Open a .raw file as text in less

Question

The output of my program has a .raw file extension. If I try to open this with less I get:

No isoinfo available
Install mkisofs to view ISO images

The file isn't an image file, it's just text. Is there a way to tell less that the file should be opened as plain text?

If I really want to see what's in a file, I use more rather than less. — Mark, Jun 8, 2015 at 7:10

Stephen Kitt · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-07 16:51:59Z

20

The attempt to use isoinfo comes from lesspipe, which is generally used as a helper for less via the LESSOPEN variable.

Running

LESSOPEN= less file.raw

will open file.raw without interpretation.

answered Jun 7, 2015 at 16:51

Stephen Kitt

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Majenko · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-07 17:06:06Z

18

Another option which doesn't involve setting any variables is to pipe the data through less instead of letting less open the file for you.

$ cat file.raw | less

or

$ less <file.raw

would do the trick.

answered Jun 7, 2015 at 17:06

Majenko

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This is also great suggestion; if I could accept two answers I would also accept this.
– user1794469
Jun 7, 2015 at 18:37
3

Using redirections into less has a couple of disadvantages: less needs to buffer everything, so it will use more memory (unless -B is specified); it won't know about the file name, and the size will only be available once it's finished reading all the data.
– Stephen Kitt
Jun 8, 2015 at 8:59

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2 Answers 2