Usage

Getting started

The pager is called using the function pager. If the input object is not a AbstractString, then it will be rendered using show with MIME"text/plain". Thus, you can browse a large matrix, for example, using:

julia> rand(100,100) |> pager

It is also possible to use the pager to browse the documentation of a specific function:

julia> @doc(write) |> pager

All the functionalities can be seen in the built-in help system, accessible by typing ? inside the pager.

Helpers

The following macros are available to help calling the pager.

@help

This macro calls the help of any function, macro, or other object and redirects it to the pager:

julia> @help write

You can hit <Alt> + h (alternatively <F1>) on any REPL input to get help about the identifier the cursor currently is above. After you ended the pager, you are back with the REPL input you have already written. If you are in a new argument of a method call, the pager will print help about the function instead to help you complete the method's argument list.

You can hit <Alt> + <Shift> + h to perform the same action but showing the extended help instead.

@stdout_to_pager

This macro redirects all the stdout to the pager after the command is completed:

julia> @stdout_to_pager show(stdout, MIME"text/plain"(), rand(100,100))

This macro also works with blocks such as for loops:

julia> @stdout_to_pager for i = 1:100
       println("$(mod(i,9))"^i)
       end

REPL Modes

TerminalPager.jl comes with a REPL mode that automatically renders the command output to a pager if it does not fit the screen. To access this mode, just type | at the beginning of the REPL command line. If the mode is load correctly, the prompt julia> is changed to pager>.

In pager mode, you can also type ? at the beginning of the command line to access the pager help mode. In this case, the prompt is changed to pager?>. Any docstring accessed in this mode is rendered inside a pager. By default, we use the alternate screen buffer, allowing to keep the screen content after exiting the pager.