NEWS revision 221715
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 15221715Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443 16221715Sdelphij 17221715Sdelphij* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit 18221715Sdelphij pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and 19221715Sdelphij not just the portion after the target line. 20221715Sdelphij 21221715Sdelphij* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only 22221715Sdelphij the portion of the screen after the target line is searched. 23221715Sdelphij 24221715Sdelphij* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component 25221715Sdelphij of the input file. 26221715Sdelphij 27221715Sdelphij* Control-G while editing a command exits the command. 28221715Sdelphij 29221715Sdelphij* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect. 30221715Sdelphij 31221715Sdelphij* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option. 32221715Sdelphij 33221715Sdelphij* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command 34221715Sdelphij in combination with -i and -I. 35221715Sdelphij 36221715Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option. 37221715Sdelphij 38221715Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings. 39221715Sdelphij 40221715Sdelphij* Improve handling of long option names. 41221715Sdelphij 42221715Sdelphij* Improve percentage calculation for very large files. 43221715Sdelphij 44221715Sdelphij====================================================================== 45221715Sdelphij 46195941Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436 47195941Sdelphij 48195941Sdelphij* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-". 49195941Sdelphij 50195941Sdelphij* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option. 51195941Sdelphij 52195941Sdelphij* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line. 53195941Sdelphij 54195941Sdelphij* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R. 55195941Sdelphij 56195941Sdelphij====================================================================== 57195941Sdelphij 58191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429 5960786Sps 60191930Sdelphij* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN 61191930Sdelphij environment variable begins with "|-". 62191930Sdelphij 63191930Sdelphij* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color. 64191930Sdelphij 65191930Sdelphij* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file. 66191930Sdelphij 67191930Sdelphij* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers. 68191930Sdelphij 69191930Sdelphij* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode. 70191930Sdelphij 71191930Sdelphij* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals. 72191930Sdelphij 73191930Sdelphij* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt. 74191930Sdelphij 75191930Sdelphij* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (eg. bold+underline). 76191930Sdelphij 77191930Sdelphij* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text. 78191930Sdelphij 79191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 80191930Sdelphij 81191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424 82191930Sdelphij 83191930Sdelphij* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern. 84191930Sdelphij 85191930Sdelphij* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched 86191930Sdelphij string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect. 87191930Sdelphij 88191930Sdelphij* Improve behavior of -F option. 89191930Sdelphij 90191930Sdelphij* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode. 91191930Sdelphij 92191930Sdelphij* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default 93191930Sdelphij to column 1. 94191930Sdelphij 95191930Sdelphij* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command. 96191930Sdelphij 97191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 98191930Sdelphij 99191930Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418 100191930Sdelphij 101191930Sdelphij* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build. 102191930Sdelphij 103191930Sdelphij* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf. 104191930Sdelphij 105191930Sdelphij* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences. 106191930Sdelphij 107191930Sdelphij* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes. 108191930Sdelphij 109191930Sdelphij* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward. 110191930Sdelphij 111191930Sdelphij* Update GPL to version 3. 112191930Sdelphij 113191930Sdelphij====================================================================== 114191930Sdelphij 115173932Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416 116173682Sdelphij 117173682Sdelphij* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file 118173682Sdelphij rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed. 119173682Sdelphij 120173682Sdelphij* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text. 121173682Sdelphij 122173682Sdelphij* Fix DJGPP build. 123173682Sdelphij 124173682Sdelphij====================================================================== 125173682Sdelphij 126172597Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409 127172468Sdelphij 128172468Sdelphij* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences. 129172468Sdelphij 130172468Sdelphij* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized. 131172468Sdelphij 132172468Sdelphij* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text. 133172468Sdelphij 134172468Sdelphij* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h. 135172468Sdelphij 136172597Sdelphij* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences. 137172597Sdelphij 138172468Sdelphij====================================================================== 139172468Sdelphij 140170964Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406 141170256Sdelphij 142170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command. 143170256Sdelphij 144170256Sdelphij* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height). 145170256Sdelphij 146170256Sdelphij* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search. 147170256Sdelphij 148170256Sdelphij* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed. 149170256Sdelphij 150170256Sdelphij* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page. 151170256Sdelphij 152170256Sdelphij* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the 153170256Sdelphij output works better. 154170256Sdelphij 155170256Sdelphij* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option. 156170256Sdelphij 157170256Sdelphij* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate 158170256Sdelphij that no history file should be used. 159170256Sdelphij 160170256Sdelphij* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE 161170256Sdelphij library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used. 162170256Sdelphij 163170256Sdelphij* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification. 164170256Sdelphij 165170256Sdelphij* Make -f work for directories. 166170256Sdelphij 167170256Sdelphij* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order. 168170256Sdelphij 169170256Sdelphij* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning 170170256Sdelphij that the file is binary. 171170256Sdelphij 172170256Sdelphij* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences 173170256Sdelphij and -R is in effect. 174170256Sdelphij 175170256Sdelphij* Update Unicode character tables. 176170256Sdelphij 177170256Sdelphij* Support DESTDIR in Makefile. 178170256Sdelphij 179170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$". 180170256Sdelphij 181170256Sdelphij* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe. 182170256Sdelphij 183170256Sdelphij* Fix configure bugs. 184170256Sdelphij 185170256Sdelphij====================================================================== 186170256Sdelphij 187161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394 188161475Sdelphij 189161475Sdelphij* Add history file to save search and shell command history between 190161475Sdelphij invocations of less. 191161475Sdelphij 192161475Sdelphij* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands. 193161475Sdelphij 194161475Sdelphij* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C. 195161475Sdelphij 196161475Sdelphij* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better 197161475Sdelphij line wrapping and handling double-width chars. 198161475Sdelphij 199161475Sdelphij* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of 200161475Sdelphij non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file. 201161475Sdelphij 202161475Sdelphij* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to 203161475Sdelphij build a secure version of less. 204161475Sdelphij 205161475Sdelphij* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights 206161475Sdelphij are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command. 207161475Sdelphij 208161475Sdelphij* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines. 209161475Sdelphij 210161475Sdelphij* Add "windows" charset. 211161475Sdelphij 212161475Sdelphij* Add man page for lessecho. 213161475Sdelphij 214161475Sdelphij* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase. 215161475Sdelphij 216161475Sdelphij* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line. 217161475Sdelphij 218161475Sdelphij* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1. 219161475Sdelphij 220161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt. 221161475Sdelphij 222161475Sdelphij* Fix bug in handling tag file error. 223161475Sdelphij 224161475Sdelphij* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help. 225161475Sdelphij 226161475Sdelphij* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets. 227161475Sdelphij 228161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search. 229161475Sdelphij 230161475Sdelphij* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE. 231161475Sdelphij 232161475Sdelphij* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search. 233161475Sdelphij 234161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 235161475Sdelphij 236161475Sdelphij Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382 237161475Sdelphij 238161475Sdelphij* Removed some old copyrighted code. 239161475Sdelphij This probably breaks OS/9 support. 240161475Sdelphij 241161475Sdelphij====================================================================== 242161475Sdelphij 243128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381 24489019Sps 245128345Stjr* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing. 246128345Stjr 247128345Stjr* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing. 248128345Stjr Large file support is now set up by the configure script. 249128345Stjr 250128345Stjr* Use autoconf 2.54. 251128345Stjr Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac. 252128345Stjr 253128345Stjr* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined 254128345Stjr depending on context. 255128345Stjr 256128345Stjr* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible. 257128345Stjr 258128345Stjr* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files. 259128345Stjr 260128345Stjr* Fix some nroff issues in the man page. 261128345Stjr 262128345Stjr====================================================================== 263128345Stjr 264128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378 265128345Stjr 266128345Stjr* Bug fixes: 267128345Stjr Default buffer space is now 64K as documented. 268128345Stjr Search highlighting works properly when used with -R. 269128345Stjr Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns. 270128345Stjr Clean up some compiler warnings. 271128345Stjr 272128345Stjr====================================================================== 273128345Stjr 274128345Stjr Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376 275128345Stjr 27689019Sps* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops. 27789019Sps 27889019Sps* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization. 27989019Sps New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization. 28089019Sps 28189019Sps* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches. 28289019Sps Added support for "global(1)" tags 28389019Sps (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). 28489019Sps 28589019Sps* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed 28689019Sps while waiting for data in the F command. 28789019Sps 28889019Sps* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory 28989019Sps instead of .sysless in bin directory. 29089019Sps Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it. 29189019Sps (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.) 29289019Sps 29389019Sps* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts 29489019Sps the display N columns rather than editing the number itself. 29589019Sps 29689019Sps* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results. 29789019Sps 29889019Sps* Windows version sets window title. 29989019Sps 30089019Sps* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos". 30189019Sps 302128345Stjr* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences. 303128345Stjr ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 30489019Sps 305128345Stjr* Improved performance in reading very large pipes. 306128345Stjr 30789019Sps* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits. 30889019Sps 30989019Sps* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines. 31089019Sps 31189019Sps* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs. 31289019Sps 31389019Sps* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color. 31489019Sps 315128345Stjr* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters. 316128345Stjr 31789019Sps* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems. 31889019Sps 31989019Sps* Some fixes for OS/2 systems. 32089019Sps 32189019Sps====================================================================== 32289019Sps 32363128Sps Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358 32463128Sps 32563128Sps* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column. 32663128Sps 32763128Sps* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance. 32863128Sps Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width. 32963128Sps 33063128Sps* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect. 33163128Sps 33263128Sps* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion. 33363128Sps 33463128Sps====================================================================== 33563128Sps 33663128Sps 33760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354 33860786Sps 33960786Sps* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options. 34060786Sps 34160786Sps* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems. 34260786Sps 34360786Sps* Add support for PCRE regular expression library. 34460786Sps 34560786Sps* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting 34660786Sps a regular expression library. 34760786Sps 34860786Sps* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1. 34960786Sps 35060786Sps====================================================================== 35160786Sps 35260786Sps 35360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352 35460786Sps 35560786Sps* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables. 35660786Sps 35760786Sps* Add --with-editor option to configure script. 35860786Sps 35960786Sps* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number. 36060786Sps 36160786Sps* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc. 36260786Sps 36360786Sps* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines. 36460786Sps 36560786Sps* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks. 36660786Sps 36760786Sps* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 36860786Sps bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals. 36960786Sps 37060786Sps* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 37160786Sps 37260786Sps====================================================================== 37360786Sps 37460786Sps 37560786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346 37660786Sps 37760786Sps* The UTF-8 character set is now supported. 37860786Sps 37960786Sps* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii. 38060786Sps 38160786Sps* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 38260786Sps long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 38360786Sps normal text and ANSI color escape sequences. 38460786Sps 38560786Sps* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on 38660786Sps the first screen. 38760786Sps 38860786Sps* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command. 38960786Sps 39060786Sps* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM). 39160786Sps 39260786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number. 39360786Sps 39460786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into 39560786Sps file, based on line number rather than byte offset. 39660786Sps 39760786Sps* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file. 39860786Sps 39960786Sps====================================================================== 40060786Sps 40160786Sps 40260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340 40360786Sps 40460786Sps* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 40560786Sps single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name). 40660786Sps See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names. 40760786Sps 40860786Sps* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name 40960786Sps form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names. 41060786Sps 41160786Sps* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name. 41260786Sps 41360786Sps* New command __ queries an option using the long option name. 41460786Sps 41560786Sps* The old -- command is renamed as -!. 41660786Sps 41760786Sps* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the - 41860786Sps command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed. 41960786Sps 42060786Sps* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the 42160786Sps "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE). 42260786Sps 42360786Sps* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files. 42460786Sps 42560786Sps* New option -~ (like -w before version 335) 42660786Sps suppresses tildes after end-of-file. 42760786Sps 42860786Sps* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License. 42960786Sps 43060786Sps====================================================================== 43160786Sps 43260786Sps 43360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337 43460786Sps 43560786Sps* Fixed bugs in "make install". 43660786Sps 43760786Sps====================================================================== 43860786Sps 43960786Sps 44060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335 44160786Sps 44260786Sps* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed. 44360786Sps 44460786Sps* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen. 44560786Sps 44660786Sps* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement. 44760786Sps 44860786Sps* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 44960786Sps variables are incorrect. 45060786Sps 45160786Sps* New percent escapes for prompt strings: 45260786Sps %d is replaced by the page number, and 45360786Sps %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file. 45460786Sps 45560786Sps* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic". 45660786Sps 45760786Sps* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined. 45860786Sps 45960786Sps* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows. 46060786Sps 46160786Sps====================================================================== 46260786Sps 46360786Sps 46460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332 46560786Sps 46660786Sps* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history, 46760786Sps so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command. 46860786Sps 46960786Sps* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal 47060786Sps window (buffer larger than display window). 47160786Sps 47260786Sps* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit. 47360786Sps Use -X to get the old behavior. 47460786Sps 47560786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed. 47660786Sps 47760786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program. 47860786Sps 47960786Sps* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style 48060786Sps line terminators (CR/LF). 48160786Sps 48260786Sps* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2. 48360786Sps 48460786Sps====================================================================== 48560786Sps 48660786Sps 48760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330 48860786Sps 48960786Sps* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes). 49060786Sps New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters. 49160786Sps 49260786Sps* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name. 49360786Sps If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of 49460786Sps that variable, rather than a slash, is appended. 49560786Sps 49660786Sps* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 49760786Sps 49860786Sps* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 49960786Sps 50060786Sps* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 50160786Sps string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits. 50260786Sps 50360786Sps* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide 50460786Sps more control over how less interfaces to the shell. 50560786Sps 50660786Sps* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows. 50760786Sps 50860786Sps* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS. 50960786Sps 51060786Sps* Bug fixes. 51160786Sps 51260786Sps====================================================================== 51360786Sps 51460786Sps 51560786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321 51660786Sps 51760786Sps* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 51860786Sps than the screen width. 51960786Sps 52060786Sps* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally. 52160786Sps 52260786Sps* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it 52360786Sps hits end-of-file. 52460786Sps 52560786Sps* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !, 52660786Sps ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *. 52760786Sps 52860786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches 52960786Sps currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match. 53060786Sps 53160786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular 53260786Sps expressions in the search. 53360786Sps 53460786Sps* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file. 53560786Sps 53660786Sps* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in 53760786Sps "secure" mode. 53860786Sps 53960786Sps* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments 54060786Sps are files (not option flags). 54160786Sps 54260786Sps* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now 54360786Sps embedded in the less executable itself. 54460786Sps 54560786Sps* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text. 54660786Sps Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P). 54760786Sps 54860786Sps* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS. 54960786Sps 55060786Sps* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT. 55160786Sps 55260786Sps* Ported to OS-9. 55360786Sps 55460786Sps* Ported to GNU Hurd. 55560786Sps 55660786Sps====================================================================== 55760786Sps 55860786Sps 55960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291 56060786Sps 56160786Sps* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files. 56260786Sps 56360786Sps* Fixed MS-DOS build. 56460786Sps 56560786Sps====================================================================== 56660786Sps 56760786Sps 56860786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290 56960786Sps 57060786Sps* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version". 57160786Sps 57260786Sps* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH. 57360786Sps 57460786Sps* Bug fixes 57560786Sps 57660786Sps====================================================================== 57760786Sps 57860786Sps 57960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278 58060786Sps 58160786Sps* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less, 58260786Sps rather than writing it to a temporary file. 58360786Sps 58460786Sps* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights 58560786Sps reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines, 58660786Sps contains TABs, etc. 58760786Sps 58860786Sps* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 58960786Sps to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 59060786Sps only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 59160786Sps strings which match the last search command. 59260786Sps 59360786Sps* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 59460786Sps pattern contains uppercase letters. 59560786Sps 59660786Sps* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR. 59760786Sps 59860786Sps* Ported to OS/2. 59960786Sps 60060786Sps====================================================================== 60160786Sps 60260786Sps 60360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252 60460786Sps 60560786Sps* Changes in line-editing keys: 60660786Sps The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash). 60760786Sps Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 60860786Sps when typing a search pattern. 60960786Sps 61060786Sps* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey. 61160786Sps 61260786Sps* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey 61360786Sps rather than standard input. 61460786Sps 61560786Sps* New option -V displays version number of less. 61660786Sps 61760786Sps* New option -V displays version number of lesskey. 61860786Sps 61960786Sps* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 62060786Sps rather than /usr/local/lib. 62160786Sps 62260786Sps 62360786Sps====================================================================== 62460786Sps 62560786Sps 62660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237 62760786Sps 62860786Sps* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern 62960786Sps is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature. 63060786Sps 63160786Sps* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not 63260786Sps have a regular expression library. 63360786Sps regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto. 63460786Sps 63560786Sps* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 63660786Sps filename completion (TAB). 63760786Sps 63860786Sps* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress) 63960786Sps via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables. 64060786Sps 64160786Sps* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and 64260786Sps deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 64360786Sps 64460786Sps* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent 64560786Sps repeated search. 64660786Sps 64760786Sps* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u 64860786Sps flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag. 64960786Sps 65060786Sps* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine 65160786Sps the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set. 65260786Sps 65360786Sps* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout 65460786Sps (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by 65560786Sps setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable. 65660786Sps 65760786Sps* Use autoconf installation technology. 65860786Sps 65960786Sps* Ported to MS-DOS. 66060786Sps 66160786Sps ******************************** 66260786Sps Things that may surprise you 66360786Sps ******************************** 66460786Sps 66560786Sps* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 66660786Sps filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously. 66760786Sps Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 66860786Sps now have line editing functions. 66960786Sps 67060786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display 67160786Sps compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides 67260786Sps this functionality in a different way. 67360786Sps 67460786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 67560786Sps set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls. 67660786Sps The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 67760786Sps functionality. 67860786Sps 67960786Sps 68060786Sps====================================================================== 68160786Sps 68260786Sps 68360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170 68460786Sps 68560786Sps* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen. 68660786Sps 68760786Sps* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width, 68860786Sps rather than wrapping onto the next line. 68960786Sps 69060786Sps* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll. 69160786Sps 69260786Sps* New option -T specifies a "tags" file. 69360786Sps 69460786Sps* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal. 69560786Sps Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 69660786Sps in blinking mode. 69760786Sps 69860786Sps* New command -+ sets an option to its default. 69960786Sps* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default. 70060786Sps 70160786Sps* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action, 70260786Sps which acts as though typed in after the command. 70360786Sps 70460786Sps* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets. 70560786Sps 70660786Sps* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f"). 70760786Sps 70860786Sps* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command. 70960786Sps 71060786Sps* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list. 71160786Sps 71260786Sps* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized: 71360786Sps n Repeat search, same direction. 71460786Sps N Repeat search, opposite direction. 71560786Sps ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries 71660786Sps ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries 71760786Sps ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction. 71860786Sps ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction. 71960786Sps Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries. 72060786Sps Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list. 72160786Sps 72260786Sps* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list. 72360786Sps A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file, 72460786Sps may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list. 72560786Sps 72660786Sps* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define 72760786Sps a non-ASCII character set. 72860786Sps 72960786Sps* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen 73060786Sps on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size. 73160786Sps 73260786Sps 73360786Sps====================================================================== 73460786Sps 73560786Sps 73660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123 73760786Sps 73860786Sps* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the 73960786Sps text of the file (like vi "set nu"). 74060786Sps 74160786Sps* New option (-?) prints help message immediately. 74260786Sps 74360786Sps* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without 74460786Sps mapping them to ^X notation. 74560786Sps 74660786Sps* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files 74760786Sps (directories, etc). 74860786Sps 74960786Sps* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name. 75060786Sps 75160786Sps* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit 75260786Sps (like -h sets a backward scroll limit). 75360786Sps 75460786Sps* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new 75560786Sps file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files. 75660786Sps 75760786Sps* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 75860786Sps for a pattern. 75960786Sps 76060786Sps* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files. 76160786Sps 76260786Sps* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search 76360786Sps in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available 76460786Sps via :n. 76560786Sps 76660786Sps* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse 76760786Sps direction and spanning files. 76860786Sps 76960786Sps* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be 77060786Sps used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior). 77160786Sps 77260786Sps* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now 77360786Sps optionally have a space between the option letter and the string. 77460786Sps 77560786Sps* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match 77660786Sps brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command. 77760786Sps 77860786Sps* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and 77960786Sps simultaneously set the window size. 78060786Sps 78160786Sps* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last 78260786Sps line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor. 78360786Sps Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.) 78460786Sps can use j for the jump target line. 78560786Sps 78660786Sps* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the 78760786Sps command string passed to the editor by the v command. 78860786Sps 78960786Sps* Examining a file which was previously examined will return 79060786Sps to the same position in the file. 79160786Sps 79260786Sps* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 79360786Sps previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command. 79460786Sps (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 79560786Sps only in the E command.) 79660786Sps 79760786Sps* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t". 79860786Sps 79960786Sps* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l". 80060786Sps 80160786Sps* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default 80260786Sps for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default. 80360786Sps 80460786Sps* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as 80560786Sps extra input to be parsed after the action; for example: 80660786Sps "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X. 807170256Sdelphij 808170256Sdelphij 809170256Sdelphij 810172597Sdelphij 811173682Sdelphij 812