JuliaLang/julia

Feature request: make `?` print page by page like `man` in Linux

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#36,460 opened on Jun 27, 2020

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docsystemgood first issue

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Description

In a terminal window, when I type in ?foo it prints out the entire documentation (ending with complicated examples often) and I often have to scroll all the way to get the function signature. In contrast, typing in ?foo in the R REPL launches documentation as a "window" starting at the top where one and scroll up and down and press q to exit.

Is it possible to do something like this in the ? mode of the REPL?

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate how the REPL help mode currently outputs documentation and modify it to pipe output through a pager (e.g., less) to enable page by page viewing.
Tech stack
None
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
Julia
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65