NEWS revision 60786
1 2 NEWS about less 3 4====================================================================== 5 6 For the latest news about less, see the "less" Web page: 7 http://www.flash.net/~marknu/less 8 You can also download the latest version of less from there. 9 10 To report bugs, suggestions or comments, send email to 11 bug-less@gnu.org or marknu@flash.net. 12 13====================================================================== 14 15 16 Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354 17 18* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options. 19 20* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems. 21 22* Add support for PCRE regular expression library. 23 24* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting 25 a regular expression library. 26 27* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1. 28 29====================================================================== 30 31 32 Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352 33 34* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables. 35 36* Add --with-editor option to configure script. 37 38* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number. 39 40* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc. 41 42* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines. 43 44* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks. 45 46* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 47 bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals. 48 49* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 50 51====================================================================== 52 53 54 Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346 55 56* The UTF-8 character set is now supported. 57 58* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii. 59 60* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 61 long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 62 normal text and ANSI color escape sequences. 63 64* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on 65 the first screen. 66 67* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command. 68 69* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM). 70 71* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number. 72 73* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into 74 file, based on line number rather than byte offset. 75 76* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file. 77 78====================================================================== 79 80 81 Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340 82 83* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 84 single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name). 85 See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names. 86 87* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name 88 form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names. 89 90* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name. 91 92* New command __ queries an option using the long option name. 93 94* The old -- command is renamed as -!. 95 96* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the - 97 command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed. 98 99* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the 100 "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE). 101 102* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files. 103 104* New option -~ (like -w before version 335) 105 suppresses tildes after end-of-file. 106 107* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License. 108 109====================================================================== 110 111 112 Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337 113 114* Fixed bugs in "make install". 115 116====================================================================== 117 118 119 Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335 120 121* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed. 122 123* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen. 124 125* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement. 126 127* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 128 variables are incorrect. 129 130* New percent escapes for prompt strings: 131 %d is replaced by the page number, and 132 %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file. 133 134* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic". 135 136* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined. 137 138* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows. 139 140====================================================================== 141 142 143 Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332 144 145* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history, 146 so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command. 147 148* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal 149 window (buffer larger than display window). 150 151* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit. 152 Use -X to get the old behavior. 153 154* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed. 155 156* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program. 157 158* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style 159 line terminators (CR/LF). 160 161* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2. 162 163====================================================================== 164 165 166 Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330 167 168* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes). 169 New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters. 170 171* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name. 172 If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of 173 that variable, rather than a slash, is appended. 174 175* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 176 177* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 178 179* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 180 string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits. 181 182* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide 183 more control over how less interfaces to the shell. 184 185* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows. 186 187* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS. 188 189* Bug fixes. 190 191====================================================================== 192 193 194 Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321 195 196* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 197 than the screen width. 198 199* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally. 200 201* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it 202 hits end-of-file. 203 204* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !, 205 ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *. 206 207* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches 208 currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match. 209 210* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular 211 expressions in the search. 212 213* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file. 214 215* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in 216 "secure" mode. 217 218* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments 219 are files (not option flags). 220 221* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now 222 embedded in the less executable itself. 223 224* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text. 225 Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P). 226 227* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS. 228 229* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT. 230 231* Ported to OS-9. 232 233* Ported to GNU Hurd. 234 235====================================================================== 236 237 238 Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291 239 240* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files. 241 242* Fixed MS-DOS build. 243 244====================================================================== 245 246 247 Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290 248 249* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version". 250 251* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH. 252 253* Bug fixes 254 255====================================================================== 256 257 258 Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278 259 260* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less, 261 rather than writing it to a temporary file. 262 263* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights 264 reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines, 265 contains TABs, etc. 266 267* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 268 to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 269 only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 270 strings which match the last search command. 271 272* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 273 pattern contains uppercase letters. 274 275* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR. 276 277* Ported to OS/2. 278 279====================================================================== 280 281 282 Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252 283 284* Changes in line-editing keys: 285 The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash). 286 Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 287 when typing a search pattern. 288 289* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey. 290 291* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey 292 rather than standard input. 293 294* New option -V displays version number of less. 295 296* New option -V displays version number of lesskey. 297 298* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 299 rather than /usr/local/lib. 300 301 302====================================================================== 303 304 305 Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237 306 307* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern 308 is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature. 309 310* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not 311 have a regular expression library. 312 regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto. 313 314* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 315 filename completion (TAB). 316 317* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress) 318 via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables. 319 320* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and 321 deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 322 323* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent 324 repeated search. 325 326* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u 327 flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag. 328 329* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine 330 the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set. 331 332* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout 333 (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by 334 setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable. 335 336* Use autoconf installation technology. 337 338* Ported to MS-DOS. 339 340 ******************************** 341 Things that may surprise you 342 ******************************** 343 344* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 345 filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously. 346 Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 347 now have line editing functions. 348 349* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display 350 compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides 351 this functionality in a different way. 352 353* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 354 set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls. 355 The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 356 functionality. 357 358 359====================================================================== 360 361 362 Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170 363 364* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen. 365 366* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width, 367 rather than wrapping onto the next line. 368 369* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll. 370 371* New option -T specifies a "tags" file. 372 373* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal. 374 Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 375 in blinking mode. 376 377* New command -+ sets an option to its default. 378* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default. 379 380* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action, 381 which acts as though typed in after the command. 382 383* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets. 384 385* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f"). 386 387* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command. 388 389* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list. 390 391* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized: 392 n Repeat search, same direction. 393 N Repeat search, opposite direction. 394 ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries 395 ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries 396 ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction. 397 ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction. 398 Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries. 399 Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list. 400 401* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list. 402 A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file, 403 may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list. 404 405* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define 406 a non-ASCII character set. 407 408* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen 409 on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size. 410 411 412====================================================================== 413 414 415 Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123 416 417* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the 418 text of the file (like vi "set nu"). 419 420* New option (-?) prints help message immediately. 421 422* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without 423 mapping them to ^X notation. 424 425* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files 426 (directories, etc). 427 428* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name. 429 430* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit 431 (like -h sets a backward scroll limit). 432 433* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new 434 file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files. 435 436* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 437 for a pattern. 438 439* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files. 440 441* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search 442 in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available 443 via :n. 444 445* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse 446 direction and spanning files. 447 448* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be 449 used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior). 450 451* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now 452 optionally have a space between the option letter and the string. 453 454* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match 455 brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command. 456 457* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and 458 simultaneously set the window size. 459 460* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last 461 line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor. 462 Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.) 463 can use j for the jump target line. 464 465* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the 466 command string passed to the editor by the v command. 467 468* Examining a file which was previously examined will return 469 to the same position in the file. 470 471* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 472 previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command. 473 (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 474 only in the E command.) 475 476* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t". 477 478* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l". 479 480* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default 481 for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default. 482 483* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as 484 extra input to be parsed after the action; for example: 485 "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X. 486