From: Rasputin <rasputnik@...>
Date: 2003-12-18T06:40:39+09:00
Subject: Re: paging (was Newbie questions)

Dave Thomas wrote:
> 
> On Dec 17, 2003, at 13:25, Thomas Adam wrote:
> 
>>
>>> Interesting.  So there's apparantly no consistant way of finding a pager
>>> program.
>>
>> It would be easy to do...
>> Test for either:
>>    $PAGER
>> and the like...
>> if they're defined use them, otherwise default to a generic one.
> 
> 
> Here's the code I'm using in 'ri'. Will it work across the systems that 
> folks use?
> 
>     for pager in [ ENV['pager'], "less", "more <" ].compact.uniq
>       if system("#{pager} #{path}")
>         paged = true
>         break
>       end
>     end
>     if !paged
>       @options.use_stdout = true
>       puts File.read(path)
>     end

If that 'for' list gets much, it'll soon be easier to just
write your own terminal handler :)

But it sounds like every *NIX has its own custom variable/binary.
My 2 euro is just choose an environment variable (I think PAGER is
traditional) and use it. Platform specific installers can set it if
need be. If its not set print a warning to set it maybe?


-- 
Rasputin :: Jack of All Trades - Master of Nuns