Do not use 'most' PAGER, as it is not compatible with bats output

[dangoncalves]

Describe the bug you encountered:
when I use bat on a single file, colors are not displayed, control sequences are diplayed instead. The bug occurs with fedora's package or when I build bat from sources. Using fish or bash does not change anything and using konsole or alacritty has the same results.
You can find a screenshot here
...

Describe what you expected to happen?
bat should display colors
...

How did you install bat?
dnf install bat
or
cargo build (from sources)

---

system

$ uname -srm
Linux 5.6.18-300.fc32.x86_64 x86_64

bat

$ bat --version
bat 0.15.0

$ env
PAGER=most

bat_config

$ cat /home/daniel/.config/bat/config

# This is `bat`s configuration file. Each line either contains a comment or
# a command-line option that you want to pass to `bat` by default. You can
# run `bat --help` to get a list of all possible configuration options.

# Specify desired highlighting theme (e.g. "TwoDark"). Run `bat --list-themes`
# for a list of all available themes
#--theme="TwoDark"
--theme="Solarized (dark)"

# Enable this to use italic text on the terminal. This is not supported on all
# terminal emulators (like tmux, by default):
#--italic-text=always

# Uncomment the following line to disable automatic paging:
#--paging=never

# Uncomment the following line if you are using less version >= 551 and want to
# enable mouse scrolling support in `bat` when running inside tmux. This might
# disable text selection, unless you press shift.
#--pager="--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS --quit-if-one-screen --mouse"

# Syntax mappings: map a certain filename pattern to a language.
#   Example 1: use the C++ syntax for .ino files
#   Example 2: Use ".gitignore"-style highlighting for ".ignore" files
#--map-syntax "*.ino:C++"
#--map-syntax ".ignore:Git Ignore"

bat_wrapper

No wrapper script for 'bat'.

bat_wrapper_function

No wrapper function for 'bat'.

No wrapper function for 'cat'.

tool

$ less --version
less 551 (POSIX regular expressions)

[sharkdp]

I'm pretty sure this is the problem:

 PAGER=most

bat is not compatible with most. Could you try to add --pager="less" to your config file?

In case this works, we should probably make sure that others do not run into this problem and ignore if PAGER=most has been set.

[eth-p]

In case this works, we should probably make sure that others do not run into this problem and ignore if PAGER=most has been set.

I think a first-time warning message would also be a good idea if we do this, otherwise people might open issues about bat not respecting the PAGER variable.

Also, should that apply to the BAT_PAGER variable as well?

[dangoncalves]

Yes, you've got it. Using --pager=less solve the issue.

[KristobalJunta]

@sharkdp I assume this is open to contributions?
I am willing to take on this (with consideration of the discussion in #1123)

[sharkdp]

I am willing to take on this (with consideration of the discussion in #1123)

👍

[Enselic]

@sharkdp Seems like this issue was accidentally closed? I referenced it in my bat_warning! commit, but only for reference, not for fixing :)

[sharkdp]

Bugfix released in bat v0.18.

[pgimalac]

Bugfix released in bat v0.18.

If PAGER (but not BAT_PAGER or --pager) is more or most, silently use less instead to ensure support for colors, see #1063 (@Enselic)

I spent too much time not understanding why less was used instead of most, I understand why there is no warning (as per #1402) but I believe it should at least be written explicitly in the README

[sharkdp]

I agree, this should be documented. It would be great if you could open a new ticket such that it will not be forgotten.