NEWS revision 89019
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 1060786Sps To report bugs, suggestions or comments, send email to 1189019Sps bug-less@gnu.org or markn@greenwoodsoftware.com. 1260786Sps 1360786Sps====================================================================== 1460786Sps 1560786Sps 1689019Sps Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 371 1789019Sps 1889019Sps* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops. 1989019Sps 2089019Sps* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization. 2189019Sps New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization. 2289019Sps 2389019Sps* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches. 2489019Sps Added support for "global(1)" tags 2589019Sps (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html). 2689019Sps 2789019Sps* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed 2889019Sps while waiting for data in the F command. 2989019Sps 3089019Sps* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory 3189019Sps instead of .sysless in bin directory. 3289019Sps Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it. 3389019Sps (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.) 3489019Sps 3589019Sps* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts 3689019Sps the display N columns rather than editing the number itself. 3789019Sps 3889019Sps* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results. 3989019Sps 4089019Sps* Windows version sets window title. 4189019Sps 4289019Sps* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos". 4389019Sps 4489019Sps* Improved performance in reading very large files. 4589019Sps 4689019Sps* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits. 4789019Sps 4889019Sps* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines. 4989019Sps 5089019Sps* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs. 5189019Sps 5289019Sps* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color. 5389019Sps 5489019Sps* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems. 5589019Sps 5689019Sps* Some fixes for OS/2 systems. 5789019Sps 5889019Sps====================================================================== 5989019Sps 6063128Sps Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358 6163128Sps 6263128Sps* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column. 6363128Sps 6463128Sps* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance. 6563128Sps Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width. 6663128Sps 6763128Sps* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect. 6863128Sps 6963128Sps* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion. 7063128Sps 7163128Sps====================================================================== 7263128Sps 7363128Sps 7460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354 7560786Sps 7660786Sps* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options. 7760786Sps 7860786Sps* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems. 7960786Sps 8060786Sps* Add support for PCRE regular expression library. 8160786Sps 8260786Sps* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting 8360786Sps a regular expression library. 8460786Sps 8560786Sps* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1. 8660786Sps 8760786Sps====================================================================== 8860786Sps 8960786Sps 9060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352 9160786Sps 9260786Sps* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables. 9360786Sps 9460786Sps* Add --with-editor option to configure script. 9560786Sps 9660786Sps* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number. 9760786Sps 9860786Sps* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc. 9960786Sps 10060786Sps* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines. 10160786Sps 10260786Sps* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks. 10360786Sps 10460786Sps* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 10560786Sps bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals. 10660786Sps 10760786Sps* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version. 10860786Sps 10960786Sps====================================================================== 11060786Sps 11160786Sps 11260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346 11360786Sps 11460786Sps* The UTF-8 character set is now supported. 11560786Sps 11660786Sps* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii. 11760786Sps 11860786Sps* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 11960786Sps long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 12060786Sps normal text and ANSI color escape sequences. 12160786Sps 12260786Sps* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on 12360786Sps the first screen. 12460786Sps 12560786Sps* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command. 12660786Sps 12760786Sps* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM). 12860786Sps 12960786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number. 13060786Sps 13160786Sps* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into 13260786Sps file, based on line number rather than byte offset. 13360786Sps 13460786Sps* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file. 13560786Sps 13660786Sps====================================================================== 13760786Sps 13860786Sps 13960786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340 14060786Sps 14160786Sps* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 14260786Sps single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name). 14360786Sps See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names. 14460786Sps 14560786Sps* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name 14660786Sps form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names. 14760786Sps 14860786Sps* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name. 14960786Sps 15060786Sps* New command __ queries an option using the long option name. 15160786Sps 15260786Sps* The old -- command is renamed as -!. 15360786Sps 15460786Sps* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the - 15560786Sps command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed. 15660786Sps 15760786Sps* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the 15860786Sps "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE). 15960786Sps 16060786Sps* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files. 16160786Sps 16260786Sps* New option -~ (like -w before version 335) 16360786Sps suppresses tildes after end-of-file. 16460786Sps 16560786Sps* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License. 16660786Sps 16760786Sps====================================================================== 16860786Sps 16960786Sps 17060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337 17160786Sps 17260786Sps* Fixed bugs in "make install". 17360786Sps 17460786Sps====================================================================== 17560786Sps 17660786Sps 17760786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335 17860786Sps 17960786Sps* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed. 18060786Sps 18160786Sps* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen. 18260786Sps 18360786Sps* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement. 18460786Sps 18560786Sps* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 18660786Sps variables are incorrect. 18760786Sps 18860786Sps* New percent escapes for prompt strings: 18960786Sps %d is replaced by the page number, and 19060786Sps %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file. 19160786Sps 19260786Sps* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic". 19360786Sps 19460786Sps* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined. 19560786Sps 19660786Sps* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows. 19760786Sps 19860786Sps====================================================================== 19960786Sps 20060786Sps 20160786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332 20260786Sps 20360786Sps* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history, 20460786Sps so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command. 20560786Sps 20660786Sps* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal 20760786Sps window (buffer larger than display window). 20860786Sps 20960786Sps* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit. 21060786Sps Use -X to get the old behavior. 21160786Sps 21260786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed. 21360786Sps 21460786Sps* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program. 21560786Sps 21660786Sps* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style 21760786Sps line terminators (CR/LF). 21860786Sps 21960786Sps* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2. 22060786Sps 22160786Sps====================================================================== 22260786Sps 22360786Sps 22460786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330 22560786Sps 22660786Sps* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes). 22760786Sps New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters. 22860786Sps 22960786Sps* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name. 23060786Sps If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of 23160786Sps that variable, rather than a slash, is appended. 23260786Sps 23360786Sps* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 23460786Sps 23560786Sps* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-]. 23660786Sps 23760786Sps* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 23860786Sps string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits. 23960786Sps 24060786Sps* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide 24160786Sps more control over how less interfaces to the shell. 24260786Sps 24360786Sps* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows. 24460786Sps 24560786Sps* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS. 24660786Sps 24760786Sps* Bug fixes. 24860786Sps 24960786Sps====================================================================== 25060786Sps 25160786Sps 25260786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321 25360786Sps 25460786Sps* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 25560786Sps than the screen width. 25660786Sps 25760786Sps* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally. 25860786Sps 25960786Sps* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it 26060786Sps hits end-of-file. 26160786Sps 26260786Sps* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !, 26360786Sps ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *. 26460786Sps 26560786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches 26660786Sps currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match. 26760786Sps 26860786Sps* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular 26960786Sps expressions in the search. 27060786Sps 27160786Sps* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file. 27260786Sps 27360786Sps* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in 27460786Sps "secure" mode. 27560786Sps 27660786Sps* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments 27760786Sps are files (not option flags). 27860786Sps 27960786Sps* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now 28060786Sps embedded in the less executable itself. 28160786Sps 28260786Sps* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text. 28360786Sps Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P). 28460786Sps 28560786Sps* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS. 28660786Sps 28760786Sps* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT. 28860786Sps 28960786Sps* Ported to OS-9. 29060786Sps 29160786Sps* Ported to GNU Hurd. 29260786Sps 29360786Sps====================================================================== 29460786Sps 29560786Sps 29660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291 29760786Sps 29860786Sps* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files. 29960786Sps 30060786Sps* Fixed MS-DOS build. 30160786Sps 30260786Sps====================================================================== 30360786Sps 30460786Sps 30560786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290 30660786Sps 30760786Sps* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version". 30860786Sps 30960786Sps* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH. 31060786Sps 31160786Sps* Bug fixes 31260786Sps 31360786Sps====================================================================== 31460786Sps 31560786Sps 31660786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278 31760786Sps 31860786Sps* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less, 31960786Sps rather than writing it to a temporary file. 32060786Sps 32160786Sps* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights 32260786Sps reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines, 32360786Sps contains TABs, etc. 32460786Sps 32560786Sps* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 32660786Sps to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 32760786Sps only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 32860786Sps strings which match the last search command. 32960786Sps 33060786Sps* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 33160786Sps pattern contains uppercase letters. 33260786Sps 33360786Sps* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR. 33460786Sps 33560786Sps* Ported to OS/2. 33660786Sps 33760786Sps====================================================================== 33860786Sps 33960786Sps 34060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252 34160786Sps 34260786Sps* Changes in line-editing keys: 34360786Sps The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash). 34460786Sps Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 34560786Sps when typing a search pattern. 34660786Sps 34760786Sps* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey. 34860786Sps 34960786Sps* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey 35060786Sps rather than standard input. 35160786Sps 35260786Sps* New option -V displays version number of less. 35360786Sps 35460786Sps* New option -V displays version number of lesskey. 35560786Sps 35660786Sps* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 35760786Sps rather than /usr/local/lib. 35860786Sps 35960786Sps 36060786Sps====================================================================== 36160786Sps 36260786Sps 36360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237 36460786Sps 36560786Sps* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern 36660786Sps is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature. 36760786Sps 36860786Sps* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not 36960786Sps have a regular expression library. 37060786Sps regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto. 37160786Sps 37260786Sps* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 37360786Sps filename completion (TAB). 37460786Sps 37560786Sps* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress) 37660786Sps via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables. 37760786Sps 37860786Sps* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and 37960786Sps deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 38060786Sps 38160786Sps* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent 38260786Sps repeated search. 38360786Sps 38460786Sps* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u 38560786Sps flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag. 38660786Sps 38760786Sps* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine 38860786Sps the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set. 38960786Sps 39060786Sps* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout 39160786Sps (reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by 39260786Sps setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable. 39360786Sps 39460786Sps* Use autoconf installation technology. 39560786Sps 39660786Sps* Ported to MS-DOS. 39760786Sps 39860786Sps ******************************** 39960786Sps Things that may surprise you 40060786Sps ******************************** 40160786Sps 40260786Sps* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 40360786Sps filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously. 40460786Sps Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 40560786Sps now have line editing functions. 40660786Sps 40760786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display 40860786Sps compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides 40960786Sps this functionality in a different way. 41060786Sps 41160786Sps* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 41260786Sps set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls. 41360786Sps The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 41460786Sps functionality. 41560786Sps 41660786Sps 41760786Sps====================================================================== 41860786Sps 41960786Sps 42060786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170 42160786Sps 42260786Sps* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen. 42360786Sps 42460786Sps* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width, 42560786Sps rather than wrapping onto the next line. 42660786Sps 42760786Sps* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll. 42860786Sps 42960786Sps* New option -T specifies a "tags" file. 43060786Sps 43160786Sps* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal. 43260786Sps Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 43360786Sps in blinking mode. 43460786Sps 43560786Sps* New command -+ sets an option to its default. 43660786Sps* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default. 43760786Sps 43860786Sps* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action, 43960786Sps which acts as though typed in after the command. 44060786Sps 44160786Sps* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets. 44260786Sps 44360786Sps* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f"). 44460786Sps 44560786Sps* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command. 44660786Sps 44760786Sps* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list. 44860786Sps 44960786Sps* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized: 45060786Sps n Repeat search, same direction. 45160786Sps N Repeat search, opposite direction. 45260786Sps ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries 45360786Sps ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries 45460786Sps ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction. 45560786Sps ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction. 45660786Sps Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries. 45760786Sps Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list. 45860786Sps 45960786Sps* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list. 46060786Sps A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file, 46160786Sps may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list. 46260786Sps 46360786Sps* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define 46460786Sps a non-ASCII character set. 46560786Sps 46660786Sps* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen 46760786Sps on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size. 46860786Sps 46960786Sps 47060786Sps====================================================================== 47160786Sps 47260786Sps 47360786Sps Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123 47460786Sps 47560786Sps* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the 47660786Sps text of the file (like vi "set nu"). 47760786Sps 47860786Sps* New option (-?) prints help message immediately. 47960786Sps 48060786Sps* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without 48160786Sps mapping them to ^X notation. 48260786Sps 48360786Sps* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files 48460786Sps (directories, etc). 48560786Sps 48660786Sps* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name. 48760786Sps 48860786Sps* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit 48960786Sps (like -h sets a backward scroll limit). 49060786Sps 49160786Sps* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new 49260786Sps file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files. 49360786Sps 49460786Sps* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 49560786Sps for a pattern. 49660786Sps 49760786Sps* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files. 49860786Sps 49960786Sps* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search 50060786Sps in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available 50160786Sps via :n. 50260786Sps 50360786Sps* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse 50460786Sps direction and spanning files. 50560786Sps 50660786Sps* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be 50760786Sps used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior). 50860786Sps 50960786Sps* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now 51060786Sps optionally have a space between the option letter and the string. 51160786Sps 51260786Sps* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match 51360786Sps brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command. 51460786Sps 51560786Sps* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and 51660786Sps simultaneously set the window size. 51760786Sps 51860786Sps* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last 51960786Sps line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor. 52060786Sps Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.) 52160786Sps can use j for the jump target line. 52260786Sps 52360786Sps* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the 52460786Sps command string passed to the editor by the v command. 52560786Sps 52660786Sps* Examining a file which was previously examined will return 52760786Sps to the same position in the file. 52860786Sps 52960786Sps* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 53060786Sps previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command. 53160786Sps (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 53260786Sps only in the E command.) 53360786Sps 53460786Sps* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t". 53560786Sps 53660786Sps* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l". 53760786Sps 53860786Sps* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default 53960786Sps for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default. 54060786Sps 54160786Sps* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as 54260786Sps extra input to be parsed after the action; for example: 54360786Sps "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X. 544