NEWS revision 191930
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 15191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429 1660786Sps 17191930Sdelphij* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN 18191930Sdelphij environment variable begins with "|-". 19191930Sdelphij 20191930Sdelphij* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color. 21191930Sdelphij 22191930Sdelphij* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file. 23191930Sdelphij 24191930Sdelphij* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers. 25191930Sdelphij 26191930Sdelphij* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode. 27191930Sdelphij 28191930Sdelphij* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals. 29191930Sdelphij 30191930Sdelphij* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt. 31191930Sdelphij 32191930Sdelphij* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (eg. bold+underline). 33191930Sdelphij 34191930Sdelphij* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text. 35191930Sdelphij 36191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 37191930Sdelphij 38191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424 39191930Sdelphij 40191930Sdelphij* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern. 41191930Sdelphij 42191930Sdelphij* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched 43191930Sdelphij string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect. 44191930Sdelphij 45191930Sdelphij* Improve behavior of -F option. 46191930Sdelphij 47191930Sdelphij* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode. 48191930Sdelphij 49191930Sdelphij* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default 50191930Sdelphij to column 1. 51191930Sdelphij 52191930Sdelphij* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command. 53191930Sdelphij 54191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 55191930Sdelphij 56191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418 57191930Sdelphij 58191930Sdelphij* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build. 59191930Sdelphij 60191930Sdelphij* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf. 61191930Sdelphij 62191930Sdelphij* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences. 63191930Sdelphij 64191930Sdelphij* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes. 65191930Sdelphij 66191930Sdelphij* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward. 67191930Sdelphij 68191930Sdelphij* Update GPL to version 3. 69191930Sdelphij 70191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 71191930Sdelphij 72173932Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416 73173682Sdelphij 74173682Sdelphij* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file 75173682Sdelphij rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed. 76173682Sdelphij 77173682Sdelphij* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text. 78173682Sdelphij 79173682Sdelphij* Fix DJGPP build. 80173682Sdelphij 81173682Sdelphij====================================================================== 82173682Sdelphij 83172597Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409 84172468Sdelphij 85172468Sdelphij* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences. 86172468Sdelphij 87172468Sdelphij* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized. 88172468Sdelphij 89172468Sdelphij* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text. 90172468Sdelphij 91172468Sdelphij* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h. 92172468Sdelphij 93172597Sdelphij* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences. 94172597Sdelphij 95172468Sdelphij====================================================================== 96172468Sdelphij 97170964Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406 98170256Sdelphij 99170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command. 100170256Sdelphij 101170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height). 102170256Sdelphij 103170256Sdelphij* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search. 104170256Sdelphij 105170256Sdelphij* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed. 106170256Sdelphij 107170256Sdelphij* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page. 108170256Sdelphij 109170256Sdelphij* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the 110170256Sdelphij output works better. 111170256Sdelphij 112170256Sdelphij* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option. 113170256Sdelphij 114170256Sdelphij* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate 115170256Sdelphij that no history file should be used. 116170256Sdelphij 117170256Sdelphij* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE 118170256Sdelphij library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used. 119170256Sdelphij 120170256Sdelphij* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification. 121170256Sdelphij 122170256Sdelphij* Make -f work for directories. 123170256Sdelphij 124170256Sdelphij* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order. 125170256Sdelphij 126170256Sdelphij* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning 127170256Sdelphij that the file is binary. 128170256Sdelphij 129170256Sdelphij* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences 130170256Sdelphij and -R is in effect. 131170256Sdelphij 132170256Sdelphij* Update Unicode character tables. 133170256Sdelphij 134170256Sdelphij* Support DESTDIR in Makefile. 135170256Sdelphij 136170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$". 137170256Sdelphij 138170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe. 139170256Sdelphij 140170256Sdelphij* Fix configure bugs. 141170256Sdelphij 142170256Sdelphij====================================================================== 143170256Sdelphij 144161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394 145161475Sdelphij 146161475Sdelphij* Add history file to save search and shell command history between 147161475Sdelphij invocations of less. 148161475Sdelphij 149161475Sdelphij* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands. 150161475Sdelphij 151161475Sdelphij* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C. 152161475Sdelphij 153161475Sdelphij* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better 154161475Sdelphij line wrapping and handling double-width chars. 155161475Sdelphij 156161475Sdelphij* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of 157161475Sdelphij non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file. 158161475Sdelphij 159161475Sdelphij* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to 160161475Sdelphij build a secure version of less. 161161475Sdelphij 162161475Sdelphij* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights 163161475Sdelphij are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command. 164161475Sdelphij 165161475Sdelphij* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines. 166161475Sdelphij 167161475Sdelphij* Add "windows" charset. 168161475Sdelphij 169161475Sdelphij* Add man page for lessecho. 170161475Sdelphij 171161475Sdelphij* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase. 172161475Sdelphij 173161475Sdelphij* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line. 174161475Sdelphij 175161475Sdelphij* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1. 176161475Sdelphij 177161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt. 178161475Sdelphij 179161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling tag file error. 180161475Sdelphij 181161475Sdelphij* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help. 182161475Sdelphij 183161475Sdelphij* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets. 184161475Sdelphij 185161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search. 186161475Sdelphij 187161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE. 188161475Sdelphij 189161475Sdelphij* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search. 190161475Sdelphij 191161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 192161475Sdelphij 193161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382 194161475Sdelphij 195161475Sdelphij* Removed some old copyrighted code. 196161475Sdelphij This probably breaks OS/9 support. 197161475Sdelphij 198161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 199161475Sdelphij 200128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381 20189019Sps 202128345Stjr* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing. 203128345Stjr 204128345Stjr* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing. 205128345Stjr Large file support is now set up by the configure script. 206128345Stjr 207128345Stjr* Use autoconf 2.54. 208128345Stjr Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac. 209128345Stjr 210128345Stjr* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined 211128345Stjr depending on context. 212128345Stjr 213128345Stjr* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible. 214128345Stjr 215128345Stjr* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files. 216128345Stjr 217128345Stjr* Fix some nroff issues in the man page. 218128345Stjr 219128345Stjr====================================================================== 220128345Stjr 221128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378 222128345Stjr 223128345Stjr* Bug fixes: 224128345Stjr Default buffer space is now 64K as documented. 225128345Stjr Search highlighting works properly when used with -R. 226128345Stjr Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns. 227128345Stjr Clean up some compiler warnings. 228128345Stjr 229128345Stjr====================================================================== 230128345Stjr 231128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376 232128345Stjr 23389019Sps* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops. 23489019Sps 23589019Sps* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization. 23689019Sps New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization. 23789019Sps 23889019Sps* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches. 23989019Sps Added support for "global(1)" tags 24089019Sps (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). 24189019Sps 24289019Sps* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed 24389019Sps while waiting for data in the F command. 24489019Sps 24589019Sps* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory 24689019Sps instead of .sysless in bin directory. 24789019Sps Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it. 24889019Sps (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.) 24989019Sps 25089019Sps* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts 25189019Sps the display N columns rather than editing the number itself. 25289019Sps 25389019Sps* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results. 25489019Sps 25589019Sps* Windows version sets window title. 25689019Sps 25789019Sps* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos". 25889019Sps 259128345Stjr* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences. 260128345Stjr ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 26189019Sps 262128345Stjr* Improved performance in reading very large pipes. 263128345Stjr 26489019Sps* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits. 26589019Sps 26689019Sps* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines. 26789019Sps 26889019Sps* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs. 26989019Sps 27089019Sps* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color. 27189019Sps 272128345Stjr* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters. 273128345Stjr 27489019Sps* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems. 27589019Sps 27689019Sps* Some fixes for OS/2 systems. 27789019Sps 27889019Sps====================================================================== 27989019Sps 28063128Sps Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358 28163128Sps 28263128Sps* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column. 28363128Sps 28463128Sps* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance. 28563128Sps Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width. 28663128Sps 28763128Sps* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect. 28863128Sps 28963128Sps* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion. 29063128Sps 29163128Sps====================================================================== 29263128Sps 29363128Sps 29460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354 29560786Sps 29660786Sps* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options. 29760786Sps 29860786Sps* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems. 29960786Sps 30060786Sps* Add support for PCRE regular expression library. 30160786Sps 30260786Sps* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting 30360786Sps a regular expression library. 30460786Sps 30560786Sps* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1. 30660786Sps 30760786Sps====================================================================== 30860786Sps 30960786Sps 31060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352 31160786Sps 31260786Sps* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables. 31360786Sps 31460786Sps* Add --with-editor option to configure script. 31560786Sps 31660786Sps* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number. 31760786Sps 31860786Sps* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc. 31960786Sps 32060786Sps* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines. 32160786Sps 32260786Sps* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks. 32360786Sps 32460786Sps* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 32560786Sps bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals. 32660786Sps 32760786Sps* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 32860786Sps 32960786Sps====================================================================== 33060786Sps 33160786Sps 33260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346 33360786Sps 33460786Sps* The UTF-8 character set is now supported. 33560786Sps 33660786Sps* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii. 33760786Sps 33860786Sps* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 33960786Sps long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 34060786Sps normal text and ANSI color escape sequences. 34160786Sps 34260786Sps* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on 34360786Sps the first screen. 34460786Sps 34560786Sps* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command. 34660786Sps 34760786Sps* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM). 34860786Sps 34960786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number. 35060786Sps 35160786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into 35260786Sps file, based on line number rather than byte offset. 35360786Sps 35460786Sps* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file. 35560786Sps 35660786Sps====================================================================== 35760786Sps 35860786Sps 35960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340 36060786Sps 36160786Sps* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 36260786Sps single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name). 36360786Sps See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names. 36460786Sps 36560786Sps* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name 36660786Sps form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names. 36760786Sps 36860786Sps* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name. 36960786Sps 37060786Sps* New command __ queries an option using the long option name. 37160786Sps 37260786Sps* The old -- command is renamed as -!. 37360786Sps 37460786Sps* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the - 37560786Sps command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed. 37660786Sps 37760786Sps* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the 37860786Sps "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE). 37960786Sps 38060786Sps* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files. 38160786Sps 38260786Sps* New option -~ (like -w before version 335) 38360786Sps suppresses tildes after end-of-file. 38460786Sps 38560786Sps* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License. 38660786Sps 38760786Sps====================================================================== 38860786Sps 38960786Sps 39060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337 39160786Sps 39260786Sps* Fixed bugs in "make install". 39360786Sps 39460786Sps====================================================================== 39560786Sps 39660786Sps 39760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335 39860786Sps 39960786Sps* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed. 40060786Sps 40160786Sps* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen. 40260786Sps 40360786Sps* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement. 40460786Sps 40560786Sps* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 40660786Sps variables are incorrect. 40760786Sps 40860786Sps* New percent escapes for prompt strings: 40960786Sps %d is replaced by the page number, and 41060786Sps %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file. 41160786Sps 41260786Sps* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic". 41360786Sps 41460786Sps* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined. 41560786Sps 41660786Sps* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows. 41760786Sps 41860786Sps====================================================================== 41960786Sps 42060786Sps 42160786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332 42260786Sps 42360786Sps* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history, 42460786Sps so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command. 42560786Sps 42660786Sps* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal 42760786Sps window (buffer larger than display window). 42860786Sps 42960786Sps* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit. 43060786Sps Use -X to get the old behavior. 43160786Sps 43260786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed. 43360786Sps 43460786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program. 43560786Sps 43660786Sps* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style 43760786Sps line terminators (CR/LF). 43860786Sps 43960786Sps* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2. 44060786Sps 44160786Sps====================================================================== 44260786Sps 44360786Sps 44460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330 44560786Sps 44660786Sps* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes). 44760786Sps New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters. 44860786Sps 44960786Sps* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name. 45060786Sps If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of 45160786Sps that variable, rather than a slash, is appended. 45260786Sps 45360786Sps* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 45460786Sps 45560786Sps* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 45660786Sps 45760786Sps* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 45860786Sps string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits. 45960786Sps 46060786Sps* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide 46160786Sps more control over how less interfaces to the shell. 46260786Sps 46360786Sps* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows. 46460786Sps 46560786Sps* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS. 46660786Sps 46760786Sps* Bug fixes. 46860786Sps 46960786Sps====================================================================== 47060786Sps 47160786Sps 47260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321 47360786Sps 47460786Sps* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 47560786Sps than the screen width. 47660786Sps 47760786Sps* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally. 47860786Sps 47960786Sps* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it 48060786Sps hits end-of-file. 48160786Sps 48260786Sps* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !, 48360786Sps ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *. 48460786Sps 48560786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches 48660786Sps currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match. 48760786Sps 48860786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular 48960786Sps expressions in the search. 49060786Sps 49160786Sps* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file. 49260786Sps 49360786Sps* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in 49460786Sps "secure" mode. 49560786Sps 49660786Sps* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments 49760786Sps are files (not option flags). 49860786Sps 49960786Sps* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now 50060786Sps embedded in the less executable itself. 50160786Sps 50260786Sps* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text. 50360786Sps Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P). 50460786Sps 50560786Sps* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS. 50660786Sps 50760786Sps* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT. 50860786Sps 50960786Sps* Ported to OS-9. 51060786Sps 51160786Sps* Ported to GNU Hurd. 51260786Sps 51360786Sps====================================================================== 51460786Sps 51560786Sps 51660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291 51760786Sps 51860786Sps* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files. 51960786Sps 52060786Sps* Fixed MS-DOS build. 52160786Sps 52260786Sps====================================================================== 52360786Sps 52460786Sps 52560786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290 52660786Sps 52760786Sps* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version". 52860786Sps 52960786Sps* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH. 53060786Sps 53160786Sps* Bug fixes 53260786Sps 53360786Sps====================================================================== 53460786Sps 53560786Sps 53660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278 53760786Sps 53860786Sps* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less, 53960786Sps rather than writing it to a temporary file. 54060786Sps 54160786Sps* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights 54260786Sps reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines, 54360786Sps contains TABs, etc. 54460786Sps 54560786Sps* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 54660786Sps to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 54760786Sps only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 54860786Sps strings which match the last search command. 54960786Sps 55060786Sps* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 55160786Sps pattern contains uppercase letters. 55260786Sps 55360786Sps* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR. 55460786Sps 55560786Sps* Ported to OS/2. 55660786Sps 55760786Sps====================================================================== 55860786Sps 55960786Sps 56060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252 56160786Sps 56260786Sps* Changes in line-editing keys: 56360786Sps The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash). 56460786Sps Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 56560786Sps when typing a search pattern. 56660786Sps 56760786Sps* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey. 56860786Sps 56960786Sps* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey 57060786Sps rather than standard input. 57160786Sps 57260786Sps* New option -V displays version number of less. 57360786Sps 57460786Sps* New option -V displays version number of lesskey. 57560786Sps 57660786Sps* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 57760786Sps rather than /usr/local/lib. 57860786Sps 57960786Sps 58060786Sps====================================================================== 58160786Sps 58260786Sps 58360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237 58460786Sps 58560786Sps* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern 58660786Sps is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature. 58760786Sps 58860786Sps* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not 58960786Sps have a regular expression library. 59060786Sps regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto. 59160786Sps 59260786Sps* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 59360786Sps filename completion (TAB). 59460786Sps 59560786Sps* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress) 59660786Sps via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables. 59760786Sps 59860786Sps* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and 59960786Sps deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 60060786Sps 60160786Sps* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent 60260786Sps repeated search. 60360786Sps 60460786Sps* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u 60560786Sps flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag. 60660786Sps 60760786Sps* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine 60860786Sps the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set. 60960786Sps 61060786Sps* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout 61160786Sps (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by 61260786Sps setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable. 61360786Sps 61460786Sps* Use autoconf installation technology. 61560786Sps 61660786Sps* Ported to MS-DOS. 61760786Sps 61860786Sps ******************************** 61960786Sps Things that may surprise you 62060786Sps ******************************** 62160786Sps 62260786Sps* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 62360786Sps filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously. 62460786Sps Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 62560786Sps now have line editing functions. 62660786Sps 62760786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display 62860786Sps compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides 62960786Sps this functionality in a different way. 63060786Sps 63160786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 63260786Sps set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls. 63360786Sps The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 63460786Sps functionality. 63560786Sps 63660786Sps 63760786Sps====================================================================== 63860786Sps 63960786Sps 64060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170 64160786Sps 64260786Sps* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen. 64360786Sps 64460786Sps* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width, 64560786Sps rather than wrapping onto the next line. 64660786Sps 64760786Sps* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll. 64860786Sps 64960786Sps* New option -T specifies a "tags" file. 65060786Sps 65160786Sps* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal. 65260786Sps Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 65360786Sps in blinking mode. 65460786Sps 65560786Sps* New command -+ sets an option to its default. 65660786Sps* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default. 65760786Sps 65860786Sps* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action, 65960786Sps which acts as though typed in after the command. 66060786Sps 66160786Sps* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets. 66260786Sps 66360786Sps* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f"). 66460786Sps 66560786Sps* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command. 66660786Sps 66760786Sps* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list. 66860786Sps 66960786Sps* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized: 67060786Sps n Repeat search, same direction. 67160786Sps N Repeat search, opposite direction. 67260786Sps ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries 67360786Sps ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries 67460786Sps ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction. 67560786Sps ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction. 67660786Sps Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries. 67760786Sps Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list. 67860786Sps 67960786Sps* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list. 68060786Sps A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file, 68160786Sps may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list. 68260786Sps 68360786Sps* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define 68460786Sps a non-ASCII character set. 68560786Sps 68660786Sps* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen 68760786Sps on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size. 68860786Sps 68960786Sps 69060786Sps====================================================================== 69160786Sps 69260786Sps 69360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123 69460786Sps 69560786Sps* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the 69660786Sps text of the file (like vi "set nu"). 69760786Sps 69860786Sps* New option (-?) prints help message immediately. 69960786Sps 70060786Sps* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without 70160786Sps mapping them to ^X notation. 70260786Sps 70360786Sps* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files 70460786Sps (directories, etc). 70560786Sps 70660786Sps* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name. 70760786Sps 70860786Sps* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit 70960786Sps (like -h sets a backward scroll limit). 71060786Sps 71160786Sps* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new 71260786Sps file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files. 71360786Sps 71460786Sps* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 71560786Sps for a pattern. 71660786Sps 71760786Sps* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files. 71860786Sps 71960786Sps* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search 72060786Sps in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available 72160786Sps via :n. 72260786Sps 72360786Sps* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse 72460786Sps direction and spanning files. 72560786Sps 72660786Sps* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be 72760786Sps used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior). 72860786Sps 72960786Sps* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now 73060786Sps optionally have a space between the option letter and the string. 73160786Sps 73260786Sps* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match 73360786Sps brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command. 73460786Sps 73560786Sps* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and 73660786Sps simultaneously set the window size. 73760786Sps 73860786Sps* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last 73960786Sps line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor. 74060786Sps Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.) 74160786Sps can use j for the jump target line. 74260786Sps 74360786Sps* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the 74460786Sps command string passed to the editor by the v command. 74560786Sps 74660786Sps* Examining a file which was previously examined will return 74760786Sps to the same position in the file. 74860786Sps 74960786Sps* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 75060786Sps previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command. 75160786Sps (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 75260786Sps only in the E command.) 75360786Sps 75460786Sps* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t". 75560786Sps 75660786Sps* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l". 75760786Sps 75860786Sps* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default 75960786Sps for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default. 76060786Sps 76160786Sps* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as 76260786Sps extra input to be parsed after the action; for example: 76360786Sps "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X. 764170256Sdelphij 765170256Sdelphij 766170256Sdelphij 767172597Sdelphij 768173682Sdelphij 769