26======================================================================
27
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
| 28======================================================================
29
30 Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
31
32* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
33
34* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
35
36* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
37
38* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
39
40* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
41
42* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
43 output works better.
44
45* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
46
47* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
48 that no history file should be used.
49
50* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
51 library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
52
53* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
54
55* Make -f work for directories.
56
57* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
58
59* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
60 that the file is binary.
61
62* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
63 and -R is in effect.
64
65* Update Unicode character tables.
66
67* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
68
69* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
70
71* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
72
73* Fix configure bugs.
74
75======================================================================
76
77 Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
78
79* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
80 invocations of less.
81
82* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
83
84* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
85
86* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
87 line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
88
89* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
90 non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
91
92* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
93 build a secure version of less.
94
95* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
96 are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
97
98* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
99
100* Add "windows" charset.
101
102* Add man page for lessecho.
103
104* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
105
106* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
107
108* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
109
110* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
111
112* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
113
114* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
115
116* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
117
118* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
119
120* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
121
122* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
123
124======================================================================
125
126 Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
127
128* Removed some old copyrighted code.
129 This probably breaks OS/9 support.
130
131======================================================================
132
133 Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
134
135* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
136
137* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
138 Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
139
140* Use autoconf 2.54.
141 Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
142
143* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
144 depending on context.
145
146* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
147
148* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
149
150* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
151
152======================================================================
153
154 Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
155
156* Bug fixes:
157 Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
158 Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
159 Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
160 Clean up some compiler warnings.
161
162======================================================================
163
164 Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
165
166* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
167
168* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
169 New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
170
171* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
172 Added support for "global(1)" tags
173 (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
174
175* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
176 while waiting for data in the F command.
177
178* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
179 instead of .sysless in bin directory.
180 Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
181 (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
182
183* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
184 the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
185
186* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
187
188* Windows version sets window title.
189
190* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
191
192* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
193 ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
194
195* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
196
197* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits.
198
199* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
200
201* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
202
203* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
204
205* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
206
207* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
208
209* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
210
211======================================================================
212
213 Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
214
215* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
216
217* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
218 Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
219
220* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
221
222* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
223
224======================================================================
225
226
227 Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
228
229* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
230
231* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
232
233* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
234
235* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
236 a regular expression library.
237
238* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
239
240======================================================================
241
242
243 Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
244
245* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
246
247* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
248
249* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
250
251* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
252
253* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
254
255* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
256
257* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
258 bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
259
260* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
261
262======================================================================
263
264
265 Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
266
267* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
268
269* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
270
271* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
272 long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
273 normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
274
275* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
276 the first screen.
277
278* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
279
280* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
281
282* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
283
284* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
285 file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
286
287* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
288
289======================================================================
290
291
292 Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
293
294* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
295 single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
296 See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
297
298* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
299 form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
300
301* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
302
303* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
304
305* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
306
307* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
308 command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
309
310* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
311 "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
312
313* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
314
315* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
316 suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
317
318* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
319
320======================================================================
321
322
323 Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
324
325* Fixed bugs in "make install".
326
327======================================================================
328
329
330 Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
331
332* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
333
334* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
335
336* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
337
338* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
339 variables are incorrect.
340
341* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
342 %d is replaced by the page number, and
343 %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
344
345* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
346
347* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
348
349* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
350
351======================================================================
352
353
354 Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
355
356* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
357 so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
358
359* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
360 window (buffer larger than display window).
361
362* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
363 Use -X to get the old behavior.
364
365* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
366
367* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
368
369* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
370 line terminators (CR/LF).
371
372* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
373
374======================================================================
375
376
377 Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
378
379* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
380 New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
381
382* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
383 If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
384 that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
385
386* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
387
388* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
389
390* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
391 string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
392
393* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
394 more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
395
396* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
397
398* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
399
400* Bug fixes.
401
402======================================================================
403
404
405 Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
406
407* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
408 than the screen width.
409
410* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
411
412* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
413 hits end-of-file.
414
415* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
416 ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
417
418* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
419 currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
420
421* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
422 expressions in the search.
423
424* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
425
426* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
427 "secure" mode.
428
429* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
430 are files (not option flags).
431
432* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now
433 embedded in the less executable itself.
434
435* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
436 Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
437
438* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
439
440* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
441
442* Ported to OS-9.
443
444* Ported to GNU Hurd.
445
446======================================================================
447
448
449 Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
450
451* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
452
453* Fixed MS-DOS build.
454
455======================================================================
456
457
458 Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
459
460* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
461
462* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
463
464* Bug fixes
465
466======================================================================
467
468
469 Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
470
471* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
472 rather than writing it to a temporary file.
473
474* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights
475 reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
476 contains TABs, etc.
477
478* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
479 to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
480 only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
481 strings which match the last search command.
482
483* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
484 pattern contains uppercase letters.
485
486* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
487
488* Ported to OS/2.
489
490======================================================================
491
492
493 Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
494
495* Changes in line-editing keys:
496 The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
497 Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
498 when typing a search pattern.
499
500* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
501
502* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
503 rather than standard input.
504
505* New option -V displays version number of less.
506
507* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
508
509* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
510 rather than /usr/local/lib.
511
512
513======================================================================
514
515
516 Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
517
518* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
519 is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature.
520
521* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
522 have a regular expression library.
523 regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
524
525* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
526 filename completion (TAB).
527
528* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
529 via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
530
531* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
532 deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
533
534* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
535 repeated search.
536
537* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
538 flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
539
540* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
541 the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
542
543* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
544 (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by
545 setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
546
547* Use autoconf installation technology.
548
549* Ported to MS-DOS.
550
551 ********************************
552 Things that may surprise you
553 ********************************
554
555* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
556 filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
557 Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
558 now have line editing functions.
559
560* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
561 compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
562 this functionality in a different way.
563
564* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
565 set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
566 The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
567 functionality.
568
569
570======================================================================
571
572
573 Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
574
575* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
576
577* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
578 rather than wrapping onto the next line.
579
580* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
581
582* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
583
584* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
585 Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
586 in blinking mode.
587
588* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
589* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
590
591* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
592 which acts as though typed in after the command.
593
594* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
595
596* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
597
598* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
599
600* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
601
602* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
603 n Repeat search, same direction.
604 N Repeat search, opposite direction.
605 ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries
606 ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries
607 ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
608 ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
609 Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
610 Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
611
612* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
613 A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
614 may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
615
616* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
617 a non-ASCII character set.
618
619* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
620 on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
621
622
623======================================================================
624
625
626 Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
627
628* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
629 text of the file (like vi "set nu").
630
631* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
632
633* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
634 mapping them to ^X notation.
635
636* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
637 (directories, etc).
638
639* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
640
641* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
642 (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
643
644* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
645 file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
646
647* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
648 for a pattern.
649
650* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
651
652* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
653 in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available
654 via :n.
655
656* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
657 direction and spanning files.
658
659* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be
660 used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
661
662* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
663 optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
664
665* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
666 brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
667
668* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
669 simultaneously set the window size.
670
671* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
672 line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
673 Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
674 can use j for the jump target line.
675
676* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
677 command string passed to the editor by the v command.
678
679* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
680 to the same position in the file.
681
682* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
683 previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
684 (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
685 only in the E command.)
686
687* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
688
689* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
690
691* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
692 for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
693
694* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
695 extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
696 "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
697
698
699
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