Linux more Command with Practical Examples

Introduction

In this lab, you will learn how to use the more command in Linux, which is a text file pager that allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time. You will understand the purpose and syntax of the more command, navigate and search through text files using it, and explore its advanced features and customization options.

The lab covers the following steps: Understand the Purpose and Syntax of the more Command, Navigate and Search Through Text Files with the more Command, and Customize the more Command Behavior and Explore Advanced Features. By the end of this lab, you will be able to effectively use the more command to view and navigate through text files on your Linux system.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet

Understand the Purpose and Syntax of the more Command

In this step, you will learn about the purpose and basic syntax of the more command in Linux. The more command is a text file pager that allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time.

To use the more command, simply type more followed by the filename you want to view. For example:

$ more ~/project/example.txt

This will open the example.txt file and display its contents one page at a time. You can navigate through the file using the following commands:

• Press the Space key to display the next page.
• Press the Enter key to display the next line.
• Press b to go back one page.
• Press q to quit the more command.

Example output:

This is the first page of the example.txt file.
It contains several lines of text.

Press the Space key to see the next page.

The more command also supports various options that allow you to customize its behavior. For example, you can use the -d option to display prompts that explain how to use the command, or the -c option to clear the screen before displaying each page.

Navigate and Search Through Text Files with the more Command

In this step, you will learn how to navigate and search through text files using the more command.

First, let's create a larger text file for you to practice with:

$ cd ~/project
$ curl -o example.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stiang/remove-accents/master/data/words_alpha.txt

This will download a file containing a large list of words to your ~/project directory.

Now, let's open the file using the more command:

$ more example.txt

You can use the following commands to navigate through the file:

• Press the Space key to display the next page.
• Press the Enter key to display the next line.
• Press b to go back one page.
• Press q to quit the more command.

To search for a specific word or phrase within the file, you can use the / key followed by the search term. For example:

/linux

This will highlight the first occurrence of the word "linux" in the file. You can press n to navigate to the next occurrence, or N to navigate to the previous occurrence.

Example output:

This is the first page of the example.txt file.
It contains a large list of words.

/linux
  linux
  linux-based
  linux-compatible
  linux-friendly
  linux-kernel
  linux-powered

As you can see, the more command provides a simple and effective way to view and search through text files directly in the terminal.

Customize the more Command Behavior and Explore Advanced Features

In this final step, you will learn how to customize the behavior of the more command and explore some of its advanced features.

First, let's try using the -d (prompt) option to display helpful prompts while using the more command:

$ more -d example.txt

This will display prompts like "Press space to continue, 'q' to quit." to guide you through the file navigation.

You can also use the -c (clear) option to clear the screen before displaying each page:

$ more -c example.txt

This can make the output easier to read, especially for large files.

Another useful feature of the more command is its ability to display line numbers. You can enable this by using the -n option:

$ more -n example.txt

This will display the line numbers on the left side of the output.

Finally, the more command also supports advanced search and navigation features. You can use the following commands while viewing a file:

• /pattern - Search forward for a pattern
• ?pattern - Search backward for a pattern
• n - Repeat the last search in the same direction
• N - Repeat the last search in the opposite direction

For example, to search for the word "linux" and navigate through the results:

/linux
n
N

This allows you to quickly find and navigate through all occurrences of the word "linux" in the file.

Summary

In this lab, you learned about the purpose and basic syntax of the more command in Linux, which allows you to view the contents of a file one page at a time. You explored how to navigate through the file using various commands, such as pressing the Space key to display the next page, the Enter key to display the next line, and the b key to go back one page. Additionally, you learned how to customize the more command's behavior using options like -d and -c. Furthermore, you practiced navigating and searching through larger text files using the more command, including the ability to search for specific words or phrases within the file.

Linux Commands Cheat Sheet