xref: /freebsd/contrib/less/NEWS (revision 252d6dde57d5dd0184929d1f8fb65e7713f51c6d)
1
2                     NEWS about less
3
4======================================================================
5
6  For the latest news about less, see https://greenwoodsoftware.com/less
7  You can also download the latest version of less from there.
8
9  Report bugs, suggestions or comments at
10  https://github.com/gwsw/less/issues.
11
12======================================================================
13
14	Major changes between "less" versions 668 and 678
15
16* Treat -r in LESS environment variable as -R.
17
18* Add ESC-j and ESC-k commands (github #560).
19
20* Add --no-paste option (github #523).
21
22* Add --no-edit-warn option (github #513).
23
24* Add --form-feed option (github #496).
25
26* Add ESC-b command (github #615).
27
28* Make TAB complete option name in -- command (github #531).
29
30* Update the file size on an attempt to go past end of file.
31
32* Make -R able to pass through any OSC escape sequences,
33  not just OSC 8 (github #504).
34
35* Setting LESS_IS_MORE=0 now disables "more" compatibility even
36  if invoked via a file link named "more" (github #500).
37
38* Pass through escape sequences in prompts even if -R is not set.
39
40* Add LESS_SHELL_LINES to support shell prompts which use more than
41  one line (github #514).
42
43* Add LESSANSIOSCALLOW to define OSC types which may be passed through.
44
45* Add LESSANSIOSCCHARS to define non-standard OSC intro chars.
46
47* Add LESS_SIGUSR1 to define user signal handler (github #582).
48
49* Add mouse and mouse6 commands to lesskey (github #569).
50
51* Improve behavior of ^O^N and ^O^P commands.
52
53* Leave stty tabs setting unchanged (github #620).
54
55* Fix unexpected behavior when entering a partial command followed by
56  a valid command (github #543).
57
58* Fix bug when coloring prompt string with SGR sequences (github #516).
59
60* Fix bug when searching for text near an invalid UTF-8 sequence (github #542).
61
62* Fix display bug when file contains ESC followed by NUL (github #550).
63
64* Fix bug when using +:n +:p +:x or +:d on the command line (github #552).
65
66* Fix bug with --no-number-headers when header is not at start of file
67  (github #566).
68
69* Fix bug where lesstest fails if window is resized (github #570).
70
71* Fix bug using "configure --with-secure=no" (github #584).
72
73* Fix bug using multibyte command chars (github #595).
74
75* Fix auto_wrap setting on Windows (github #497).
76
77* Fix two bugs using ^S search modifier (github #605).
78
79* Fix bug searching for UTF-8 strings with the PCRE2 library (github #610).
80
81* Fix bug highlighting OSC 8 links when opening a new file.
82
83* Fix bug when & filtering is active (github #618).
84
85======================================================================
86
87	Major changes between "less" versions 661 and 668
88
89* Make 256/true colors work better on Windows without -Da
90  (github #539, github #546, github #562).
91
92* Fix build using --with-secure (github #544).
93
94* Fix crash when using --header on command line (github #545).
95
96* Fix possible crash when scrolling left/right or toggling -S (github #547).
97
98* Fix bug when using #stop in a lesskey file (github #551).
99
100* Fix bug when using --shift or --match-shift on command line with
101  a parameter starting with '.' (github #554).
102
103* Fix bug in R command when file size changes (github #553).
104
105* Fix bug using --header when file does not fill screen (github #556).
106
107* Fix ^X bug when output is not a terminal (github #558).
108
109* Fix bug where ^Z is not handled immediately (github #563).
110
111* Fix bug where first byte from a LESSOPEN filter is deleted if it is
112  greater than 0x7F (github #568).
113
114* Fix uninitialized variable in edit_ifile (github #573).
115
116* Fix incorrect handling of UTF-8 chars in prompts (github #576).
117
118======================================================================
119
120	Major changes between "less" versions 643 and 661
121
122* Add ^O^N, ^O^P, ^O^L and ^O^O commands and mouse clicks (with --mouse)
123  to find and open OSC8 hyperlinks (github #251).
124
125* Add --match-shift option.
126
127* Add --lesskey-content option (github #447).
128
129* Add LESSKEY_CONTENT environment variable (github #447).
130
131* Add --no-search-header-lines and --no-search-header-columns options
132  (github #397).
133
134* Add ctrl-L search modifier (github #367).
135
136* A ctrl-P at the start of a shell command suppresses the "done"
137  message (github #462).
138
139* Add attribute characters ('*', '~', '_', '&') to --color
140  parameter (github #471).
141
142* Allow expansion of environment variables in lesskey files.
143
144* Add LESSSECURE_ALLOW environment variable (github #449).
145
146* Add LESS_UNSUPPORT environment variable.
147
148* Add line number parameter to --header option (github #436).
149
150* Mouse right-click jumps to position marked by left-click (github #390).
151
152* Ensure that the target line is not obscured by a header line
153  set by --header (github #444).
154
155* Change default character set to "utf-8", except remains "dos" on MS-DOS.
156
157* Add message when search with ^W wraps (github #459).
158
159* UCRT builds on Windows 10 and later now support Unicode file names
160  (github #438).
161
162* Improve behavior of interrupt while reading non-terminated pipe
163  (github #414).
164
165* Improve parsing of -j, -x and -# options (github #393).
166
167* Support files larger than 4GB on Windows (github #417).
168
169* Support entry of Unicode chars larger than U+FFFF on Windows (github #391).
170
171* Improve colors of bold, underline and standout text on Windows.
172
173* Allow --rscroll to accept non-ASCII characters (github #483).
174
175* Allow the parameter to certain options to be terminated with a
176  space (--color, --quotes, --rscroll, --search-options
177  and --intr) (github #495).
178
179* Fix bug where # substitution failed after viewing help (github #420).
180
181* Fix crash if files are deleted while less is viewing them (github #404).
182
183* Workaround unreliable ReadConsoleInputW behavior on Windows
184  with non-ASCII input.
185
186* Fix -J display when searching for non-ASCII characters (github #422).
187
188* Don't filter header lines via the & command (github #423).
189
190* Fix bug when horizontally shifting long lines (github #425).
191
192* Add -x and -D options to lesstest, to make it easier to diagnose
193  a failed lesstest run.
194
195* Fix bug searching long lines with --incsearch and -S (github #428).
196
197* Fix bug that made ESC-} fail if top line on screen was empty (github #429).
198
199* Fix bug with --mouse on Windows when used with pipes (github #440).
200
201* Fix bug in --+OPTION command line syntax.
202
203* Fix display bug when using -w with an empty line with a CR/LF
204  line ending (github #474).
205
206* When substituting '#' or '%' with a filename, quote the filename
207  if it contains a space (github #480).
208
209* Fix wrong sleep time when system has usleep but not nanosleep (github #489).
210
211* Fix bug when file name contains a newline.
212
213* Fix bug when file name contains nonprintable characters (github #503).
214
215* Fix DJGPP build (github #497).
216
217* Update Unicode tables.
218
219======================================================================
220
221	Major changes between "less" versions 633 and 643
222
223* Fix problem when a program piping into less reads from the tty,
224  like sudo asking for password (github #368).
225
226* Fix search modifier ^E after ^W.
227
228* Fix bug using negated (^N) search (github #374).
229
230* Fix bug setting colors with -D on Windows build (github #386).
231
232* Fix reading special chars like PageDown on Windows (github #378).
233
234* Fix mouse wheel scrolling on Windows (github #379).
235
236* Fix erroneous EOF when terminal window size changes (github #372).
237
238* Fix compile error with some definitions of ECHONL (github #395).
239
240* Fix crash on Windows when writing logfile (github #405).
241
242* Fix regression in exit code when stdin is /dev/null and
243  output is a file (github #373).
244
245* Add lesstest test suite to production release (github #344).
246
247* Change lesstest output to conform with
248  automake Simple Test Format (github #399).
249
250======================================================================
251
252	Major changes between "less" versions 632 and 633
253
254* Fix build on systems which have ncurses/termcap.h or
255  ncursesw/termcap.h but not termcap.h.
256
257======================================================================
258
259	Major changes between "less" versions 608 and 632
260
261* Add LESSUTFCHARDEF environment variable (github #275).
262
263* Add # command (github #330).
264
265* Add ^S search modifier (github #196).
266
267* Add --wordwrap option (github #113).
268
269* Add --no-vbell option (github #304).
270
271* Add --no-search-headers option (github #44).
272
273* Add --modelines option (github #89).
274
275* Add --intr option (github #224).
276
277* Add --proc-backspace, --proc-tab and --proc-return options (github #335).
278
279* Add --show-preproc-errors option (github #258).
280
281* Add LESS_LINES and LESS_COLUMNS environment variables (github #84).
282
283* Add LESS_DATA_DELAY environment variable (github #337).
284
285* Allow empty "lines" field in --header option.
286
287* Update Unicode tables.
288
289* Improve ability of ^X to interrupt F command (github #49).
290
291* Status column (-J) shows off-screen matches.
292
293* Parenthesized sub-patterns in searches are colored with unique colors,
294  if supported by the regular expression library (github #196).
295
296* Don't allow opening a tty as file input unless -f is set (github #309).
297
298* Don't require newline input after +&... option (github #339).
299
300* Fix incorrect handling of some Private Use Unicode characters.
301
302* Fix ANSI color bug when overstriking with colored chars (github #276).
303
304* Fix compiler const warning (github #279).
305
306* Fix signal race in iread (github #280).
307
308* Fix reading procfs files on Linux (github #282).
309
310* Fix --ignore-case with ctrl-R (no regex) search (github #300).
311
312* Fix bug doing repeat search after setting & filter (github #299).
313
314* Fix bug doing repeat search before non-repeat search.
315
316* Fix crash with -R and certain line lengths (github #338).
317
318* Fix input of Windows dead keys (github #352).
319
320* Don't retain search options from a cancelled search (github #302).
321
322* Don't call realpath on fake filenames like "-" (github #289).
323
324* Implement lesstest test suite.
325
326* Convert function parameter definitions from K&R to C89 (github #316).
327
328======================================================================
329
330	Major changes between "less" versions 590 and 608
331
332* Add the --header option (github #43).
333
334* Add the --no-number-headers option (github #178).
335
336* Add the --status-line option.
337
338* Add the --redraw-on-quit option (github #36).
339
340* Add the --search-options option (github #213).
341
342* Add the --exit-follow-on-close option (github #244).
343
344* Add 'H' color type to set color of header lines.
345
346* Add #version conditional to lesskey.
347
348* Add += syntax to variable section in lesskey files.
349
350* Allow option name in -- command to end with '=' in addition to '\n'.
351
352* Add $HOME/.config to possible locations of lesskey file (github #153).
353
354* Add $XDG_STATE_HOME and $HOME/.local/state to possible locations
355  of history file (github #223).
356
357* Don't read or write history file in secure mode (github #201).
358
359* Fix display of multibyte and double-width chars in prompt.
360
361* Fix ESC-BACKSPACE command when BACKSPACE key does not send 0x08
362  (github #188).
363
364* Add more \k codes to lesskey format.
365
366* Fix bug when empty file is modified while viewing it.
367
368* Fix bug when parsing a malformed lesskey file (githb #234).
369
370* Fix bug scrolling history when --incsearch is set (github #214).
371
372* Fix buffer overflow when invoking lessecho with more than 63 -m/-n
373  options (github #198).
374
375* Fix buffer overflow in bin_file (github #271).
376
377* Fix bug restoring color at end of highlighted text.
378
379* Fix bug in parsing lesskey file.
380
381* Defer moving cursor to lower left in some more cases.
382
383* Suppress TAB filename expansion in some cases where it doesn't make sense.
384
385* Fix termlib detection when compiler doesn't accept
386  calls to undeclared functions.
387
388* Fix bug in input of non-ASCII characters on Windows (github #247)
389
390* Escape filenames when invoking LESSCLOSE.
391
392* Fix bug using multibyte UTF-8 char in search string
393  with --incsearch (github #273).
394
395======================================================================
396
397	Major changes between "less" versions 581 and 590
398
399* Make less able to read lesskey source files (deprecating lesskey).
400
401* If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, find lesskey source file
402  in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lesskey rather than $HOME/.lesskey.
403
404* If XDG_DATA_HOME is set, find and store history file
405  in $XDG_DATA_HOME/lesshst rather than $HOME/.lesshst.
406
407* Add the --lesskey-src option.
408
409* Add the --file-size option.
410
411* With -F, if screen is resized to make file fit on one screen, don't exit.
412
413* Fix bug which could leave terminal in mouse-reporting mode
414  after exiting less.
415
416* Fix bug which caused failure to respond to window resize.
417
418* Fix backslash bug searching in tag file.
419
420======================================================================
421
422	Major changes between "less" versions 563 and 581
423
424* Change ESC-u command to toggle, not disable, highlighting per man page.
425
426* Add ESC-U command.
427
428* Add ctrl-W search modifier for wrapping search.
429
430* F command can be interrupted by ^X.
431
432* Support OSC 8 hyperlinks when -R is in effect.
433
434* g command with no number will ignore -j and put first line at top of screen.
435
436* Multiple + or -p command line options are handled better.
437
438* Add the --incsearch option.
439
440* Add the --line-num-width option.
441
442* Add the --status-col-width option.
443
444* Add the --use-color and --color options.
445
446* Display -w highlight even if highlighted line is empty.
447
448* If search result is in a long line, scroll to ensure it is visible.
449
450* Editing the same file under different names now creates only
451  one entry in the file list.
452
453* Make visual bell more visible on some terminals.
454
455* Ring end-of-file bell no more than once per second.
456
457* Build can use either Python or Perl for Makefile.aut operations.
458
459* Fix crash when using the @ search modifier.
460
461* Fix crash in the 's' command due to duplicate free.
462
463* Fix realpath crash on Darwin.
464
465======================================================================
466
467	Major changes between "less" versions 551 and 563
468
469* Update Unicode tables.
470
471* Treat Hangul Jamo medial vowels and final consonants as zero width.
472
473* Display error message immediately when -o is toggled and
474  input is not a pipe.
475
476* Fix regression: make screen repaint when "squished" and
477  a no-movement command is given.
478
479* Fix erroneous EOF calculation when F command is interrupted.
480
481* Make WIN32C version include this fix from 551:
482  Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
483
484* Fix display bug in WIN32C version.
485
486* Fix memory corruption when built with libtermcap.
487
488* Support libtinfow.
489
490======================================================================
491
492	Major changes between "less" versions 530 and 551
493
494* Add --mouse option.
495
496* Add --wheel-lines option.
497
498* Add --no-histdups option.
499
500* Add --save-marks option.
501
502* Support PCRE2 regular expression library.
503
504* Redraw screen on SIGWINCH even if screen size doesn't change.
505
506* Shell-escape filenames in history so they can be used again.
507
508* Ring bell if user enters invalid long option name.
509
510* Use PCRE_UTF8 flag for pcre regular expressions when in UTF-8 mode.
511
512* Windows: use wide-char string to set console title.
513
514* Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
515
516* Support mingw build system.
517
518* Fix bug in v command on empty file.
519
520* Fix bug in v command when filename contains shell metacharacters.
521
522======================================================================
523
524	Major changes between "less" versions 487 and 530
525
526* Don't output terminal init sequence if using -F and file fits on one screen.
527
528* When using -S, mark truncated lines with a special character.
529  The character can be changed or disabled via the new --rscroll option.
530
531* New command M marks the last line displayed on the screen.
532
533* New command ESC-m removes a line mark.
534
535* Status column (enabled via -J) now shows mark letters.
536
537* Status column shows search matches even if highlighting is disabled via -G.
538
539* A second ESC-u command will clear search match markers in the status column.
540
541* Do same ANSI escape code filtering for tag matching that we do for
542  searching, to help when viewing syntax-highlighted code.
543
544* Catch SIGTERM and clean up before exiting.
545
546* Fix bug initializing default charset on Windows.
547
548* Handle keypad ENTER key correctly if it sends something other than newline.
549
550* Fix buffering bug when using stdin with a LESSOPEN pipe.
551
552* On Windows, allow 'u' in -D option to enable underlining.
553
554* On Windows, use underline in sgr mode.
555
556* On Windows, convert UTF-8 to multibyte if console is not UTF-8.
557
558* Update Unicode tables to 2017-03-08.
559
560* Pass-thru Unicode formatting chars (Cf type) instead of treating them
561  as binary chars. But treat them as binary if -U is set.
562
563* Fix erroneous binary file warning when UTF-8 file contains ANSI SGR sequences.
564
565* Fix bugs when using LESSOPEN and switching between stdin and other files.
566
567* Fix some bugs handling filenames containing shell metacharacters.
568
569* Fix some memory leaks.
570
571* Allow some debugging environment variables to be set in lesskey file.
572
573* Code improvements:
574  . Use ANSI prototypes in funcs.h declarations.
575  . Fix some const mismatches.
576  . Remove archaic "register" in variable declarations.
577
578======================================================================
579
580	Major changes between "less" versions 481 and 487
581
582* New commands ESC-{ and ESC-} to shift to start/end of displayed lines.
583
584* Make search highlights work correctly when changing caselessness with -i.
585
586* New option -Da in Windows version to enable SGR mode.
587
588* Fix "nothing to search" error when top or bottom line on screen is empty.
589
590* Fix bug when terminal has no "cm" termcap entry.
591
592* Fix incorrect display when entering double-width chars in search string.
593
594* Fix bug in Unicode handling that missed some double width characters.
595
596* Update Unicode database to 9.0.0.
597
598======================================================================
599
600	Major changes between "less" versions 458 and 481
601
602* Don't overwrite history file; just append to it.
603
604* New command ESC-G goes to end of currently buffered data in a pipe.
605
606* Disable history feature when compiled with LESSHISTFILE set to "-".
607
608* In more-compatible mode, make the -p option apply to every file opened,
609  not just the first one.
610
611* In more-compatible mode, change the -e option to work like -E, not -EF.
612
613* Treat multiple CRs before LF are like one CR (all the CRs are hidden).
614
615* Allow "extra" string in lesskey file to append to a multi-char command
616  (like a search pattern), without executing the command.
617
618* Ignore -u/-U setting while viewing help file, so that
619  underline and bold chars are displayed correctly.
620
621* Improve detection of "binary" files in UTF-8 mode.
622
623* Fix bug with ++ commands.
624
625* Fix bug where prompt was sometimes not displayed with +G.
626
627* Fix possible memory corruption
628
629* Fix bugs and improve performance in ampersand filtering.
630
631* Automate construction of Unicode tables from Unicode database.
632
633* Allow %% escape sequence in LESSOPEN variable.
634
635======================================================================
636
637	Major changes between "less" versions 451 and 458
638
639* Allow backslash escaping of metacharacters in LESS environment variable
640  after the --use-backslash option.
641
642* Don't quit if syntax errors are found in command line options.
643
644* Increase sizes of some internal buffers.
645
646* Fix configure bug with --with-regex=none.
647
648* Fix crash with "stty rows 0".
649
650* Fix Win32 attribute display bug.
651
652* Fix display bug when using up/down arrow on the command line.
653
654======================================================================
655
656	Major changes between "less" versions 444 and 451
657
658* Add ESC-F command to keep reading data until a pattern is found.
659
660* Use exit code of LESSOPEN script if LESSOPEN starts with "||".
661
662* When up/down arrow is used on the command line immediately after
663  typing text, the next command starting with that text is found.
664
665* Add support for GNU regex.
666
667* Add configure option --with-regex=none and fix compile errors
668  when compiling with no regex library.
669
670* Fix bugs handling SGR sequences in Win32.
671
672* Fix possible crashes caused by malformed LESSOPEN or
673  LESSCLOSE variables.
674
675* Fix bug highlighting text which is discontiguous in the file
676  due to backspace processing.
677
678* Fix bug in displaying status column when scrolling backwards
679  with -J and -S in effect.
680
681======================================================================
682
683	Major changes between "less" versions 443 and 444
684
685* Fix bug in unget handling that can cause strange effects on the
686  command line.
687
688* Remove vestiges of obsolete -l option that can cause a crash.
689
690======================================================================
691
692	Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443
693
694* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit
695  pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and
696  not just the portion after the target line.
697
698* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only
699  the portion of the screen after the target line is searched.
700
701* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component
702  of the input file.
703
704* Control-G while editing a command exits the command.
705
706* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect.
707
708* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option.
709
710* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command
711  in combination with -i and -I.
712
713* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option.
714
715* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings.
716
717* Improve handling of long option names.
718
719* Improve percentage calculation for very large files.
720
721======================================================================
722
723	Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436
724
725* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-".
726
727* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option.
728
729* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line.
730
731* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R.
732
733======================================================================
734
735	Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429
736
737* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN
738  environment variable begins with "|-".
739
740* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color.
741
742* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file.
743
744* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers.
745
746* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode.
747
748* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals.
749
750* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt.
751
752* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (e.g. bold+underline).
753
754* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text.
755
756======================================================================
757
758	Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424
759
760* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern.
761
762* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched
763  string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect.
764
765* Improve behavior of -F option.
766
767* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode.
768
769* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default
770  to column 1.
771
772* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command.
773
774======================================================================
775
776	Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418
777
778* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build.
779
780* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf.
781
782* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences.
783
784* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes.
785
786* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward.
787
788* Update GPL to version 3.
789
790======================================================================
791
792	Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416
793
794* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file
795  rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed.
796
797* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text.
798
799* Fix DJGPP build.
800
801======================================================================
802
803	Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409
804
805* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences.
806
807* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized.
808
809* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text.
810
811* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h.
812
813* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences.
814
815======================================================================
816
817	Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
818
819* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
820
821* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
822
823* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
824
825* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
826
827* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
828
829* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
830  output works better.
831
832* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
833
834* Allow "/dev/null" as synonym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
835  that no history file should be used.
836
837* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
838  library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
839
840* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
841
842* Make -f work for directories.
843
844* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
845
846* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
847  that the file is binary.
848
849* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
850  and -R is in effect.
851
852* Update Unicode character tables.
853
854* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
855
856* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
857
858* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
859
860* Fix configure bugs.
861
862======================================================================
863
864	Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
865
866* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
867  invocations of less.
868
869* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
870
871* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
872
873* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
874  line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
875
876* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
877  non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
878
879* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
880  build a secure version of less.
881
882* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
883  are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
884
885* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
886
887* Add "windows" charset.
888
889* Add man page for lessecho.
890
891* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
892
893* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
894
895* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
896
897* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
898
899* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
900
901* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
902
903* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
904
905* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
906
907* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
908
909* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
910
911======================================================================
912
913	Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
914
915* Removed some old copyrighted code.
916  This probably breaks OS/9 support.
917
918======================================================================
919
920	Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
921
922* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
923
924* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
925  Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
926
927* Use autoconf 2.54.
928  Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
929
930* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
931  depending on context.
932
933* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
934
935* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
936
937* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
938
939======================================================================
940
941	Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
942
943* Bug fixes:
944  Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
945  Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
946  Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
947  Clean up some compiler warnings.
948
949======================================================================
950
951	Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
952
953* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
954
955* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
956  New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
957
958* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
959  Added support for "global(1)" tags
960  (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
961
962* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
963  while waiting for data in the F command.
964
965* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
966  instead of .sysless in bin directory.
967  Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
968  (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
969
970* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
971  the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
972
973* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
974
975* Windows version sets window title.
976
977* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
978
979* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
980  ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
981
982* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
983
984* Eliminated some dependencies on file offsets being 32 bits.
985
986* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
987
988* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
989
990* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
991
992* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
993
994* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
995
996* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
997
998======================================================================
999
1000	Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
1001
1002* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
1003
1004* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
1005  Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
1006
1007* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
1008
1009* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
1010
1011======================================================================
1012
1013
1014	Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
1015
1016* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
1017
1018* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
1019
1020* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
1021
1022* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
1023  a regular expression library.
1024
1025* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
1026
1027======================================================================
1028
1029
1030	Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
1031
1032* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
1033
1034* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
1035
1036* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
1037
1038* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
1039
1040* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
1041
1042* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
1043
1044* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
1045  bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
1046
1047* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
1048
1049======================================================================
1050
1051
1052	Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
1053
1054* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
1055
1056* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
1057
1058* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
1059  long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
1060  normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
1061
1062* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
1063  the first screen.
1064
1065* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
1066
1067* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
1068
1069* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
1070
1071* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
1072  file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
1073
1074* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
1075
1076======================================================================
1077
1078
1079	Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
1080
1081* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
1082  single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
1083  See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
1084
1085* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
1086  form.  See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
1087
1088* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
1089
1090* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
1091
1092* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
1093
1094* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
1095  command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
1096
1097* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
1098  "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
1099
1100* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
1101
1102* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
1103  suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
1104
1105* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
1106
1107======================================================================
1108
1109
1110	Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
1111
1112* Fixed bugs in "make install".
1113
1114======================================================================
1115
1116
1117	Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
1118
1119* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
1120
1121* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
1122
1123* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
1124
1125* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
1126  variables are incorrect.
1127
1128* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
1129  %d is replaced by the page number, and
1130  %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
1131
1132* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
1133
1134* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
1135
1136* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
1137
1138======================================================================
1139
1140
1141	Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
1142
1143* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
1144  so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
1145
1146* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
1147  window (buffer larger than display window).
1148
1149* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
1150  Use -X to get the old behavior.
1151
1152* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
1153
1154* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
1155
1156* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
1157  line terminators (CR/LF).
1158
1159* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
1160
1161======================================================================
1162
1163
1164	Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
1165
1166* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
1167  New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
1168
1169* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
1170  If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
1171  that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
1172
1173* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
1174
1175* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
1176
1177* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
1178  string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
1179
1180* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
1181  more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
1182
1183* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
1184
1185* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
1186
1187* Bug fixes.
1188
1189======================================================================
1190
1191
1192	Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
1193
1194* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
1195  than the screen width.
1196
1197* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
1198
1199* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
1200  hits end-of-file.
1201
1202* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
1203  ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
1204
1205* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
1206  currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
1207
1208* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
1209  expressions in the search.
1210
1211* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
1212
1213* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
1214  "secure" mode.
1215
1216* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
1217  are files (not option flags).
1218
1219* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed.  Help text is now
1220  embedded in the less executable itself.
1221
1222* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
1223  Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
1224
1225* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
1226
1227* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
1228
1229* Ported to OS-9.
1230
1231* Ported to GNU Hurd.
1232
1233======================================================================
1234
1235
1236	Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
1237
1238* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
1239
1240* Fixed MS-DOS build.
1241
1242======================================================================
1243
1244
1245	Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
1246
1247* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
1248
1249* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
1250
1251* Bug fixes
1252
1253======================================================================
1254
1255
1256	Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
1257
1258* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
1259  rather than writing it to a temporary file.
1260
1261* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed.  It now highlights
1262  reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
1263  contains TABs, etc.
1264
1265* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
1266  to -G.  A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
1267  only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
1268  strings which match the last search command.
1269
1270* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
1271  pattern contains uppercase letters.
1272
1273* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
1274
1275* Ported to OS/2.
1276
1277======================================================================
1278
1279
1280	Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
1281
1282* Changes in line-editing keys:
1283  The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
1284  Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
1285  when typing a search pattern.
1286
1287* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
1288
1289* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
1290  rather than standard input.
1291
1292* New option -V displays version number of less.
1293
1294* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
1295
1296* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
1297  rather than /usr/local/lib.
1298
1299
1300======================================================================
1301
1302
1303	Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
1304
1305* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
1306  is highlighted.  New -F flag disables this feature.
1307
1308* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
1309  have a regular expression library.
1310  regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
1311
1312* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
1313  filename completion (TAB).
1314
1315* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
1316  via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
1317
1318* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
1319  deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
1320
1321* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
1322  repeated search.
1323
1324* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
1325  flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
1326
1327* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
1328  the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
1329
1330* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
1331  (reverse video) rather than blinking.  This can still be changed by
1332  setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
1333
1334* Use autoconf installation technology.
1335
1336* Ported to MS-DOS.
1337
1338        ********************************
1339          Things that may surprise you
1340        ********************************
1341
1342* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
1343  filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
1344  Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
1345  now have line editing functions.
1346
1347* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
1348  compressed files.  The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
1349  this functionality in a different way.
1350
1351* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
1352  set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
1353  The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
1354  functionality.
1355
1356
1357======================================================================
1358
1359
1360	Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
1361
1362* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
1363
1364* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
1365  rather than wrapping onto the next line.
1366
1367* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
1368
1369* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
1370
1371* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
1372  Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
1373  in blinking mode.
1374
1375* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
1376* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
1377
1378* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
1379  which acts as though typed in after the command.
1380
1381* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
1382
1383* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
1384
1385* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
1386
1387* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
1388
1389* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
1390	n	Repeat search, same direction.
1391	N	Repeat search, opposite direction.
1392	ESC-/	Search forward thru file boundaries
1393	ESC-?	Search backward thru file boundaries
1394	ESC-n	Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
1395	ESC-N	Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
1396  Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
1397  Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
1398
1399* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
1400  A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
1401  may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
1402
1403* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
1404  a non-ASCII character set.
1405
1406* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
1407  on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
1408
1409
1410======================================================================
1411
1412
1413	Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
1414
1415* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
1416  text of the file (like vi "set nu").
1417
1418* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
1419
1420* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
1421  mapping them to ^X notation.
1422
1423* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
1424  (directories, etc).
1425
1426* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
1427
1428* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
1429  (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
1430
1431* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
1432  file is edited.  The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
1433
1434* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
1435  for a pattern.
1436
1437* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
1438
1439* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
1440  in the reverse direction.  The old N command is still available
1441  via :n.
1442
1443* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
1444  direction and spanning files.
1445
1446* 8 bit characters are now supported.  A new option (-g) can be
1447  used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
1448
1449* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
1450  optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
1451
1452* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
1453  brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
1454
1455* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
1456  simultaneously set the window size.
1457
1458* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
1459  line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
1460  Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
1461  can use j for the jump target line.
1462
1463* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
1464  command string passed to the editor by the v command.
1465
1466* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
1467  to the same position in the file.
1468
1469* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
1470  previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
1471  (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
1472  only in the E command.)
1473
1474* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
1475
1476* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
1477
1478* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
1479  for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
1480
1481* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
1482  extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
1483  "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489