NEWS revision 128345
1
2                     NEWS about less
3
4======================================================================
5
6  For the latest news about less, see the "less" Web page:
7      http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less
8  You can also download the latest version of less from there.
9
10  To report bugs, suggestions or comments, send email to 
11  bug-less@gnu.org or markn@greenwoodsoftware.com.
12
13======================================================================
14
15
16	Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
17
18* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
19
20* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
21  Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
22
23* Use autoconf 2.54.
24  Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
25
26* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined 
27  depending on context.
28
29* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
30
31* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
32
33* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
34
35======================================================================
36
37	Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
38
39* Bug fixes:
40  Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
41  Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
42  Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
43  Clean up some compiler warnings.
44
45======================================================================
46
47	Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
48
49* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
50
51* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
52  New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
53
54* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
55  Added support for "global(1)" tags
56  (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
57
58* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed 
59  while waiting for data in the F command.
60
61* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory 
62  instead of .sysless in bin directory.
63  Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
64  (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
65
66* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
67  the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
68
69* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
70
71* Windows version sets window title.
72
73* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
74
75* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
76  ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
77
78* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
79
80* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits.
81
82* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
83
84* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
85
86* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
87
88* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
89
90* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
91
92* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
93
94======================================================================
95
96	Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
97
98* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
99
100* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
101  Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
102
103* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
104
105* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
106
107======================================================================
108
109
110	Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
111
112* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
113
114* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
115
116* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
117
118* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
119  a regular expression library.
120
121* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
122
123======================================================================
124
125
126	Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
127
128* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
129
130* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
131
132* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
133
134* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
135
136* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
137
138* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
139
140* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout, 
141  bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
142
143* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
144
145======================================================================
146
147
148	Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
149
150* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
151
152* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
153
154* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles 
155  long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only 
156  normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
157
158* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
159  the first screen.
160
161* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
162
163* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
164
165* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
166
167* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
168  file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
169
170* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
171
172======================================================================
173
174
175	Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
176
177* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old 
178  single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
179  See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
180
181* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
182  form.  See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
183
184* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
185
186* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
187
188* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
189
190* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
191  command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
192
193* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
194  "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
195
196* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
197
198* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
199  suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
200
201* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
202
203======================================================================
204
205
206	Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
207
208* Fixed bugs in "make install".
209
210======================================================================
211
212
213	Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
214
215* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
216
217* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
218
219* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
220
221* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment 
222  variables are incorrect.
223
224* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
225  %d is replaced by the page number, and
226  %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
227
228* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
229
230* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
231
232* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
233
234======================================================================
235
236
237	Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
238
239* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
240  so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
241
242* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
243  window (buffer larger than display window).
244
245* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.  
246  Use -X to get the old behavior.
247
248* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
249
250* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
251
252* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
253  line terminators (CR/LF).
254
255* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
256
257======================================================================
258
259
260	Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
261
262* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
263  New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
264
265* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
266  If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
267  that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
268
269* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
270
271* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
272
273* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra" 
274  string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
275
276* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
277  more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
278
279* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
280
281* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
282
283* Bug fixes.
284
285======================================================================
286
287
288	Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
289
290* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer 
291  than the screen width.
292
293* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
294
295* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
296  hits end-of-file.
297
298* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
299  ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
300
301* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
302  currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
303
304* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
305  expressions in the search.
306
307* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
308
309* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
310  "secure" mode.
311
312* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
313  are files (not option flags).
314
315* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed.  Help text is now 
316  embedded in the less executable itself.
317
318* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
319  Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
320
321* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
322
323* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
324
325* Ported to OS-9.
326
327* Ported to GNU Hurd.
328
329======================================================================
330
331
332	Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
333
334* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
335
336* Fixed MS-DOS build.
337
338======================================================================
339
340
341	Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
342
343* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
344
345* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
346
347* Bug fixes
348
349======================================================================
350
351
352	Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
353
354* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
355  rather than writing it to a temporary file.
356
357* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed.  It now highlights 
358  reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
359  contains TABs, etc.
360
361* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed 
362  to -G.  A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight 
363  only the string found by the last search command, instead of all 
364  strings which match the last search command.
365
366* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search 
367  pattern contains uppercase letters.
368
369* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
370
371* Ported to OS/2.
372
373======================================================================
374
375
376	Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
377
378* Changes in line-editing keys:
379  The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
380  Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled 
381  when typing a search pattern.
382
383* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
384
385* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
386  rather than standard input.
387
388* New option -V displays version number of less.
389
390* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
391
392* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share 
393  rather than /usr/local/lib.
394
395
396======================================================================
397
398
399	Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
400
401* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
402  is highlighted.  New -F flag disables this feature.
403
404* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
405  have a regular expression library.
406  regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
407
408* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and 
409  filename completion (TAB).
410
411* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
412  via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
413
414* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
415  deinitialize) strings to the terminal. 
416
417* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
418  repeated search.  
419
420* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
421  flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
422
423* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
424  the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
425
426* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
427  (reverse video) rather than blinking.  This can still be changed by
428  setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
429
430* Use autoconf installation technology.
431
432* Ported to MS-DOS.
433
434        ********************************
435          Things that may surprise you
436        ********************************
437
438* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string, 
439  filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.  
440  Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L 
441  now have line editing functions.
442
443* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
444  compressed files.  The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
445  this functionality in a different way.
446
447* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to 
448  set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
449  The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this 
450  functionality.
451
452
453======================================================================
454
455
456	Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
457
458* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
459
460* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
461  rather than wrapping onto the next line.
462
463* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
464
465* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
466
467* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
468  Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed 
469  in blinking mode.
470
471* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
472* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
473
474* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
475  which acts as though typed in after the command.
476
477* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
478
479* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
480
481* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
482
483* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
484
485* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
486	n	Repeat search, same direction.
487	N	Repeat search, opposite direction.
488	ESC-/	Search forward thru file boundaries
489	ESC-?	Search backward thru file boundaries
490	ESC-n	Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
491	ESC-N	Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
492  Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
493  Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
494
495* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
496  A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
497  may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
498
499* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
500  a non-ASCII character set.
501
502* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
503  on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
504
505
506======================================================================
507
508
509	Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
510
511* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
512  text of the file (like vi "set nu").
513
514* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
515
516* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
517  mapping them to ^X notation.
518
519* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
520  (directories, etc).
521
522* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
523
524* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
525  (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
526
527* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
528  file is edited.  The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
529
530* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line) 
531  for a pattern.
532
533* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
534
535* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
536  in the reverse direction.  The old N command is still available 
537  via :n.
538
539* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
540  direction and spanning files.
541
542* 8 bit characters are now supported.  A new option (-g) can be 
543  used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
544
545* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
546  optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
547
548* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
549  brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
550
551* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
552  simultaneously set the window size.
553
554* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
555  line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
556  Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
557  can use j for the jump target line.
558
559* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
560  command string passed to the editor by the v command.
561
562* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
563  to the same position in the file.
564
565* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the 
566  previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
567  (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked 
568  only in the E command.)
569
570* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
571
572* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
573
574* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
575  for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
576
577* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
578  extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
579  "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
580