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From: jdpeek@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Jerry Peek)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: When will "more" print a prompt; when will it just beep?
Message-ID: <1024@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Date: 13 Oct 89 09:21:38 GMT
Sender: jdpeek@rodan.acs.syr.edu
Reply-To: jdpeek@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Jerry Peek)
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Lines: 19

QUESTION:  What does "more" use in the termcap to decide when to beep?

DETAILS:  I'm writing a shell script that uses "more" to show documents
screenful-by-screenful.  But some users don't set their TERM
environment variable -- or, they use dumb terminals.  In that case,
"more" won't print a prompt on each screen -- it just beeps at the
end of each screen.

I'd like to test the termcap before starting "more".
(I can read the termcap from a shell script -- I have a copy of
"tcap", the great program by Lyle McElhaney that lets you do this.)
If "more" is going to beep at the user, I'd like to echo a message
that says "at the beep, press space to continue or q to quit."
But what does "more" check in the termcap to decide when to beep?

This is a Gould NP1 running UTX/32 (4.3BSD-like).  Thanks a lot.

--Jerry Peek; Syracuse University Academic Computing Services; Syracuse, NY
  jdpeek@rodan.acs.syr.edu///JDPEEK@SUVM.BITNET///GEnie: J.PEEK1
  +1 315 443-3995