NEWS revision 170964
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 10170256Sdelphij To report bugs, suggestions or comments, send email to 11170256Sdelphij bug-less@gnu.org or markn@greenwoodsoftware.com. 1260786Sps 1360786Sps====================================================================== 1460786Sps 1560786Sps 16170964Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406 17170256Sdelphij 18170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command. 19170256Sdelphij 20170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height). 21170256Sdelphij 22170256Sdelphij* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search. 23170256Sdelphij 24170256Sdelphij* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed. 25170256Sdelphij 26170256Sdelphij* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page. 27170256Sdelphij 28170256Sdelphij* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the 29170256Sdelphij output works better. 30170256Sdelphij 31170256Sdelphij* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option. 32170256Sdelphij 33170256Sdelphij* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate 34170256Sdelphij that no history file should be used. 35170256Sdelphij 36170256Sdelphij* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE 37170256Sdelphij library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used. 38170256Sdelphij 39170256Sdelphij* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification. 40170256Sdelphij 41170256Sdelphij* Make -f work for directories. 42170256Sdelphij 43170256Sdelphij* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order. 44170256Sdelphij 45170256Sdelphij* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning 46170256Sdelphij that the file is binary. 47170256Sdelphij 48170256Sdelphij* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences 49170256Sdelphij and -R is in effect. 50170256Sdelphij 51170256Sdelphij* Update Unicode character tables. 52170256Sdelphij 53170256Sdelphij* Support DESTDIR in Makefile. 54170256Sdelphij 55170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$". 56170256Sdelphij 57170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe. 58170256Sdelphij 59170256Sdelphij* Fix configure bugs. 60170256Sdelphij 61170256Sdelphij====================================================================== 62170256Sdelphij 63161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394 64161475Sdelphij 65161475Sdelphij* Add history file to save search and shell command history between 66161475Sdelphij invocations of less. 67161475Sdelphij 68161475Sdelphij* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands. 69161475Sdelphij 70161475Sdelphij* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C. 71161475Sdelphij 72161475Sdelphij* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better 73161475Sdelphij line wrapping and handling double-width chars. 74161475Sdelphij 75161475Sdelphij* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of 76161475Sdelphij non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file. 77161475Sdelphij 78161475Sdelphij* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to 79161475Sdelphij build a secure version of less. 80161475Sdelphij 81161475Sdelphij* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights 82161475Sdelphij are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command. 83161475Sdelphij 84161475Sdelphij* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines. 85161475Sdelphij 86161475Sdelphij* Add "windows" charset. 87161475Sdelphij 88161475Sdelphij* Add man page for lessecho. 89161475Sdelphij 90161475Sdelphij* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase. 91161475Sdelphij 92161475Sdelphij* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line. 93161475Sdelphij 94161475Sdelphij* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1. 95161475Sdelphij 96161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt. 97161475Sdelphij 98161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling tag file error. 99161475Sdelphij 100161475Sdelphij* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help. 101161475Sdelphij 102161475Sdelphij* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets. 103161475Sdelphij 104161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search. 105161475Sdelphij 106161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE. 107161475Sdelphij 108161475Sdelphij* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search. 109161475Sdelphij 110161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 111161475Sdelphij 112161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382 113161475Sdelphij 114161475Sdelphij* Removed some old copyrighted code. 115161475Sdelphij This probably breaks OS/9 support. 116161475Sdelphij 117161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 118161475Sdelphij 119128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381 12089019Sps 121128345Stjr* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing. 122128345Stjr 123128345Stjr* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing. 124128345Stjr Large file support is now set up by the configure script. 125128345Stjr 126128345Stjr* Use autoconf 2.54. 127128345Stjr Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac. 128128345Stjr 129128345Stjr* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined 130128345Stjr depending on context. 131128345Stjr 132128345Stjr* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible. 133128345Stjr 134128345Stjr* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files. 135128345Stjr 136128345Stjr* Fix some nroff issues in the man page. 137128345Stjr 138128345Stjr====================================================================== 139128345Stjr 140128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378 141128345Stjr 142128345Stjr* Bug fixes: 143128345Stjr Default buffer space is now 64K as documented. 144128345Stjr Search highlighting works properly when used with -R. 145128345Stjr Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns. 146128345Stjr Clean up some compiler warnings. 147128345Stjr 148128345Stjr====================================================================== 149128345Stjr 150128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376 151128345Stjr 15289019Sps* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops. 15389019Sps 15489019Sps* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization. 15589019Sps New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization. 15689019Sps 15789019Sps* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches. 15889019Sps Added support for "global(1)" tags 15989019Sps (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). 16089019Sps 16189019Sps* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed 16289019Sps while waiting for data in the F command. 16389019Sps 16489019Sps* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory 16589019Sps instead of .sysless in bin directory. 16689019Sps Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it. 16789019Sps (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.) 16889019Sps 16989019Sps* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts 17089019Sps the display N columns rather than editing the number itself. 17189019Sps 17289019Sps* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results. 17389019Sps 17489019Sps* Windows version sets window title. 17589019Sps 17689019Sps* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos". 17789019Sps 178128345Stjr* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences. 179128345Stjr ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 18089019Sps 181128345Stjr* Improved performance in reading very large pipes. 182128345Stjr 18389019Sps* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits. 18489019Sps 18589019Sps* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines. 18689019Sps 18789019Sps* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs. 18889019Sps 18989019Sps* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color. 19089019Sps 191128345Stjr* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters. 192128345Stjr 19389019Sps* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems. 19489019Sps 19589019Sps* Some fixes for OS/2 systems. 19689019Sps 19789019Sps====================================================================== 19889019Sps 19963128Sps Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358 20063128Sps 20163128Sps* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column. 20263128Sps 20363128Sps* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance. 20463128Sps Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width. 20563128Sps 20663128Sps* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect. 20763128Sps 20863128Sps* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion. 20963128Sps 21063128Sps====================================================================== 21163128Sps 21263128Sps 21360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354 21460786Sps 21560786Sps* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options. 21660786Sps 21760786Sps* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems. 21860786Sps 21960786Sps* Add support for PCRE regular expression library. 22060786Sps 22160786Sps* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting 22260786Sps a regular expression library. 22360786Sps 22460786Sps* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1. 22560786Sps 22660786Sps====================================================================== 22760786Sps 22860786Sps 22960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352 23060786Sps 23160786Sps* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables. 23260786Sps 23360786Sps* Add --with-editor option to configure script. 23460786Sps 23560786Sps* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number. 23660786Sps 23760786Sps* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc. 23860786Sps 23960786Sps* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines. 24060786Sps 24160786Sps* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks. 24260786Sps 24360786Sps* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 24460786Sps bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals. 24560786Sps 24660786Sps* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 24760786Sps 24860786Sps====================================================================== 24960786Sps 25060786Sps 25160786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346 25260786Sps 25360786Sps* The UTF-8 character set is now supported. 25460786Sps 25560786Sps* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii. 25660786Sps 25760786Sps* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 25860786Sps long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 25960786Sps normal text and ANSI color escape sequences. 26060786Sps 26160786Sps* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on 26260786Sps the first screen. 26360786Sps 26460786Sps* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command. 26560786Sps 26660786Sps* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM). 26760786Sps 26860786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number. 26960786Sps 27060786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into 27160786Sps file, based on line number rather than byte offset. 27260786Sps 27360786Sps* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file. 27460786Sps 27560786Sps====================================================================== 27660786Sps 27760786Sps 27860786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340 27960786Sps 28060786Sps* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 28160786Sps single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name). 28260786Sps See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names. 28360786Sps 28460786Sps* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name 28560786Sps form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names. 28660786Sps 28760786Sps* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name. 28860786Sps 28960786Sps* New command __ queries an option using the long option name. 29060786Sps 29160786Sps* The old -- command is renamed as -!. 29260786Sps 29360786Sps* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the - 29460786Sps command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed. 29560786Sps 29660786Sps* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the 29760786Sps "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE). 29860786Sps 29960786Sps* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files. 30060786Sps 30160786Sps* New option -~ (like -w before version 335) 30260786Sps suppresses tildes after end-of-file. 30360786Sps 30460786Sps* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License. 30560786Sps 30660786Sps====================================================================== 30760786Sps 30860786Sps 30960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337 31060786Sps 31160786Sps* Fixed bugs in "make install". 31260786Sps 31360786Sps====================================================================== 31460786Sps 31560786Sps 31660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335 31760786Sps 31860786Sps* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed. 31960786Sps 32060786Sps* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen. 32160786Sps 32260786Sps* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement. 32360786Sps 32460786Sps* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 32560786Sps variables are incorrect. 32660786Sps 32760786Sps* New percent escapes for prompt strings: 32860786Sps %d is replaced by the page number, and 32960786Sps %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file. 33060786Sps 33160786Sps* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic". 33260786Sps 33360786Sps* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined. 33460786Sps 33560786Sps* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows. 33660786Sps 33760786Sps====================================================================== 33860786Sps 33960786Sps 34060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332 34160786Sps 34260786Sps* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history, 34360786Sps so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command. 34460786Sps 34560786Sps* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal 34660786Sps window (buffer larger than display window). 34760786Sps 34860786Sps* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit. 34960786Sps Use -X to get the old behavior. 35060786Sps 35160786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed. 35260786Sps 35360786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program. 35460786Sps 35560786Sps* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style 35660786Sps line terminators (CR/LF). 35760786Sps 35860786Sps* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2. 35960786Sps 36060786Sps====================================================================== 36160786Sps 36260786Sps 36360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330 36460786Sps 36560786Sps* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes). 36660786Sps New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters. 36760786Sps 36860786Sps* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name. 36960786Sps If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of 37060786Sps that variable, rather than a slash, is appended. 37160786Sps 37260786Sps* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 37360786Sps 37460786Sps* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 37560786Sps 37660786Sps* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 37760786Sps string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits. 37860786Sps 37960786Sps* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide 38060786Sps more control over how less interfaces to the shell. 38160786Sps 38260786Sps* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows. 38360786Sps 38460786Sps* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS. 38560786Sps 38660786Sps* Bug fixes. 38760786Sps 38860786Sps====================================================================== 38960786Sps 39060786Sps 39160786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321 39260786Sps 39360786Sps* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 39460786Sps than the screen width. 39560786Sps 39660786Sps* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally. 39760786Sps 39860786Sps* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it 39960786Sps hits end-of-file. 40060786Sps 40160786Sps* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !, 40260786Sps ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *. 40360786Sps 40460786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches 40560786Sps currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match. 40660786Sps 40760786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular 40860786Sps expressions in the search. 40960786Sps 41060786Sps* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file. 41160786Sps 41260786Sps* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in 41360786Sps "secure" mode. 41460786Sps 41560786Sps* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments 41660786Sps are files (not option flags). 41760786Sps 41860786Sps* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now 41960786Sps embedded in the less executable itself. 42060786Sps 42160786Sps* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text. 42260786Sps Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P). 42360786Sps 42460786Sps* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS. 42560786Sps 42660786Sps* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT. 42760786Sps 42860786Sps* Ported to OS-9. 42960786Sps 43060786Sps* Ported to GNU Hurd. 43160786Sps 43260786Sps====================================================================== 43360786Sps 43460786Sps 43560786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291 43660786Sps 43760786Sps* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files. 43860786Sps 43960786Sps* Fixed MS-DOS build. 44060786Sps 44160786Sps====================================================================== 44260786Sps 44360786Sps 44460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290 44560786Sps 44660786Sps* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version". 44760786Sps 44860786Sps* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH. 44960786Sps 45060786Sps* Bug fixes 45160786Sps 45260786Sps====================================================================== 45360786Sps 45460786Sps 45560786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278 45660786Sps 45760786Sps* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less, 45860786Sps rather than writing it to a temporary file. 45960786Sps 46060786Sps* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights 46160786Sps reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines, 46260786Sps contains TABs, etc. 46360786Sps 46460786Sps* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 46560786Sps to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 46660786Sps only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 46760786Sps strings which match the last search command. 46860786Sps 46960786Sps* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 47060786Sps pattern contains uppercase letters. 47160786Sps 47260786Sps* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR. 47360786Sps 47460786Sps* Ported to OS/2. 47560786Sps 47660786Sps====================================================================== 47760786Sps 47860786Sps 47960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252 48060786Sps 48160786Sps* Changes in line-editing keys: 48260786Sps The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash). 48360786Sps Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 48460786Sps when typing a search pattern. 48560786Sps 48660786Sps* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey. 48760786Sps 48860786Sps* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey 48960786Sps rather than standard input. 49060786Sps 49160786Sps* New option -V displays version number of less. 49260786Sps 49360786Sps* New option -V displays version number of lesskey. 49460786Sps 49560786Sps* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 49660786Sps rather than /usr/local/lib. 49760786Sps 49860786Sps 49960786Sps====================================================================== 50060786Sps 50160786Sps 50260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237 50360786Sps 50460786Sps* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern 50560786Sps is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature. 50660786Sps 50760786Sps* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not 50860786Sps have a regular expression library. 50960786Sps regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto. 51060786Sps 51160786Sps* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 51260786Sps filename completion (TAB). 51360786Sps 51460786Sps* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress) 51560786Sps via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables. 51660786Sps 51760786Sps* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and 51860786Sps deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 51960786Sps 52060786Sps* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent 52160786Sps repeated search. 52260786Sps 52360786Sps* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u 52460786Sps flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag. 52560786Sps 52660786Sps* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine 52760786Sps the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set. 52860786Sps 52960786Sps* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout 53060786Sps (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by 53160786Sps setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable. 53260786Sps 53360786Sps* Use autoconf installation technology. 53460786Sps 53560786Sps* Ported to MS-DOS. 53660786Sps 53760786Sps ******************************** 53860786Sps Things that may surprise you 53960786Sps ******************************** 54060786Sps 54160786Sps* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 54260786Sps filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously. 54360786Sps Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 54460786Sps now have line editing functions. 54560786Sps 54660786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display 54760786Sps compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides 54860786Sps this functionality in a different way. 54960786Sps 55060786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 55160786Sps set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls. 55260786Sps The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 55360786Sps functionality. 55460786Sps 55560786Sps 55660786Sps====================================================================== 55760786Sps 55860786Sps 55960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170 56060786Sps 56160786Sps* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen. 56260786Sps 56360786Sps* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width, 56460786Sps rather than wrapping onto the next line. 56560786Sps 56660786Sps* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll. 56760786Sps 56860786Sps* New option -T specifies a "tags" file. 56960786Sps 57060786Sps* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal. 57160786Sps Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 57260786Sps in blinking mode. 57360786Sps 57460786Sps* New command -+ sets an option to its default. 57560786Sps* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default. 57660786Sps 57760786Sps* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action, 57860786Sps which acts as though typed in after the command. 57960786Sps 58060786Sps* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets. 58160786Sps 58260786Sps* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f"). 58360786Sps 58460786Sps* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command. 58560786Sps 58660786Sps* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list. 58760786Sps 58860786Sps* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized: 58960786Sps n Repeat search, same direction. 59060786Sps N Repeat search, opposite direction. 59160786Sps ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries 59260786Sps ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries 59360786Sps ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction. 59460786Sps ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction. 59560786Sps Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries. 59660786Sps Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list. 59760786Sps 59860786Sps* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list. 59960786Sps A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file, 60060786Sps may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list. 60160786Sps 60260786Sps* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define 60360786Sps a non-ASCII character set. 60460786Sps 60560786Sps* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen 60660786Sps on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size. 60760786Sps 60860786Sps 60960786Sps====================================================================== 61060786Sps 61160786Sps 61260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123 61360786Sps 61460786Sps* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the 61560786Sps text of the file (like vi "set nu"). 61660786Sps 61760786Sps* New option (-?) prints help message immediately. 61860786Sps 61960786Sps* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without 62060786Sps mapping them to ^X notation. 62160786Sps 62260786Sps* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files 62360786Sps (directories, etc). 62460786Sps 62560786Sps* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name. 62660786Sps 62760786Sps* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit 62860786Sps (like -h sets a backward scroll limit). 62960786Sps 63060786Sps* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new 63160786Sps file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files. 63260786Sps 63360786Sps* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 63460786Sps for a pattern. 63560786Sps 63660786Sps* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files. 63760786Sps 63860786Sps* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search 63960786Sps in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available 64060786Sps via :n. 64160786Sps 64260786Sps* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse 64360786Sps direction and spanning files. 64460786Sps 64560786Sps* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be 64660786Sps used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior). 64760786Sps 64860786Sps* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now 64960786Sps optionally have a space between the option letter and the string. 65060786Sps 65160786Sps* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match 65260786Sps brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command. 65360786Sps 65460786Sps* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and 65560786Sps simultaneously set the window size. 65660786Sps 65760786Sps* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last 65860786Sps line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor. 65960786Sps Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.) 66060786Sps can use j for the jump target line. 66160786Sps 66260786Sps* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the 66360786Sps command string passed to the editor by the v command. 66460786Sps 66560786Sps* Examining a file which was previously examined will return 66660786Sps to the same position in the file. 66760786Sps 66860786Sps* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 66960786Sps previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command. 67060786Sps (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 67160786Sps only in the E command.) 67260786Sps 67360786Sps* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t". 67460786Sps 67560786Sps* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l". 67660786Sps 67760786Sps* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default 67860786Sps for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default. 67960786Sps 68060786Sps* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as 68160786Sps extra input to be parsed after the action; for example: 68260786Sps "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X. 683170256Sdelphij 684170256Sdelphij 685170256Sdelphij 686