Using less +-S does not work (although it does ask Chop long lines (press RETURN)), and entering -S once inside less also does not work. Is there a solution?
I am usig OS X Mavericks (10.9.3).
less 418 (default) or less 458 (via MacPorts)
asked Jul 6, 2014 at 16:04
1 Answer
You can use fold to first wrap the text, then pipe to less:
fold -w 78 | less
Of course, -w sets the number of characters. By default it's 80. fold is POSIX and bundled with OS X.
Apparently, using less -r as the default Git pager will also achieve folding of long lines.
Otherwise, while the diff is being displayed, you can type -S, then Enter to toggle chopping/folding long lines.
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+1 for a cool work-around, but I'm actually hoping to use this for the (
git)diffcommand --- so I don't think this will work Commented Jul 6, 2014 at 16:08 -
1Oh, you didn't mention. Does setting
less -ras Git pager work in that case?– slhckCommented Jul 6, 2014 at 16:10 -
Yes! That works! (I saw that on this question but didn't try it because my man page said
less -rdid something completely different. Any idea why this works in git, but not terminal? Commented Jul 6, 2014 at 16:13 -
I have no idea why exactly. I just remembered this trick. I'm curious why
less -+Sdoesn't work in your case. In fact, in my setup (also under OS X), the diff shown inlessis automatically line-wrapped, but I haven't set anything explicitly to enable it.– slhckCommented Jul 6, 2014 at 16:18 -
That's very strange! Maybe this is unique to me then. Commented Jul 6, 2014 at 16:19
lessversion number as output byless --version. OS X still ships version 418 in Yosemite, by the way, and I see the same buggy behavior withless -Son Yosemite, so this question is not dead, even if it is "answered". I've seen this behavior for years and years on multiple OSes, though so my belief is thatless -Sis just plain buggy.icdiff: github.com/jeffkaufman/icdiff