Write lines to a file from less

Question

While in vim I can write a range of lines from the file I'm viewing to another file. For example,

:1,10 w outfile.txt

will write lines 1 through 10 to outfile.txt.

Can I do the same while I'm viewing a file using less?

Stéphane Chazelas · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-17T17:20:28.857

21

10Gmm1G|mcat > outfile.txt

(typed within less) seems to work as long as the input doesn't fit in one screen (in which case all the input ends up in outfile.txt for some reason).

10G brings you to line 10
mm sets the m mark there
1G (same as g in this case) brings you to line 1
|m pipe from the current line to mark m
cat > outfile.txt: that's piped to that command.

edited Feb 17 '14 at 17:20

answered Feb 17 '14 at 16:21

Stéphane Chazelas

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I had to paste the command at the prompt because typing `10G` brought me to the 10th line before I could type the rest, but it did indeed work. – eebbesen Feb 17 '14 at 16:57
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@eebbesen, well that was the point. See my edit – Stéphane Chazelas Feb 17 '14 at 17:20
Thank you for clarifying @StephaneChazelas (as well as for your initial answer) -- it is now clear. – eebbesen Feb 17 '14 at 17:43
1

genius to the rescue again :) – Ramesh Sep 05 '14 at 15:02

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 17 '14 at 16:14

4

You could use view which is the same as vi -r

answered Feb 17 '14 at 16:14

X Tian

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That will work, but for large files I prefer to use `less` -- it is my understanding that `vi` causes the whole file to load at once. – eebbesen Feb 17 '14 at 16:59

Write lines to a file from less

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