README
1Lazyread 2.0 README by Ryan Kulla (Feb 2nd 2003)
2
3Description
4===========
5Lazyread auto-scrolls files or command output on your screen.
6
7You can choose between different kinds of scroll modes and there are many
8command line and dynamic options such as changing the scroll speed, pausing,
9colors, search strings, case, file info, and more. It is an auto-scroller,
10pager and e-book reader all in one!
11
12You can supply it many file types for viewing including text, html, pdf,
13gzip, tar, zip, ar, bzip2, MS-Word, nroff (man pages), executable, directory,
14.deb, .so, .rpm, piped output from other programs and more.
15
16I originally wrote lazyread because I wanted a way to read long files while
17I sat back in my chair and read without needing to touch my keyboard to
18scroll down the pages as I read them. I've since added many features.
19
20Here are some examples of uses for lazyread:
21
22- You want to take notes of what you're reading without having to put down
23 your pencil and paper to scroll down the file.
24
25- You want to be able to eat while you're reading without getting food all
26 over your keyboard.
27
28- You want to read while laying or sitting too far away from you keyboard to
29 reach it.
30
31- You want to be able to read a file while doing some exercises in front
32 of your computer.
33
34- You want to practice speed reading. Just set the program at a fast
35 speed and see if you can keep up!
36
37- A screen saver..
38
39- You could even use it as a fitness tool by typing random commands in a
40 text file, such as 'right punch', 'left front kick', 'right side kick'
41 etc. Then run the file through lazyread and everytime you see a command,
42 execute it. Make the scroll speed faster and/or add more commands to
43 make your training harder!
44
45[Insert your own ideas here :)]
46
47
48Using lazyread
49--------------
50[The filename must come first on the command-line if you have other
51options, unless you use the -f flag. For example:
52 Correct: lazyread file.txt -options
53 Incorrect: lazyread -options file.txt
54 Correct: lazyread -options -f file.txt]
55
56[IMOPRTANT!]:
57lazyread comes with a script called "lesspipe.sh" thats used for reading
58compressed files. You need to place this file in your path and make sure
59your environment variable $LESSOPEN points to it. Some systems come with
60lesspipe.sh already installed so check to see if your version is up to date.
61
62Say you want to view a log file and highlight any lines containing
63the string 'foo'. Just type:
64
65 lazyread log.txt -w foo
66
67Or maybe you want to scroll a file very slowly and in all uppercase letters:
68
69 lazyread /stories/moby_dick.pdf -s 5000 -u
70
71You can even scroll the output of other programs by piping lazyread.
72To do this you need to pass the name of the current tty you're running
73lazyread from. To get the name of the tty just type the command tty(1).
74It reports the full path to the current ttyname such as '/dev/tty0'.
75
76 dmesg | lazyread -t /dev/tty0
77
78There's an alternate mode (and more modes coming soon) in lazyread that lets
79you scroll letter by letter instead of line by line. Just use the -m flag:
80
81 lazyread file.txt -m
82
83When you're viewing a non text file like a pdf or an html file lazyread
84renders it so its viewable and if you hit 'e' to open the file in your
85external editor you will be editing the actual source of the file.
86
87For instance:
88
89type "lazyread index.html" will render the html as you'd see it while
90viewing in a browser (a text based browser anyway) and typing 'e' while
91its running will open the real index.html in vi (or whatever editor you
92set) so you can edit tags etc..
93
94Lazyread supports color. Choose from red, bgred, blue, bgblue, green,
95bggren, yellow, bgyellow, magenta, bgmagenta, bgwhite and bgblack.
96Just supply "-c <color>" on the lazyread command line.
97
98Some of my favorite commands
99===========================
100Normal viewing:
101
102 lazyread file.html -c green -w word -b
103
104Character at a time viewing mode:
105
106 lazyread file.txt -m -c bgblue -s 100
107
108View URLs:
109
110 lynx -dump http://site.com/page.html > page.txt ; lazyread page.txt
111
112You get the idea. Adjust lazyread anyway you like.
113
114Type:
115
116 lazyread -h
117
118to get a full list of commands.
119
120Dynamic Options
121---------------
122While lazyread is running you can use the following option keys:
123
124'q' to quit
125'p' to pause
126'spacebar' to scroll superfast (hit again to slow back down)
127'c' to clear the current screen
128'n' to turn off the status bar
129'v' to turn the status bar back on
130'f' to speed scrolling up in 25 percent increments
131's' to slow scrolling speed down in 25 percent increments
132'o' to go back to the original scroll speed
133'a' to toggle Auto-pausing on/off
134'e' to open the file you're scrolling in an external editor. (Uses the
135environment variables $VISUAL then $EDITOR or /bin/vi if none are set)
136'i' to view detailed file/program/etc information
137
138
139Text Wrapping
140-------------
141Lazyread uses the fmt(1) command to word wrap files. You need the fmt
142command installed for lazy read because this is turned on by default.
143
144BUGS
145----
146You can report bugs to the author:
147
148Ryan Kulla
149ambiod@sbcglobal.net
150gt3 on irc.openprojects.net
151
152Author's Home Page: http://www30.brinkster.com/gt3world/myworld.html
153Lazyread's Home page: http://seekrut.com/rk/lazyread.html
154