tags:

views:

60

answers:

1
+1  Q: 

Why does Ruby's ri not return to a bash command prompt (maybe Unix question)?

When I execute ri ... in a terminal on my Mac, I get, maybe, 50 blank lines, then the output I'm expecting, then a last line:

(END)

, with (END) displayed with white letters on black background. I am not returned to bash, however -- ri is still running, and I can't enter anything. Also, why all the blank lines?

What's up?

Cary

+2  A: 

The output is being piped through a pager (the value of the environment variable $PAGER, probably /usr/bin/more or /usr/bin/less). This allows you to page through screenfuls of data by hitting the spacebar (among other nice features), instead of having to scroll up and down in the terminal. To exit, just type q.

mipadi  2010-01-22 18:08:30
Many thanks. And why all the blank lines before the meat?
Cary Swoveland  2010-01-22 18:15:01
Normally there isn't so many blank lines *before* the output, so I can't explain that -- maybe something in the shell or pager configuration.
mipadi  2010-01-22 18:42:37

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