QUICK INSTALL (requires root access)
==============================
Execute the following commands (for a more detailed description see below):

  ./configure	# (check for usable shell and configure directory locations)
  make			# does show the chosen prefix and bindir
  make test # (optional)
  make install

this is equivalent to the following commands (assuming that the dirs do exist)
  ./configure
  ./test.pl # (optional)
  cp lesspipe.sh /usr/local/bin

  # optional for colorizing and old openoffice writer formats
  cp code2color archive_color vimcolor sxw2txt /usr/local/bin

  # optional for zsh and bash completion (archive contents)
  cp lesscomplete /usr/local/bin           # (zsh and bash)
  sed -e "s@__BINDIR__/@@" ./zsh_completion > /usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_less
  sed -e "s@__BINDIR__/@@" ./bash_completion > /etc/bashcompletion.d/less

  # optional intallation of a man page
  cp lesspipe.1 /usr/local/share/man/man1

or INSTALL locally for the logged in user
=========================================
# if it contains a directory writable by you (e.g. ~/bin)
  mkdir -p ~/bin
  cp lesspipe.sh lesscomplete ~/bin
  # optional for colorizing and old openoffice writer formats
  cp code2color archive_color vimcolor sxw2txt ~/bin

# check your PATH variable, if it does not contain ~/bin then add it to PATH
  echo $PATH
  PATH=$PATH:~/bin # (put this line into an init script ~/.bashrc and ~/.zshrc)

# the file zsh_completion needs to be edited and put into ~/.fpath
  [[ -d ~/.fpath ]] || mkdir ~/.fpath
  sed -e "s@__BINDIR__/@@" ./zsh_completion > ~/.fpath/_less
  echo $fpath
  fpath=$fpath:~/.fpath # (put this statement into a script .zshrc)

# the file bash_completion needs to be edited and put into ~/.bash_completion
  [[ -d ~/.bash_completion ]] || mkdir ~/.bash_completion
  sed -e "s@__BINDIR__@@" ./bash_completion ~/.bash_completion/less #(bash)

Then do set the environment variable LESSOPEN:

  LESSOPEN="|/usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s"; export LESSOPEN  #(sh like shells)

  DO NOT OMIT THE VERTICAL BAR AS FIRST CHARACTER, IT IS ESSENTIAL !!!

Adapt the location of lesspipe.sh if you used another location.

Detailed description
====================

Prerequisites:
--------------
For a detailed discussion consult the file README starting with the section
'Required programs'. For best results up to date versions of 'file'
tar, gzip, bzip2 and some helper programs are highly recommended.

Step 1: create Makefile (and modify lesspipe.sh, if bash not usable)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 ./configure [--help] [--nomake] [--shell=<file>]
             [--prefix=<path>] [--bindir=<path>] [--mandir=<path>]
             [--bash-completion-dir=<path>] [--zsh-completion-dir=<path>]

Options:
  --help             print this message
  --shell=<location> specify full path to an alternative shell to use
  --nomake           do not generate a Makefile
Directory and file names:
  --prefix=PREFIX   install lesspipe.sh in PREFIX/bin (/usr/local)
  --bindir=BINDIR   install lesspipe.sh in BINDIR (PREFIX/bin)
  --mandir=MANDIR   install man pages in in MANDIR (PREFIX/share/man/man1)
  --bash-completion-dir=DIR	install bash auto-completion file in in DIR (pkg-config --variable=completionsdir bash-completion)
  --zsh-completion-dir=DIR	install zsh auto-completion file in in DIR (PREFIX/share/zsh/site-functions

configure generates by default a Makefile and if an alternate shell is
given, then also a changed lesspipe.sh.

Step 2: verify that lesspipe.sh is working correctly (optional)
---------------------------------------------------------------
A test suite has been added that does cover most use cases of less.
If the test suite reports "NOT ok" lines then lesspipe.sh
is probably not fully functional in your environment. If the message is
"ignored" it is usually an indication that some helper programs are
not installed. To execute the test suite the command

  make test
or
  ./test.pl [-e] [-n] [-v] [testnumber[s]] [file_name]

can be used. The options -e and -v are for debugging.

Step 3: install lesspipe.sh and helper programs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

  make install  # installing to directories specified in the ./configure call

This copies the files lesspipe.sh lesscomplete code2color vimcolor sxw2txt and
archive_color into the directory PREFIX/bin or BINDIR, depending on the options
given to the configure call. By default /usr/local/bin is chosen.

For zsh and bash a tab completion for archive contents is provided.
The make install step installs the additional files _less (zsh) and less (bash)
respectively to the directories determined in the configure step as follows:

The zsh_completion and bash_completion files get edited
(by replacing __BINDIR__ with a suitable directory contained in $PATH) and
then copied under the name _less into a directory listed in $fpath (zsh)
and for bash install it under the name less into a directory used by the
bash completion mechanism, usually /etc/bash_completion.d/.
For bash it may be necessary to install a separate package bash-completion.

Step 4: activate lesspipe.sh
----------------------------
To make use of the installed lesspipe.sh the environment variable LESSOPEN has
to mention the location, where lesspipe.sh can be found. The use of the fully
qualified path is recommended to avoid problems with other scripts of the same
name or with a changed search PATH:

  LESSOPEN="|/usr/local/bin/lesspipe.sh %s"; export LESSOPEN  #(sh like shells)