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bzmore

file viewinglinux

The bzmore command is one of the most frequently used commands in Linux/Unix-like operating systems. bzmore View bzip2 compressed files using the more pager

See Examples View Syntax

Quick Reference

Command Name:

bzmore

Category:

file viewing

Platform:

linux

Basic Usage:

bzmore [options] [arguments]

Common Use Cases

1
Compressed file viewing
View bzip2 compressed files page by page
2
Data inspection
Inspect compressed data with pagination
3
Content browsing
Browse compressed file contents
4
Log analysis
Analyze compressed log files

Syntax

bzmore [file.bz2 ...]

Options

Option	Description
-d	Display "Press space to continue, 'q' to quit" prompt
-f	Count logical lines instead of screen lines
-l	Ignore form feed (^L) characters
-c	Display pages by clearing instead of scrolling
-p	Do not scroll, clean screen and display text
-s	Squeeze multiple blank lines into one
-u	Suppress underlining

Note: bzmore supports options that the more command accepts, as it is a wrapper around bunzip2 and more.

Examples

How to Use These Examples

The examples below show common ways to use the bzmore command. Try them in your terminal to see the results. You can copy any example by clicking on the code block.

Basic Examples:

View a compressed file with paging

bzmore file.txt.bz2

Search within a file by pressing '/'

bzmore large_log.bz2

# Then type your search pattern

View multiple compressed files

bzmore file1.bz2 file2.bz2 file3.bz2

# Press :n to move to the next file

Advanced Examples:

Pipe output to another command

bzmore file.bz2 | grep "error"

View multiple files from find command

find /var/log/ -name "*.log.bz2" -exec bzmore {} \;

Examine a compressed log file

bzmore /var/log/syslog.1.bz2

Save decompressed output to a file

bzmore file.bz2 > decompressed_file.txt

Filter with grep then page through results

bzcat file.bz2 | grep "search term" | more

Try It Yourself

Practice makes perfect! The best way to learn is by trying these examples on your own system with real files.

Understanding Syntax

Pay attention to the syntax coloring: commands, options, and file paths are highlighted differently.

Notes

Key Features:

The bzmore command allows viewing bzip2-compressed files with these benefits:

View compressed files without explicitly decompressing them first
Page through compressed files one screen at a time
Search within compressed files using the more pager functionality
View multiple compressed files in sequence
Saves disk space by not requiring explicit decompression

Common More Navigation Commands:

Space: Display the next page
Enter: Display the next line
b: Go back one page (may not work in all implementations)
/pattern: Search for 'pattern'
n: Repeat the previous search
=: Show the current line number
:f: Show the current file name and line number
:n: Go to the next file (when multiple files specified)
q or Q: Quit

Implementation Details:

bzmore is a shell script that works as a wrapper by:

Using bunzip2 to decompress the input file
Piping the output to the more pager for display
Handling navigation between multiple files

Usage Tips:

Use bzmore for quick viewing of compressed text files
For more advanced features like backward scrolling, consider using bzless instead
The more pager is simpler than less but may have fewer features depending on your system
For very large files, bzmore uses less memory than decompressing the entire file first
Press 'h' while viewing to display help in some implementations

Limitations:

Fewer features compared to bzless (which uses the more powerful less pager)
Limited backward scrolling capabilities
Not suitable for viewing binary or non-text content
Requires the bzip2 package to be installed
Performance may be slower with very large compressed files

Common Use Cases

Compressed file viewing

View bzip2 compressed files page by page

Data inspection

Inspect compressed data with pagination

Content browsing

Browse compressed file contents

Log analysis

Analyze compressed log files

Document viewing

View compressed documents

Related Commands

These commands are frequently used alongside bzmore or serve similar purposes:

Explore All Commands

Use Cases

1

Compressed file viewing

View bzip2 compressed files page by page

2

Data inspection

Inspect compressed data with pagination

3

Content browsing

Browse compressed file contents

4

Log analysis

Analyze compressed log files

5

Document viewing

View compressed documents

Learn By Doing

The best way to learn Linux commands is by practicing. Try out these examples in your terminal to build muscle memory and understand how the bzmore command works in different scenarios.

See Examples Try Lab Exercises

$ bzmore

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