16 Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
17
18* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
19
20* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
21
22* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
23
24* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
25
26* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
27
28* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
29 output works better.
30
31* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
32
33* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
34 that no history file should be used.
35
36* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
37 library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
38
39* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
40
41* Make -f work for directories.
42
43* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
44
45* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
46 that the file is binary.
47
48* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
49 and -R is in effect.
50
51* Update Unicode character tables.
52
53* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
54
55* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
56
57* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
58
59* Fix configure bugs.
60
61======================================================================
62
63 Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
64
65* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
66 invocations of less.
67
68* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
69
70* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
71
72* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
73 line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
74
75* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
76 non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
77
78* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
79 build a secure version of less.
80
81* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
82 are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
83
84* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
85
86* Add "windows" charset.
87
88* Add man page for lessecho.
89
90* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
91
92* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
93
94* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
95
96* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
97
98* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
99
100* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
101
102* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
103
104* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
105
106* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
107
108* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
109
110======================================================================
111
112 Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
113
114* Removed some old copyrighted code.
115 This probably breaks OS/9 support.
116
117======================================================================
118
119 Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
120
121* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
122
123* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
124 Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
125
126* Use autoconf 2.54.
127 Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
128
129* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
130 depending on context.
131
132* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
133
134* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
135
136* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
137
138======================================================================
139
140 Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
141
142* Bug fixes:
143 Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
144 Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
145 Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
146 Clean up some compiler warnings.
147
148======================================================================
149
150 Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
151
152* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
153
154* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
155 New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
156
157* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
158 Added support for "global(1)" tags
159 (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
160
161* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
162 while waiting for data in the F command.
163
164* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
165 instead of .sysless in bin directory.
166 Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
167 (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
168
169* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
170 the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
171
172* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
173
174* Windows version sets window title.
175
176* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
177
178* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
179 ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
180
181* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
182
183* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits.
184
185* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
186
187* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
188
189* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
190
191* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
192
193* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
194
195* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
196
197======================================================================
198
199 Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
200
201* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
202
203* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
204 Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
205
206* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
207
208* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
209
210======================================================================
211
212
213 Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
214
215* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
216
217* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
218
219* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
220
221* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
222 a regular expression library.
223
224* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
225
226======================================================================
227
228
229 Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
230
231* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
232
233* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
234
235* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
236
237* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
238
239* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
240
241* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
242
243* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
244 bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
245
246* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
247
248======================================================================
249
250
251 Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
252
253* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
254
255* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
256
257* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
258 long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
259 normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
260
261* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
262 the first screen.
263
264* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
265
266* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
267
268* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
269
270* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
271 file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
272
273* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
274
275======================================================================
276
277
278 Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
279
280* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
281 single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
282 See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
283
284* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
285 form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
286
287* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
288
289* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
290
291* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
292
293* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
294 command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
295
296* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
297 "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
298
299* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
300
301* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
302 suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
303
304* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
305
306======================================================================
307
308
309 Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
310
311* Fixed bugs in "make install".
312
313======================================================================
314
315
316 Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
317
318* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
319
320* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
321
322* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
323
324* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
325 variables are incorrect.
326
327* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
328 %d is replaced by the page number, and
329 %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
330
331* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
332
333* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
334
335* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
336
337======================================================================
338
339
340 Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
341
342* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
343 so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
344
345* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
346 window (buffer larger than display window).
347
348* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
349 Use -X to get the old behavior.
350
351* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
352
353* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
354
355* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
356 line terminators (CR/LF).
357
358* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
359
360======================================================================
361
362
363 Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
364
365* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
366 New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
367
368* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
369 If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
370 that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
371
372* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
373
374* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
375
376* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
377 string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
378
379* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
380 more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
381
382* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
383
384* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
385
386* Bug fixes.
387
388======================================================================
389
390
391 Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
392
393* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
394 than the screen width.
395
396* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
397
398* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
399 hits end-of-file.
400
401* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
402 ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
403
404* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
405 currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
406
407* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
408 expressions in the search.
409
410* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
411
412* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
413 "secure" mode.
414
415* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
416 are files (not option flags).
417
418* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now
419 embedded in the less executable itself.
420
421* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
422 Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
423
424* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
425
426* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
427
428* Ported to OS-9.
429
430* Ported to GNU Hurd.
431
432======================================================================
433
434
435 Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
436
437* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
438
439* Fixed MS-DOS build.
440
441======================================================================
442
443
444 Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
445
446* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
447
448* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
449
450* Bug fixes
451
452======================================================================
453
454
455 Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
456
457* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
458 rather than writing it to a temporary file.
459
460* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights
461 reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
462 contains TABs, etc.
463
464* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
465 to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
466 only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
467 strings which match the last search command.
468
469* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
470 pattern contains uppercase letters.
471
472* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
473
474* Ported to OS/2.
475
476======================================================================
477
478
479 Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
480
481* Changes in line-editing keys:
482 The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
483 Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
484 when typing a search pattern.
485
486* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
487
488* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
489 rather than standard input.
490
491* New option -V displays version number of less.
492
493* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
494
495* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
496 rather than /usr/local/lib.
497
498
499======================================================================
500
501
502 Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
503
504* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
505 is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature.
506
507* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
508 have a regular expression library.
509 regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
510
511* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
512 filename completion (TAB).
513
514* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
515 via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
516
517* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
518 deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
519
520* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
521 repeated search.
522
523* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
524 flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
525
526* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
527 the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
528
529* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
530 (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by
531 setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
532
533* Use autoconf installation technology.
534
535* Ported to MS-DOS.
536
537 ********************************
538 Things that may surprise you
539 ********************************
540
541* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
542 filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
543 Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
544 now have line editing functions.
545
546* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
547 compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
548 this functionality in a different way.
549
550* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
551 set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
552 The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
553 functionality.
554
555
556======================================================================
557
558
559 Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
560
561* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
562
563* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
564 rather than wrapping onto the next line.
565
566* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
567
568* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
569
570* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
571 Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
572 in blinking mode.
573
574* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
575* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
576
577* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
578 which acts as though typed in after the command.
579
580* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
581
582* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
583
584* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
585
586* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
587
588* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
589 n Repeat search, same direction.
590 N Repeat search, opposite direction.
591 ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries
592 ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries
593 ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
594 ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
595 Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
596 Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
597
598* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
599 A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
600 may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
601
602* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
603 a non-ASCII character set.
604
605* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
606 on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
607
608
609======================================================================
610
611
612 Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
613
614* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
615 text of the file (like vi "set nu").
616
617* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
618
619* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
620 mapping them to ^X notation.
621
622* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
623 (directories, etc).
624
625* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
626
627* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
628 (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
629
630* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
631 file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
632
633* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
634 for a pattern.
635
636* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
637
638* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
639 in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available
640 via :n.
641
642* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
643 direction and spanning files.
644
645* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be
646 used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
647
648* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
649 optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
650
651* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
652 brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
653
654* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
655 simultaneously set the window size.
656
657* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
658 line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
659 Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
660 can use j for the jump target line.
661
662* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
663 command string passed to the editor by the v command.
664
665* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
666 to the same position in the file.
667
668* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
669 previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
670 (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
671 only in the E command.)
672
673* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
674
675* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
676
677* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
678 for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
679
680* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
681 extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
682 "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
683
684
685
| 28 Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
29
30* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
31
32* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
33
34* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
35
36* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
37
38* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
39
40* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
41 output works better.
42
43* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
44
45* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
46 that no history file should be used.
47
48* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
49 library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
50
51* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
52
53* Make -f work for directories.
54
55* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
56
57* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
58 that the file is binary.
59
60* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
61 and -R is in effect.
62
63* Update Unicode character tables.
64
65* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
66
67* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
68
69* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
70
71* Fix configure bugs.
72
73======================================================================
74
75 Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
76
77* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
78 invocations of less.
79
80* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
81
82* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
83
84* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
85 line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
86
87* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
88 non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
89
90* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
91 build a secure version of less.
92
93* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
94 are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
95
96* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
97
98* Add "windows" charset.
99
100* Add man page for lessecho.
101
102* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
103
104* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
105
106* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
107
108* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
109
110* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
111
112* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
113
114* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
115
116* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
117
118* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
119
120* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
121
122======================================================================
123
124 Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
125
126* Removed some old copyrighted code.
127 This probably breaks OS/9 support.
128
129======================================================================
130
131 Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
132
133* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
134
135* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
136 Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
137
138* Use autoconf 2.54.
139 Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
140
141* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
142 depending on context.
143
144* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
145
146* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
147
148* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
149
150======================================================================
151
152 Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
153
154* Bug fixes:
155 Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
156 Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
157 Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
158 Clean up some compiler warnings.
159
160======================================================================
161
162 Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
163
164* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
165
166* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
167 New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
168
169* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
170 Added support for "global(1)" tags
171 (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
172
173* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
174 while waiting for data in the F command.
175
176* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
177 instead of .sysless in bin directory.
178 Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
179 (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
180
181* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
182 the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
183
184* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
185
186* Windows version sets window title.
187
188* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
189
190* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
191 ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
192
193* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
194
195* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits.
196
197* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
198
199* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
200
201* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
202
203* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
204
205* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
206
207* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
208
209======================================================================
210
211 Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
212
213* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
214
215* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
216 Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
217
218* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
219
220* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
221
222======================================================================
223
224
225 Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
226
227* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
228
229* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
230
231* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
232
233* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
234 a regular expression library.
235
236* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
237
238======================================================================
239
240
241 Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
242
243* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
244
245* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
246
247* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
248
249* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
250
251* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
252
253* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
254
255* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
256 bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
257
258* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
259
260======================================================================
261
262
263 Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
264
265* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
266
267* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
268
269* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
270 long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
271 normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
272
273* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
274 the first screen.
275
276* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
277
278* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
279
280* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
281
282* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
283 file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
284
285* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
286
287======================================================================
288
289
290 Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
291
292* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
293 single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
294 See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
295
296* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
297 form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
298
299* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
300
301* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
302
303* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
304
305* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
306 command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
307
308* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
309 "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
310
311* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
312
313* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
314 suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
315
316* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
317
318======================================================================
319
320
321 Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
322
323* Fixed bugs in "make install".
324
325======================================================================
326
327
328 Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
329
330* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
331
332* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
333
334* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
335
336* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
337 variables are incorrect.
338
339* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
340 %d is replaced by the page number, and
341 %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
342
343* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
344
345* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
346
347* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
348
349======================================================================
350
351
352 Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
353
354* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
355 so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
356
357* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
358 window (buffer larger than display window).
359
360* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
361 Use -X to get the old behavior.
362
363* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
364
365* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
366
367* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
368 line terminators (CR/LF).
369
370* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
371
372======================================================================
373
374
375 Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
376
377* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
378 New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
379
380* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
381 If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
382 that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
383
384* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
385
386* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
387
388* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
389 string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
390
391* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
392 more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
393
394* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
395
396* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
397
398* Bug fixes.
399
400======================================================================
401
402
403 Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
404
405* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
406 than the screen width.
407
408* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
409
410* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
411 hits end-of-file.
412
413* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
414 ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
415
416* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
417 currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
418
419* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
420 expressions in the search.
421
422* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
423
424* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
425 "secure" mode.
426
427* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
428 are files (not option flags).
429
430* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now
431 embedded in the less executable itself.
432
433* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
434 Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
435
436* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
437
438* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
439
440* Ported to OS-9.
441
442* Ported to GNU Hurd.
443
444======================================================================
445
446
447 Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
448
449* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
450
451* Fixed MS-DOS build.
452
453======================================================================
454
455
456 Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
457
458* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
459
460* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
461
462* Bug fixes
463
464======================================================================
465
466
467 Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
468
469* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
470 rather than writing it to a temporary file.
471
472* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights
473 reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
474 contains TABs, etc.
475
476* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
477 to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
478 only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
479 strings which match the last search command.
480
481* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
482 pattern contains uppercase letters.
483
484* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
485
486* Ported to OS/2.
487
488======================================================================
489
490
491 Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
492
493* Changes in line-editing keys:
494 The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
495 Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
496 when typing a search pattern.
497
498* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
499
500* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
501 rather than standard input.
502
503* New option -V displays version number of less.
504
505* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
506
507* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
508 rather than /usr/local/lib.
509
510
511======================================================================
512
513
514 Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
515
516* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
517 is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature.
518
519* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
520 have a regular expression library.
521 regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
522
523* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
524 filename completion (TAB).
525
526* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
527 via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
528
529* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
530 deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
531
532* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
533 repeated search.
534
535* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
536 flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
537
538* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
539 the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
540
541* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
542 (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by
543 setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
544
545* Use autoconf installation technology.
546
547* Ported to MS-DOS.
548
549 ********************************
550 Things that may surprise you
551 ********************************
552
553* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
554 filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
555 Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
556 now have line editing functions.
557
558* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
559 compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
560 this functionality in a different way.
561
562* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
563 set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
564 The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
565 functionality.
566
567
568======================================================================
569
570
571 Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
572
573* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
574
575* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
576 rather than wrapping onto the next line.
577
578* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
579
580* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
581
582* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
583 Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
584 in blinking mode.
585
586* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
587* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
588
589* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
590 which acts as though typed in after the command.
591
592* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
593
594* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
595
596* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
597
598* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
599
600* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
601 n Repeat search, same direction.
602 N Repeat search, opposite direction.
603 ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries
604 ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries
605 ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
606 ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
607 Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
608 Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
609
610* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
611 A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
612 may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
613
614* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
615 a non-ASCII character set.
616
617* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
618 on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
619
620
621======================================================================
622
623
624 Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
625
626* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
627 text of the file (like vi "set nu").
628
629* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
630
631* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
632 mapping them to ^X notation.
633
634* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
635 (directories, etc).
636
637* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
638
639* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
640 (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
641
642* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
643 file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
644
645* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
646 for a pattern.
647
648* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
649
650* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
651 in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available
652 via :n.
653
654* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
655 direction and spanning files.
656
657* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be
658 used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
659
660* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
661 optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
662
663* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
664 brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
665
666* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
667 simultaneously set the window size.
668
669* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
670 line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
671 Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
672 can use j for the jump target line.
673
674* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
675 command string passed to the editor by the v command.
676
677* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
678 to the same position in the file.
679
680* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
681 previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
682 (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
683 only in the E command.)
684
685* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
686
687* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
688
689* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
690 for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
691
692* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
693 extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
694 "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
695
696
697
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