Name: page - Conveniently display contents of a long file

Synopsis:

(filename) page -&gt; -


Examples:

The following example displays the license agreement that came with 
your copy of NEST: 
"statusdict /prgdatadir get (/LICENSE) join page"


Description:

The "page" command is used by NEST's online-help system to display 
the help pages. It displays the contents of a file, either through a 
built-in pager, or an external pager program. The text you are 
reading right now is displayed using "page". 
You can customize the display. Type "/page ShowOptions" to show your 
current settings. Use the "SetOptions" command to customize the 
pager program. Here are some useful suggestions. You will want to 
put your favourite into your ~/.nestrc file (see "/nestrc help"): 
1. /page &lt;&lt; /command (more)             % Use more as a pager 
/wait    true &gt;&gt; SetOptions % and wait for termination 
2. /page &lt;&lt; /command (less -S)          % Use less as a pager 
/wait    true &gt;&gt; SetOptions % and wait for termination 
3. /page &lt;&lt; /command (xterm -e less -S)  % Run less in a separate xterm window... 
/wait    false &gt;&gt; SetOptions % ..so we can go on working in parallel. 
4. /page &lt;&lt; /command (xless)             % Use xless as a pager 
/wait    false &gt;&gt; SetOptions % xless opens it's own window. 
5. /page &lt;&lt; /command false &gt;&gt; SetOptions % use built-in pager. 
6. /page ResetOptions % Return to the default configuration ($PAGER or built-in pager).


Options:

/command - UNIX command to display a file (default: see below) 
/command can be either false or a string. 
If /command is set to false, "page" uses the simple built-in 
pager "ppage" for display. 
If it is set to the name of a UNIX program, "page" will execute 
this program as a child process, passing the name of the 
file as argument. 
/command defaults to the contents of the $PAGER environment 
variable. If this variable is not set, it defaults to false. 
/wait - whether to wait for the UNIX program to finish. (default: true) 
If /wait is set to true, the "page" command will not return until 
the UNIX process is terminated. Use this setting for all pager 
programs that write to stdout. 
If /wait is set to false, "page" will return immediately after 
creating the child process. Use this setting for all pager programs 
that open up their own window. 
The value of /wait is ignored, if /command is set to false.


Bugs:

The string contained in /command is processed by "breakup" to separate 
the command from its parameters. Be aware that there is a bug in the 
"breakup"-routine, which makes it impossible to pass a parameter 
containing blanks by enclosing it in quotation marks. 
WARNING: Setting the /wait option to false with a pager 
program that writes to stdout will screw up your SLI prompt.


Remarks:

If /wait is set to false, the "system"-command is called in 
no-care-mode. Be aware that this may be an expensive operation 
depending on the ressources your SLI-process occupies. 
(see description of "system"). 
Even if /wait is set to true, creation of a child process may 
be expensive. To avoid any overhead caused by process creation, set /command 
to false.


Author:

R Kupper


FirstVersion:

Apr 22 1999, reworked 27-sep-2007


SeeAlso:

help
helpindex
license
system

Source:

/var/www/debian/nest/nest-simulator-2.20.0/lib/sli/helpinit.sli
