1969 film (see above)
• More, by Mylon LeFevre, 1983
• More, by Resin Dogs, 2007

Songs[link]

• "More" (1956 song), written by Alex Alstone and Tom Glazer, popularized by Perry Como
• "More" (Mondo Cane theme), the theme from the 1963 film Mondo Cane
• "More" (Matthew West song)
• "More" (Peaches song)
• "More" (The Sisters of Mercy song)
• "More" (Trace Adkins song)
• "More" (Usher song)
• "More", by The Black Eyed Peas, performed on the Black Blue & You Tour
• "More", by Doctor and the Medics from I Keep Thinking It's Tuesday
• "More", by Junkie XL from More More
• "More", written by Stephen Sondheim and performed by Madonna on I'm Breathless
• "More", by Selena Gomez & the Scene from Kiss & Tell

Radio[link]

• More FM, a New Zealand radio network
• More Radio, an FM station in Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK
• The Breeze (Frome & West Wiltshire), formerly "More Radio", an FM Station in West Wiltshire and Frome in East Somerset, UK

Other[link]

• More (cigarette), a cigarette brand marketed to women
• More (store), a chain of supermarkets in India operated by the Aditya Birla Group
• More (surname), a family name, including a list of people with the surname
• Mores (SS), a comune (municipality) in the Province of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy
• More, Shropshire, a location in the United Kingdom
• More, a 2004 one-woman Off-Broadway show by Yeardley Smith

See also[link]

• All pages beginning with "More"
• All pages with titles containing "More"
• More, More, More (disambiguation)
• Moar (disambiguation)
• Mohr (disambiguation)
• Moor (disambiguation)
• Moore (disambiguation)
• Moren (disambiguation)
• Moores (disambiguation)
• Mór (disambiguation)
• MOR (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.