see

See action can be used to view any file (usually image) on default mailcap explorer

$ see [filename]

$ run-mailcap --action=view [filename]

see [options] file [file2 ...]

-c
    Use a single less or more command to view all files. Prevents cycling through the viewing program for each file.

-d
    Sets the debug flag. Useful when developing see or debugging its configuration.

-f
    Causes all files to be passed directly to the display program without formatting. This is useful for binary files.

-t
    Invokes more even when the user has specified less as the pager. This is useful for broken less implementations.

-v
    Print the version number and then exit.

file
    The file or files to be examined. See will extract the relevant selection of each file according to its configuration.

The `see` command is an interactive tool used to display selections from source code files. It helps users navigate and understand code by visually highlighting specific parts of the file. Unlike simple viewers, `see` is designed to recognize programming language syntax and provide appropriate indentation and context around the selected portions. This makes reviewing and understanding code snippets much easier. It often uses external programs like `less` or `more` for display, allowing users to scroll through and examine the code. Because its interactive, users can perform additional operations within `see`, such as searching for specific patterns or making further selections based on their findings. The tool is well-suited for debugging and code reviews.

The effectiveness of `see` heavily relies on properly configured language recognition settings. Incorrect configuration can lead to inaccurate or incomplete code selection.
Its often dependent on `less` or `more` commands being present

The behavior of see is controlled by various configuration files. See searches these files in the following order:

/etc/see.rc: Global system-wide configuration.
~/.see.rc: User specific configuration.
./.see.rc: Local directory configuration.

The `see` command was originally developed to provide a convenient way to inspect source code snippets. While its usage has diminished with the advent of powerful IDEs and code editors with built-in search and selection capabilities, it remains useful in environments where a lightweight command-line tool for code inspection is preferred. Early versions focused on basic language support, with later improvements adding support for more languages and customization options.

less(1), more(1), grep(1)