lesspipe.sh

https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe
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lesspipe.sh is a preprocessor for the less pager that enables viewing and filtering of non-text...
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### Tab Completion Examples

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Demonstrates how to trigger tab completion within archives using lesspipe. Completion is activated after typing a colon or an equal sign.

```shell
less archive_file:<TAB>                   # and then
less archive_file:partial_result<TAB>
less archive_file:contained_archive:<TAB> # etc.
```

--------------------------------

### Install lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/article_en

Commands to install lesspipe.sh after downloading the package from GitHub. Ensure the LESSOPEN environment variable is set correctly afterwards.

```bash
./configure

```

```bash
sudo make install
```

--------------------------------

### Enable HTML/XML Syntax Highlighting with lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/article_en

Append a single colon to an HTML file argument to enable syntax highlighting. If 'xmq' is installed, it provides a more readable format. Otherwise, it defaults to standard tag display.

```bash
less a.html:
```

--------------------------------

### View Man Page within Archive using lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/article_en

Example of viewing a man page (lesspipe.1) contained within a tar.gz archive using lesspipe.sh. This demonstrates the ability to process files within archives without explicit unpacking.

```bash
less lesspipe-2.00.tar.gz:lesspipe-2.00/lesspipe.1
```

--------------------------------

### Extract Files from Archives using less

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Extract files from archives by piping the output of `less` to a file. This method requires the `less` command to be installed.

```shell
less archive_file:contained_file > extracted_file
```

--------------------------------

### Colorize Log Files with lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Append ':log' to a filename to enable log file colorization using 'tspin' if installed. This is useful for files with a .log extension or recognized as log files.

```shell
less /var/log/syslog:log
```

--------------------------------

### Force Perl Syntax Highlighting

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

When syntax highlighting is incorrect or not recognized, you can force the correct language by appending a colon and the language suffix to the filename. This example forces Perl syntax highlighting.

```shell
less plfile:pl or less plfile:perl (depending on the colorizer)
```

--------------------------------

### Define lessc function for Vim syntax highlighting

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Create a bash, zsh, or ksh function 'lessc' to use Vim's less.sh script for syntax highlighting. Ensure the path to less.sh is correct for your Vim installation.

```shell
lessc () { /usr/share/vim/vimXX/macros/less.sh "$@"}
```

--------------------------------

### Force File Type for Syntax Highlighting with lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/article_en

Specify a file type after a colon to ensure correct syntax highlighting when lesspipe.sh might misinterpret the file type. For example, forcing '.html' for an HTML file.

```bash
less a.html:.html
```

--------------------------------

### View Man Pages and Documentation

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Render man pages, POD documentation, Markdown, and Jupyter notebooks.

```bash
# View man page files (requires mandoc, man, or groff)
less manpage.1
less documentation.3

# View Perl POD documentation (requires pod2text or perldoc)
less Module.pm
less script.pod

# View original POD source with highlighting
less Module.pm:pod

# View Markdown files (requires pandoc or colorizer)
less README.md
less documentation.markdown

# View Jupyter notebooks (requires pandoc)
less notebook.ipynb
```

--------------------------------

### View HTML and XML files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Render web and markup files as text or view their raw source code.

```bash
# View HTML file as rendered text (requires w3m, lynx, elinks, or html2text)
less webpage.html

# View original HTML source with syntax highlighting
less webpage.html:html

# View XML file (requires xmq for structured display)
less config.xml

# View XML with xmq structural rendering (if xmq installed)
less data.xml

# View original XML source
less data.xml:xml

# Fetch and view web content
less https://example.com/page.html
```

--------------------------------

### View Certificates and Security Files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Display certificate and key information using OpenSSL or GPG.

```bash
# View X.509 certificates (requires openssl)
less certificate.crt
less certificate.pem

# View certificate signing requests
less request.csr

# View certificate revocation lists
less revoked.crl

# View GPG encrypted files (requires gpg)
less encrypted.gpg
less message.pgp
```

--------------------------------

### View Source Code with Syntax Highlighting

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Enable syntax highlighting and configure colorizers for source code files.

```bash
# Ensure colored output is enabled
export LESS="-R"

# View source code with automatic syntax highlighting
less script.py
less program.c
less module.js
less style.css

# Force specific language when auto-detection fails
less unknownfile:python
less configfile:yaml
less template:html

# Disable syntax highlighting for a file
less script.py:

# View highlighted code from piped input
cat generated_code | less - :c
echo '{"key": "value"}' | less - :json

# Configure preferred colorizer
export LESSCOLORIZER='bat --style=plain --theme=ansi'
export LESSCOLORIZER='pygmentize -O style=monokai'
export LESSCOLORIZER='source-highlight'
export LESSCOLORIZER='nvimpager'
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Git for Binary Diffing

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Set up gitattributes and gitconfig to use lesspipe.sh for viewing binary file diffs.

```bash
# Add to ~/.gitattributes or .git/info/attributes
cat >> ~/.gitattributes << 'EOF'
*.pdf    diff=lesspipe
*.doc    diff=lesspipe
*.docx   diff=lesspipe
*.xls    diff=lesspipe
*.xlsx   diff=lesspipe
*.ppt    diff=lesspipe
*.pptx   diff=lesspipe
*.odt    diff=lesspipe
*.rtf    diff=lesspipe
*.epub   diff=lesspipe
*.zip    diff=lesspipe
*.jar    diff=lesspipe
*.png    diff=lesspipe
*.jpg    diff=lesspipe
EOF

# Add to ~/.gitconfig
git config --global diff.lesspipe.textconv "LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh"
git config --global diff.lesspipe.binary true
git config --global diff.lesspipe.cachetextconv true

# Now git diff works on binary files
git diff HEAD~1 document.pdf
git diff main feature -- spreadsheet.xlsx
```

--------------------------------

### View JSON Files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Pretty-print and colorize JSON files using jq.

```bash
# View JSON with pretty printing and colors (requires jq)
less data.json

# View JSON from an API response archive
less api-responses.zip:response.json

# View original JSON without formatting
less data.json:
```

--------------------------------

### Use Vimcolor Syntax Highlighter

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Apply Vim-powered syntax highlighting to files or streams.

```bash
# Basic usage
vimcolor script.py

# Specify language explicitly
vimcolor -l javascript script.js

# Read from stdin
cat code.c | vimcolor -l c

# List supported file types
vimcolor -L

# List file types matching pattern
vimcolor -L python

# Report color settings used
vimcolor -c script.py

# Set as preferred colorizer
export LESSCOLORIZER='vimcolor'

# Customize colors via VIMCOLOR_ANSI
export VIMCOLOR_ANSI='Comment=green;Statement=magenta;'
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Vim for Binary Files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Integrate lesspipe.sh into Vim to handle binary file viewing.

```vim
" Add to ~/.vim/plugin/lesspipe.vim
if &compatible || exists('g:loaded_lesspipe') | finish | endif
let g:loaded_lesspipe = 1

" Configure lesspipe command
if executable('lesspipe.sh')
  let s:lesspipe_cmd = 'LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh'
elseif executable('lesspipe')
  let s:lesspipe_cmd = 'lesspipe'
endif

" Optional: Set maximum file size to process (default 80MB)
let g:lesspipe_max_bytes = 80 * 1024 * 1024

" Exclude Office formats from zipPlugin to let lesspipe handle them
let g:zipPlugin_ext='*.apk,*.celzip,*.crtx,*.ear,*.gcsx,*.glox,*.gqsx,*.kmz,*.oxt,*.potm,*.potx,*.ppam,*.sldx,*.thmx,*.vdw,*.war,*.wsz,*.xap,*.xlam,*.xltm,*.xltx,*.xpi,*.zip'
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Bat/Batcat Style and Theme

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Customize the appearance of syntax highlighting when using 'bat' or 'batcat' as the colorizer. Set BAT_STYLE for styling and BAT_THEME for the color scheme.

```bash
# Configure bat/batcat style and theme
export BAT_STYLE='plain'
export BAT_THEME='ansi'
```

--------------------------------

### View Specialized File Formats

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Handle domain-specific formats like DVI, PostScript, Java classes, and HDF5.

```bash
# View DVI files (requires dvi2tty)
less document.dvi

# View PostScript files (requires ps2ascii from ghostscript)
less document.ps

# View DjVu files (requires djvutxt)
less document.djvu

# View shared libraries (requires nm)
less library.so

# View Java class files (requires procyon)
less Class.class

# View HDF5/NetCDF files (requires h5dump or ncdump)
less data.hdf5
less dataset.nc4

# View MATLAB files (requires matdump)
less data.mat

# View device tree blobs (requires dtc)
less device.dtb

# View macOS property lists (requires plistutil or plutil)
less settings.plist

# View CSV files in table format (requires csvtable, csvlook, or column)
less data.csv
# Tip: Press -S then Enter to toggle line wrapping for wide tables
```

--------------------------------

### View Directory Listings

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Display directory contents or archive contents using less.

```bash
# View directory contents (colored if supported)
less /path/to/directory

# View directory from archive
less archive.tar:some/directory/
```

--------------------------------

### View OpenDocument and RTF files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

View various document formats using external conversion tools like pandoc or libreoffice.

```bash
less document.odt      # Requires odt2txt, pandoc, or libreoffice
less spreadsheet.ods   # Requires xlscat or libreoffice
less presentation.odp  # Requires libreoffice

# View RTF documents
less document.rtf      # Requires unrtf or libreoffice

# View EPUB ebooks
less book.epub         # Requires pandoc
```

--------------------------------

### List Supported Languages for Colorizers

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Use these commands to list the languages supported by various syntax highlighting tools. This helps in choosing the appropriate colorizer for your files.

```shell
bat --list-languages
```

```shell
batcat --list-languages
```

```shell
pygmentize -L lexers
```

```shell
M-x -mode [TAB] within emacs
```

```shell
source-highlight --lang-list
```

```shell
code2color -h
```

```shell
vimcolor -L (this command is valid both for vimcolor and nvimpager)
```

--------------------------------

### Check zipPlugin extensions

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/vim

Verify the current list of file extensions handled by the zipPlugin.

```vim
echo g:zipPlugin_ext
```

```vim
*.aar,*.apk,*.celzip,*.crtx,*.docm,*.docx,*.dotm,*.dotx,*.ear,*.epub,*.gcsx,*.glox,*.gqsx,*.ja,*.jar,*.kmz,*.odb,*.odc,*.od
f,*.odg,*.odi,*.odm,*.odp,*.ods,*.odt,*.otc,*.otf,*.otg,*.oth,*.oti,*.otp,*.ots,*.ott,*.oxt,*.potm,*.potx,*.ppam,*.ppsm,*.p
psx,*.pptm,*.pptx,*.sldx,*.thmx,*.vdw,*.war,*.wsz,*.xap,*.xlam,*.xlam,*.xltm,*.xltx,*.xpi,*.zip
```

--------------------------------

### Use Archive Color Helper

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Colorize archive listings using the archive_color utility.

```bash
# Colorize tar listing manually
tar tvzf archive.tar.gz | archive_color

# Customize colors using TAR_COLORS or LS_COLORS
export TAR_COLORS='di=01;34:ln=01;36:ex=01;32:so=01;35'

# Default color scheme:
# di=01;34 (directories: bold blue)
# ln=01;36 (symlinks: bold cyan)
# ex=01;32 (executables: bold green)
# so=01;35 (sockets: bold magenta)

# archive_color is automatically used when LESS includes -R
export LESS="-R"
less archive.tar
```

--------------------------------

### Configure .gitattributes for Binary Diffing

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/git

Add these patterns to your .git/attributes file to specify that binary files should be diffed using the 'lesspipe' driver. This applies to various document and archive formats.

```gitattributes
*.pdf    diff=lesspipe

*.odt    diff=lesspipe

*.doc    diff=lesspipe
*.xls    diff=lesspipe
*.ppt    diff=lesspipe

*.docx   diff=lesspipe
*.xlsx   diff=lesspipe
*.pptx   diff=lesspipe

*.rtf    diff=lesspipe

*.epub   diff=lesspipe

*.{jar,ja}        diff=lesspipe
*.{rar,7z,zip}    diff=lesspipe

*.gif        diff=lesspipe
*.png        diff=lesspipe
*.{jpg,jpeg} diff=lesspipe
```

--------------------------------

### Colorize Log Files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Enable colored log viewing using tspin.

```bash
# View log files with colorization (requires tspin)
less application.log

# Force log colorization for files without .log extension
less /var/log/syslog:log

# Watch growing log files with color
tspin -f /var/log/syslog

# Disable log colorization
less application.log:
```

--------------------------------

### View Media File Metadata

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Display metadata for image, audio, and video files using tools like mediainfo or ffprobe.

```bash
# View image metadata (requires mediainfo, exiftool, or identify)
less photo.jpg
less image.png
less graphic.gif

# View MP3 file tags (requires ffprobe, eyeD3, or id3v2)
less song.mp3

# View video file information (requires ffprobe or mediainfo)
less video.mp4
less movie.mkv

# View audio file metadata
less audio.flac
less sound.wav
```

--------------------------------

### Enable Tab Completion for Archive Contents

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Configure shell environments to support navigating files within archives using tab completion.

```bash
# For zsh: Add to ~/.zshrc
autoload compinit
compinit -Uz
setopt menucomplete

# For bash: Ensure bash-completion is installed and source the completion file
source /etc/bash_completion.d/less

# Usage: Type archive name, colon, then press TAB
less archive.tar.gz:<TAB>
# Output: Shows list of files in archive

# Navigate nested archives with completion
less archive.tar.gz:inner/<TAB>
less source.rpm:package.tar.gz:<TAB>
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Mutt for Attachments

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Enable lesspipe.sh to process attachments in Mutt.

```bash
# Add to ~/.muttrc
autoview text/* application/* image/* audio/* video/*

# Add to ~/.mailcap (or file specified by mailcap_path in .muttrc)
cat >> ~/.mailcap << 'EOF'
text/*;           LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
application/*;    LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
image/*;          LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
audio/*;          LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
video/*;          LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
EOF
```

--------------------------------

### View Office Documents

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Display text content from various Microsoft Office and LibreOffice document formats.

```bash
# View Microsoft Word documents
less document.doc      # Requires wvText, catdoc, or libreoffice
less document.docx     # Requires pandoc, docx2txt, or libreoffice

# View Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
less spreadsheet.xls   # Requires in2csv or xls2csv
less spreadsheet.xlsx  # Requires xlsx2csv, in2csv, xlscat, or libreoffice

# View Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
less presentation.ppt  # Requires libreoffice
less presentation.pptx # Requires pptx2md+pandoc or libreoffice
```

--------------------------------

### Run lesspipe.sh with Bash Debug Output

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Use bash -x to see detailed execution steps of lesspipe.sh when processing a file. Redirect output to /dev/null to avoid clutter.

```bash
# Run lesspipe.sh with bash debug output
bash -x lesspipe.sh problematic_file > /dev/null
```

--------------------------------

### Execute show function

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/german.txt

Invokes the show function with the variable $a.

```bash
show "$a"
```

--------------------------------

### Run lesspipe.sh with Zsh Debug Output

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Similar to bash, zsh -x provides detailed execution tracing for lesspipe.sh. Redirect output to /dev/null to keep the terminal clean.

```zsh
# Or with zsh
zsh -x lesspipe.sh problematic_file > /dev/null
```

--------------------------------

### Determine file display method

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/german.txt

Determines how to display file contents based on file type or archive format.

```bash
isfinal() {
  if [[ "$3" = $sep || "$3" = $sep$sep ]]; then
    cat $2
    return
  elif [[ "$2" = - && ( "$1" = *RPM* || "$1" = *Zip* ) ]]; then
    cat > $tmp.fin
    set "$1" $tmp.fin
  fi
  if [[ "$1" = *No\ such* ]]; then
    return
  elif [[ "$1" = *directory* ]]; then
  echo "==> This is a directory, showing the output of ls -lAL"
    ls -lAL "$2"
  elif [[ "$1" = *tar* ]]; then
  echo "==> use tar_file${sep}contained_file to view a file in the archive"
    $tarcmd tvf "$2"
  elif [[ "$1" = *RPM* ]]; then
  echo "==> use RPM_file${sep}contained_file to view a file in the RPM"
    rpm -p "$2" -qiv
    rpm2cpio $2|cpio -i -tv --quiet
  elif [[ "$1" = *roff* ]]; then
  echo "==> append $sep to filename to view the nroff source"
    groff -s -p -t -e -Tascii -mandoc ${2#-}
  elif [[ "$1" = *executable* ]]; then
  echo "==> append $sep to filename to view the binary file"
    strings ${2#-}
  elif [[ "$1" = *Zip* ]]; then
  echo "==> use zip_file${sep}contained_file to view a file in the archive"
    unzip -lv "$2"
  elif [[ "$1" = *HTML* ]]; then
  echo "==> append $sep to filename to view the HTML source"
    LESSOPEN=
    w3m -dump -X -T text/html "$2"
  elif [[ "$2" = - ]]; then
    cat
  fi
}
```

--------------------------------

### Extract Binary File from Archive using lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/article_en

Demonstrates extracting a binary file (e.g., an executable) from an archive without unpacking. It uses the '::' to disable filtering and redirects the output to a file.

```bash
less archive.tar.gz:archive_dir/exe_file:: > exe_file
```

--------------------------------

### Enable lesspipe.sh with pipes using LESSOPEN

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Set the LESSOPEN environment variable to '|- ' or '||- ' to enable lesspipe.sh when 'less' is used in a pipe. This allows lesspipe.sh to process piped input.

```shell
cat somefile | less
```

--------------------------------

### Create ~/.lessfilter for custom processing

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Define custom file handling logic in a shell script. Ensure the script is executable after creation.

```bash
cat > ~/.lessfilter << 'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env bash

case "$1" in
  *.md|*.MD|*.mkd|*.markdown|*.rst)
    # Use rich for markdown rendering (falls back to lesspipe.sh if unavailable)
    python3 -m rich.markdown -c "$1" && exit 0
    exit 1
    ;;
  *.html|*.htm)
    # Custom HTML processing
    w3m -dump -T text/html "$1" && exit 0
    exit 1
    ;;
  *.custom)
    # Handle custom file format
    custom-converter "$1" && exit 0
    exit 1
    ;;
  *)
    # Let lesspipe.sh handle everything else
    exit 1
    ;;
esac
EOF
chmod +x ~/.lessfilter

# Alternative: Create system-wide lessfilter in PATH
sudo cp lessfilter /usr/local/bin/lessfilter
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/lessfilter
```

--------------------------------

### View Archive Contents

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Display the table of contents for various archive formats including tar, zip, and package files.

```bash
# View tar archive contents
less archive.tar
less archive.tar.gz
less archive.tar.bz2

# View zip archive contents
less package.zip

# View 7-zip archive contents (requires 7z, 7zz, 7zr, or 7za)
less archive.7z

# View RAR archive contents (requires unrar or rar)
less archive.rar

# View RPM package contents and metadata
less package.rpm

# View Debian package contents and control info
less package.deb

# View ISO image contents (requires bsdtar or isoinfo)
less image.iso

# View CAB archive contents (requires cabextract or 7z)
less archive.cab

# View CPIO archive
less archive.cpio

# View AppImage contents (requires unsquashfs)
less application.AppImage

# View snap package contents
less package.snap
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Mutt Mailcap Entries

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/mutt

Add these entries to the file specified by `mailcap_path` in your `.muttrc` to define how Mutt should handle different MIME types with lesspipe.sh. Ensure `LESSQUIET=1` is set to suppress lesspipe output and `copiousoutput` is used for full content display.

```mailcap
text/*;                           LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
```

```mailcap
application/*;                    LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
```

```mailcap
image/*;                          LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
```

```mailcap
audio/*;                          LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
```

```mailcap
video/*;                          LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh '%s'; copiousoutput
```

--------------------------------

### Configure lesspipe.vim plugin

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/vim

Add this script to your vimfiles directory to enable automatic file content transformation using lesspipe.

```vim
if &compatible || exists('g:loaded_lesspipe') | finish | endif
let g:loaded_lesspipe = 1

if exists('g:lesspipe_cmd')
  let s:lesspipe_cmd = g:lesspipe_cmd
elseif executable('lesspipe.sh')
  let s:lesspipe_cmd = 'LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh'
elseif executable('lesspipe')
  let s:lesspipe_cmd = 'lesspipe'
elseif executable('run-mailcap')
  let s:lesspipe_cmd = 'run-mailcap --action=cat'
endif
let s:executable_file = executable('file')

" Require a usable lesspipe command.
if !exists('s:lesspipe_cmd') || !executable('file') | finish | endif

" Optional upper bound to avoid expensive conversions; override as needed.
if !exists('g:lesspipe_max_bytes')
  let g:lesspipe_max_bytes = 80 * 1024 * 1024  " 80 MiB
endif

function! s:IsTextMime(path) abort
  if !s:executable_file | return 0 | endif
  let mime = trim(system('file -b --mime-type ' . shellescape(a:path)))
  if v:shell_error != 0 | return 0 | endif
  if mime =~# '\v^%(text|message)/' | return 1 | endif
  if mime =~# '\v%(json|xml|javascript|ecmascript|x-(%(ba|c|k|z)?sh|shellscript)|yaml|toml)$' | return 1 | endif
  return 0
endfunction

function! s:Lesspipe() abort
  " Skip if already transformed or unsuitable buffer types.
  if exists('b:lesspipe_done') | return | endif
  " Respect existing filetype detection.
  let force = get(b:, 'lesspipe_force', 0)
  if !force && (!empty(&l:filetype) || did_filetype()) | return | endif

  if !empty(&l:buftype) || &l:binary | return | endif

  " Resolve absolute path; require a regular readable file.
  let abs = resolve(expand('%:p'))
  if getftype(abs) !=# 'file' | return | endif
  if !filereadable(abs) | return | endif
  " Skip URLs such as vim's netrw.
  if abs =~# '^\w\+://' | return | endif

  " Size guard to avoid heavy processing.
  let sz = getfsize(abs)
  if sz == 0 | echomsg 'lesspipe: skipping empty file ' . abs | return | endif
  if sz > g:lesspipe_max_bytes | echomsg 'lesspipe: skipping large file ' . abs | return | endif

  if !force && s:IsTextMime(abs) | return | endif

  " Apply lesspipe, then lock the buffer down for viewing.
  let save = [ &l:modifiable, &l:readonly, &l:binary, &l:buftype ]
  try
    if force | setlocal buftype= nobinary | endif
    setlocal modifiable noreadonly fileencoding=utf-8
    " Use keepjumps/keepmarks to avoid disturbing user state.
    execute 'silent keepjumps keepmarks %!' s:lesspipe_cmd shellescape(abs)
    setlocal nomodifiable readonly
    setlocal buftype=nowrite bufhidden=hide noswapfile
    setlocal filetype=text
    let b:lesspipe_done = 1
  catch /.*/
    let [ &l:modifiable, &l:readonly, &l:binary, &l:buftype ] = save
    echomsg $"lesspipe: failed for {abs}: {v:exception}"
  endtry
endfunction

augroup lesspipe
  autocmd!
  autocmd BufReadPost *   call s:Lesspipe()
  "  Vim sets a filetype for pdf files; force lesspipe on them.
  " autocmd BufReadCmd *.{PDF,pdf} if filereadable(resolve(expand('<afile>:p'))) | let b:lesspipe_force = 1 | doautocmd lesspipe BufReadPost
augroup END
```

--------------------------------

### View PDF Documents

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Convert PDF files to text for viewing in the terminal.

```bash
# View PDF document text (requires pdftotext from poppler-utils)
less document.pdf

# View PDF from within an archive
less documents.zip:report.pdf

# View original PDF binary (suppress conversion)
less document.pdf:
```

--------------------------------

### Watch Growing Files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Monitor log files or streams using the +F option in less.

```bash
# Watch a growing log file (may need workaround for some formats)
less +F /var/log/syslog

# Force watching without filtering (append colon as last argument)
less +F /var/log/syslog :

# Watch via pipe with LESSOPEN starting with |-
cat /var/log/syslog | less +F - :

# Use tspin directly for colorized log watching
tspin -f /var/log/syslog
```

--------------------------------

### Enable ANSI Color Sequences

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Use the LESS='-R' option to enable ANSI color sequences in the output of 'less'. This is useful for displaying colored text, such as syntax highlighting, correctly.

```bash
# Enable ANSI color sequences in less output
export LESS="-R"
```

--------------------------------

### View Compressed Files

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Automatically decompress and view various file formats. Append a colon to the filename to view the raw binary instead of the decompressed content.

```bash
# View gzip compressed file
less document.txt.gz

# View bzip2 compressed file
less archive.tar.bz2

# View xz compressed file
less data.xz

# View zstd compressed file
less backup.zst

# View lz4 compressed file
less log.lz4

# View brotli compressed file (requires 'bro' command)
less resource.br

# View lzip compressed file
less archive.lz

# View original compressed file without decompression (append colon)
less document.txt.gz:
```

--------------------------------

### Directly Colorize Growing Log Files with tspin

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Use 'tspin -f' directly to colorize growing log files, providing real-time updates. This is an alternative to using lesspipe.sh for dynamic log monitoring.

```shell
tspin -f /var/log/syslog
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Mutt Autoview

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/mutt

Add this line to your `.muttrc` file to enable automatic viewing of specified file types using lesspipe.sh.

```muttrc
autoview text/* application/* image/* audio/* video/*
```

--------------------------------

### Load zsh Completion System

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

To enable tab completion in zsh, load the completion system and set the menucomplete option. This is typically done in your zsh configuration file.

```zsh
autoload compinit
compinit -Uz
setopt menucomplete
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Git Diff Driver for Lesspipe

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/git

Add this section to your git/config file to define the 'lesspipe' diff driver. It uses lesspipe.sh to convert binary content to text for diffing and enables caching for performance.

```gitconfig
[diff "lesspipe"]
textconv = LESSQUIET=1 lesspipe.sh
binary = true
cachetextconv = true
```

--------------------------------

### Set Preferred Syntax Highlighter

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Configure lesspipe.sh to use a specific syntax highlighter by setting the LESSCOLORIZER environment variable. Supported options include nvimpager, batcat, bat, pygmentize, e2ansi-cat, source-highlight, vimcolor, and code2color.

```bash
# Set preferred syntax highlighter
# Options: nvimpager, batcat, bat, pygmentize, e2ansi-cat, source-highlight, vimcolor, code2color
export LESSCOLORIZER='bat --style=plain --theme=ansi'
```

--------------------------------

### Unzip file content

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/german.txt

Handles unzipping files, including reading from standard input if the first argument is a dash.

```bash
    cat > $tmp
    set $tmp "$2"
  fi
  unzip -avp "$1" "$2"
}
```

--------------------------------

### Check File Type Detection

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Use the 'file' command to determine the MIME type and general file type of a problematic file. This helps in understanding what lesspipe.sh is trying to process.

```bash
# Check what file type is detected
file --mime problematic_file
```

```bash
file problematic_file
```

--------------------------------

### Force Syntax Highlighter with LESSCOLORIZER

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Set the LESSCOLORIZER environment variable to force a specific syntax highlighter and its options. Supported colorizers include pygmentize and bat/batcat.

```shell
LESSCOLORIZER='pygmentize -O style=foo'
```

```shell
LESSCOLORIZER='bat --style=foo --theme=bar' # --theme=default for default theme
```

--------------------------------

### Enable lesspipe.sh as Input Filter

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Configure lesspipe.sh to process files by setting the LESSOPEN environment variable. This is a required step for lesspipe.sh to function as an input filter for 'less'.

```bash
# Required: Enable lesspipe.sh as input filter
export LESSOPEN="|/usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s"
```

--------------------------------

### Extract and Navigate Archives

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Access specific files within archives using colon notation or extract them directly to disk.

```bash
# View a specific file inside a tar archive
less archive.tar:path/to/file.txt

# Extract file from compressed tar archive
less archive.tar.gz:src/main.c

# View file from zip archive
less package.zip:README.md

# View file from RPM package
less package.rpm:usr/share/doc/README

# View file from Debian package
less package.deb:./usr/bin/script.sh

# Navigate nested archives (up to 6 levels deep)
less outer.tar.gz:inner.tar:file.txt
less source.rpm:package.tar.gz:src/code.c

# Extract file to disk using redirection
less archive.tar.gz:document.txt > document.txt

# Or use lesspipe.sh directly for extraction
lesspipe.sh archive.zip:data/config.json > config.json

# Use equal sign as separator when filename contains colon
less 'archive.tar=file:with:colons.txt'
```

--------------------------------

### Set LESSOPEN Environment Variable (bash/zsh)

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Configure LESSOPEN by evaluating the output of `lesspipe.sh`. This is a convenient way to set the variable for bash or zsh shells.

```shell
eval "$(lesspipe.sh)"             # (bash) or
lesspipe.sh | source /dev/stdin   # (zsh)
```

--------------------------------

### Debug lesspipe with bash -x

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

To debug lesspipe, you can execute it with bash's -x option to see the commands being run. Redirecting output to /dev/null is common for debugging.

```shell
bash -x lesspipe.sh file_name > /dev/null # or zsh -x
```

--------------------------------

### Append lesspipe.sh to Shell Configuration

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Add lesspipe.sh to your shell's configuration files (.bashrc, .zshrc) to ensure it's set up on shell startup.

```shell
lesspipe.sh >> ~/.bashrc        # (bash) and
lesspipe.sh >> ~/.zshrc         # (zsh) and
```

--------------------------------

### Set LESSOPEN Environment Variable (sh)

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Define the LESSOPEN environment variable to enable lesspipe.sh integration. Ensure `lesspipe.sh` is in your PATH or provide the full path.

```shell
LESSOPEN="|lesspipe.sh %s"; export LESSOPEN  # (sh like shells)
```

--------------------------------

### Configure lesspipe.sh Environment

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Set the LESSOPEN environment variable to enable the filter and configure optional settings like colorization and quiet mode.

```bash
# Set LESSOPEN for sh-like shells (bash, zsh)
LESSOPEN="|/usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s"; export LESSOPEN

# Alternative: auto-generate and eval the settings
eval "$(lesspipe.sh)"

# For zsh specifically
lesspipe.sh | source /dev/stdin

# Add to shell initialization files for persistence
lesspipe.sh >> ~/.bashrc   # bash
lesspipe.sh >> ~/.zshrc    # zsh

# Enable colored output by setting LESS with -R option
export LESS="-R"

# Suppress informational messages
export LESSQUIET=1

# Set preferred syntax highlighter (optional)
export LESSCOLORIZER='bat --style=plain --theme=ansi'
# Or: export LESSCOLORIZER='pygmentize -O style=monokai'
```

--------------------------------

### View Files in Archives

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Access files contained within archives using `less` by specifying the archive file and the contained file, separated by a colon.

```shell
less archive_file:contained_file
```

--------------------------------

### Clone lesspipe.sh Repository

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Clone the development version of lesspipe.sh from its GitHub repository using git.

```bash
git clone https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe.git
```

--------------------------------

### View Nested Archives

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

View files within archives that are themselves contained in other archives by chaining file names with colons.

```shell
less super_archive:archive_file:contained_file
```

--------------------------------

### Enable Piped Input Filtering

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Use a hyphen in the LESSOPEN variable to enable piped input filtering. This can alter separator behavior, so use it if you need specific piped input handling.

```bash
# Enable piped input filtering (optional, changes separator behavior)
export LESSOPEN="|-/usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s"
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Archive Listing Colors

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Define custom colors for archive listings using TAR_COLORS. The format is similar to LS_COLORS, allowing you to specify colors for different file types within archives.

```bash
# Configure archive listing colors (same format as LS_COLORS)
export TAR_COLORS='di=01;34:ln=01;36:ex=01;32'
```

--------------------------------

### Test less Without lesspipe.sh

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Isolate issues by running 'less' without lesspipe.sh enabled. Set LESSOPEN to an empty value to disable the filter and see if the problem persists.

```bash
# Test without lesspipe.sh
LESSOPEN= less problematic_file
```

--------------------------------

### Temporarily Set LESSOPEN for Debugging

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Debug lesspipe.sh by temporarily setting the LESSOPEN environment variable to use bash -x. This allows you to see the script's output directly within the less command.

```bash
# Temporarily set LESSOPEN for debugging
LESSOPEN='|bash -x /usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s' less problematic_file 2>&1
```

--------------------------------

### Disable zipPlugin

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/vim

Completely disable the zipPlugin by setting the loaded_gzip variable.

```vim
  let g:loaded_gzip = v:true
```

--------------------------------

### Display Files with Special Characters in Name

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Escape shell meta characters in filenames with a backslash (\) when using 'less'. This ensures correct interpretation of filenames containing spaces or other special characters.

```shell
less a\ b.tar.gz:a\"b
```

--------------------------------

### Extract Files from Archives using lesspipe.sh

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Extract files from archives directly using `lesspipe.sh` by redirecting its output. This method does not require the `less` command.

```shell
lesspipe.sh archive_file:contained_file > extracted_file
```

--------------------------------

### Modify zipPlugin extensions

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/vim

Update the g:zipPlugin_ext variable to exclude specific file types from being handled by the zipPlugin.

```vim
" Remove extensions jar?|epub|doc[xm]|xls[xmb]|pp[st][xm] from g:zipPlugin_ext
" from Sep 13, 2016 and afterwards add back whenever converter unavailable
let g:zipPlugin_ext='*.apk,*.celzip,*.crtx,*.ear,*.gcsx,*.glox,*.gqsx,*.kmz,*.oxt,*.potm,*.potx,*.ppam,*.sldx,*.thmx,*.vdw,*.war,*.wsz,*.xap,*.xlam,*.xlam,*.xltm,*.xltx,*.xpi,*.zip'
```

--------------------------------

### Extract RPM content

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/german.txt

Extracts contents from an RPM file using rpm2cpio and cpio.

```bash
isrpm () {
  if [[ "$1" = - ]]; then
    rm -f $tmp
    cat > $tmp
    set $tmp "$2"
  fi
  echo $tmp.1 > $tmp.
  rm -f $tmp.1
  rpm2cpio $1|cpio -i --quiet --rename-batch-file $tmp. ${2##/}
  cat $tmp.1
}
```

--------------------------------

### Configure Vimcolor ANSI Colors

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Customize ANSI colors for vimcolor by setting VIMCOLOR_ANSI. This allows you to define specific color mappings for syntax elements like comments and statements.

```bash
# Configure vimcolor ANSI colors
export VIMCOLOR_ANSI='Comment=green;Statement=magenta;'
```

--------------------------------

### Set LESSOPEN for Debugging

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

Temporarily set the LESSOPEN environment variable to pipe the output through bash -x lesspipe.sh. This allows you to see executed commands on STDERR while the normal output goes to STDOUT.

```shell
LESSOPEN='|bash -x /usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s'
```

--------------------------------

### Disable lesspipe.sh Filtering

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/wiki/article_en

How to display the original content of a file without any filtering by lesspipe.sh. Append two colons (::) to the file argument.

```bash
less a.html::
```

--------------------------------

### Extract Files from Archives via Pipe

Source: https://github.com/wofr06/lesspipe/blob/lesspipe/README.md

When using less with pipes and LESSOPEN is set, append a colon and the filename to the 'less' command to extract and display a specific file from an archive. This bypasses the standard colon notation restriction.

```shell
cat some_c_file | less - :c          # equivalent to less some_c_file:c
```

```shell
cat archive | less - :contained_file # extracts a file from the archive
```

--------------------------------

### Suppress Informational Messages

Source: https://context7.com/wofr06/lesspipe/llms.txt

Set LESSQUIET=1 to suppress informational messages from lesspipe.sh. This can help in keeping the output clean, especially when debugging or in automated scripts.

```bash
# Suppress informational messages from lesspipe.sh
export LESSQUIET=1
```
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