Get colors in less or more

379

When I read a file in Linux with the command less or more, how can I get the content in colors?

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 9 '10 at 10:50

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

5

This seems related: superuser.com/questions/36022/less-and-grep-color - does it help?

– Jonik
Mar 9 '10 at 13:40

4

The title of this question is very misleading. Many people landing on this page expect a solution to the coloring issue you will get when piping a command with colored output to less: colors are lost. (The answers to that ”piping issue“ involve less -R, unbuffer etc.) But the actual question refers to opening a file! — The ambiguity lies primarily in the question's title, but even besides that, IMHO the question is still too broad: ”read a file“ could refer to any file (probably plain text). (well, ”get the content in colors“ is probably referring to syntax highlighting.)

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:05

I need to correct myself, only 3 (or 4) of 14 answers are missing the OP's actual question: the answers by ChristopheD, Puneet and Onlyjob; and maybe jbbr. Still, two of those answers are part of the three highest-voted ones.

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:38

add a comment |

379

When I read a file in Linux with the command less or more, how can I get the content in colors?

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 9 '10 at 10:50

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

5

This seems related: superuser.com/questions/36022/less-and-grep-color - does it help?

– Jonik
Mar 9 '10 at 13:40

4

The title of this question is very misleading. Many people landing on this page expect a solution to the coloring issue you will get when piping a command with colored output to less: colors are lost. (The answers to that ”piping issue“ involve less -R, unbuffer etc.) But the actual question refers to opening a file! — The ambiguity lies primarily in the question's title, but even besides that, IMHO the question is still too broad: ”read a file“ could refer to any file (probably plain text). (well, ”get the content in colors“ is probably referring to syntax highlighting.)

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:05

I need to correct myself, only 3 (or 4) of 14 answers are missing the OP's actual question: the answers by ChristopheD, Puneet and Onlyjob; and maybe jbbr. Still, two of those answers are part of the three highest-voted ones.

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:38

add a comment |

379

122

When I read a file in Linux with the command less or more, how can I get the content in colors?

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

When I read a file in Linux with the command less or more, how can I get the content in colors?

linux colors less

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

edited Jul 11 '16 at 15:11

Mark Amery

1501112

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

asked Mar 9 '10 at 10:44

Open the way

2,096133965

migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 9 '10 at 10:50

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 9 '10 at 10:50

This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.

5

This seems related: superuser.com/questions/36022/less-and-grep-color - does it help?

– Jonik
Mar 9 '10 at 13:40

4

The title of this question is very misleading. Many people landing on this page expect a solution to the coloring issue you will get when piping a command with colored output to less: colors are lost. (The answers to that ”piping issue“ involve less -R, unbuffer etc.) But the actual question refers to opening a file! — The ambiguity lies primarily in the question's title, but even besides that, IMHO the question is still too broad: ”read a file“ could refer to any file (probably plain text). (well, ”get the content in colors“ is probably referring to syntax highlighting.)

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:05

I need to correct myself, only 3 (or 4) of 14 answers are missing the OP's actual question: the answers by ChristopheD, Puneet and Onlyjob; and maybe jbbr. Still, two of those answers are part of the three highest-voted ones.

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:38

add a comment |

5

This seems related: superuser.com/questions/36022/less-and-grep-color - does it help?

– Jonik
Mar 9 '10 at 13:40

4

The title of this question is very misleading. Many people landing on this page expect a solution to the coloring issue you will get when piping a command with colored output to less: colors are lost. (The answers to that ”piping issue“ involve less -R, unbuffer etc.) But the actual question refers to opening a file! — The ambiguity lies primarily in the question's title, but even besides that, IMHO the question is still too broad: ”read a file“ could refer to any file (probably plain text). (well, ”get the content in colors“ is probably referring to syntax highlighting.)

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:05

I need to correct myself, only 3 (or 4) of 14 answers are missing the OP's actual question: the answers by ChristopheD, Puneet and Onlyjob; and maybe jbbr. Still, two of those answers are part of the three highest-voted ones.

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:38

This seems related: superuser.com/questions/36022/less-and-grep-color - does it help?

– Jonik
Mar 9 '10 at 13:40

The title of this question is very misleading. Many people landing on this page expect a solution to the coloring issue you will get when piping a command with colored output to less: colors are lost. (The answers to that ”piping issue“ involve less -R, unbuffer etc.) But the actual question refers to opening a file! — The ambiguity lies primarily in the question's title, but even besides that, IMHO the question is still too broad: ”read a file“ could refer to any file (probably plain text). (well, ”get the content in colors“ is probably referring to syntax highlighting.)

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:05

I need to correct myself, only 3 (or 4) of 14 answers are missing the OP's actual question: the answers by ChristopheD, Puneet and Onlyjob; and maybe jbbr. Still, two of those answers are part of the three highest-voted ones.

– myrdd
Dec 3 '18 at 23:38

add a comment |

15 Answers
15

active

oldest

votes

140

You can utilize the power of pygmentize with less - automatically! (No need to pipe by hand.)

Install pygments with your package manager or pip (possibly called python-pygments) or get it here http://pygments.org/download/.

Write a file ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;



    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1";;



    *)

        if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" 2> /dev/null; then

            pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

In your .bashrc add

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Also, you need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running

chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

Tested on Debian.

You get the idea. This can of course be improved further, accepting more extensions or parsing the shebang for other interpreters than bash. See some of the other answers for that.

The idea came from an old blog post from the makers of Pygments, but the original post doesn't exist anymore.

edited Nov 11 '18 at 15:42

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

6

If you want to have coloring of the source code files, you also need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter. You also need to have pygmentize (pygments.org/download) installed.

– Sergiy Belozorov
Dec 18 '12 at 11:07

Can anyone confirm that this works as it has no effect for me when I execute a command like ls -l | less

– puk
Oct 30 '13 at 13:59

7

@puk you can do something like ls --color=always -l | less -R. Obviously a lot to type but you could alias it to something like ll. That is if you don't want to use any extra libraries.

– PhilT
Jul 23 '14 at 16:17

2

added @SergiyByelozyorov's comment into the answer.

– andrybak
Jan 18 '15 at 12:54

1

My edit was rejected so I guess I'll post it as a comment instead: Don't test the exit codes of commands indirectly. You can use if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" (the -q suppresses standard output). You may want to redirect standard error with 2>/dev/null.

– Tom Fenech
Oct 23 '15 at 13:16

|
show 7 more comments

452

Try the following:

less -R

from man less:

-r or --raw-control-chars

Causes "raw" control characters to be displayed. (...)

-R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS

Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences are output in "raw" form. (...)

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

16

This is useful when the file itself contains the escape codes that will need to be displayed.

– Nitrodist
Dec 16 '11 at 21:16

1

I used to know about less -r but searching in the file using "/" kept bringing up the wrong lines. -R seems to do a better job. Thanks for the tip.

– Amos Shapira
Aug 6 '13 at 0:28

51

It should be noted that most programs use the isatty(2) syscall to check whether their standard output is a terminal, and usually disable colorized output if it is not. For any pipe to less, isatty will return 0. To check whether this works, try echo -e 'x1b[32;1mtestx1b[m' | less -r

– mic_e
Sep 24 '13 at 22:53

10

This answer does not excel in the actually does something test.

– Michael Wolf
May 9 '14 at 22:24

17

You can also type -R when you already opened less to achieve this.

– Scz
Sep 1 '16 at 7:56

|
show 7 more comments

125

I got the answer in another post: Less and Grep: Getting colored results when using a pipe from grep to less

When you simply run grep --color it
implies grep --color=auto which
detects whether the output is a
terminal and if so enables colors.
However, when it detects a pipe it
disables coloring. The following
command:
grep --color=always "search string" * | less -R
Will always enable coloring and
override the automatic detection, and
you will get the color highlighting in
less.

Warning: Don't put --color=always as an alias, it break things sometimes. That's why there is an --color=auto option.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

4

Nice, thanks. Except that I need to use -R as an option to less, as well.

– naught101
May 8 '12 at 6:41

10

I believe grep -R is for specifying recursive search. less -R is necessary for less to correctly spit the colors back out. grep --color=always [grep cmds] | less -R works for me on OS X 10.7.3!

– Steven Lu
May 9 '12 at 13:56

@naught101 @Steven Lu Edited in, though it seems that some people may not need to use less -R (according to the author of the original post, anyway).

– jtpereyda
Oct 22 '13 at 17:17

2

Is there anyway to let grep know just pipe less -R command and then just do coloring? So, we don't have to put --color=always and less -R all the time.

– A-letubby
Feb 27 '15 at 7:50

1

This is by far the simplest working answer. Thanks!

– Danny Staple
Oct 3 '15 at 11:16

|
show 1 more comment

Use view instead of less. It opens the file with vim in readonly mode.

It's practically a coloured less: a pager where you can search with / (and more). The only drawback is that you can't exit with q but you need :q

Also, you get the same colouring as vim (since you're in fact using vim).

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

How about the performance of big files? Vim syntax highlighting is know to be slow on huge files.

– pihentagy
Feb 20 '14 at 10:28

I don't know what's your value for 'big', but opening a ~10000 lines file is instantaneous, search inside included.

– Riccardo Galli
Feb 20 '14 at 11:50

1

I upvoted (I didn't know about view) but another downside is that j/k/up/down don't instantly scroll, since there is a cursor.

– Tyler Collier
Mar 1 '15 at 17:38

6

Note that you may need to add view - when piping

– user45909
Mar 2 '15 at 0:54

6

vim is an editor, which loads the complete file into memory, whereas less is a pager, loading the file only partially into memory. You will know the difference with huge files.

– sjas
Jul 20 '16 at 12:13

|
show 3 more comments

pygmentize supports the -g option to automatically guess the lexer to be used which is useful for files read from STDIN without checking any extension type.

Using that, you only need to set the following 2 exports in your .bashrc without any additional scripts:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

4

Concise and effective. I prefer defining an alias, because sometimes less is better. So: alias lesc='LESS="-R" LESSOPEN="|pygmentize -g %s" less'

– Tiago
Apr 28 '14 at 18:27

add a comment |

To tell less to show colors call it with -R:

less -R

Unfortunately some programs detect that their stdout is not a terminal and disable colors - e.g pacman (Arch Linux package manager).

In those cases its possible to use unbuffer:

unbuffer <command> | less -R

Example using pacman

unbuffer pacman -Ss firefox | less -R

The unbuffer command is usually part of the expect-dev (Debian/Ubuntu) or expect (Arch Linux) package.

To answer the question for completeness:

As others already answered, pygmentize is great for colorizing source code. It does not require unbuffer. Easiest call:

pygmentize someSource.cpp | less -R

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

2

To use unbuffer on Ubuntu, sudo apt install expect

– wisbucky
Dec 4 '18 at 18:37

add a comment |

You didn't say what this color should mean, e.g. what should the colors be for a text file?

If what you want is syntax highlighting for source code, you need a source code highlighter. I sometimes use pygmentize like this

pygmentize file.cpp | less

pygmentize file.cpp | more

There are other highlighters around.

This is pretty fast. If you don't mind firing up vim there is a read-only mode that can give you syntax highlighting if you have it in vim.

view file.cpp

or alternatively see churnd's answer.

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

add a comment |

This is yet another pygments-based answer, with several major improvements:

does not break lesspipe or lessfile filters

works with multiple inputs to less

correctly parses the script type from the shebang header

works for all 434 file types lexable by Pygments

color scheme is parameterized as an environment variable

Install Pygments and Gawk

sudo apt-get install python-pygments python3-pygments gawk

Set Environment Variables

Check whether lesspipe or lessfile is already enabled:

echo $LESSOPEN

If you don't see either program referenced there, ensure that lesspipe is installed (most distros come with it).

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# sets LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE variables

eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"



# interpret color characters

export LESS='-R'



# to list available styles: `pygmentize -L styles`

export PYGMENTIZE_STYLE='paraiso-dark'



# optional

alias ls='ls --color=always'

alias grep='grep --color=always'

If you don't want lesspipe, replace the eval statement with:

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Add the following code and make the file executable: chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/bash

for path in "$@"; do

    # match by known filenames

    filename=$(basename "$path")

    case "$filename" in

        .bashrc|bash.bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment|.bash_profile|

        .bash_login|.bash_logout|.profile|.zshrc|.zprofile|.zshrc|.zlogin|

        .zlogout|zshrc|zprofile|zshrc|zlogin|zlogout|.cshrc|.cshdirs|

        csh.cshrc|csh.login|csh.logout|.tcshrc|.kshrc|ksh.kshrc)

            # shell lexer

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE -l sh "$path"

            ;;

        .htaccess|apache.conf|apache2.conf|Dockerfile|Kconfig|external.in*|

        standard-modules.in|nginx.conf|pacman.conf|squid.conf|termcap|

        termcap.src|terminfo|terminfo.src|control|sources.list|CMakeLists.txt|

        Makefile|makefile|Makefile.*|GNUmakefile|SConstruct|SConscript|

        .Rhistory|.Rprofile|.Renviron|Rakefile|Gemfile|PKGBUILD|autohandler|

        dhandler|autodelegate|.vimrc|.exrc|.gvimrc|vimrc|exrc|gvimrc|todo.txt)

            # filename recognized

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

            ;;

        *)

            ext=$([[ "$filename" = *.* ]] && echo ".${filename##*.}" || echo '')

            case "$ext" in

                .as|.mxml|.bc|.g|.gd|.gi|.gap|.nb|.cdf|.nbp|.ma|.mu|.at|.run|

                .apl|.adl|.adls|.adlf|.adlx|.cadl|.odin|.c-objdump|.s|

                .cpp-objdump|.c++-objdump|.cxx-objdump|.d-objdump|.S|.hsail|

                .ll|.asm|.ASM|.objdump-intel|.objdump|.tasm|.au3|.ahk|.ahkl|

                .bb|.decls|.bmx|.bas|.monkey|.BAS|.bst|.bib|.abap|.ABAP|.cbl|

                .CBL|.cob|.COB|.cpy|.CPY|.gdc|.maql|.p|.cls|.c|.h|.idc|.cpp|

                .hpp|.c++|.h++|.cc|.hh|.cxx|.hxx|.C|.H|.cp|.CPP|.ino|.clay|

                .cu|.cuh|.ec|.eh|.mq4|.mq5|.mqh|.nc|.pike|.pmod|.swg|.i|.vala|

                .vapi|.capnp|.chpl|.icl|.dcl|.cf|.docker|.ini|.cfg|.inf|

                .pc|.properties|.reg|.tf|.pypylog|.cr|.csd|.orc|.sco|.css|

                .less|.sass|.scss|.croc|.d|.di|.smali|.jsonld|.json|.yaml|

                .yml|.dpatch|.darcspatch|.diff|.patch|.wdiff|.boo|.aspx|.asax|

                .ascx|.ashx|.asmx|.axd|.cs|.fs|.fsi|.n|.vb|.als|.bro|.crmsh|

                .pcmk|.msc|.pan|.proto|.pp|.rsl|.sbl|.thrift|.rpf|

                .dylan-console|.dylan|.dyl|.intr|.lid|.hdp|.ecl|.e|.elm|.ex|

                .exs|.erl|.hrl|.es|.escript|.erl-sh|.aheui|.befunge|.bf|.b|

                .camkes|.idl4|.cdl|.cw|.factor|.fan|.flx|.flxh|.frt|.f|.F|

                .f03|.f90|.F03|.F90|.PRG|.prg|.go|.abnf|.bnf|.jsgf|.cyp|

                .cypher|.asy|.vert|.frag|.geo|.plot|.plt|.ps|.eps|.pov|.inc|

                .agda|.cry|.hs|.idr|.kk|.kki|.lagda|.lcry|.lhs|.lidr|.hx|

                .hxsl|.hxml|.sv|.svh|.v|.vhdl|.vhd|.dtd|.haml|.html|.htm|

                .xhtml|.xslt|.pug|.jade|.scaml|.xml|.xsl|.rss|.xsd|.wsdl|

                .wsf|.xpl|.pro|.ipf|.nsi|.nsh|.spec|.i6t|.ni|.i7x|.t|.io|

                .ijs|.coffee|.dart|.eg|.js|.jsm|.juttle|.kal|.lasso|

                .lasso[89]|.ls|.mask|.j|.ts|.tsx|.jl|.aj|.ceylon|.clj|

                .cljs|.golo|.gs|.gsx|.gsp|.vark|.gst|.groovy|.gradle|.ik|

                .java|.kt|.pig|.scala|.xtend|.cpsa|.cl|.lisp|.el|.hy|.lsp|.nl|

                .kif|.rkt|.rktd|.rktl|.scm|.ss|.shen|.xtm|.cmake|.mak|.mk|

                .[1234567]|.man|.md|.css.in|.js.in|.xul.in|.rst|.rest|.tex|

                .aux|.toc|.m|.sci|.sce|.tst|.ml|.mli|.mll|.mly|.opa|.sml|.sig|

                .fun|.bug|.jag|.mo|.stan|.def|.mod|.mt|.ncl|.nim|.nimrod|.nit|

                .nix|.cps|.x|.xi|.xm|.xmi|.mm|.swift|.ooc|.psi|.psl|.G|.ebnf|

                .rl|.treetop|.tt|.adb|.ads|.ada|.pas|.dpr|.pwn|.sp|.pl|.pm|

                .nqp|.p6|.6pl|.p6l|.pl6|.6pm|.p6m|.pm6|.php|.php[345]|.zep|

                .praat|.proc|.psc|.lgt|.logtalk|.prolog|.pyx|.pxd|.pxi|.dg|

                .py3tb|.py|.pyw|.sc|.tac|.sage|.pytb|.qvto|.Rout|.Rd|.R|.rq|

                .sparql|.ttl|.r|.r3|.reb|.red|.reds|.txt|.rnc|.graph|

                .instances|.robot|.fy|.fancypack|.rb|.rbw|.rake|.gemspec|

                .rbx|.duby|.rs|.rs.in|.SAS|.sas|.applescript|.chai|.ezt|

                .mac|.hyb|.jcl|.lsl|.lua|.wlua|.moo|.moon|.rexx|.rex|.rx|

                .arexx|.sh|.ksh|.bash|.ebuild|.eclass|.exheres-0|.exlib|.zsh|

                .sh-session|.shell-session|.bat|.cmd|.fish|.load|.ps1|.psm1|

                .tcsh|.csh|.ns2|.st|.smv|.snobol|.rql|.sql|.sqlite3-console|

                .do|.ado|.scd|.tcl|.rvt|.ng2|.tmpl|.spt|.cfc|.cfm|.cfml|

                .evoque|.kid|.handlebars|.hbs|.phtml|.jsp|.liquid|.mao|.mhtml|

                .mc|.mi|.myt|.rhtml|.tpl|.ssp|.tea|.twig|.vm|.fhtml|.sls|

                .feature|.tap|.awk|.vim|.pot|.po|.weechatlog|.todotxt|.thy|

                .lean|.rts|.u|.vcl|.bpl|.sil|.vpr|.cirru|.duel|.jbst|.qml|

                .qbs|.slim|.xqy|.xquery|.xq|.xql|.xqm|.whiley|.x10)

                    # extension recognized

                    pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

                    ;;

                *)

                    # parse the shebang script header if it exists

                    lexer=$(head -n 1 "$path" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " 

'match($1, //(w*)$/, a) {if (a[1]!="env") {print a[1]} else {print $2}}')

                    case "$lexer" in

                        node|nodejs)

                            # workaround for lack of Node.js lexer alias

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l js "$path"

                            ;;

                        "")

                            exit 1

                            ;;

                        *)

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l $lexer "$path"

                            ;;

                    esac

                    ;;

            esac

            ;;

    esac

done

exit 0

edited Jan 2 '18 at 12:43

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

The one drawback about this approach is that Pygments is a Python program, and so on first use during a shell session, there is a "cold start" delay. Subsequent invocations are much faster.

– Joe Coder
Oct 12 '18 at 1:52

Nice! Really comprehensive.

– Dario Seidl
Nov 11 '18 at 16:01

add a comment |

Use the GNU Source-highlight; you can install it with apt if you have it, or otherwise install it from source. Then set up an "input preprocessor" for less, with help from the Source-highligh' documentations for setting up with less:

This was suggested by Konstantine Serebriany. The script src-hilite-lesspipe.sh will be installed together with source-highlight. You can use the following environment variables:

 export LESSOPEN="| /path/to/src-hilite-lesspipe.sh %s"

 export LESS=' -R '

This way, when you use less to browse a file, if it is a source file handled by source-highlight, it will be automatically highlighted.

Xavier-Emmanuel Vincent recently provided an alternative version of ANSI color scheme, esc256.style: some terminals can handle 256 colors. Xavier also provided a script which checks how many colors your terminal can handle, and in case, uses the 256 variant. The script is called source-highlight-esc.sh and it will be installed together with the other binaries.

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

add a comment |

To expand upon another answer, you can make it work for most if not all of your scripts that don't have extensions by changing the .lessfilter file around just a bit:

#!/bin/sh

    case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;

    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        ;;

    *)

        scriptExec=$(head -1 "$1" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " '{print $1}')

        scriptExecStatus=$?

        if [ "$scriptExecStatus" -eq "0" ]; then

            lexer=$(echo $scriptExec |awk -F/ '{print $NF}')

            pygmentize -f 256 -l $lexer "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

You'd still need to add the two variables to .bashrc:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

And you'll still need to make .lessfilter executable:

$ chmod 700 ~/.lessfilter

Also I wanted to add that under debian the pygments package is called python-pygments. I had trouble locating it at first because the obvious misspelling of "pigments" as "pygments" wasn't enough of a hint to me that it was a package that might be prefixed with "python-" by the package manager.

edited Jun 18 '14 at 14:57

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

2

2 comments: 1) Thanks for the improvement. 2) Phrases like "voted best answer" aren't great; that may change (in fact, if this is better than that answer, this post might become the top answer, at which point it'll just be confusing. Maybe just say "to expand upon another answer" or "captaincomic's answer"?

– cpast
Feb 27 '13 at 23:07

add a comment |

You can consider using most utility which is colour-friendly alternative for less and more.

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

add a comment |

Condensed from my full blog post about improving less experience: https://www.topbug.net/blog/2016/09/27/make-gnu-less-more-powerful/

For colorful manpages, add the following to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'E[1;31m'     # begin bold

export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'E[1;36m'     # begin blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'E[0m'        # reset bold/blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'E[01;44;33m' # begin reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'E[0m'        # reset reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'E[1;32m'     # begin underline

export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'E[0m'        # reset underline

For syntax highlighting, using an existing powerful lesspipe.sh to handle it instead of writing your own: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe

edited Oct 14 '16 at 7:46

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

add a comment |

I found this simple elegant solution. You don't have to install anything extra as it is already there by default on most machines. As vim is installed by default on most machines, it includes a macro to run vim like less

Some of the options to use it are to create an alias:
alias vless='vim -u /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.vim'

or create a symbolic link:
ln -s /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.sh ~/bin/vless

Then you just run vless myfile.py

I got most of the information here

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

add a comment |

The most intuitive and straight forward solution for me was using pygmentize

by adding the lines below to .bashrc

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

In case you couldn't call pygmentize, just install like

pip install pygments

ps. The pygmentize executable binary would sit in /usr/local/bin/ or in your /home/username/.virtualenv/venvname/bin/ or somewhere.

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

add a comment |

-2

None of these were working out of the box for me and I figured out an easy way to make this work so I thought I would share.

Just use tmux, that allows you access and scroll through a larger history and preserves the colors perfectly.

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

Doesn't tmux permit multiple terminals from one screen, how does it change less's display of colours?

– Xen2050
Oct 26 '18 at 13:23

add a comment |

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15 Answers
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15 Answers
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140

You can utilize the power of pygmentize with less - automatically! (No need to pipe by hand.)

Install pygments with your package manager or pip (possibly called python-pygments) or get it here http://pygments.org/download/.

Write a file ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;



    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1";;



    *)

        if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" 2> /dev/null; then

            pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

In your .bashrc add

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Also, you need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running

chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

Tested on Debian.

You get the idea. This can of course be improved further, accepting more extensions or parsing the shebang for other interpreters than bash. See some of the other answers for that.

The idea came from an old blog post from the makers of Pygments, but the original post doesn't exist anymore.

edited Nov 11 '18 at 15:42

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

6

If you want to have coloring of the source code files, you also need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter. You also need to have pygmentize (pygments.org/download) installed.

– Sergiy Belozorov
Dec 18 '12 at 11:07

Can anyone confirm that this works as it has no effect for me when I execute a command like ls -l | less

– puk
Oct 30 '13 at 13:59

7

@puk you can do something like ls --color=always -l | less -R. Obviously a lot to type but you could alias it to something like ll. That is if you don't want to use any extra libraries.

– PhilT
Jul 23 '14 at 16:17

2

added @SergiyByelozyorov's comment into the answer.

– andrybak
Jan 18 '15 at 12:54

1

My edit was rejected so I guess I'll post it as a comment instead: Don't test the exit codes of commands indirectly. You can use if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" (the -q suppresses standard output). You may want to redirect standard error with 2>/dev/null.

– Tom Fenech
Oct 23 '15 at 13:16

|
show 7 more comments

140

You can utilize the power of pygmentize with less - automatically! (No need to pipe by hand.)

Install pygments with your package manager or pip (possibly called python-pygments) or get it here http://pygments.org/download/.

Write a file ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;



    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1";;



    *)

        if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" 2> /dev/null; then

            pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

In your .bashrc add

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Also, you need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running

chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

Tested on Debian.

You get the idea. This can of course be improved further, accepting more extensions or parsing the shebang for other interpreters than bash. See some of the other answers for that.

The idea came from an old blog post from the makers of Pygments, but the original post doesn't exist anymore.

edited Nov 11 '18 at 15:42

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

6

If you want to have coloring of the source code files, you also need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter. You also need to have pygmentize (pygments.org/download) installed.

– Sergiy Belozorov
Dec 18 '12 at 11:07

Can anyone confirm that this works as it has no effect for me when I execute a command like ls -l | less

– puk
Oct 30 '13 at 13:59

7

@puk you can do something like ls --color=always -l | less -R. Obviously a lot to type but you could alias it to something like ll. That is if you don't want to use any extra libraries.

– PhilT
Jul 23 '14 at 16:17

2

added @SergiyByelozyorov's comment into the answer.

– andrybak
Jan 18 '15 at 12:54

1

My edit was rejected so I guess I'll post it as a comment instead: Don't test the exit codes of commands indirectly. You can use if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" (the -q suppresses standard output). You may want to redirect standard error with 2>/dev/null.

– Tom Fenech
Oct 23 '15 at 13:16

|
show 7 more comments

140

You can utilize the power of pygmentize with less - automatically! (No need to pipe by hand.)

Install pygments with your package manager or pip (possibly called python-pygments) or get it here http://pygments.org/download/.

Write a file ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;



    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1";;



    *)

        if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" 2> /dev/null; then

            pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

In your .bashrc add

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Also, you need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running

chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

Tested on Debian.

You get the idea. This can of course be improved further, accepting more extensions or parsing the shebang for other interpreters than bash. See some of the other answers for that.

The idea came from an old blog post from the makers of Pygments, but the original post doesn't exist anymore.

edited Nov 11 '18 at 15:42

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

You can utilize the power of pygmentize with less - automatically! (No need to pipe by hand.)

Install pygments with your package manager or pip (possibly called python-pygments) or get it here http://pygments.org/download/.

Write a file ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;



    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1";;



    *)

        if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" 2> /dev/null; then

            pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

In your .bashrc add

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Also, you need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running

chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

Tested on Debian.

You get the idea. This can of course be improved further, accepting more extensions or parsing the shebang for other interpreters than bash. See some of the other answers for that.

The idea came from an old blog post from the makers of Pygments, but the original post doesn't exist anymore.

edited Nov 11 '18 at 15:42

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

edited Nov 11 '18 at 15:42

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

answered Sep 20 '11 at 3:29

Dario Seidl

2,16611318

6

If you want to have coloring of the source code files, you also need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter. You also need to have pygmentize (pygments.org/download) installed.

– Sergiy Belozorov
Dec 18 '12 at 11:07

Can anyone confirm that this works as it has no effect for me when I execute a command like ls -l | less

– puk
Oct 30 '13 at 13:59

7

@puk you can do something like ls --color=always -l | less -R. Obviously a lot to type but you could alias it to something like ll. That is if you don't want to use any extra libraries.

– PhilT
Jul 23 '14 at 16:17

2

added @SergiyByelozyorov's comment into the answer.

– andrybak
Jan 18 '15 at 12:54

1

My edit was rejected so I guess I'll post it as a comment instead: Don't test the exit codes of commands indirectly. You can use if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" (the -q suppresses standard output). You may want to redirect standard error with 2>/dev/null.

– Tom Fenech
Oct 23 '15 at 13:16

|
show 7 more comments

6

If you want to have coloring of the source code files, you also need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter. You also need to have pygmentize (pygments.org/download) installed.

– Sergiy Belozorov
Dec 18 '12 at 11:07

Can anyone confirm that this works as it has no effect for me when I execute a command like ls -l | less

– puk
Oct 30 '13 at 13:59

7

@puk you can do something like ls --color=always -l | less -R. Obviously a lot to type but you could alias it to something like ll. That is if you don't want to use any extra libraries.

– PhilT
Jul 23 '14 at 16:17

2

added @SergiyByelozyorov's comment into the answer.

– andrybak
Jan 18 '15 at 12:54

1

My edit was rejected so I guess I'll post it as a comment instead: Don't test the exit codes of commands indirectly. You can use if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" (the -q suppresses standard output). You may want to redirect standard error with 2>/dev/null.

– Tom Fenech
Oct 23 '15 at 13:16

If you want to have coloring of the source code files, you also need to make ~/.lessfilter executable by running chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter. You also need to have pygmentize (pygments.org/download) installed.

– Sergiy Belozorov
Dec 18 '12 at 11:07

Can anyone confirm that this works as it has no effect for me when I execute a command like ls -l | less

– puk
Oct 30 '13 at 13:59

@puk you can do something like ls --color=always -l | less -R. Obviously a lot to type but you could alias it to something like ll. That is if you don't want to use any extra libraries.

– PhilT
Jul 23 '14 at 16:17

added @SergiyByelozyorov's comment into the answer.

– andrybak
Jan 18 '15 at 12:54

My edit was rejected so I guess I'll post it as a comment instead: Don't test the exit codes of commands indirectly. You can use if grep -q "#!/bin/bash" "$1" (the -q suppresses standard output). You may want to redirect standard error with 2>/dev/null.

– Tom Fenech
Oct 23 '15 at 13:16

|
show 7 more comments

452

Try the following:

less -R

from man less:

-r or --raw-control-chars

Causes "raw" control characters to be displayed. (...)

-R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS

Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences are output in "raw" form. (...)

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

16

This is useful when the file itself contains the escape codes that will need to be displayed.

– Nitrodist
Dec 16 '11 at 21:16

1

I used to know about less -r but searching in the file using "/" kept bringing up the wrong lines. -R seems to do a better job. Thanks for the tip.

– Amos Shapira
Aug 6 '13 at 0:28

51

It should be noted that most programs use the isatty(2) syscall to check whether their standard output is a terminal, and usually disable colorized output if it is not. For any pipe to less, isatty will return 0. To check whether this works, try echo -e 'x1b[32;1mtestx1b[m' | less -r

– mic_e
Sep 24 '13 at 22:53

10

This answer does not excel in the actually does something test.

– Michael Wolf
May 9 '14 at 22:24

17

You can also type -R when you already opened less to achieve this.

– Scz
Sep 1 '16 at 7:56

|
show 7 more comments

452

Try the following:

less -R

from man less:

-r or --raw-control-chars

Causes "raw" control characters to be displayed. (...)

-R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS

Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences are output in "raw" form. (...)

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

16

This is useful when the file itself contains the escape codes that will need to be displayed.

– Nitrodist
Dec 16 '11 at 21:16

1

I used to know about less -r but searching in the file using "/" kept bringing up the wrong lines. -R seems to do a better job. Thanks for the tip.

– Amos Shapira
Aug 6 '13 at 0:28

51

It should be noted that most programs use the isatty(2) syscall to check whether their standard output is a terminal, and usually disable colorized output if it is not. For any pipe to less, isatty will return 0. To check whether this works, try echo -e 'x1b[32;1mtestx1b[m' | less -r

– mic_e
Sep 24 '13 at 22:53

10

This answer does not excel in the actually does something test.

– Michael Wolf
May 9 '14 at 22:24

17

You can also type -R when you already opened less to achieve this.

– Scz
Sep 1 '16 at 7:56

|
show 7 more comments

452

Try the following:

less -R

from man less:

-r or --raw-control-chars

Causes "raw" control characters to be displayed. (...)

-R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS

Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences are output in "raw" form. (...)

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

Try the following:

less -R

from man less:

-r or --raw-control-chars

Causes "raw" control characters to be displayed. (...)

-R or --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS

Like -r, but only ANSI "color" escape sequences are output in "raw" form. (...)

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

edited Jul 26 '17 at 8:38

Kamil Maciorowski

28k156185

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

answered Mar 9 '10 at 10:48

ChristopheD

4,93421110

16

This is useful when the file itself contains the escape codes that will need to be displayed.

– Nitrodist
Dec 16 '11 at 21:16

1

I used to know about less -r but searching in the file using "/" kept bringing up the wrong lines. -R seems to do a better job. Thanks for the tip.

– Amos Shapira
Aug 6 '13 at 0:28

51

It should be noted that most programs use the isatty(2) syscall to check whether their standard output is a terminal, and usually disable colorized output if it is not. For any pipe to less, isatty will return 0. To check whether this works, try echo -e 'x1b[32;1mtestx1b[m' | less -r

– mic_e
Sep 24 '13 at 22:53

10

This answer does not excel in the actually does something test.

– Michael Wolf
May 9 '14 at 22:24

17

You can also type -R when you already opened less to achieve this.

– Scz
Sep 1 '16 at 7:56

|
show 7 more comments

16

This is useful when the file itself contains the escape codes that will need to be displayed.

– Nitrodist
Dec 16 '11 at 21:16

1

I used to know about less -r but searching in the file using "/" kept bringing up the wrong lines. -R seems to do a better job. Thanks for the tip.

– Amos Shapira
Aug 6 '13 at 0:28

51

It should be noted that most programs use the isatty(2) syscall to check whether their standard output is a terminal, and usually disable colorized output if it is not. For any pipe to less, isatty will return 0. To check whether this works, try echo -e 'x1b[32;1mtestx1b[m' | less -r

– mic_e
Sep 24 '13 at 22:53

10

This answer does not excel in the actually does something test.

– Michael Wolf
May 9 '14 at 22:24

17

You can also type -R when you already opened less to achieve this.

– Scz
Sep 1 '16 at 7:56

This is useful when the file itself contains the escape codes that will need to be displayed.

– Nitrodist
Dec 16 '11 at 21:16

I used to know about less -r but searching in the file using "/" kept bringing up the wrong lines. -R seems to do a better job. Thanks for the tip.

– Amos Shapira
Aug 6 '13 at 0:28

It should be noted that most programs use the isatty(2) syscall to check whether their standard output is a terminal, and usually disable colorized output if it is not. For any pipe to less, isatty will return 0. To check whether this works, try echo -e 'x1b[32;1mtestx1b[m' | less -r

– mic_e
Sep 24 '13 at 22:53

This answer does not excel in the actually does something test.

– Michael Wolf
May 9 '14 at 22:24

You can also type -R when you already opened less to achieve this.

– Scz
Sep 1 '16 at 7:56

|
show 7 more comments

125

I got the answer in another post: Less and Grep: Getting colored results when using a pipe from grep to less

When you simply run grep --color it
implies grep --color=auto which
detects whether the output is a
terminal and if so enables colors.
However, when it detects a pipe it
disables coloring. The following
command:
grep --color=always "search string" * | less -R
Will always enable coloring and
override the automatic detection, and
you will get the color highlighting in
less.

Warning: Don't put --color=always as an alias, it break things sometimes. That's why there is an --color=auto option.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

4

Nice, thanks. Except that I need to use -R as an option to less, as well.

– naught101
May 8 '12 at 6:41

10

I believe grep -R is for specifying recursive search. less -R is necessary for less to correctly spit the colors back out. grep --color=always [grep cmds] | less -R works for me on OS X 10.7.3!

– Steven Lu
May 9 '12 at 13:56

@naught101 @Steven Lu Edited in, though it seems that some people may not need to use less -R (according to the author of the original post, anyway).

– jtpereyda
Oct 22 '13 at 17:17

2

Is there anyway to let grep know just pipe less -R command and then just do coloring? So, we don't have to put --color=always and less -R all the time.

– A-letubby
Feb 27 '15 at 7:50

1

This is by far the simplest working answer. Thanks!

– Danny Staple
Oct 3 '15 at 11:16

|
show 1 more comment

125

I got the answer in another post: Less and Grep: Getting colored results when using a pipe from grep to less

When you simply run grep --color it
implies grep --color=auto which
detects whether the output is a
terminal and if so enables colors.
However, when it detects a pipe it
disables coloring. The following
command:
grep --color=always "search string" * | less -R
Will always enable coloring and
override the automatic detection, and
you will get the color highlighting in
less.

Warning: Don't put --color=always as an alias, it break things sometimes. That's why there is an --color=auto option.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

4

Nice, thanks. Except that I need to use -R as an option to less, as well.

– naught101
May 8 '12 at 6:41

10

I believe grep -R is for specifying recursive search. less -R is necessary for less to correctly spit the colors back out. grep --color=always [grep cmds] | less -R works for me on OS X 10.7.3!

– Steven Lu
May 9 '12 at 13:56

@naught101 @Steven Lu Edited in, though it seems that some people may not need to use less -R (according to the author of the original post, anyway).

– jtpereyda
Oct 22 '13 at 17:17

2

Is there anyway to let grep know just pipe less -R command and then just do coloring? So, we don't have to put --color=always and less -R all the time.

– A-letubby
Feb 27 '15 at 7:50

1

This is by far the simplest working answer. Thanks!

– Danny Staple
Oct 3 '15 at 11:16

|
show 1 more comment

125

I got the answer in another post: Less and Grep: Getting colored results when using a pipe from grep to less

When you simply run grep --color it
implies grep --color=auto which
detects whether the output is a
terminal and if so enables colors.
However, when it detects a pipe it
disables coloring. The following
command:
grep --color=always "search string" * | less -R
Will always enable coloring and
override the automatic detection, and
you will get the color highlighting in
less.

Warning: Don't put --color=always as an alias, it break things sometimes. That's why there is an --color=auto option.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

I got the answer in another post: Less and Grep: Getting colored results when using a pipe from grep to less

When you simply run grep --color it
implies grep --color=auto which
detects whether the output is a
terminal and if so enables colors.
However, when it detects a pipe it
disables coloring. The following
command:
grep --color=always "search string" * | less -R
Will always enable coloring and
override the automatic detection, and
you will get the color highlighting in
less.

Warning: Don't put --color=always as an alias, it break things sometimes. That's why there is an --color=auto option.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community♦

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

answered Apr 27 '11 at 4:19

Puneet

1,251182

4

Nice, thanks. Except that I need to use -R as an option to less, as well.

– naught101
May 8 '12 at 6:41

10

I believe grep -R is for specifying recursive search. less -R is necessary for less to correctly spit the colors back out. grep --color=always [grep cmds] | less -R works for me on OS X 10.7.3!

– Steven Lu
May 9 '12 at 13:56

@naught101 @Steven Lu Edited in, though it seems that some people may not need to use less -R (according to the author of the original post, anyway).

– jtpereyda
Oct 22 '13 at 17:17

2

Is there anyway to let grep know just pipe less -R command and then just do coloring? So, we don't have to put --color=always and less -R all the time.

– A-letubby
Feb 27 '15 at 7:50

1

This is by far the simplest working answer. Thanks!

– Danny Staple
Oct 3 '15 at 11:16

|
show 1 more comment

4

Nice, thanks. Except that I need to use -R as an option to less, as well.

– naught101
May 8 '12 at 6:41

10

I believe grep -R is for specifying recursive search. less -R is necessary for less to correctly spit the colors back out. grep --color=always [grep cmds] | less -R works for me on OS X 10.7.3!

– Steven Lu
May 9 '12 at 13:56

@naught101 @Steven Lu Edited in, though it seems that some people may not need to use less -R (according to the author of the original post, anyway).

– jtpereyda
Oct 22 '13 at 17:17

2

Is there anyway to let grep know just pipe less -R command and then just do coloring? So, we don't have to put --color=always and less -R all the time.

– A-letubby
Feb 27 '15 at 7:50

1

This is by far the simplest working answer. Thanks!

– Danny Staple
Oct 3 '15 at 11:16

Nice, thanks. Except that I need to use -R as an option to less, as well.

– naught101
May 8 '12 at 6:41

I believe grep -R is for specifying recursive search. less -R is necessary for less to correctly spit the colors back out. grep --color=always [grep cmds] | less -R works for me on OS X 10.7.3!

– Steven Lu
May 9 '12 at 13:56

@naught101 @Steven Lu Edited in, though it seems that some people may not need to use less -R (according to the author of the original post, anyway).

– jtpereyda
Oct 22 '13 at 17:17

Is there anyway to let grep know just pipe less -R command and then just do coloring? So, we don't have to put --color=always and less -R all the time.

– A-letubby
Feb 27 '15 at 7:50

This is by far the simplest working answer. Thanks!

– Danny Staple
Oct 3 '15 at 11:16

|
show 1 more comment

Use view instead of less. It opens the file with vim in readonly mode.

It's practically a coloured less: a pager where you can search with / (and more). The only drawback is that you can't exit with q but you need :q

Also, you get the same colouring as vim (since you're in fact using vim).

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

How about the performance of big files? Vim syntax highlighting is know to be slow on huge files.

– pihentagy
Feb 20 '14 at 10:28

I don't know what's your value for 'big', but opening a ~10000 lines file is instantaneous, search inside included.

– Riccardo Galli
Feb 20 '14 at 11:50

1

I upvoted (I didn't know about view) but another downside is that j/k/up/down don't instantly scroll, since there is a cursor.

– Tyler Collier
Mar 1 '15 at 17:38

6

Note that you may need to add view - when piping

– user45909
Mar 2 '15 at 0:54

6

vim is an editor, which loads the complete file into memory, whereas less is a pager, loading the file only partially into memory. You will know the difference with huge files.

– sjas
Jul 20 '16 at 12:13

|
show 3 more comments

Use view instead of less. It opens the file with vim in readonly mode.

It's practically a coloured less: a pager where you can search with / (and more). The only drawback is that you can't exit with q but you need :q

Also, you get the same colouring as vim (since you're in fact using vim).

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

How about the performance of big files? Vim syntax highlighting is know to be slow on huge files.

– pihentagy
Feb 20 '14 at 10:28

I don't know what's your value for 'big', but opening a ~10000 lines file is instantaneous, search inside included.

– Riccardo Galli
Feb 20 '14 at 11:50

1

I upvoted (I didn't know about view) but another downside is that j/k/up/down don't instantly scroll, since there is a cursor.

– Tyler Collier
Mar 1 '15 at 17:38

6

Note that you may need to add view - when piping

– user45909
Mar 2 '15 at 0:54

6

vim is an editor, which loads the complete file into memory, whereas less is a pager, loading the file only partially into memory. You will know the difference with huge files.

– sjas
Jul 20 '16 at 12:13

|
show 3 more comments

Use view instead of less. It opens the file with vim in readonly mode.

It's practically a coloured less: a pager where you can search with / (and more). The only drawback is that you can't exit with q but you need :q

Also, you get the same colouring as vim (since you're in fact using vim).

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

Use view instead of less. It opens the file with vim in readonly mode.

It's practically a coloured less: a pager where you can search with / (and more). The only drawback is that you can't exit with q but you need :q

Also, you get the same colouring as vim (since you're in fact using vim).

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

edited Sep 24 '13 at 10:24

Jawa

3,15982435

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

answered Sep 24 '13 at 9:50

Riccardo Galli

43556

How about the performance of big files? Vim syntax highlighting is know to be slow on huge files.

– pihentagy
Feb 20 '14 at 10:28

I don't know what's your value for 'big', but opening a ~10000 lines file is instantaneous, search inside included.

– Riccardo Galli
Feb 20 '14 at 11:50

1

I upvoted (I didn't know about view) but another downside is that j/k/up/down don't instantly scroll, since there is a cursor.

– Tyler Collier
Mar 1 '15 at 17:38

6

Note that you may need to add view - when piping

– user45909
Mar 2 '15 at 0:54

6

vim is an editor, which loads the complete file into memory, whereas less is a pager, loading the file only partially into memory. You will know the difference with huge files.

– sjas
Jul 20 '16 at 12:13

|
show 3 more comments

How about the performance of big files? Vim syntax highlighting is know to be slow on huge files.

– pihentagy
Feb 20 '14 at 10:28

I don't know what's your value for 'big', but opening a ~10000 lines file is instantaneous, search inside included.

– Riccardo Galli
Feb 20 '14 at 11:50

1

I upvoted (I didn't know about view) but another downside is that j/k/up/down don't instantly scroll, since there is a cursor.

– Tyler Collier
Mar 1 '15 at 17:38

6

Note that you may need to add view - when piping

– user45909
Mar 2 '15 at 0:54

6

vim is an editor, which loads the complete file into memory, whereas less is a pager, loading the file only partially into memory. You will know the difference with huge files.

– sjas
Jul 20 '16 at 12:13

How about the performance of big files? Vim syntax highlighting is know to be slow on huge files.

– pihentagy
Feb 20 '14 at 10:28

I don't know what's your value for 'big', but opening a ~10000 lines file is instantaneous, search inside included.

– Riccardo Galli
Feb 20 '14 at 11:50

I upvoted (I didn't know about view) but another downside is that j/k/up/down don't instantly scroll, since there is a cursor.

– Tyler Collier
Mar 1 '15 at 17:38

Note that you may need to add view - when piping

– user45909
Mar 2 '15 at 0:54

vim is an editor, which loads the complete file into memory, whereas less is a pager, loading the file only partially into memory. You will know the difference with huge files.

– sjas
Jul 20 '16 at 12:13

|
show 3 more comments

pygmentize supports the -g option to automatically guess the lexer to be used which is useful for files read from STDIN without checking any extension type.

Using that, you only need to set the following 2 exports in your .bashrc without any additional scripts:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

4

Concise and effective. I prefer defining an alias, because sometimes less is better. So: alias lesc='LESS="-R" LESSOPEN="|pygmentize -g %s" less'

– Tiago
Apr 28 '14 at 18:27

add a comment |

pygmentize supports the -g option to automatically guess the lexer to be used which is useful for files read from STDIN without checking any extension type.

Using that, you only need to set the following 2 exports in your .bashrc without any additional scripts:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

4

Concise and effective. I prefer defining an alias, because sometimes less is better. So: alias lesc='LESS="-R" LESSOPEN="|pygmentize -g %s" less'

– Tiago
Apr 28 '14 at 18:27

add a comment |

pygmentize supports the -g option to automatically guess the lexer to be used which is useful for files read from STDIN without checking any extension type.

Using that, you only need to set the following 2 exports in your .bashrc without any additional scripts:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

pygmentize supports the -g option to automatically guess the lexer to be used which is useful for files read from STDIN without checking any extension type.

Using that, you only need to set the following 2 exports in your .bashrc without any additional scripts:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

answered Mar 12 '13 at 7:17

Tuxdude

579512

4

Concise and effective. I prefer defining an alias, because sometimes less is better. So: alias lesc='LESS="-R" LESSOPEN="|pygmentize -g %s" less'

– Tiago
Apr 28 '14 at 18:27

add a comment |

4

Concise and effective. I prefer defining an alias, because sometimes less is better. So: alias lesc='LESS="-R" LESSOPEN="|pygmentize -g %s" less'

– Tiago
Apr 28 '14 at 18:27

Concise and effective. I prefer defining an alias, because sometimes less is better. So: alias lesc='LESS="-R" LESSOPEN="|pygmentize -g %s" less'

– Tiago
Apr 28 '14 at 18:27

add a comment |

To tell less to show colors call it with -R:

less -R

Unfortunately some programs detect that their stdout is not a terminal and disable colors - e.g pacman (Arch Linux package manager).

In those cases its possible to use unbuffer:

unbuffer <command> | less -R

Example using pacman

unbuffer pacman -Ss firefox | less -R

The unbuffer command is usually part of the expect-dev (Debian/Ubuntu) or expect (Arch Linux) package.

To answer the question for completeness:

As others already answered, pygmentize is great for colorizing source code. It does not require unbuffer. Easiest call:

pygmentize someSource.cpp | less -R

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

2

To use unbuffer on Ubuntu, sudo apt install expect

– wisbucky
Dec 4 '18 at 18:37

add a comment |

To tell less to show colors call it with -R:

less -R

Unfortunately some programs detect that their stdout is not a terminal and disable colors - e.g pacman (Arch Linux package manager).

In those cases its possible to use unbuffer:

unbuffer <command> | less -R

Example using pacman

unbuffer pacman -Ss firefox | less -R

The unbuffer command is usually part of the expect-dev (Debian/Ubuntu) or expect (Arch Linux) package.

To answer the question for completeness:

As others already answered, pygmentize is great for colorizing source code. It does not require unbuffer. Easiest call:

pygmentize someSource.cpp | less -R

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

2

To use unbuffer on Ubuntu, sudo apt install expect

– wisbucky
Dec 4 '18 at 18:37

add a comment |

To tell less to show colors call it with -R:

less -R

Unfortunately some programs detect that their stdout is not a terminal and disable colors - e.g pacman (Arch Linux package manager).

In those cases its possible to use unbuffer:

unbuffer <command> | less -R

Example using pacman

unbuffer pacman -Ss firefox | less -R

The unbuffer command is usually part of the expect-dev (Debian/Ubuntu) or expect (Arch Linux) package.

To answer the question for completeness:

As others already answered, pygmentize is great for colorizing source code. It does not require unbuffer. Easiest call:

pygmentize someSource.cpp | less -R

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

To tell less to show colors call it with -R:

less -R

Unfortunately some programs detect that their stdout is not a terminal and disable colors - e.g pacman (Arch Linux package manager).

In those cases its possible to use unbuffer:

unbuffer <command> | less -R

Example using pacman

unbuffer pacman -Ss firefox | less -R

The unbuffer command is usually part of the expect-dev (Debian/Ubuntu) or expect (Arch Linux) package.

To answer the question for completeness:

As others already answered, pygmentize is great for colorizing source code. It does not require unbuffer. Easiest call:

pygmentize someSource.cpp | less -R

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

answered Oct 8 '16 at 10:37

jbbr

11112

2

To use unbuffer on Ubuntu, sudo apt install expect

– wisbucky
Dec 4 '18 at 18:37

add a comment |

2

To use unbuffer on Ubuntu, sudo apt install expect

– wisbucky
Dec 4 '18 at 18:37

To use unbuffer on Ubuntu, sudo apt install expect

– wisbucky
Dec 4 '18 at 18:37

add a comment |

You didn't say what this color should mean, e.g. what should the colors be for a text file?

If what you want is syntax highlighting for source code, you need a source code highlighter. I sometimes use pygmentize like this

pygmentize file.cpp | less

pygmentize file.cpp | more

There are other highlighters around.

This is pretty fast. If you don't mind firing up vim there is a read-only mode that can give you syntax highlighting if you have it in vim.

view file.cpp

or alternatively see churnd's answer.

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

add a comment |

You didn't say what this color should mean, e.g. what should the colors be for a text file?

If what you want is syntax highlighting for source code, you need a source code highlighter. I sometimes use pygmentize like this

pygmentize file.cpp | less

pygmentize file.cpp | more

There are other highlighters around.

This is pretty fast. If you don't mind firing up vim there is a read-only mode that can give you syntax highlighting if you have it in vim.

view file.cpp

or alternatively see churnd's answer.

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

add a comment |

You didn't say what this color should mean, e.g. what should the colors be for a text file?

If what you want is syntax highlighting for source code, you need a source code highlighter. I sometimes use pygmentize like this

pygmentize file.cpp | less

pygmentize file.cpp | more

There are other highlighters around.

This is pretty fast. If you don't mind firing up vim there is a read-only mode that can give you syntax highlighting if you have it in vim.

view file.cpp

or alternatively see churnd's answer.

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

You didn't say what this color should mean, e.g. what should the colors be for a text file?

If what you want is syntax highlighting for source code, you need a source code highlighter. I sometimes use pygmentize like this

pygmentize file.cpp | less

pygmentize file.cpp | more

There are other highlighters around.

This is pretty fast. If you don't mind firing up vim there is a read-only mode that can give you syntax highlighting if you have it in vim.

view file.cpp

or alternatively see churnd's answer.

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

answered Mar 9 '10 at 13:30

Benjamin Bannier

13k23737

add a comment |

This is yet another pygments-based answer, with several major improvements:

does not break lesspipe or lessfile filters

works with multiple inputs to less

correctly parses the script type from the shebang header

works for all 434 file types lexable by Pygments

color scheme is parameterized as an environment variable

Install Pygments and Gawk

sudo apt-get install python-pygments python3-pygments gawk

Set Environment Variables

Check whether lesspipe or lessfile is already enabled:

echo $LESSOPEN

If you don't see either program referenced there, ensure that lesspipe is installed (most distros come with it).

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# sets LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE variables

eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"



# interpret color characters

export LESS='-R'



# to list available styles: `pygmentize -L styles`

export PYGMENTIZE_STYLE='paraiso-dark'



# optional

alias ls='ls --color=always'

alias grep='grep --color=always'

If you don't want lesspipe, replace the eval statement with:

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Add the following code and make the file executable: chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/bash

for path in "$@"; do

    # match by known filenames

    filename=$(basename "$path")

    case "$filename" in

        .bashrc|bash.bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment|.bash_profile|

        .bash_login|.bash_logout|.profile|.zshrc|.zprofile|.zshrc|.zlogin|

        .zlogout|zshrc|zprofile|zshrc|zlogin|zlogout|.cshrc|.cshdirs|

        csh.cshrc|csh.login|csh.logout|.tcshrc|.kshrc|ksh.kshrc)

            # shell lexer

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE -l sh "$path"

            ;;

        .htaccess|apache.conf|apache2.conf|Dockerfile|Kconfig|external.in*|

        standard-modules.in|nginx.conf|pacman.conf|squid.conf|termcap|

        termcap.src|terminfo|terminfo.src|control|sources.list|CMakeLists.txt|

        Makefile|makefile|Makefile.*|GNUmakefile|SConstruct|SConscript|

        .Rhistory|.Rprofile|.Renviron|Rakefile|Gemfile|PKGBUILD|autohandler|

        dhandler|autodelegate|.vimrc|.exrc|.gvimrc|vimrc|exrc|gvimrc|todo.txt)

            # filename recognized

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

            ;;

        *)

            ext=$([[ "$filename" = *.* ]] && echo ".${filename##*.}" || echo '')

            case "$ext" in

                .as|.mxml|.bc|.g|.gd|.gi|.gap|.nb|.cdf|.nbp|.ma|.mu|.at|.run|

                .apl|.adl|.adls|.adlf|.adlx|.cadl|.odin|.c-objdump|.s|

                .cpp-objdump|.c++-objdump|.cxx-objdump|.d-objdump|.S|.hsail|

                .ll|.asm|.ASM|.objdump-intel|.objdump|.tasm|.au3|.ahk|.ahkl|

                .bb|.decls|.bmx|.bas|.monkey|.BAS|.bst|.bib|.abap|.ABAP|.cbl|

                .CBL|.cob|.COB|.cpy|.CPY|.gdc|.maql|.p|.cls|.c|.h|.idc|.cpp|

                .hpp|.c++|.h++|.cc|.hh|.cxx|.hxx|.C|.H|.cp|.CPP|.ino|.clay|

                .cu|.cuh|.ec|.eh|.mq4|.mq5|.mqh|.nc|.pike|.pmod|.swg|.i|.vala|

                .vapi|.capnp|.chpl|.icl|.dcl|.cf|.docker|.ini|.cfg|.inf|

                .pc|.properties|.reg|.tf|.pypylog|.cr|.csd|.orc|.sco|.css|

                .less|.sass|.scss|.croc|.d|.di|.smali|.jsonld|.json|.yaml|

                .yml|.dpatch|.darcspatch|.diff|.patch|.wdiff|.boo|.aspx|.asax|

                .ascx|.ashx|.asmx|.axd|.cs|.fs|.fsi|.n|.vb|.als|.bro|.crmsh|

                .pcmk|.msc|.pan|.proto|.pp|.rsl|.sbl|.thrift|.rpf|

                .dylan-console|.dylan|.dyl|.intr|.lid|.hdp|.ecl|.e|.elm|.ex|

                .exs|.erl|.hrl|.es|.escript|.erl-sh|.aheui|.befunge|.bf|.b|

                .camkes|.idl4|.cdl|.cw|.factor|.fan|.flx|.flxh|.frt|.f|.F|

                .f03|.f90|.F03|.F90|.PRG|.prg|.go|.abnf|.bnf|.jsgf|.cyp|

                .cypher|.asy|.vert|.frag|.geo|.plot|.plt|.ps|.eps|.pov|.inc|

                .agda|.cry|.hs|.idr|.kk|.kki|.lagda|.lcry|.lhs|.lidr|.hx|

                .hxsl|.hxml|.sv|.svh|.v|.vhdl|.vhd|.dtd|.haml|.html|.htm|

                .xhtml|.xslt|.pug|.jade|.scaml|.xml|.xsl|.rss|.xsd|.wsdl|

                .wsf|.xpl|.pro|.ipf|.nsi|.nsh|.spec|.i6t|.ni|.i7x|.t|.io|

                .ijs|.coffee|.dart|.eg|.js|.jsm|.juttle|.kal|.lasso|

                .lasso[89]|.ls|.mask|.j|.ts|.tsx|.jl|.aj|.ceylon|.clj|

                .cljs|.golo|.gs|.gsx|.gsp|.vark|.gst|.groovy|.gradle|.ik|

                .java|.kt|.pig|.scala|.xtend|.cpsa|.cl|.lisp|.el|.hy|.lsp|.nl|

                .kif|.rkt|.rktd|.rktl|.scm|.ss|.shen|.xtm|.cmake|.mak|.mk|

                .[1234567]|.man|.md|.css.in|.js.in|.xul.in|.rst|.rest|.tex|

                .aux|.toc|.m|.sci|.sce|.tst|.ml|.mli|.mll|.mly|.opa|.sml|.sig|

                .fun|.bug|.jag|.mo|.stan|.def|.mod|.mt|.ncl|.nim|.nimrod|.nit|

                .nix|.cps|.x|.xi|.xm|.xmi|.mm|.swift|.ooc|.psi|.psl|.G|.ebnf|

                .rl|.treetop|.tt|.adb|.ads|.ada|.pas|.dpr|.pwn|.sp|.pl|.pm|

                .nqp|.p6|.6pl|.p6l|.pl6|.6pm|.p6m|.pm6|.php|.php[345]|.zep|

                .praat|.proc|.psc|.lgt|.logtalk|.prolog|.pyx|.pxd|.pxi|.dg|

                .py3tb|.py|.pyw|.sc|.tac|.sage|.pytb|.qvto|.Rout|.Rd|.R|.rq|

                .sparql|.ttl|.r|.r3|.reb|.red|.reds|.txt|.rnc|.graph|

                .instances|.robot|.fy|.fancypack|.rb|.rbw|.rake|.gemspec|

                .rbx|.duby|.rs|.rs.in|.SAS|.sas|.applescript|.chai|.ezt|

                .mac|.hyb|.jcl|.lsl|.lua|.wlua|.moo|.moon|.rexx|.rex|.rx|

                .arexx|.sh|.ksh|.bash|.ebuild|.eclass|.exheres-0|.exlib|.zsh|

                .sh-session|.shell-session|.bat|.cmd|.fish|.load|.ps1|.psm1|

                .tcsh|.csh|.ns2|.st|.smv|.snobol|.rql|.sql|.sqlite3-console|

                .do|.ado|.scd|.tcl|.rvt|.ng2|.tmpl|.spt|.cfc|.cfm|.cfml|

                .evoque|.kid|.handlebars|.hbs|.phtml|.jsp|.liquid|.mao|.mhtml|

                .mc|.mi|.myt|.rhtml|.tpl|.ssp|.tea|.twig|.vm|.fhtml|.sls|

                .feature|.tap|.awk|.vim|.pot|.po|.weechatlog|.todotxt|.thy|

                .lean|.rts|.u|.vcl|.bpl|.sil|.vpr|.cirru|.duel|.jbst|.qml|

                .qbs|.slim|.xqy|.xquery|.xq|.xql|.xqm|.whiley|.x10)

                    # extension recognized

                    pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

                    ;;

                *)

                    # parse the shebang script header if it exists

                    lexer=$(head -n 1 "$path" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " 

'match($1, //(w*)$/, a) {if (a[1]!="env") {print a[1]} else {print $2}}')

                    case "$lexer" in

                        node|nodejs)

                            # workaround for lack of Node.js lexer alias

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l js "$path"

                            ;;

                        "")

                            exit 1

                            ;;

                        *)

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l $lexer "$path"

                            ;;

                    esac

                    ;;

            esac

            ;;

    esac

done

exit 0

edited Jan 2 '18 at 12:43

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

The one drawback about this approach is that Pygments is a Python program, and so on first use during a shell session, there is a "cold start" delay. Subsequent invocations are much faster.

– Joe Coder
Oct 12 '18 at 1:52

Nice! Really comprehensive.

– Dario Seidl
Nov 11 '18 at 16:01

add a comment |

This is yet another pygments-based answer, with several major improvements:

does not break lesspipe or lessfile filters

works with multiple inputs to less

correctly parses the script type from the shebang header

works for all 434 file types lexable by Pygments

color scheme is parameterized as an environment variable

Install Pygments and Gawk

sudo apt-get install python-pygments python3-pygments gawk

Set Environment Variables

Check whether lesspipe or lessfile is already enabled:

echo $LESSOPEN

If you don't see either program referenced there, ensure that lesspipe is installed (most distros come with it).

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# sets LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE variables

eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"



# interpret color characters

export LESS='-R'



# to list available styles: `pygmentize -L styles`

export PYGMENTIZE_STYLE='paraiso-dark'



# optional

alias ls='ls --color=always'

alias grep='grep --color=always'

If you don't want lesspipe, replace the eval statement with:

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Add the following code and make the file executable: chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/bash

for path in "$@"; do

    # match by known filenames

    filename=$(basename "$path")

    case "$filename" in

        .bashrc|bash.bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment|.bash_profile|

        .bash_login|.bash_logout|.profile|.zshrc|.zprofile|.zshrc|.zlogin|

        .zlogout|zshrc|zprofile|zshrc|zlogin|zlogout|.cshrc|.cshdirs|

        csh.cshrc|csh.login|csh.logout|.tcshrc|.kshrc|ksh.kshrc)

            # shell lexer

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE -l sh "$path"

            ;;

        .htaccess|apache.conf|apache2.conf|Dockerfile|Kconfig|external.in*|

        standard-modules.in|nginx.conf|pacman.conf|squid.conf|termcap|

        termcap.src|terminfo|terminfo.src|control|sources.list|CMakeLists.txt|

        Makefile|makefile|Makefile.*|GNUmakefile|SConstruct|SConscript|

        .Rhistory|.Rprofile|.Renviron|Rakefile|Gemfile|PKGBUILD|autohandler|

        dhandler|autodelegate|.vimrc|.exrc|.gvimrc|vimrc|exrc|gvimrc|todo.txt)

            # filename recognized

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

            ;;

        *)

            ext=$([[ "$filename" = *.* ]] && echo ".${filename##*.}" || echo '')

            case "$ext" in

                .as|.mxml|.bc|.g|.gd|.gi|.gap|.nb|.cdf|.nbp|.ma|.mu|.at|.run|

                .apl|.adl|.adls|.adlf|.adlx|.cadl|.odin|.c-objdump|.s|

                .cpp-objdump|.c++-objdump|.cxx-objdump|.d-objdump|.S|.hsail|

                .ll|.asm|.ASM|.objdump-intel|.objdump|.tasm|.au3|.ahk|.ahkl|

                .bb|.decls|.bmx|.bas|.monkey|.BAS|.bst|.bib|.abap|.ABAP|.cbl|

                .CBL|.cob|.COB|.cpy|.CPY|.gdc|.maql|.p|.cls|.c|.h|.idc|.cpp|

                .hpp|.c++|.h++|.cc|.hh|.cxx|.hxx|.C|.H|.cp|.CPP|.ino|.clay|

                .cu|.cuh|.ec|.eh|.mq4|.mq5|.mqh|.nc|.pike|.pmod|.swg|.i|.vala|

                .vapi|.capnp|.chpl|.icl|.dcl|.cf|.docker|.ini|.cfg|.inf|

                .pc|.properties|.reg|.tf|.pypylog|.cr|.csd|.orc|.sco|.css|

                .less|.sass|.scss|.croc|.d|.di|.smali|.jsonld|.json|.yaml|

                .yml|.dpatch|.darcspatch|.diff|.patch|.wdiff|.boo|.aspx|.asax|

                .ascx|.ashx|.asmx|.axd|.cs|.fs|.fsi|.n|.vb|.als|.bro|.crmsh|

                .pcmk|.msc|.pan|.proto|.pp|.rsl|.sbl|.thrift|.rpf|

                .dylan-console|.dylan|.dyl|.intr|.lid|.hdp|.ecl|.e|.elm|.ex|

                .exs|.erl|.hrl|.es|.escript|.erl-sh|.aheui|.befunge|.bf|.b|

                .camkes|.idl4|.cdl|.cw|.factor|.fan|.flx|.flxh|.frt|.f|.F|

                .f03|.f90|.F03|.F90|.PRG|.prg|.go|.abnf|.bnf|.jsgf|.cyp|

                .cypher|.asy|.vert|.frag|.geo|.plot|.plt|.ps|.eps|.pov|.inc|

                .agda|.cry|.hs|.idr|.kk|.kki|.lagda|.lcry|.lhs|.lidr|.hx|

                .hxsl|.hxml|.sv|.svh|.v|.vhdl|.vhd|.dtd|.haml|.html|.htm|

                .xhtml|.xslt|.pug|.jade|.scaml|.xml|.xsl|.rss|.xsd|.wsdl|

                .wsf|.xpl|.pro|.ipf|.nsi|.nsh|.spec|.i6t|.ni|.i7x|.t|.io|

                .ijs|.coffee|.dart|.eg|.js|.jsm|.juttle|.kal|.lasso|

                .lasso[89]|.ls|.mask|.j|.ts|.tsx|.jl|.aj|.ceylon|.clj|

                .cljs|.golo|.gs|.gsx|.gsp|.vark|.gst|.groovy|.gradle|.ik|

                .java|.kt|.pig|.scala|.xtend|.cpsa|.cl|.lisp|.el|.hy|.lsp|.nl|

                .kif|.rkt|.rktd|.rktl|.scm|.ss|.shen|.xtm|.cmake|.mak|.mk|

                .[1234567]|.man|.md|.css.in|.js.in|.xul.in|.rst|.rest|.tex|

                .aux|.toc|.m|.sci|.sce|.tst|.ml|.mli|.mll|.mly|.opa|.sml|.sig|

                .fun|.bug|.jag|.mo|.stan|.def|.mod|.mt|.ncl|.nim|.nimrod|.nit|

                .nix|.cps|.x|.xi|.xm|.xmi|.mm|.swift|.ooc|.psi|.psl|.G|.ebnf|

                .rl|.treetop|.tt|.adb|.ads|.ada|.pas|.dpr|.pwn|.sp|.pl|.pm|

                .nqp|.p6|.6pl|.p6l|.pl6|.6pm|.p6m|.pm6|.php|.php[345]|.zep|

                .praat|.proc|.psc|.lgt|.logtalk|.prolog|.pyx|.pxd|.pxi|.dg|

                .py3tb|.py|.pyw|.sc|.tac|.sage|.pytb|.qvto|.Rout|.Rd|.R|.rq|

                .sparql|.ttl|.r|.r3|.reb|.red|.reds|.txt|.rnc|.graph|

                .instances|.robot|.fy|.fancypack|.rb|.rbw|.rake|.gemspec|

                .rbx|.duby|.rs|.rs.in|.SAS|.sas|.applescript|.chai|.ezt|

                .mac|.hyb|.jcl|.lsl|.lua|.wlua|.moo|.moon|.rexx|.rex|.rx|

                .arexx|.sh|.ksh|.bash|.ebuild|.eclass|.exheres-0|.exlib|.zsh|

                .sh-session|.shell-session|.bat|.cmd|.fish|.load|.ps1|.psm1|

                .tcsh|.csh|.ns2|.st|.smv|.snobol|.rql|.sql|.sqlite3-console|

                .do|.ado|.scd|.tcl|.rvt|.ng2|.tmpl|.spt|.cfc|.cfm|.cfml|

                .evoque|.kid|.handlebars|.hbs|.phtml|.jsp|.liquid|.mao|.mhtml|

                .mc|.mi|.myt|.rhtml|.tpl|.ssp|.tea|.twig|.vm|.fhtml|.sls|

                .feature|.tap|.awk|.vim|.pot|.po|.weechatlog|.todotxt|.thy|

                .lean|.rts|.u|.vcl|.bpl|.sil|.vpr|.cirru|.duel|.jbst|.qml|

                .qbs|.slim|.xqy|.xquery|.xq|.xql|.xqm|.whiley|.x10)

                    # extension recognized

                    pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

                    ;;

                *)

                    # parse the shebang script header if it exists

                    lexer=$(head -n 1 "$path" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " 

'match($1, //(w*)$/, a) {if (a[1]!="env") {print a[1]} else {print $2}}')

                    case "$lexer" in

                        node|nodejs)

                            # workaround for lack of Node.js lexer alias

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l js "$path"

                            ;;

                        "")

                            exit 1

                            ;;

                        *)

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l $lexer "$path"

                            ;;

                    esac

                    ;;

            esac

            ;;

    esac

done

exit 0

edited Jan 2 '18 at 12:43

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

The one drawback about this approach is that Pygments is a Python program, and so on first use during a shell session, there is a "cold start" delay. Subsequent invocations are much faster.

– Joe Coder
Oct 12 '18 at 1:52

Nice! Really comprehensive.

– Dario Seidl
Nov 11 '18 at 16:01

add a comment |

This is yet another pygments-based answer, with several major improvements:

does not break lesspipe or lessfile filters

works with multiple inputs to less

correctly parses the script type from the shebang header

works for all 434 file types lexable by Pygments

color scheme is parameterized as an environment variable

Install Pygments and Gawk

sudo apt-get install python-pygments python3-pygments gawk

Set Environment Variables

Check whether lesspipe or lessfile is already enabled:

echo $LESSOPEN

If you don't see either program referenced there, ensure that lesspipe is installed (most distros come with it).

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# sets LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE variables

eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"



# interpret color characters

export LESS='-R'



# to list available styles: `pygmentize -L styles`

export PYGMENTIZE_STYLE='paraiso-dark'



# optional

alias ls='ls --color=always'

alias grep='grep --color=always'

If you don't want lesspipe, replace the eval statement with:

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Add the following code and make the file executable: chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/bash

for path in "$@"; do

    # match by known filenames

    filename=$(basename "$path")

    case "$filename" in

        .bashrc|bash.bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment|.bash_profile|

        .bash_login|.bash_logout|.profile|.zshrc|.zprofile|.zshrc|.zlogin|

        .zlogout|zshrc|zprofile|zshrc|zlogin|zlogout|.cshrc|.cshdirs|

        csh.cshrc|csh.login|csh.logout|.tcshrc|.kshrc|ksh.kshrc)

            # shell lexer

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE -l sh "$path"

            ;;

        .htaccess|apache.conf|apache2.conf|Dockerfile|Kconfig|external.in*|

        standard-modules.in|nginx.conf|pacman.conf|squid.conf|termcap|

        termcap.src|terminfo|terminfo.src|control|sources.list|CMakeLists.txt|

        Makefile|makefile|Makefile.*|GNUmakefile|SConstruct|SConscript|

        .Rhistory|.Rprofile|.Renviron|Rakefile|Gemfile|PKGBUILD|autohandler|

        dhandler|autodelegate|.vimrc|.exrc|.gvimrc|vimrc|exrc|gvimrc|todo.txt)

            # filename recognized

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

            ;;

        *)

            ext=$([[ "$filename" = *.* ]] && echo ".${filename##*.}" || echo '')

            case "$ext" in

                .as|.mxml|.bc|.g|.gd|.gi|.gap|.nb|.cdf|.nbp|.ma|.mu|.at|.run|

                .apl|.adl|.adls|.adlf|.adlx|.cadl|.odin|.c-objdump|.s|

                .cpp-objdump|.c++-objdump|.cxx-objdump|.d-objdump|.S|.hsail|

                .ll|.asm|.ASM|.objdump-intel|.objdump|.tasm|.au3|.ahk|.ahkl|

                .bb|.decls|.bmx|.bas|.monkey|.BAS|.bst|.bib|.abap|.ABAP|.cbl|

                .CBL|.cob|.COB|.cpy|.CPY|.gdc|.maql|.p|.cls|.c|.h|.idc|.cpp|

                .hpp|.c++|.h++|.cc|.hh|.cxx|.hxx|.C|.H|.cp|.CPP|.ino|.clay|

                .cu|.cuh|.ec|.eh|.mq4|.mq5|.mqh|.nc|.pike|.pmod|.swg|.i|.vala|

                .vapi|.capnp|.chpl|.icl|.dcl|.cf|.docker|.ini|.cfg|.inf|

                .pc|.properties|.reg|.tf|.pypylog|.cr|.csd|.orc|.sco|.css|

                .less|.sass|.scss|.croc|.d|.di|.smali|.jsonld|.json|.yaml|

                .yml|.dpatch|.darcspatch|.diff|.patch|.wdiff|.boo|.aspx|.asax|

                .ascx|.ashx|.asmx|.axd|.cs|.fs|.fsi|.n|.vb|.als|.bro|.crmsh|

                .pcmk|.msc|.pan|.proto|.pp|.rsl|.sbl|.thrift|.rpf|

                .dylan-console|.dylan|.dyl|.intr|.lid|.hdp|.ecl|.e|.elm|.ex|

                .exs|.erl|.hrl|.es|.escript|.erl-sh|.aheui|.befunge|.bf|.b|

                .camkes|.idl4|.cdl|.cw|.factor|.fan|.flx|.flxh|.frt|.f|.F|

                .f03|.f90|.F03|.F90|.PRG|.prg|.go|.abnf|.bnf|.jsgf|.cyp|

                .cypher|.asy|.vert|.frag|.geo|.plot|.plt|.ps|.eps|.pov|.inc|

                .agda|.cry|.hs|.idr|.kk|.kki|.lagda|.lcry|.lhs|.lidr|.hx|

                .hxsl|.hxml|.sv|.svh|.v|.vhdl|.vhd|.dtd|.haml|.html|.htm|

                .xhtml|.xslt|.pug|.jade|.scaml|.xml|.xsl|.rss|.xsd|.wsdl|

                .wsf|.xpl|.pro|.ipf|.nsi|.nsh|.spec|.i6t|.ni|.i7x|.t|.io|

                .ijs|.coffee|.dart|.eg|.js|.jsm|.juttle|.kal|.lasso|

                .lasso[89]|.ls|.mask|.j|.ts|.tsx|.jl|.aj|.ceylon|.clj|

                .cljs|.golo|.gs|.gsx|.gsp|.vark|.gst|.groovy|.gradle|.ik|

                .java|.kt|.pig|.scala|.xtend|.cpsa|.cl|.lisp|.el|.hy|.lsp|.nl|

                .kif|.rkt|.rktd|.rktl|.scm|.ss|.shen|.xtm|.cmake|.mak|.mk|

                .[1234567]|.man|.md|.css.in|.js.in|.xul.in|.rst|.rest|.tex|

                .aux|.toc|.m|.sci|.sce|.tst|.ml|.mli|.mll|.mly|.opa|.sml|.sig|

                .fun|.bug|.jag|.mo|.stan|.def|.mod|.mt|.ncl|.nim|.nimrod|.nit|

                .nix|.cps|.x|.xi|.xm|.xmi|.mm|.swift|.ooc|.psi|.psl|.G|.ebnf|

                .rl|.treetop|.tt|.adb|.ads|.ada|.pas|.dpr|.pwn|.sp|.pl|.pm|

                .nqp|.p6|.6pl|.p6l|.pl6|.6pm|.p6m|.pm6|.php|.php[345]|.zep|

                .praat|.proc|.psc|.lgt|.logtalk|.prolog|.pyx|.pxd|.pxi|.dg|

                .py3tb|.py|.pyw|.sc|.tac|.sage|.pytb|.qvto|.Rout|.Rd|.R|.rq|

                .sparql|.ttl|.r|.r3|.reb|.red|.reds|.txt|.rnc|.graph|

                .instances|.robot|.fy|.fancypack|.rb|.rbw|.rake|.gemspec|

                .rbx|.duby|.rs|.rs.in|.SAS|.sas|.applescript|.chai|.ezt|

                .mac|.hyb|.jcl|.lsl|.lua|.wlua|.moo|.moon|.rexx|.rex|.rx|

                .arexx|.sh|.ksh|.bash|.ebuild|.eclass|.exheres-0|.exlib|.zsh|

                .sh-session|.shell-session|.bat|.cmd|.fish|.load|.ps1|.psm1|

                .tcsh|.csh|.ns2|.st|.smv|.snobol|.rql|.sql|.sqlite3-console|

                .do|.ado|.scd|.tcl|.rvt|.ng2|.tmpl|.spt|.cfc|.cfm|.cfml|

                .evoque|.kid|.handlebars|.hbs|.phtml|.jsp|.liquid|.mao|.mhtml|

                .mc|.mi|.myt|.rhtml|.tpl|.ssp|.tea|.twig|.vm|.fhtml|.sls|

                .feature|.tap|.awk|.vim|.pot|.po|.weechatlog|.todotxt|.thy|

                .lean|.rts|.u|.vcl|.bpl|.sil|.vpr|.cirru|.duel|.jbst|.qml|

                .qbs|.slim|.xqy|.xquery|.xq|.xql|.xqm|.whiley|.x10)

                    # extension recognized

                    pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

                    ;;

                *)

                    # parse the shebang script header if it exists

                    lexer=$(head -n 1 "$path" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " 

'match($1, //(w*)$/, a) {if (a[1]!="env") {print a[1]} else {print $2}}')

                    case "$lexer" in

                        node|nodejs)

                            # workaround for lack of Node.js lexer alias

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l js "$path"

                            ;;

                        "")

                            exit 1

                            ;;

                        *)

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l $lexer "$path"

                            ;;

                    esac

                    ;;

            esac

            ;;

    esac

done

exit 0

edited Jan 2 '18 at 12:43

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

This is yet another pygments-based answer, with several major improvements:

does not break lesspipe or lessfile filters

works with multiple inputs to less

correctly parses the script type from the shebang header

works for all 434 file types lexable by Pygments

color scheme is parameterized as an environment variable

Install Pygments and Gawk

sudo apt-get install python-pygments python3-pygments gawk

Set Environment Variables

Check whether lesspipe or lessfile is already enabled:

echo $LESSOPEN

If you don't see either program referenced there, ensure that lesspipe is installed (most distros come with it).

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

# sets LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE variables

eval "$(SHELL=/bin/sh lesspipe)"



# interpret color characters

export LESS='-R'



# to list available styles: `pygmentize -L styles`

export PYGMENTIZE_STYLE='paraiso-dark'



# optional

alias ls='ls --color=always'

alias grep='grep --color=always'

If you don't want lesspipe, replace the eval statement with:

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Add the following code and make the file executable: chmod u+x ~/.lessfilter

#!/bin/bash

for path in "$@"; do

    # match by known filenames

    filename=$(basename "$path")

    case "$filename" in

        .bashrc|bash.bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment|.bash_profile|

        .bash_login|.bash_logout|.profile|.zshrc|.zprofile|.zshrc|.zlogin|

        .zlogout|zshrc|zprofile|zshrc|zlogin|zlogout|.cshrc|.cshdirs|

        csh.cshrc|csh.login|csh.logout|.tcshrc|.kshrc|ksh.kshrc)

            # shell lexer

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE -l sh "$path"

            ;;

        .htaccess|apache.conf|apache2.conf|Dockerfile|Kconfig|external.in*|

        standard-modules.in|nginx.conf|pacman.conf|squid.conf|termcap|

        termcap.src|terminfo|terminfo.src|control|sources.list|CMakeLists.txt|

        Makefile|makefile|Makefile.*|GNUmakefile|SConstruct|SConscript|

        .Rhistory|.Rprofile|.Renviron|Rakefile|Gemfile|PKGBUILD|autohandler|

        dhandler|autodelegate|.vimrc|.exrc|.gvimrc|vimrc|exrc|gvimrc|todo.txt)

            # filename recognized

            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

            ;;

        *)

            ext=$([[ "$filename" = *.* ]] && echo ".${filename##*.}" || echo '')

            case "$ext" in

                .as|.mxml|.bc|.g|.gd|.gi|.gap|.nb|.cdf|.nbp|.ma|.mu|.at|.run|

                .apl|.adl|.adls|.adlf|.adlx|.cadl|.odin|.c-objdump|.s|

                .cpp-objdump|.c++-objdump|.cxx-objdump|.d-objdump|.S|.hsail|

                .ll|.asm|.ASM|.objdump-intel|.objdump|.tasm|.au3|.ahk|.ahkl|

                .bb|.decls|.bmx|.bas|.monkey|.BAS|.bst|.bib|.abap|.ABAP|.cbl|

                .CBL|.cob|.COB|.cpy|.CPY|.gdc|.maql|.p|.cls|.c|.h|.idc|.cpp|

                .hpp|.c++|.h++|.cc|.hh|.cxx|.hxx|.C|.H|.cp|.CPP|.ino|.clay|

                .cu|.cuh|.ec|.eh|.mq4|.mq5|.mqh|.nc|.pike|.pmod|.swg|.i|.vala|

                .vapi|.capnp|.chpl|.icl|.dcl|.cf|.docker|.ini|.cfg|.inf|

                .pc|.properties|.reg|.tf|.pypylog|.cr|.csd|.orc|.sco|.css|

                .less|.sass|.scss|.croc|.d|.di|.smali|.jsonld|.json|.yaml|

                .yml|.dpatch|.darcspatch|.diff|.patch|.wdiff|.boo|.aspx|.asax|

                .ascx|.ashx|.asmx|.axd|.cs|.fs|.fsi|.n|.vb|.als|.bro|.crmsh|

                .pcmk|.msc|.pan|.proto|.pp|.rsl|.sbl|.thrift|.rpf|

                .dylan-console|.dylan|.dyl|.intr|.lid|.hdp|.ecl|.e|.elm|.ex|

                .exs|.erl|.hrl|.es|.escript|.erl-sh|.aheui|.befunge|.bf|.b|

                .camkes|.idl4|.cdl|.cw|.factor|.fan|.flx|.flxh|.frt|.f|.F|

                .f03|.f90|.F03|.F90|.PRG|.prg|.go|.abnf|.bnf|.jsgf|.cyp|

                .cypher|.asy|.vert|.frag|.geo|.plot|.plt|.ps|.eps|.pov|.inc|

                .agda|.cry|.hs|.idr|.kk|.kki|.lagda|.lcry|.lhs|.lidr|.hx|

                .hxsl|.hxml|.sv|.svh|.v|.vhdl|.vhd|.dtd|.haml|.html|.htm|

                .xhtml|.xslt|.pug|.jade|.scaml|.xml|.xsl|.rss|.xsd|.wsdl|

                .wsf|.xpl|.pro|.ipf|.nsi|.nsh|.spec|.i6t|.ni|.i7x|.t|.io|

                .ijs|.coffee|.dart|.eg|.js|.jsm|.juttle|.kal|.lasso|

                .lasso[89]|.ls|.mask|.j|.ts|.tsx|.jl|.aj|.ceylon|.clj|

                .cljs|.golo|.gs|.gsx|.gsp|.vark|.gst|.groovy|.gradle|.ik|

                .java|.kt|.pig|.scala|.xtend|.cpsa|.cl|.lisp|.el|.hy|.lsp|.nl|

                .kif|.rkt|.rktd|.rktl|.scm|.ss|.shen|.xtm|.cmake|.mak|.mk|

                .[1234567]|.man|.md|.css.in|.js.in|.xul.in|.rst|.rest|.tex|

                .aux|.toc|.m|.sci|.sce|.tst|.ml|.mli|.mll|.mly|.opa|.sml|.sig|

                .fun|.bug|.jag|.mo|.stan|.def|.mod|.mt|.ncl|.nim|.nimrod|.nit|

                .nix|.cps|.x|.xi|.xm|.xmi|.mm|.swift|.ooc|.psi|.psl|.G|.ebnf|

                .rl|.treetop|.tt|.adb|.ads|.ada|.pas|.dpr|.pwn|.sp|.pl|.pm|

                .nqp|.p6|.6pl|.p6l|.pl6|.6pm|.p6m|.pm6|.php|.php[345]|.zep|

                .praat|.proc|.psc|.lgt|.logtalk|.prolog|.pyx|.pxd|.pxi|.dg|

                .py3tb|.py|.pyw|.sc|.tac|.sage|.pytb|.qvto|.Rout|.Rd|.R|.rq|

                .sparql|.ttl|.r|.r3|.reb|.red|.reds|.txt|.rnc|.graph|

                .instances|.robot|.fy|.fancypack|.rb|.rbw|.rake|.gemspec|

                .rbx|.duby|.rs|.rs.in|.SAS|.sas|.applescript|.chai|.ezt|

                .mac|.hyb|.jcl|.lsl|.lua|.wlua|.moo|.moon|.rexx|.rex|.rx|

                .arexx|.sh|.ksh|.bash|.ebuild|.eclass|.exheres-0|.exlib|.zsh|

                .sh-session|.shell-session|.bat|.cmd|.fish|.load|.ps1|.psm1|

                .tcsh|.csh|.ns2|.st|.smv|.snobol|.rql|.sql|.sqlite3-console|

                .do|.ado|.scd|.tcl|.rvt|.ng2|.tmpl|.spt|.cfc|.cfm|.cfml|

                .evoque|.kid|.handlebars|.hbs|.phtml|.jsp|.liquid|.mao|.mhtml|

                .mc|.mi|.myt|.rhtml|.tpl|.ssp|.tea|.twig|.vm|.fhtml|.sls|

                .feature|.tap|.awk|.vim|.pot|.po|.weechatlog|.todotxt|.thy|

                .lean|.rts|.u|.vcl|.bpl|.sil|.vpr|.cirru|.duel|.jbst|.qml|

                .qbs|.slim|.xqy|.xquery|.xq|.xql|.xqm|.whiley|.x10)

                    # extension recognized

                    pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE "$path"

                    ;;

                *)

                    # parse the shebang script header if it exists

                    lexer=$(head -n 1 "$path" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " 

'match($1, //(w*)$/, a) {if (a[1]!="env") {print a[1]} else {print $2}}')

                    case "$lexer" in

                        node|nodejs)

                            # workaround for lack of Node.js lexer alias

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l js "$path"

                            ;;

                        "")

                            exit 1

                            ;;

                        *)

                            pygmentize -f 256 -O style=$PYGMENTIZE_STYLE 

                                -l $lexer "$path"

                            ;;

                    esac

                    ;;

            esac

            ;;

    esac

done

exit 0

edited Jan 2 '18 at 12:43

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

edited Jan 2 '18 at 12:43

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

answered May 29 '17 at 9:21

Joe Coder

15115

The one drawback about this approach is that Pygments is a Python program, and so on first use during a shell session, there is a "cold start" delay. Subsequent invocations are much faster.

– Joe Coder
Oct 12 '18 at 1:52

Nice! Really comprehensive.

– Dario Seidl
Nov 11 '18 at 16:01

add a comment |

The one drawback about this approach is that Pygments is a Python program, and so on first use during a shell session, there is a "cold start" delay. Subsequent invocations are much faster.

– Joe Coder
Oct 12 '18 at 1:52

Nice! Really comprehensive.

– Dario Seidl
Nov 11 '18 at 16:01

The one drawback about this approach is that Pygments is a Python program, and so on first use during a shell session, there is a "cold start" delay. Subsequent invocations are much faster.

– Joe Coder
Oct 12 '18 at 1:52

Nice! Really comprehensive.

– Dario Seidl
Nov 11 '18 at 16:01

add a comment |

This was suggested by Konstantine Serebriany. The script src-hilite-lesspipe.sh will be installed together with source-highlight. You can use the following environment variables:

 export LESSOPEN="| /path/to/src-hilite-lesspipe.sh %s"

 export LESS=' -R '

This way, when you use less to browse a file, if it is a source file handled by source-highlight, it will be automatically highlighted.

Xavier-Emmanuel Vincent recently provided an alternative version of ANSI color scheme, esc256.style: some terminals can handle 256 colors. Xavier also provided a script which checks how many colors your terminal can handle, and in case, uses the 256 variant. The script is called source-highlight-esc.sh and it will be installed together with the other binaries.

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

add a comment |

This was suggested by Konstantine Serebriany. The script src-hilite-lesspipe.sh will be installed together with source-highlight. You can use the following environment variables:

 export LESSOPEN="| /path/to/src-hilite-lesspipe.sh %s"

 export LESS=' -R '

This way, when you use less to browse a file, if it is a source file handled by source-highlight, it will be automatically highlighted.

Xavier-Emmanuel Vincent recently provided an alternative version of ANSI color scheme, esc256.style: some terminals can handle 256 colors. Xavier also provided a script which checks how many colors your terminal can handle, and in case, uses the 256 variant. The script is called source-highlight-esc.sh and it will be installed together with the other binaries.

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

add a comment |

This was suggested by Konstantine Serebriany. The script src-hilite-lesspipe.sh will be installed together with source-highlight. You can use the following environment variables:

 export LESSOPEN="| /path/to/src-hilite-lesspipe.sh %s"

 export LESS=' -R '

This way, when you use less to browse a file, if it is a source file handled by source-highlight, it will be automatically highlighted.

Xavier-Emmanuel Vincent recently provided an alternative version of ANSI color scheme, esc256.style: some terminals can handle 256 colors. Xavier also provided a script which checks how many colors your terminal can handle, and in case, uses the 256 variant. The script is called source-highlight-esc.sh and it will be installed together with the other binaries.

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

This was suggested by Konstantine Serebriany. The script src-hilite-lesspipe.sh will be installed together with source-highlight. You can use the following environment variables:

 export LESSOPEN="| /path/to/src-hilite-lesspipe.sh %s"

 export LESS=' -R '

This way, when you use less to browse a file, if it is a source file handled by source-highlight, it will be automatically highlighted.

Xavier-Emmanuel Vincent recently provided an alternative version of ANSI color scheme, esc256.style: some terminals can handle 256 colors. Xavier also provided a script which checks how many colors your terminal can handle, and in case, uses the 256 variant. The script is called source-highlight-esc.sh and it will be installed together with the other binaries.

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

answered May 25 '14 at 19:52

arsaKasra

158110

add a comment |

To expand upon another answer, you can make it work for most if not all of your scripts that don't have extensions by changing the .lessfilter file around just a bit:

#!/bin/sh

    case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;

    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        ;;

    *)

        scriptExec=$(head -1 "$1" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " '{print $1}')

        scriptExecStatus=$?

        if [ "$scriptExecStatus" -eq "0" ]; then

            lexer=$(echo $scriptExec |awk -F/ '{print $NF}')

            pygmentize -f 256 -l $lexer "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

You'd still need to add the two variables to .bashrc:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

And you'll still need to make .lessfilter executable:

$ chmod 700 ~/.lessfilter

edited Jun 18 '14 at 14:57

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

2

2 comments: 1) Thanks for the improvement. 2) Phrases like "voted best answer" aren't great; that may change (in fact, if this is better than that answer, this post might become the top answer, at which point it'll just be confusing. Maybe just say "to expand upon another answer" or "captaincomic's answer"?

– cpast
Feb 27 '13 at 23:07

add a comment |

To expand upon another answer, you can make it work for most if not all of your scripts that don't have extensions by changing the .lessfilter file around just a bit:

#!/bin/sh

    case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;

    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        ;;

    *)

        scriptExec=$(head -1 "$1" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " '{print $1}')

        scriptExecStatus=$?

        if [ "$scriptExecStatus" -eq "0" ]; then

            lexer=$(echo $scriptExec |awk -F/ '{print $NF}')

            pygmentize -f 256 -l $lexer "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

You'd still need to add the two variables to .bashrc:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

And you'll still need to make .lessfilter executable:

$ chmod 700 ~/.lessfilter

edited Jun 18 '14 at 14:57

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

2

2 comments: 1) Thanks for the improvement. 2) Phrases like "voted best answer" aren't great; that may change (in fact, if this is better than that answer, this post might become the top answer, at which point it'll just be confusing. Maybe just say "to expand upon another answer" or "captaincomic's answer"?

– cpast
Feb 27 '13 at 23:07

add a comment |

To expand upon another answer, you can make it work for most if not all of your scripts that don't have extensions by changing the .lessfilter file around just a bit:

#!/bin/sh

    case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;

    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        ;;

    *)

        scriptExec=$(head -1 "$1" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " '{print $1}')

        scriptExecStatus=$?

        if [ "$scriptExecStatus" -eq "0" ]; then

            lexer=$(echo $scriptExec |awk -F/ '{print $NF}')

            pygmentize -f 256 -l $lexer "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

You'd still need to add the two variables to .bashrc:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

And you'll still need to make .lessfilter executable:

$ chmod 700 ~/.lessfilter

edited Jun 18 '14 at 14:57

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

To expand upon another answer, you can make it work for most if not all of your scripts that don't have extensions by changing the .lessfilter file around just a bit:

#!/bin/sh

    case "$1" in

    *.awk|*.groff|*.java|*.js|*.m4|*.php|*.pl|*.pm|*.pod|*.sh|

    *.ad[asb]|*.asm|*.inc|*.[ch]|*.[ch]pp|*.[ch]xx|*.cc|*.hh|

    *.lsp|*.l|*.pas|*.p|*.xml|*.xps|*.xsl|*.axp|*.ppd|*.pov|

    *.diff|*.patch|*.py|*.rb|*.sql|*.ebuild|*.eclass)

        pygmentize -f 256 "$1";;

    .bashrc|.bash_aliases|.bash_environment)

        pygmentize -f 256 -l sh "$1"

        ;;

    *)

        scriptExec=$(head -1 "$1" |grep "^#!" |awk -F" " '{print $1}')

        scriptExecStatus=$?

        if [ "$scriptExecStatus" -eq "0" ]; then

            lexer=$(echo $scriptExec |awk -F/ '{print $NF}')

            pygmentize -f 256 -l $lexer "$1"

        else

            exit 1

        fi

esac



exit 0

You'd still need to add the two variables to .bashrc:

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|~/.lessfilter %s'

And you'll still need to make .lessfilter executable:

$ chmod 700 ~/.lessfilter

edited Jun 18 '14 at 14:57

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

edited Jun 18 '14 at 14:57

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

answered Feb 27 '13 at 22:45

Speeddymon

1017

2

2 comments: 1) Thanks for the improvement. 2) Phrases like "voted best answer" aren't great; that may change (in fact, if this is better than that answer, this post might become the top answer, at which point it'll just be confusing. Maybe just say "to expand upon another answer" or "captaincomic's answer"?

– cpast
Feb 27 '13 at 23:07

add a comment |

2

2 comments: 1) Thanks for the improvement. 2) Phrases like "voted best answer" aren't great; that may change (in fact, if this is better than that answer, this post might become the top answer, at which point it'll just be confusing. Maybe just say "to expand upon another answer" or "captaincomic's answer"?

– cpast
Feb 27 '13 at 23:07

2 comments: 1) Thanks for the improvement. 2) Phrases like "voted best answer" aren't great; that may change (in fact, if this is better than that answer, this post might become the top answer, at which point it'll just be confusing. Maybe just say "to expand upon another answer" or "captaincomic's answer"?

– cpast
Feb 27 '13 at 23:07

add a comment |

You can consider using most utility which is colour-friendly alternative for less and more.

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

add a comment |

You can consider using most utility which is colour-friendly alternative for less and more.

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

add a comment |

You can consider using most utility which is colour-friendly alternative for less and more.

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

You can consider using most utility which is colour-friendly alternative for less and more.

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

answered Aug 22 '13 at 0:34

Onlyjob

29435

add a comment |

Condensed from my full blog post about improving less experience: https://www.topbug.net/blog/2016/09/27/make-gnu-less-more-powerful/

For colorful manpages, add the following to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'E[1;31m'     # begin bold

export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'E[1;36m'     # begin blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'E[0m'        # reset bold/blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'E[01;44;33m' # begin reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'E[0m'        # reset reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'E[1;32m'     # begin underline

export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'E[0m'        # reset underline

For syntax highlighting, using an existing powerful lesspipe.sh to handle it instead of writing your own: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe

edited Oct 14 '16 at 7:46

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

add a comment |

Condensed from my full blog post about improving less experience: https://www.topbug.net/blog/2016/09/27/make-gnu-less-more-powerful/

For colorful manpages, add the following to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'E[1;31m'     # begin bold

export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'E[1;36m'     # begin blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'E[0m'        # reset bold/blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'E[01;44;33m' # begin reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'E[0m'        # reset reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'E[1;32m'     # begin underline

export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'E[0m'        # reset underline

For syntax highlighting, using an existing powerful lesspipe.sh to handle it instead of writing your own: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe

edited Oct 14 '16 at 7:46

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

add a comment |

Condensed from my full blog post about improving less experience: https://www.topbug.net/blog/2016/09/27/make-gnu-less-more-powerful/

For colorful manpages, add the following to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'E[1;31m'     # begin bold

export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'E[1;36m'     # begin blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'E[0m'        # reset bold/blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'E[01;44;33m' # begin reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'E[0m'        # reset reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'E[1;32m'     # begin underline

export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'E[0m'        # reset underline

For syntax highlighting, using an existing powerful lesspipe.sh to handle it instead of writing your own: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe

edited Oct 14 '16 at 7:46

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

Condensed from my full blog post about improving less experience: https://www.topbug.net/blog/2016/09/27/make-gnu-less-more-powerful/

For colorful manpages, add the following to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'E[1;31m'     # begin bold

export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'E[1;36m'     # begin blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'E[0m'        # reset bold/blink

export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'E[01;44;33m' # begin reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'E[0m'        # reset reverse video

export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'E[1;32m'     # begin underline

export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'E[0m'        # reset underline

For syntax highlighting, using an existing powerful lesspipe.sh to handle it instead of writing your own: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe

edited Oct 14 '16 at 7:46

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

edited Oct 14 '16 at 7:46

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

answered Oct 4 '16 at 2:51

xuhdev

8491826

add a comment |

Some of the options to use it are to create an alias:
alias vless='vim -u /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.vim'

or create a symbolic link:
ln -s /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.sh ~/bin/vless

Then you just run vless myfile.py

I got most of the information here

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

add a comment |

Some of the options to use it are to create an alias:
alias vless='vim -u /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.vim'

or create a symbolic link:
ln -s /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.sh ~/bin/vless

Then you just run vless myfile.py

I got most of the information here

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

add a comment |

Some of the options to use it are to create an alias:
alias vless='vim -u /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.vim'

or create a symbolic link:
ln -s /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.sh ~/bin/vless

Then you just run vless myfile.py

I got most of the information here

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

Some of the options to use it are to create an alias:
alias vless='vim -u /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.vim'

or create a symbolic link:
ln -s /usr/share/vim/vim74/macros/less.sh ~/bin/vless

Then you just run vless myfile.py

I got most of the information here

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

answered May 31 '18 at 9:59

Wavesailor

20826

add a comment |

The most intuitive and straight forward solution for me was using pygmentize

by adding the lines below to .bashrc

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

In case you couldn't call pygmentize, just install like

pip install pygments

ps. The pygmentize executable binary would sit in /usr/local/bin/ or in your /home/username/.virtualenv/venvname/bin/ or somewhere.

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

add a comment |

The most intuitive and straight forward solution for me was using pygmentize

by adding the lines below to .bashrc

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

In case you couldn't call pygmentize, just install like

pip install pygments

ps. The pygmentize executable binary would sit in /usr/local/bin/ or in your /home/username/.virtualenv/venvname/bin/ or somewhere.

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

add a comment |

The most intuitive and straight forward solution for me was using pygmentize

by adding the lines below to .bashrc

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

In case you couldn't call pygmentize, just install like

pip install pygments

ps. The pygmentize executable binary would sit in /usr/local/bin/ or in your /home/username/.virtualenv/venvname/bin/ or somewhere.

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

The most intuitive and straight forward solution for me was using pygmentize

by adding the lines below to .bashrc

export LESS='-R'

export LESSOPEN='|pygmentize -g %s'

In case you couldn't call pygmentize, just install like

pip install pygments

ps. The pygmentize executable binary would sit in /usr/local/bin/ or in your /home/username/.virtualenv/venvname/bin/ or somewhere.

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

answered Jan 22 at 2:44

David Jung

add a comment |

-2

None of these were working out of the box for me and I figured out an easy way to make this work so I thought I would share.

Just use tmux, that allows you access and scroll through a larger history and preserves the colors perfectly.

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

Doesn't tmux permit multiple terminals from one screen, how does it change less's display of colours?

– Xen2050
Oct 26 '18 at 13:23

add a comment |

-2

None of these were working out of the box for me and I figured out an easy way to make this work so I thought I would share.

Just use tmux, that allows you access and scroll through a larger history and preserves the colors perfectly.

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

Doesn't tmux permit multiple terminals from one screen, how does it change less's display of colours?

– Xen2050
Oct 26 '18 at 13:23

add a comment |

-2

None of these were working out of the box for me and I figured out an easy way to make this work so I thought I would share.

Just use tmux, that allows you access and scroll through a larger history and preserves the colors perfectly.

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

None of these were working out of the box for me and I figured out an easy way to make this work so I thought I would share.

Just use tmux, that allows you access and scroll through a larger history and preserves the colors perfectly.

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

answered Jan 25 '18 at 18:35

math0ne

972

Doesn't tmux permit multiple terminals from one screen, how does it change less's display of colours?

– Xen2050
Oct 26 '18 at 13:23

add a comment |

Doesn't tmux permit multiple terminals from one screen, how does it change less's display of colours?

– Xen2050
Oct 26 '18 at 13:23

Doesn't tmux permit multiple terminals from one screen, how does it change less's display of colours?

– Xen2050
Oct 26 '18 at 13:23

add a comment |

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Install Pygments and Gawk

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Install Pygments and Gawk

Set Environment Variables

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Install Pygments and Gawk

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Create `~/.lessfilter`

Install Pygments and Gawk

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Create `~/.lessfilter`

Install Pygments and Gawk

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Create `~/.lessfilter`

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Get colors in less or more

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Install Pygments and Gawk

Set Environment Variables

Create ~/.lessfilter

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Install Pygments and Gawk

Set Environment Variables

Create ~/.lessfilter

Install Pygments and Gawk

Set Environment Variables

Create ~/.lessfilter

Install Pygments and Gawk

Set Environment Variables

Create ~/.lessfilter

Install Pygments and Gawk

Set Environment Variables

Create ~/.lessfilter

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Create `~/.lessfilter`

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15 Answers
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Create `~/.lessfilter`

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Create `~/.lessfilter`

Create `~/.lessfilter`