scat -- Command

Print text files one screenful at a time
scat [ [option ...] [file ... ] ] ...

scat prints each file on the standard output, one screenful (24 lines) at a
time if the  output is a screen.  scat reads  and prints the standard input
if no file is named.

The text is processed to allow  convenient viewing on a screen; the options
described below select the nature of the processing.  Options begin with `-
' and may be interspersed with file names.

scat scans two argument lists.  The  first is in the environmental SCAT. It
should  consist  of arguments  separated  by white  space  (space, tab,  or
newline characters), with  no quoting or shell metacharacters.  This string
is a useful place to  set terminal-dependent parameters (such as page width
and length) and to place invocation lists (see below).  The second argument
list is supplied on the command line.

scat recognizes the following options:

-1   Do not  stop at EOF if  exactly one file was  specified on the command
     line.

-bn  Begin output at input line n.

-c   Represent  all control  characters unambiguously.   With  this option,
     scat prints  control characters in  the range 0-037 as  a character in
     the range 0100-0137 prefixed by  a carat `^'; for example, SOH appears
     as ``^A''  and DEL as ``^?'' It prints  mark-parity characters (in the
     range of  0200-0377) with  `~'; for  example, mark-parity `A'  and SOH
     appear  as ``~A''  and ``~^A'',  respectively.   It also  prefixes the
     characters `^',  `~', and `\'  with a `\'.  This  option overrides the
     option -t.

-cs  Like -c, but map space ` ' to underscore `_' and prefix underscore `_'
     with `\'.

-ct  Like -c, but map tabs to spaces, not ``^I''.

-in  Shift the display window right n columns into the text field.  This is
     useful for viewing long lines.

-ln  Set the display window length to n lines.  The default is 24 normally,
     34 for the Tek 4012.

-n   Number input lines; wrapped lines are not numbered.

-r   Remote; the output is not paged.

-s   Skip empty lines.

-Sn  Seek n bytes into input before processing.

-t   Truncate long  lines.  Normally, scat  wraps each long  line, with the
     interrupted portion delimited by a `\'.

-wn  Set  the  display  window width  to  n  columns.   The  default is  80
     normally, 72 for the Tek 4012.

-x   Expand tabs.

-. suffix
     Invoke options by file-name suffix.  If a file name ends with .suffix,
     then scat  scans the argument  sublist starting immediately  after the
     invocation flag.  New options will apply to the invoking file only.  A
     sublist is terminated by the end of the argument list, by a file name,
     by  the ``--''  flag, or  by another ``-.''  (invocation lists  do not
     nest).

--   Terminate a sublist (see previous option).

Numbers may  begin with 0 to  indicate octal, and may  end in b or  k to be
scaled by 512 or 1,024, respectively.

If the output is being paged,  scat waits for a user response, which may be
one of the following:

newline Display next page
/       Display next half-page
space   Display next line
f       Print current file name and line number
n       scat next file
q       Quit

Example

The following  shows how to  use the environment  argument list, invocation
lists, and sublists:

SCAT="-l24 -.c -n -.s -b5"
export SCAT
scat *.c *.s

After processing  the SCAT argument  list, scat processes  the command line
argument list ``*.c *.s'' with the page length at 24 lines.  If a file is a
C source (``*.c'') the invoke option  in the SCAT argument list numbers the
output lines.   If a file  is an assembly  source (``*.s'') scat  skips the
first four lines.

See Also

cat,
commands,
pr

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness