Is there a *Nix tool that can be used to format command output that is too wide for the screen?

Question

I'm running

psql -U postgres template1 -c "select * from pg_stat_activity"

and the output is too wide for my terminal. Is there a *nix command I can use to prevent the output from wrapping? Maybe a setting in screen that enables virtual horizontal scrolling?

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 17 '10 at 03:21

7

Try

psql ... | less -S

The -S option to less enables horizontal scrolling instead of line wrapping.

answered Apr 17 '10 at 03:21

David Z

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Note that you can still scroll horizontally without `-S`. When scrolled to the first column it will wrap, but once you scroll right the text will be "unwrapped". – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Apr 17 '10 at 03:34
Interesting, I never noticed that. – David Z Apr 18 '10 at 00:05

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 17 '10 at 11:19

1

If you don't want to (or can't) use a pager for some reason, you can also use cut:

psql ... | cut -c1-60

This takes only the first 60 characters of each line. No scrolling however.

answered Apr 17 '10 at 11:19

Chris Lercher

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 17 '10 at 16:37

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fmt is probably what you want; it will wrap lines at a given column. pr has more options and is more complex.

answered Apr 17 '10 at 16:37

mpez0

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 21 '10 at 21:26

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Consider adding -P format=wrapped to your psql invocation, if you're using pg 8.4 or newer.

answered Jun 21 '10 at 21:26

Is there a *Nix tool that can be used to format command output that is too wide for the screen?

4 Answers4