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bahamas10/termcap.bash

Last active May 5, 2026 20:25
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Colorize Manpages on the Terminal
Raw
termcap.bash
# annotated by dave eddy (@yousuckatprogramming)
# explained - https://youtu.be/D0sG2fj0G4Y
# borrowed heavily from https://grml.org
# Begin blinking text mode
# I just use bold red here since my terminal has blinking disabled
export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'\e[1;31m'
# Begin bold text mode
export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'\e[1;31m'
# End all special formatting started by mb/md/etc.
export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'\e[0m'
# End standout mode
export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'\e[0m'
# Begin standout mode
# search results - bold, yellow foreground, blue background.
export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'\e[1;33;44m'
# End underline mode
export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'\e[0m'
# Begin underline mode
# underline and bold green
export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'\e[4;1;32m'
# Begin reverse-video mode
export LESS_TERMCAP_mr=$'\e[7m'
# Begin dim/half-bright mode
export LESS_TERMCAP_mh=$'\e[2m'
# Begin subscript mode
# (probably isn't supported)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZN=$'\e[74m'
# End subscript mode
# (probably isn't supported)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZV=$'\e[75m'
# Begin superscript mode
# (probably isn't supported)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZO=$'\e[73m'
# End superscript mode
# (probably isn't supported)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZW=$'\e[75m'
# Finally wire up `man` to use `less`
# this is usually the default but let's just be sure
export MANPAGER='less'
Raw
zz-no-comments.bash
export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$'\e[1;31m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$'\e[1;31m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$'\e[0m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$'\e[0m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$'\e[1;33;44m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$'\e[0m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$'\e[4;1;32m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_mr=$'\e[7m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_mh=$'\e[2m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZN=$'\e[74m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZV=$'\e[75m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZO=$'\e[73m'
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZW=$'\e[75m'
export MANPAGER='less'
Raw
zz-tput-version.bash
export LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$(tput bold; tput setaf 1)
export LESS_TERMCAP_md=$(tput bold; tput setaf 1)
export LESS_TERMCAP_me=$(tput sgr0)
export LESS_TERMCAP_se=$(tput sgr0)
export LESS_TERMCAP_so=$(tput bold; tput setaf 3; tput setab 4)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$(tput sgr0)
export LESS_TERMCAP_us=$(tput smul; tput bold; tput setaf 2)
export LESS_TERMCAP_mr=$(tput rev)
export LESS_TERMCAP_mh=$(tput dim)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZN=$(tput ssubm)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZV=$(tput rsubm)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZO=$(tput ssupm)
export LESS_TERMCAP_ZW=$(tput rsupm)
export MANPAGER='less'
@eskay993
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eskay993 commented Apr 26, 2026

Works great on zsh! Except it messes up printenv and starts colouring as soon as the LESS_TERMCAP vars are displayed and goes all weird. There are likely other scenarios too. Only workaround I can think of is to pipe printenv to something that clears the colors (like cat -v but that seems hacky.

Cool tips but will stick to bat colouring man pages, unless someone knows a fix?

@brtwrst
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brtwrst commented Apr 28, 2026

Works great on zsh! Except it messes up printenv and starts colouring as soon as the LESS_TERMCAP vars are displayed and goes all weird. There are likely other scenarios too. Only workaround I can think of is to pipe printenv to something that clears the colors (like cat -v but that seems hacky.

Cool tips but will stick to bat colouring man pages, unless someone knows a fix?

I fixed that by just creating the following bash function in my .bashrc

man() {
    LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$(tput bold; tput setaf 1) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_md=$(tput bold; tput setaf 1) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_me=$(tput sgr0) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_se=$(tput sgr0) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_so=$(tput bold; tput setaf 3; tput setab 4) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$(tput sgr0) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_us=$(tput smul; tput bold; tput setaf 2) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_mr=$(tput rev) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_mh=$(tput dim) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_ZN=$(tput ssubm) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_ZV=$(tput rsubm) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_ZO=$(tput ssupm) \
    LESS_TERMCAP_ZW=$(tput rsupm) \
    GROFF_NO_SGR=1 \
    command man "$@"
}

That way they don't pollute your environment.

@eskay993
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eskay993 commented Apr 30, 2026

That way they don't pollute your environment.

Thank you! Worked a treat. It colors better than bat (which has some formatting issues), so happily using this method now.

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