160786Sps 260786Sps NEWS about less 360786Sps 460786Sps====================================================================== 560786Sps 660786Sps For the latest news about less, see the "less" Web page: 789019Sps http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less 860786Sps You can also download the latest version of less from there. 960786Sps 10240121Sdelphij To report bugs, suggestions or comments, send email to bug-less@gnu.org. 1160786Sps 1260786Sps====================================================================== 1360786Sps 14251154Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 451 and 458 15251154Sdelphij 16251154Sdelphij* Allow backslash escaping of metacharacters in LESS environment variable 17251154Sdelphij after the --use-backslash option. 18251154Sdelphij 19251154Sdelphij* Don't quit if syntax errors are found in command line options. 20251154Sdelphij 21251154Sdelphij* Increase sizes of some internal buffers. 22251154Sdelphij 23251154Sdelphij* Fix configure bug with --with-regex=none. 24251154Sdelphij 25251154Sdelphij* Fix crash with "stty rows 0". 26251154Sdelphij 27251154Sdelphij* Fix Win32 attribute display bug. 28251154Sdelphij 29251154Sdelphij* Fix display bug when using up/down arrow on the command line. 30251154Sdelphij 31251154Sdelphij====================================================================== 32251154Sdelphij 33240121Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 444 and 451 34240121Sdelphij 35240121Sdelphij* Add ESC-F command to keep reading data until a pattern is found. 36240121Sdelphij 37240121Sdelphij* Use exit code of LESSOPEN script if LESSOPEN starts with "||". 38240121Sdelphij 39240121Sdelphij* When up/down arrow is used on the command line immediately after 40240121Sdelphij typing text, the next command starting with that text is found. 41240121Sdelphij 42240121Sdelphij* Add support for GNU regex. 43240121Sdelphij 44240121Sdelphij* Add configure option --with-regex=none and fix compile errors 45240121Sdelphij when compiling with no regex library. 46240121Sdelphij 47240121Sdelphij* Fix bugs handling SGR sequences in Win32. 48240121Sdelphij 49240121Sdelphij* Fix possible crashes caused by malformed LESSOPEN or 50240121Sdelphij LESSCLOSE variables. 51240121Sdelphij 52240121Sdelphij* Fix bug highlighting text which is discontiguous in the file 53240121Sdelphij due to backspace processing. 54240121Sdelphij 55240121Sdelphij* Fix bug in displaying status column when scrolling backwards 56240121Sdelphij with -J and -S in effect. 57240121Sdelphij 58240121Sdelphij====================================================================== 59240121Sdelphij 60222906Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 443 and 444 61222906Sdelphij 62222906Sdelphij* Fix bug in unget handling that can cause strange effects on the 63222906Sdelphij command line. 64222906Sdelphij 65222906Sdelphij* Remove vestiges of obsolete -l option that can cause a crash. 66222906Sdelphij 67222906Sdelphij====================================================================== 68222906Sdelphij 69221715Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443 70221715Sdelphij 71221715Sdelphij* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit 72221715Sdelphij pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and 73221715Sdelphij not just the portion after the target line. 74221715Sdelphij 75221715Sdelphij* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only 76221715Sdelphij the portion of the screen after the target line is searched. 77221715Sdelphij 78221715Sdelphij* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component 79221715Sdelphij of the input file. 80221715Sdelphij 81221715Sdelphij* Control-G while editing a command exits the command. 82221715Sdelphij 83221715Sdelphij* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect. 84221715Sdelphij 85221715Sdelphij* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option. 86221715Sdelphij 87221715Sdelphij* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command 88221715Sdelphij in combination with -i and -I. 89221715Sdelphij 90221715Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option. 91221715Sdelphij 92221715Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings. 93221715Sdelphij 94221715Sdelphij* Improve handling of long option names. 95221715Sdelphij 96221715Sdelphij* Improve percentage calculation for very large files. 97221715Sdelphij 98221715Sdelphij====================================================================== 99221715Sdelphij 100195941Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436 101195941Sdelphij 102195941Sdelphij* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-". 103195941Sdelphij 104195941Sdelphij* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option. 105195941Sdelphij 106195941Sdelphij* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line. 107195941Sdelphij 108195941Sdelphij* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R. 109195941Sdelphij 110195941Sdelphij====================================================================== 111195941Sdelphij 112191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429 11360786Sps 114191930Sdelphij* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN 115191930Sdelphij environment variable begins with "|-". 116191930Sdelphij 117191930Sdelphij* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color. 118191930Sdelphij 119191930Sdelphij* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file. 120191930Sdelphij 121191930Sdelphij* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers. 122191930Sdelphij 123191930Sdelphij* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode. 124191930Sdelphij 125191930Sdelphij* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals. 126191930Sdelphij 127191930Sdelphij* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt. 128191930Sdelphij 129191930Sdelphij* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (eg. bold+underline). 130191930Sdelphij 131191930Sdelphij* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text. 132191930Sdelphij 133191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 134191930Sdelphij 135191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424 136191930Sdelphij 137191930Sdelphij* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern. 138191930Sdelphij 139191930Sdelphij* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched 140191930Sdelphij string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect. 141191930Sdelphij 142191930Sdelphij* Improve behavior of -F option. 143191930Sdelphij 144191930Sdelphij* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode. 145191930Sdelphij 146191930Sdelphij* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default 147191930Sdelphij to column 1. 148191930Sdelphij 149191930Sdelphij* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command. 150191930Sdelphij 151191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 152191930Sdelphij 153191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418 154191930Sdelphij 155191930Sdelphij* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build. 156191930Sdelphij 157191930Sdelphij* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf. 158191930Sdelphij 159191930Sdelphij* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences. 160191930Sdelphij 161191930Sdelphij* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes. 162191930Sdelphij 163191930Sdelphij* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward. 164191930Sdelphij 165191930Sdelphij* Update GPL to version 3. 166191930Sdelphij 167191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 168191930Sdelphij 169173932Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416 170173682Sdelphij 171173682Sdelphij* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file 172173682Sdelphij rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed. 173173682Sdelphij 174173682Sdelphij* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text. 175173682Sdelphij 176173682Sdelphij* Fix DJGPP build. 177173682Sdelphij 178173682Sdelphij====================================================================== 179173682Sdelphij 180172597Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409 181172468Sdelphij 182172468Sdelphij* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences. 183172468Sdelphij 184172468Sdelphij* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized. 185172468Sdelphij 186172468Sdelphij* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text. 187172468Sdelphij 188172468Sdelphij* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h. 189172468Sdelphij 190172597Sdelphij* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences. 191172597Sdelphij 192172468Sdelphij====================================================================== 193172468Sdelphij 194170964Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406 195170256Sdelphij 196170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command. 197170256Sdelphij 198170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height). 199170256Sdelphij 200170256Sdelphij* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search. 201170256Sdelphij 202170256Sdelphij* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed. 203170256Sdelphij 204170256Sdelphij* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page. 205170256Sdelphij 206170256Sdelphij* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the 207170256Sdelphij output works better. 208170256Sdelphij 209170256Sdelphij* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option. 210170256Sdelphij 211170256Sdelphij* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate 212170256Sdelphij that no history file should be used. 213170256Sdelphij 214170256Sdelphij* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE 215170256Sdelphij library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used. 216170256Sdelphij 217170256Sdelphij* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification. 218170256Sdelphij 219170256Sdelphij* Make -f work for directories. 220170256Sdelphij 221170256Sdelphij* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order. 222170256Sdelphij 223170256Sdelphij* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning 224170256Sdelphij that the file is binary. 225170256Sdelphij 226170256Sdelphij* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences 227170256Sdelphij and -R is in effect. 228170256Sdelphij 229170256Sdelphij* Update Unicode character tables. 230170256Sdelphij 231170256Sdelphij* Support DESTDIR in Makefile. 232170256Sdelphij 233170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$". 234170256Sdelphij 235170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe. 236170256Sdelphij 237170256Sdelphij* Fix configure bugs. 238170256Sdelphij 239170256Sdelphij====================================================================== 240170256Sdelphij 241161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394 242161475Sdelphij 243161475Sdelphij* Add history file to save search and shell command history between 244161475Sdelphij invocations of less. 245161475Sdelphij 246161475Sdelphij* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands. 247161475Sdelphij 248161475Sdelphij* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C. 249161475Sdelphij 250161475Sdelphij* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better 251161475Sdelphij line wrapping and handling double-width chars. 252161475Sdelphij 253161475Sdelphij* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of 254161475Sdelphij non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file. 255161475Sdelphij 256161475Sdelphij* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to 257161475Sdelphij build a secure version of less. 258161475Sdelphij 259161475Sdelphij* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights 260161475Sdelphij are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command. 261161475Sdelphij 262161475Sdelphij* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines. 263161475Sdelphij 264161475Sdelphij* Add "windows" charset. 265161475Sdelphij 266161475Sdelphij* Add man page for lessecho. 267161475Sdelphij 268161475Sdelphij* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase. 269161475Sdelphij 270161475Sdelphij* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line. 271161475Sdelphij 272161475Sdelphij* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1. 273161475Sdelphij 274161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt. 275161475Sdelphij 276161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling tag file error. 277161475Sdelphij 278161475Sdelphij* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help. 279161475Sdelphij 280161475Sdelphij* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets. 281161475Sdelphij 282161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search. 283161475Sdelphij 284161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE. 285161475Sdelphij 286161475Sdelphij* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search. 287161475Sdelphij 288161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 289161475Sdelphij 290161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382 291161475Sdelphij 292161475Sdelphij* Removed some old copyrighted code. 293161475Sdelphij This probably breaks OS/9 support. 294161475Sdelphij 295161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 296161475Sdelphij 297128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381 29889019Sps 299128345Stjr* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing. 300128345Stjr 301128345Stjr* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing. 302128345Stjr Large file support is now set up by the configure script. 303128345Stjr 304128345Stjr* Use autoconf 2.54. 305128345Stjr Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac. 306128345Stjr 307128345Stjr* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined 308128345Stjr depending on context. 309128345Stjr 310128345Stjr* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible. 311128345Stjr 312128345Stjr* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files. 313128345Stjr 314128345Stjr* Fix some nroff issues in the man page. 315128345Stjr 316128345Stjr====================================================================== 317128345Stjr 318128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378 319128345Stjr 320128345Stjr* Bug fixes: 321128345Stjr Default buffer space is now 64K as documented. 322128345Stjr Search highlighting works properly when used with -R. 323128345Stjr Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns. 324128345Stjr Clean up some compiler warnings. 325128345Stjr 326128345Stjr====================================================================== 327128345Stjr 328128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376 329128345Stjr 33089019Sps* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops. 33189019Sps 33289019Sps* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization. 33389019Sps New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization. 33489019Sps 33589019Sps* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches. 33689019Sps Added support for "global(1)" tags 33789019Sps (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). 33889019Sps 33989019Sps* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed 34089019Sps while waiting for data in the F command. 34189019Sps 34289019Sps* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory 34389019Sps instead of .sysless in bin directory. 34489019Sps Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it. 34589019Sps (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.) 34689019Sps 34789019Sps* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts 34889019Sps the display N columns rather than editing the number itself. 34989019Sps 35089019Sps* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results. 35189019Sps 35289019Sps* Windows version sets window title. 35389019Sps 35489019Sps* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos". 35589019Sps 356128345Stjr* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences. 357128345Stjr ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 35889019Sps 359128345Stjr* Improved performance in reading very large pipes. 360128345Stjr 36189019Sps* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits. 36289019Sps 36389019Sps* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines. 36489019Sps 36589019Sps* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs. 36689019Sps 36789019Sps* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color. 36889019Sps 369128345Stjr* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters. 370128345Stjr 37189019Sps* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems. 37289019Sps 37389019Sps* Some fixes for OS/2 systems. 37489019Sps 37589019Sps====================================================================== 37689019Sps 37763128Sps Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358 37863128Sps 37963128Sps* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column. 38063128Sps 38163128Sps* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance. 38263128Sps Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width. 38363128Sps 38463128Sps* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect. 38563128Sps 38663128Sps* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion. 38763128Sps 38863128Sps====================================================================== 38963128Sps 39063128Sps 39160786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354 39260786Sps 39360786Sps* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options. 39460786Sps 39560786Sps* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems. 39660786Sps 39760786Sps* Add support for PCRE regular expression library. 39860786Sps 39960786Sps* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting 40060786Sps a regular expression library. 40160786Sps 40260786Sps* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1. 40360786Sps 40460786Sps====================================================================== 40560786Sps 40660786Sps 40760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352 40860786Sps 40960786Sps* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables. 41060786Sps 41160786Sps* Add --with-editor option to configure script. 41260786Sps 41360786Sps* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number. 41460786Sps 41560786Sps* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc. 41660786Sps 41760786Sps* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines. 41860786Sps 41960786Sps* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks. 42060786Sps 42160786Sps* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 42260786Sps bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals. 42360786Sps 42460786Sps* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 42560786Sps 42660786Sps====================================================================== 42760786Sps 42860786Sps 42960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346 43060786Sps 43160786Sps* The UTF-8 character set is now supported. 43260786Sps 43360786Sps* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii. 43460786Sps 43560786Sps* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 43660786Sps long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 43760786Sps normal text and ANSI color escape sequences. 43860786Sps 43960786Sps* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on 44060786Sps the first screen. 44160786Sps 44260786Sps* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command. 44360786Sps 44460786Sps* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM). 44560786Sps 44660786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number. 44760786Sps 44860786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into 44960786Sps file, based on line number rather than byte offset. 45060786Sps 45160786Sps* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file. 45260786Sps 45360786Sps====================================================================== 45460786Sps 45560786Sps 45660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340 45760786Sps 45860786Sps* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 45960786Sps single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name). 46060786Sps See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names. 46160786Sps 46260786Sps* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name 46360786Sps form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names. 46460786Sps 46560786Sps* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name. 46660786Sps 46760786Sps* New command __ queries an option using the long option name. 46860786Sps 46960786Sps* The old -- command is renamed as -!. 47060786Sps 47160786Sps* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the - 47260786Sps command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed. 47360786Sps 47460786Sps* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the 47560786Sps "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE). 47660786Sps 47760786Sps* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files. 47860786Sps 47960786Sps* New option -~ (like -w before version 335) 48060786Sps suppresses tildes after end-of-file. 48160786Sps 48260786Sps* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License. 48360786Sps 48460786Sps====================================================================== 48560786Sps 48660786Sps 48760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337 48860786Sps 48960786Sps* Fixed bugs in "make install". 49060786Sps 49160786Sps====================================================================== 49260786Sps 49360786Sps 49460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335 49560786Sps 49660786Sps* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed. 49760786Sps 49860786Sps* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen. 49960786Sps 50060786Sps* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement. 50160786Sps 50260786Sps* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 50360786Sps variables are incorrect. 50460786Sps 50560786Sps* New percent escapes for prompt strings: 50660786Sps %d is replaced by the page number, and 50760786Sps %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file. 50860786Sps 50960786Sps* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic". 51060786Sps 51160786Sps* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined. 51260786Sps 51360786Sps* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows. 51460786Sps 51560786Sps====================================================================== 51660786Sps 51760786Sps 51860786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332 51960786Sps 52060786Sps* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history, 52160786Sps so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command. 52260786Sps 52360786Sps* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal 52460786Sps window (buffer larger than display window). 52560786Sps 52660786Sps* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit. 52760786Sps Use -X to get the old behavior. 52860786Sps 52960786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed. 53060786Sps 53160786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program. 53260786Sps 53360786Sps* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style 53460786Sps line terminators (CR/LF). 53560786Sps 53660786Sps* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2. 53760786Sps 53860786Sps====================================================================== 53960786Sps 54060786Sps 54160786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330 54260786Sps 54360786Sps* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes). 54460786Sps New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters. 54560786Sps 54660786Sps* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name. 54760786Sps If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of 54860786Sps that variable, rather than a slash, is appended. 54960786Sps 55060786Sps* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 55160786Sps 55260786Sps* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 55360786Sps 55460786Sps* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 55560786Sps string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits. 55660786Sps 55760786Sps* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide 55860786Sps more control over how less interfaces to the shell. 55960786Sps 56060786Sps* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows. 56160786Sps 56260786Sps* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS. 56360786Sps 56460786Sps* Bug fixes. 56560786Sps 56660786Sps====================================================================== 56760786Sps 56860786Sps 56960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321 57060786Sps 57160786Sps* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 57260786Sps than the screen width. 57360786Sps 57460786Sps* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally. 57560786Sps 57660786Sps* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it 57760786Sps hits end-of-file. 57860786Sps 57960786Sps* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !, 58060786Sps ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *. 58160786Sps 58260786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches 58360786Sps currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match. 58460786Sps 58560786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular 58660786Sps expressions in the search. 58760786Sps 58860786Sps* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file. 58960786Sps 59060786Sps* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in 59160786Sps "secure" mode. 59260786Sps 59360786Sps* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments 59460786Sps are files (not option flags). 59560786Sps 59660786Sps* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now 59760786Sps embedded in the less executable itself. 59860786Sps 59960786Sps* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text. 60060786Sps Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P). 60160786Sps 60260786Sps* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS. 60360786Sps 60460786Sps* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT. 60560786Sps 60660786Sps* Ported to OS-9. 60760786Sps 60860786Sps* Ported to GNU Hurd. 60960786Sps 61060786Sps====================================================================== 61160786Sps 61260786Sps 61360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291 61460786Sps 61560786Sps* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files. 61660786Sps 61760786Sps* Fixed MS-DOS build. 61860786Sps 61960786Sps====================================================================== 62060786Sps 62160786Sps 62260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290 62360786Sps 62460786Sps* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version". 62560786Sps 62660786Sps* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH. 62760786Sps 62860786Sps* Bug fixes 62960786Sps 63060786Sps====================================================================== 63160786Sps 63260786Sps 63360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278 63460786Sps 63560786Sps* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less, 63660786Sps rather than writing it to a temporary file. 63760786Sps 63860786Sps* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights 63960786Sps reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines, 64060786Sps contains TABs, etc. 64160786Sps 64260786Sps* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 64360786Sps to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 64460786Sps only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 64560786Sps strings which match the last search command. 64660786Sps 64760786Sps* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 64860786Sps pattern contains uppercase letters. 64960786Sps 65060786Sps* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR. 65160786Sps 65260786Sps* Ported to OS/2. 65360786Sps 65460786Sps====================================================================== 65560786Sps 65660786Sps 65760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252 65860786Sps 65960786Sps* Changes in line-editing keys: 66060786Sps The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash). 66160786Sps Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 66260786Sps when typing a search pattern. 66360786Sps 66460786Sps* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey. 66560786Sps 66660786Sps* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey 66760786Sps rather than standard input. 66860786Sps 66960786Sps* New option -V displays version number of less. 67060786Sps 67160786Sps* New option -V displays version number of lesskey. 67260786Sps 67360786Sps* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 67460786Sps rather than /usr/local/lib. 67560786Sps 67660786Sps 67760786Sps====================================================================== 67860786Sps 67960786Sps 68060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237 68160786Sps 68260786Sps* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern 68360786Sps is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature. 68460786Sps 68560786Sps* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not 68660786Sps have a regular expression library. 68760786Sps regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto. 68860786Sps 68960786Sps* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 69060786Sps filename completion (TAB). 69160786Sps 69260786Sps* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress) 69360786Sps via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables. 69460786Sps 69560786Sps* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and 69660786Sps deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 69760786Sps 69860786Sps* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent 69960786Sps repeated search. 70060786Sps 70160786Sps* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u 70260786Sps flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag. 70360786Sps 70460786Sps* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine 70560786Sps the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set. 70660786Sps 70760786Sps* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout 70860786Sps (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by 70960786Sps setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable. 71060786Sps 71160786Sps* Use autoconf installation technology. 71260786Sps 71360786Sps* Ported to MS-DOS. 71460786Sps 71560786Sps ******************************** 71660786Sps Things that may surprise you 71760786Sps ******************************** 71860786Sps 71960786Sps* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 72060786Sps filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously. 72160786Sps Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 72260786Sps now have line editing functions. 72360786Sps 72460786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display 72560786Sps compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides 72660786Sps this functionality in a different way. 72760786Sps 72860786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 72960786Sps set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls. 73060786Sps The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 73160786Sps functionality. 73260786Sps 73360786Sps 73460786Sps====================================================================== 73560786Sps 73660786Sps 73760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170 73860786Sps 73960786Sps* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen. 74060786Sps 74160786Sps* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width, 74260786Sps rather than wrapping onto the next line. 74360786Sps 74460786Sps* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll. 74560786Sps 74660786Sps* New option -T specifies a "tags" file. 74760786Sps 74860786Sps* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal. 74960786Sps Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 75060786Sps in blinking mode. 75160786Sps 75260786Sps* New command -+ sets an option to its default. 75360786Sps* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default. 75460786Sps 75560786Sps* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action, 75660786Sps which acts as though typed in after the command. 75760786Sps 75860786Sps* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets. 75960786Sps 76060786Sps* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f"). 76160786Sps 76260786Sps* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command. 76360786Sps 76460786Sps* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list. 76560786Sps 76660786Sps* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized: 76760786Sps n Repeat search, same direction. 76860786Sps N Repeat search, opposite direction. 76960786Sps ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries 77060786Sps ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries 77160786Sps ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction. 77260786Sps ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction. 77360786Sps Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries. 77460786Sps Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list. 77560786Sps 77660786Sps* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list. 77760786Sps A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file, 77860786Sps may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list. 77960786Sps 78060786Sps* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define 78160786Sps a non-ASCII character set. 78260786Sps 78360786Sps* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen 78460786Sps on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size. 78560786Sps 78660786Sps 78760786Sps====================================================================== 78860786Sps 78960786Sps 79060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123 79160786Sps 79260786Sps* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the 79360786Sps text of the file (like vi "set nu"). 79460786Sps 79560786Sps* New option (-?) prints help message immediately. 79660786Sps 79760786Sps* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without 79860786Sps mapping them to ^X notation. 79960786Sps 80060786Sps* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files 80160786Sps (directories, etc). 80260786Sps 80360786Sps* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name. 80460786Sps 80560786Sps* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit 80660786Sps (like -h sets a backward scroll limit). 80760786Sps 80860786Sps* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new 80960786Sps file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files. 81060786Sps 81160786Sps* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 81260786Sps for a pattern. 81360786Sps 81460786Sps* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files. 81560786Sps 81660786Sps* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search 81760786Sps in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available 81860786Sps via :n. 81960786Sps 82060786Sps* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse 82160786Sps direction and spanning files. 82260786Sps 82360786Sps* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be 82460786Sps used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior). 82560786Sps 82660786Sps* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now 82760786Sps optionally have a space between the option letter and the string. 82860786Sps 82960786Sps* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match 83060786Sps brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command. 83160786Sps 83260786Sps* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and 83360786Sps simultaneously set the window size. 83460786Sps 83560786Sps* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last 83660786Sps line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor. 83760786Sps Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.) 83860786Sps can use j for the jump target line. 83960786Sps 84060786Sps* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the 84160786Sps command string passed to the editor by the v command. 84260786Sps 84360786Sps* Examining a file which was previously examined will return 84460786Sps to the same position in the file. 84560786Sps 84660786Sps* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 84760786Sps previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command. 84860786Sps (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 84960786Sps only in the E command.) 85060786Sps 85160786Sps* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t". 85260786Sps 85360786Sps* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l". 85460786Sps 85560786Sps* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default 85660786Sps for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default. 85760786Sps 85860786Sps* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as 85960786Sps extra input to be parsed after the action; for example: 86060786Sps "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X. 861170256Sdelphij 862170256Sdelphij 863170256Sdelphij 864172597Sdelphij 865173682Sdelphij 866