On 10/16/07, michael <cs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > If I have a file name, say, that wraps at the end of the line, then > using > ls -alt I can double click the file to select it, but if I use > ls -alt | less > then a double click only selects to the end of the line. > > > Can anybody enlighten me as to why this is and how I can amend the > behaviour to what I would expect (ie less doesn't affect click > selection)? I've noticed this in gnome-terminal on FC7 & Debian. > > Thanks, Michael > I can't explain how to change this, but I can show you why it does that. In your ls -alt | less output hit the minus key followed by uppercase N. You will get a message at the bottom saying "Constantly display line numbers (press RETURN)" Press the RETURN key and less now numbers the lines. Note that long filenames that go to the next line are indeed another line (which I assume means there is an end of line character inserted by less). Whereas when you simply do an ls, the terminal window is not using an end of line character. If you expand the width of the window with the less filter you will note that it does re-adjust the lines if you make it wide enough to accommodate the entire line (lines are re-numbered). Why it does that vs behaving like the terminal window does with the ls command only I don't know. Maybe someone can offer a better explanation? By the way use -n (minus lowercase n) to remove the line numbering. Or exit less and rerun and it goes away. Jacques B.
