las: Colored List All

Source

function las
    ls --almost-all \
       --color \
       --dereference-command-line \
       --human-readable \
       -l $argv | \
        less --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS
end

The point of this function is to show all the files in the directory (including hidden files) and pipe them to less so they won't go scrolling off the screen while keeping the color highlighting.

The Parts

The ls Arguments

  • --almost-all: don't list the . and .. files
  • --color: Color the output when (defaults to "always" but you can set to "auto" or "never")
  • --dereference-command-line: follow symbolic links listed on the command line
  • --human-readable: Put file sizes into units that make sense (when using -l)
  • -l: Long listing format.

The less Argument

  • --RAW-CONTROL-CHARS: Keep colors and hyperlink sequences.

There is also a --raw-control-chars option which will include all escape sequences, but they say this might cause less to not be able to control the appearance of the screen so they don't recommend using it. Also, you can set the LESS environment variable to pass in options, so if this is useful enough it might make sense to put it in there instead.