Paging multiple columns in the console

[Warren Block]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004, Reed Loefgren wrote:

> I'm moving to FreeBSD from Slackware and have one thing that bugs me a
> bit. If I do an ls on a big directory, say /usr/bin, I get output in a
> couple columns (I'm using bash.)
>
> In FreeBSD (4.9) If I ls a big directory it will output a couple
> columns, but I can't page it unless I pipe the output to more or less,
> and then I get a single column.

It's intentional behavior, so that you can use the output of ls as input 
to something else.

> Is there a way I can keep the
> multi-column output but still use a pager?

Hmm.. 'apropos column' and aha!  The column command can be used to, err, 
re-columnize:

ls /usr/bin | column -x | less

> This isn't a problem if I'm in X, just console. I know I can hit the (I
> think) scroll lock and do this, but I'm looking for something that flows
> a bit better for me.

Truthfully, I use Scroll Lock, and set the kernel option for history 
lines to 500.

-Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota USA