xref: /freebsd/contrib/less/NEWS (revision 76bafc90692608c1db8df3276e966212201c270c)
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 678 and 679
15
16* Fix bad parsing of lesskey file an env var is a prefix of another
17  env var (github #626).
18
19* Fix unexpected exit using -K if a key press is received while reading
20  the input file (github #628).
21
22======================================================================
23
24	Major changes between "less" versions 668 and 678
25
26* Treat -r in LESS environment variable as -R.
27
28* Add ESC-j and ESC-k commands (github #560).
29
30* Add --no-paste option (github #523).
31
32* Add --no-edit-warn option (github #513).
33
34* Add --form-feed option (github #496).
35
36* Add ESC-b command (github #615).
37
38* Make TAB complete option name in -- command (github #531).
39
40* Update the file size on an attempt to go past end of file.
41
42* Make -R able to pass through any OSC escape sequences,
43  not just OSC 8 (github #504).
44
45* Setting LESS_IS_MORE=0 now disables "more" compatibility even
46  if invoked via a file link named "more" (github #500).
47
48* Pass through escape sequences in prompts even if -R is not set.
49
50* Add LESS_SHELL_LINES to support shell prompts which use more than
51  one line (github #514).
52
53* Add LESSANSIOSCALLOW to define OSC types which may be passed through.
54
55* Add LESSANSIOSCCHARS to define non-standard OSC intro chars.
56
57* Add LESS_SIGUSR1 to define user signal handler (github #582).
58
59* Add mouse and mouse6 commands to lesskey (github #569).
60
61* Improve behavior of ^O^N and ^O^P commands.
62
63* Leave stty tabs setting unchanged (github #620).
64
65* Fix unexpected behavior when entering a partial command followed by
66  a valid command (github #543).
67
68* Fix bug when coloring prompt string with SGR sequences (github #516).
69
70* Fix bug when searching for text near an invalid UTF-8 sequence (github #542).
71
72* Fix display bug when file contains ESC followed by NUL (github #550).
73
74* Fix bug when using +:n +:p +:x or +:d on the command line (github #552).
75
76* Fix bug with --no-number-headers when header is not at start of file
77  (github #566).
78
79* Fix bug where lesstest fails if window is resized (github #570).
80
81* Fix bug using "configure --with-secure=no" (github #584).
82
83* Fix bug using multibyte command chars (github #595).
84
85* Fix auto_wrap setting on Windows (github #497).
86
87* Fix two bugs using ^S search modifier (github #605).
88
89* Fix bug searching for UTF-8 strings with the PCRE2 library (github #610).
90
91* Fix bug highlighting OSC 8 links when opening a new file.
92
93* Fix bug when & filtering is active (github #618).
94
95======================================================================
96
97	Major changes between "less" versions 661 and 668
98
99* Make 256/true colors work better on Windows without -Da
100  (github #539, github #546, github #562).
101
102* Fix build using --with-secure (github #544).
103
104* Fix crash when using --header on command line (github #545).
105
106* Fix possible crash when scrolling left/right or toggling -S (github #547).
107
108* Fix bug when using #stop in a lesskey file (github #551).
109
110* Fix bug when using --shift or --match-shift on command line with
111  a parameter starting with '.' (github #554).
112
113* Fix bug in R command when file size changes (github #553).
114
115* Fix bug using --header when file does not fill screen (github #556).
116
117* Fix ^X bug when output is not a terminal (github #558).
118
119* Fix bug where ^Z is not handled immediately (github #563).
120
121* Fix bug where first byte from a LESSOPEN filter is deleted if it is
122  greater than 0x7F (github #568).
123
124* Fix uninitialized variable in edit_ifile (github #573).
125
126* Fix incorrect handling of UTF-8 chars in prompts (github #576).
127
128======================================================================
129
130	Major changes between "less" versions 643 and 661
131
132* Add ^O^N, ^O^P, ^O^L and ^O^O commands and mouse clicks (with --mouse)
133  to find and open OSC8 hyperlinks (github #251).
134
135* Add --match-shift option.
136
137* Add --lesskey-content option (github #447).
138
139* Add LESSKEY_CONTENT environment variable (github #447).
140
141* Add --no-search-header-lines and --no-search-header-columns options
142  (github #397).
143
144* Add ctrl-L search modifier (github #367).
145
146* A ctrl-P at the start of a shell command suppresses the "done"
147  message (github #462).
148
149* Add attribute characters ('*', '~', '_', '&') to --color
150  parameter (github #471).
151
152* Allow expansion of environment variables in lesskey files.
153
154* Add LESSSECURE_ALLOW environment variable (github #449).
155
156* Add LESS_UNSUPPORT environment variable.
157
158* Add line number parameter to --header option (github #436).
159
160* Mouse right-click jumps to position marked by left-click (github #390).
161
162* Ensure that the target line is not obscured by a header line
163  set by --header (github #444).
164
165* Change default character set to "utf-8", except remains "dos" on MS-DOS.
166
167* Add message when search with ^W wraps (github #459).
168
169* UCRT builds on Windows 10 and later now support Unicode file names
170  (github #438).
171
172* Improve behavior of interrupt while reading non-terminated pipe
173  (github #414).
174
175* Improve parsing of -j, -x and -# options (github #393).
176
177* Support files larger than 4GB on Windows (github #417).
178
179* Support entry of Unicode chars larger than U+FFFF on Windows (github #391).
180
181* Improve colors of bold, underline and standout text on Windows.
182
183* Allow --rscroll to accept non-ASCII characters (github #483).
184
185* Allow the parameter to certain options to be terminated with a
186  space (--color, --quotes, --rscroll, --search-options
187  and --intr) (github #495).
188
189* Fix bug where # substitution failed after viewing help (github #420).
190
191* Fix crash if files are deleted while less is viewing them (github #404).
192
193* Workaround unreliable ReadConsoleInputW behavior on Windows
194  with non-ASCII input.
195
196* Fix -J display when searching for non-ASCII characters (github #422).
197
198* Don't filter header lines via the & command (github #423).
199
200* Fix bug when horizontally shifting long lines (github #425).
201
202* Add -x and -D options to lesstest, to make it easier to diagnose
203  a failed lesstest run.
204
205* Fix bug searching long lines with --incsearch and -S (github #428).
206
207* Fix bug that made ESC-} fail if top line on screen was empty (github #429).
208
209* Fix bug with --mouse on Windows when used with pipes (github #440).
210
211* Fix bug in --+OPTION command line syntax.
212
213* Fix display bug when using -w with an empty line with a CR/LF
214  line ending (github #474).
215
216* When substituting '#' or '%' with a filename, quote the filename
217  if it contains a space (github #480).
218
219* Fix wrong sleep time when system has usleep but not nanosleep (github #489).
220
221* Fix bug when file name contains a newline.
222
223* Fix bug when file name contains nonprintable characters (github #503).
224
225* Fix DJGPP build (github #497).
226
227* Update Unicode tables.
228
229======================================================================
230
231	Major changes between "less" versions 633 and 643
232
233* Fix problem when a program piping into less reads from the tty,
234  like sudo asking for password (github #368).
235
236* Fix search modifier ^E after ^W.
237
238* Fix bug using negated (^N) search (github #374).
239
240* Fix bug setting colors with -D on Windows build (github #386).
241
242* Fix reading special chars like PageDown on Windows (github #378).
243
244* Fix mouse wheel scrolling on Windows (github #379).
245
246* Fix erroneous EOF when terminal window size changes (github #372).
247
248* Fix compile error with some definitions of ECHONL (github #395).
249
250* Fix crash on Windows when writing logfile (github #405).
251
252* Fix regression in exit code when stdin is /dev/null and
253  output is a file (github #373).
254
255* Add lesstest test suite to production release (github #344).
256
257* Change lesstest output to conform with
258  automake Simple Test Format (github #399).
259
260======================================================================
261
262	Major changes between "less" versions 632 and 633
263
264* Fix build on systems which have ncurses/termcap.h or
265  ncursesw/termcap.h but not termcap.h.
266
267======================================================================
268
269	Major changes between "less" versions 608 and 632
270
271* Add LESSUTFCHARDEF environment variable (github #275).
272
273* Add # command (github #330).
274
275* Add ^S search modifier (github #196).
276
277* Add --wordwrap option (github #113).
278
279* Add --no-vbell option (github #304).
280
281* Add --no-search-headers option (github #44).
282
283* Add --modelines option (github #89).
284
285* Add --intr option (github #224).
286
287* Add --proc-backspace, --proc-tab and --proc-return options (github #335).
288
289* Add --show-preproc-errors option (github #258).
290
291* Add LESS_LINES and LESS_COLUMNS environment variables (github #84).
292
293* Add LESS_DATA_DELAY environment variable (github #337).
294
295* Allow empty "lines" field in --header option.
296
297* Update Unicode tables.
298
299* Improve ability of ^X to interrupt F command (github #49).
300
301* Status column (-J) shows off-screen matches.
302
303* Parenthesized sub-patterns in searches are colored with unique colors,
304  if supported by the regular expression library (github #196).
305
306* Don't allow opening a tty as file input unless -f is set (github #309).
307
308* Don't require newline input after +&... option (github #339).
309
310* Fix incorrect handling of some Private Use Unicode characters.
311
312* Fix ANSI color bug when overstriking with colored chars (github #276).
313
314* Fix compiler const warning (github #279).
315
316* Fix signal race in iread (github #280).
317
318* Fix reading procfs files on Linux (github #282).
319
320* Fix --ignore-case with ctrl-R (no regex) search (github #300).
321
322* Fix bug doing repeat search after setting & filter (github #299).
323
324* Fix bug doing repeat search before non-repeat search.
325
326* Fix crash with -R and certain line lengths (github #338).
327
328* Fix input of Windows dead keys (github #352).
329
330* Don't retain search options from a cancelled search (github #302).
331
332* Don't call realpath on fake filenames like "-" (github #289).
333
334* Implement lesstest test suite.
335
336* Convert function parameter definitions from K&R to C89 (github #316).
337
338======================================================================
339
340	Major changes between "less" versions 590 and 608
341
342* Add the --header option (github #43).
343
344* Add the --no-number-headers option (github #178).
345
346* Add the --status-line option.
347
348* Add the --redraw-on-quit option (github #36).
349
350* Add the --search-options option (github #213).
351
352* Add the --exit-follow-on-close option (github #244).
353
354* Add 'H' color type to set color of header lines.
355
356* Add #version conditional to lesskey.
357
358* Add += syntax to variable section in lesskey files.
359
360* Allow option name in -- command to end with '=' in addition to '\n'.
361
362* Add $HOME/.config to possible locations of lesskey file (github #153).
363
364* Add $XDG_STATE_HOME and $HOME/.local/state to possible locations
365  of history file (github #223).
366
367* Don't read or write history file in secure mode (github #201).
368
369* Fix display of multibyte and double-width chars in prompt.
370
371* Fix ESC-BACKSPACE command when BACKSPACE key does not send 0x08
372  (github #188).
373
374* Add more \k codes to lesskey format.
375
376* Fix bug when empty file is modified while viewing it.
377
378* Fix bug when parsing a malformed lesskey file (githb #234).
379
380* Fix bug scrolling history when --incsearch is set (github #214).
381
382* Fix buffer overflow when invoking lessecho with more than 63 -m/-n
383  options (github #198).
384
385* Fix buffer overflow in bin_file (github #271).
386
387* Fix bug restoring color at end of highlighted text.
388
389* Fix bug in parsing lesskey file.
390
391* Defer moving cursor to lower left in some more cases.
392
393* Suppress TAB filename expansion in some cases where it doesn't make sense.
394
395* Fix termlib detection when compiler doesn't accept
396  calls to undeclared functions.
397
398* Fix bug in input of non-ASCII characters on Windows (github #247)
399
400* Escape filenames when invoking LESSCLOSE.
401
402* Fix bug using multibyte UTF-8 char in search string
403  with --incsearch (github #273).
404
405======================================================================
406
407	Major changes between "less" versions 581 and 590
408
409* Make less able to read lesskey source files (deprecating lesskey).
410
411* If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, find lesskey source file
412  in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lesskey rather than $HOME/.lesskey.
413
414* If XDG_DATA_HOME is set, find and store history file
415  in $XDG_DATA_HOME/lesshst rather than $HOME/.lesshst.
416
417* Add the --lesskey-src option.
418
419* Add the --file-size option.
420
421* With -F, if screen is resized to make file fit on one screen, don't exit.
422
423* Fix bug which could leave terminal in mouse-reporting mode
424  after exiting less.
425
426* Fix bug which caused failure to respond to window resize.
427
428* Fix backslash bug searching in tag file.
429
430======================================================================
431
432	Major changes between "less" versions 563 and 581
433
434* Change ESC-u command to toggle, not disable, highlighting per man page.
435
436* Add ESC-U command.
437
438* Add ctrl-W search modifier for wrapping search.
439
440* F command can be interrupted by ^X.
441
442* Support OSC 8 hyperlinks when -R is in effect.
443
444* g command with no number will ignore -j and put first line at top of screen.
445
446* Multiple + or -p command line options are handled better.
447
448* Add the --incsearch option.
449
450* Add the --line-num-width option.
451
452* Add the --status-col-width option.
453
454* Add the --use-color and --color options.
455
456* Display -w highlight even if highlighted line is empty.
457
458* If search result is in a long line, scroll to ensure it is visible.
459
460* Editing the same file under different names now creates only
461  one entry in the file list.
462
463* Make visual bell more visible on some terminals.
464
465* Ring end-of-file bell no more than once per second.
466
467* Build can use either Python or Perl for Makefile.aut operations.
468
469* Fix crash when using the @ search modifier.
470
471* Fix crash in the 's' command due to duplicate free.
472
473* Fix realpath crash on Darwin.
474
475======================================================================
476
477	Major changes between "less" versions 551 and 563
478
479* Update Unicode tables.
480
481* Treat Hangul Jamo medial vowels and final consonants as zero width.
482
483* Display error message immediately when -o is toggled and
484  input is not a pipe.
485
486* Fix regression: make screen repaint when "squished" and
487  a no-movement command is given.
488
489* Fix erroneous EOF calculation when F command is interrupted.
490
491* Make WIN32C version include this fix from 551:
492  Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
493
494* Fix display bug in WIN32C version.
495
496* Fix memory corruption when built with libtermcap.
497
498* Support libtinfow.
499
500======================================================================
501
502	Major changes between "less" versions 530 and 551
503
504* Add --mouse option.
505
506* Add --wheel-lines option.
507
508* Add --no-histdups option.
509
510* Add --save-marks option.
511
512* Support PCRE2 regular expression library.
513
514* Redraw screen on SIGWINCH even if screen size doesn't change.
515
516* Shell-escape filenames in history so they can be used again.
517
518* Ring bell if user enters invalid long option name.
519
520* Use PCRE_UTF8 flag for pcre regular expressions when in UTF-8 mode.
521
522* Windows: use wide-char string to set console title.
523
524* Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
525
526* Support mingw build system.
527
528* Fix bug in v command on empty file.
529
530* Fix bug in v command when filename contains shell metacharacters.
531
532======================================================================
533
534	Major changes between "less" versions 487 and 530
535
536* Don't output terminal init sequence if using -F and file fits on one screen.
537
538* When using -S, mark truncated lines with a special character.
539  The character can be changed or disabled via the new --rscroll option.
540
541* New command M marks the last line displayed on the screen.
542
543* New command ESC-m removes a line mark.
544
545* Status column (enabled via -J) now shows mark letters.
546
547* Status column shows search matches even if highlighting is disabled via -G.
548
549* A second ESC-u command will clear search match markers in the status column.
550
551* Do same ANSI escape code filtering for tag matching that we do for
552  searching, to help when viewing syntax-highlighted code.
553
554* Catch SIGTERM and clean up before exiting.
555
556* Fix bug initializing default charset on Windows.
557
558* Handle keypad ENTER key correctly if it sends something other than newline.
559
560* Fix buffering bug when using stdin with a LESSOPEN pipe.
561
562* On Windows, allow 'u' in -D option to enable underlining.
563
564* On Windows, use underline in sgr mode.
565
566* On Windows, convert UTF-8 to multibyte if console is not UTF-8.
567
568* Update Unicode tables to 2017-03-08.
569
570* Pass-thru Unicode formatting chars (Cf type) instead of treating them
571  as binary chars. But treat them as binary if -U is set.
572
573* Fix erroneous binary file warning when UTF-8 file contains ANSI SGR sequences.
574
575* Fix bugs when using LESSOPEN and switching between stdin and other files.
576
577* Fix some bugs handling filenames containing shell metacharacters.
578
579* Fix some memory leaks.
580
581* Allow some debugging environment variables to be set in lesskey file.
582
583* Code improvements:
584  . Use ANSI prototypes in funcs.h declarations.
585  . Fix some const mismatches.
586  . Remove archaic "register" in variable declarations.
587
588======================================================================
589
590	Major changes between "less" versions 481 and 487
591
592* New commands ESC-{ and ESC-} to shift to start/end of displayed lines.
593
594* Make search highlights work correctly when changing caselessness with -i.
595
596* New option -Da in Windows version to enable SGR mode.
597
598* Fix "nothing to search" error when top or bottom line on screen is empty.
599
600* Fix bug when terminal has no "cm" termcap entry.
601
602* Fix incorrect display when entering double-width chars in search string.
603
604* Fix bug in Unicode handling that missed some double width characters.
605
606* Update Unicode database to 9.0.0.
607
608======================================================================
609
610	Major changes between "less" versions 458 and 481
611
612* Don't overwrite history file; just append to it.
613
614* New command ESC-G goes to end of currently buffered data in a pipe.
615
616* Disable history feature when compiled with LESSHISTFILE set to "-".
617
618* In more-compatible mode, make the -p option apply to every file opened,
619  not just the first one.
620
621* In more-compatible mode, change the -e option to work like -E, not -EF.
622
623* Treat multiple CRs before LF are like one CR (all the CRs are hidden).
624
625* Allow "extra" string in lesskey file to append to a multi-char command
626  (like a search pattern), without executing the command.
627
628* Ignore -u/-U setting while viewing help file, so that
629  underline and bold chars are displayed correctly.
630
631* Improve detection of "binary" files in UTF-8 mode.
632
633* Fix bug with ++ commands.
634
635* Fix bug where prompt was sometimes not displayed with +G.
636
637* Fix possible memory corruption
638
639* Fix bugs and improve performance in ampersand filtering.
640
641* Automate construction of Unicode tables from Unicode database.
642
643* Allow %% escape sequence in LESSOPEN variable.
644
645======================================================================
646
647	Major changes between "less" versions 451 and 458
648
649* Allow backslash escaping of metacharacters in LESS environment variable
650  after the --use-backslash option.
651
652* Don't quit if syntax errors are found in command line options.
653
654* Increase sizes of some internal buffers.
655
656* Fix configure bug with --with-regex=none.
657
658* Fix crash with "stty rows 0".
659
660* Fix Win32 attribute display bug.
661
662* Fix display bug when using up/down arrow on the command line.
663
664======================================================================
665
666	Major changes between "less" versions 444 and 451
667
668* Add ESC-F command to keep reading data until a pattern is found.
669
670* Use exit code of LESSOPEN script if LESSOPEN starts with "||".
671
672* When up/down arrow is used on the command line immediately after
673  typing text, the next command starting with that text is found.
674
675* Add support for GNU regex.
676
677* Add configure option --with-regex=none and fix compile errors
678  when compiling with no regex library.
679
680* Fix bugs handling SGR sequences in Win32.
681
682* Fix possible crashes caused by malformed LESSOPEN or
683  LESSCLOSE variables.
684
685* Fix bug highlighting text which is discontiguous in the file
686  due to backspace processing.
687
688* Fix bug in displaying status column when scrolling backwards
689  with -J and -S in effect.
690
691======================================================================
692
693	Major changes between "less" versions 443 and 444
694
695* Fix bug in unget handling that can cause strange effects on the
696  command line.
697
698* Remove vestiges of obsolete -l option that can cause a crash.
699
700======================================================================
701
702	Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443
703
704* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit
705  pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and
706  not just the portion after the target line.
707
708* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only
709  the portion of the screen after the target line is searched.
710
711* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component
712  of the input file.
713
714* Control-G while editing a command exits the command.
715
716* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect.
717
718* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option.
719
720* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command
721  in combination with -i and -I.
722
723* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option.
724
725* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings.
726
727* Improve handling of long option names.
728
729* Improve percentage calculation for very large files.
730
731======================================================================
732
733	Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436
734
735* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-".
736
737* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option.
738
739* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line.
740
741* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R.
742
743======================================================================
744
745	Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429
746
747* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN
748  environment variable begins with "|-".
749
750* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color.
751
752* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file.
753
754* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers.
755
756* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode.
757
758* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals.
759
760* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt.
761
762* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (e.g. bold+underline).
763
764* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text.
765
766======================================================================
767
768	Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424
769
770* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern.
771
772* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched
773  string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect.
774
775* Improve behavior of -F option.
776
777* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode.
778
779* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default
780  to column 1.
781
782* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command.
783
784======================================================================
785
786	Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418
787
788* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build.
789
790* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf.
791
792* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences.
793
794* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes.
795
796* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward.
797
798* Update GPL to version 3.
799
800======================================================================
801
802	Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416
803
804* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file
805  rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed.
806
807* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text.
808
809* Fix DJGPP build.
810
811======================================================================
812
813	Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409
814
815* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences.
816
817* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized.
818
819* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text.
820
821* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h.
822
823* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences.
824
825======================================================================
826
827	Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
828
829* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
830
831* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
832
833* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
834
835* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
836
837* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
838
839* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
840  output works better.
841
842* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
843
844* Allow "/dev/null" as synonym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
845  that no history file should be used.
846
847* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
848  library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
849
850* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
851
852* Make -f work for directories.
853
854* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
855
856* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
857  that the file is binary.
858
859* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
860  and -R is in effect.
861
862* Update Unicode character tables.
863
864* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
865
866* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
867
868* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
869
870* Fix configure bugs.
871
872======================================================================
873
874	Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
875
876* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
877  invocations of less.
878
879* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
880
881* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
882
883* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
884  line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
885
886* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
887  non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
888
889* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
890  build a secure version of less.
891
892* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
893  are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
894
895* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
896
897* Add "windows" charset.
898
899* Add man page for lessecho.
900
901* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
902
903* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
904
905* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
906
907* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
908
909* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
910
911* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
912
913* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
914
915* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
916
917* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
918
919* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
920
921======================================================================
922
923	Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
924
925* Removed some old copyrighted code.
926  This probably breaks OS/9 support.
927
928======================================================================
929
930	Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
931
932* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
933
934* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
935  Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
936
937* Use autoconf 2.54.
938  Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
939
940* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
941  depending on context.
942
943* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
944
945* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
946
947* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
948
949======================================================================
950
951	Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
952
953* Bug fixes:
954  Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
955  Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
956  Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
957  Clean up some compiler warnings.
958
959======================================================================
960
961	Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
962
963* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
964
965* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
966  New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
967
968* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
969  Added support for "global(1)" tags
970  (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
971
972* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
973  while waiting for data in the F command.
974
975* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
976  instead of .sysless in bin directory.
977  Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
978  (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
979
980* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
981  the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
982
983* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
984
985* Windows version sets window title.
986
987* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
988
989* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
990  ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
991
992* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
993
994* Eliminated some dependencies on file offsets being 32 bits.
995
996* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
997
998* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
999
1000* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
1001
1002* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
1003
1004* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
1005
1006* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
1007
1008======================================================================
1009
1010	Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
1011
1012* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
1013
1014* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
1015  Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
1016
1017* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
1018
1019* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
1020
1021======================================================================
1022
1023
1024	Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
1025
1026* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
1027
1028* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
1029
1030* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
1031
1032* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
1033  a regular expression library.
1034
1035* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
1036
1037======================================================================
1038
1039
1040	Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
1041
1042* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
1043
1044* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
1045
1046* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
1047
1048* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
1049
1050* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
1051
1052* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
1053
1054* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
1055  bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
1056
1057* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
1058
1059======================================================================
1060
1061
1062	Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
1063
1064* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
1065
1066* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
1067
1068* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
1069  long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
1070  normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
1071
1072* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
1073  the first screen.
1074
1075* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
1076
1077* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
1078
1079* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
1080
1081* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
1082  file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
1083
1084* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
1085
1086======================================================================
1087
1088
1089	Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
1090
1091* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
1092  single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
1093  See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
1094
1095* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
1096  form.  See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
1097
1098* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
1099
1100* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
1101
1102* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
1103
1104* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
1105  command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
1106
1107* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
1108  "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
1109
1110* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
1111
1112* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
1113  suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
1114
1115* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
1116
1117======================================================================
1118
1119
1120	Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
1121
1122* Fixed bugs in "make install".
1123
1124======================================================================
1125
1126
1127	Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
1128
1129* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
1130
1131* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
1132
1133* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
1134
1135* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
1136  variables are incorrect.
1137
1138* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
1139  %d is replaced by the page number, and
1140  %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
1141
1142* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
1143
1144* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
1145
1146* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
1147
1148======================================================================
1149
1150
1151	Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
1152
1153* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
1154  so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
1155
1156* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
1157  window (buffer larger than display window).
1158
1159* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
1160  Use -X to get the old behavior.
1161
1162* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
1163
1164* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
1165
1166* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
1167  line terminators (CR/LF).
1168
1169* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
1170
1171======================================================================
1172
1173
1174	Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
1175
1176* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
1177  New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
1178
1179* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
1180  If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
1181  that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
1182
1183* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
1184
1185* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
1186
1187* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
1188  string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
1189
1190* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
1191  more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
1192
1193* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
1194
1195* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
1196
1197* Bug fixes.
1198
1199======================================================================
1200
1201
1202	Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
1203
1204* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
1205  than the screen width.
1206
1207* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
1208
1209* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
1210  hits end-of-file.
1211
1212* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
1213  ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
1214
1215* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
1216  currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
1217
1218* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
1219  expressions in the search.
1220
1221* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
1222
1223* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
1224  "secure" mode.
1225
1226* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
1227  are files (not option flags).
1228
1229* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed.  Help text is now
1230  embedded in the less executable itself.
1231
1232* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
1233  Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
1234
1235* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
1236
1237* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
1238
1239* Ported to OS-9.
1240
1241* Ported to GNU Hurd.
1242
1243======================================================================
1244
1245
1246	Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
1247
1248* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
1249
1250* Fixed MS-DOS build.
1251
1252======================================================================
1253
1254
1255	Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
1256
1257* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
1258
1259* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
1260
1261* Bug fixes
1262
1263======================================================================
1264
1265
1266	Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
1267
1268* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
1269  rather than writing it to a temporary file.
1270
1271* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed.  It now highlights
1272  reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
1273  contains TABs, etc.
1274
1275* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
1276  to -G.  A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
1277  only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
1278  strings which match the last search command.
1279
1280* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
1281  pattern contains uppercase letters.
1282
1283* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
1284
1285* Ported to OS/2.
1286
1287======================================================================
1288
1289
1290	Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
1291
1292* Changes in line-editing keys:
1293  The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
1294  Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
1295  when typing a search pattern.
1296
1297* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
1298
1299* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
1300  rather than standard input.
1301
1302* New option -V displays version number of less.
1303
1304* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
1305
1306* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
1307  rather than /usr/local/lib.
1308
1309
1310======================================================================
1311
1312
1313	Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
1314
1315* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
1316  is highlighted.  New -F flag disables this feature.
1317
1318* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
1319  have a regular expression library.
1320  regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
1321
1322* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
1323  filename completion (TAB).
1324
1325* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
1326  via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
1327
1328* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
1329  deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
1330
1331* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
1332  repeated search.
1333
1334* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
1335  flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
1336
1337* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
1338  the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
1339
1340* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
1341  (reverse video) rather than blinking.  This can still be changed by
1342  setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
1343
1344* Use autoconf installation technology.
1345
1346* Ported to MS-DOS.
1347
1348        ********************************
1349          Things that may surprise you
1350        ********************************
1351
1352* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
1353  filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
1354  Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
1355  now have line editing functions.
1356
1357* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
1358  compressed files.  The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
1359  this functionality in a different way.
1360
1361* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
1362  set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
1363  The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
1364  functionality.
1365
1366
1367======================================================================
1368
1369
1370	Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
1371
1372* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
1373
1374* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
1375  rather than wrapping onto the next line.
1376
1377* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
1378
1379* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
1380
1381* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
1382  Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
1383  in blinking mode.
1384
1385* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
1386* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
1387
1388* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
1389  which acts as though typed in after the command.
1390
1391* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
1392
1393* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
1394
1395* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
1396
1397* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
1398
1399* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
1400	n	Repeat search, same direction.
1401	N	Repeat search, opposite direction.
1402	ESC-/	Search forward thru file boundaries
1403	ESC-?	Search backward thru file boundaries
1404	ESC-n	Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
1405	ESC-N	Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
1406  Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
1407  Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
1408
1409* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
1410  A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
1411  may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
1412
1413* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
1414  a non-ASCII character set.
1415
1416* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
1417  on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
1418
1419
1420======================================================================
1421
1422
1423	Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
1424
1425* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
1426  text of the file (like vi "set nu").
1427
1428* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
1429
1430* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
1431  mapping them to ^X notation.
1432
1433* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
1434  (directories, etc).
1435
1436* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
1437
1438* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
1439  (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
1440
1441* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
1442  file is edited.  The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
1443
1444* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
1445  for a pattern.
1446
1447* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
1448
1449* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
1450  in the reverse direction.  The old N command is still available
1451  via :n.
1452
1453* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
1454  direction and spanning files.
1455
1456* 8 bit characters are now supported.  A new option (-g) can be
1457  used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
1458
1459* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
1460  optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
1461
1462* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
1463  brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
1464
1465* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
1466  simultaneously set the window size.
1467
1468* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
1469  line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
1470  Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
1471  can use j for the jump target line.
1472
1473* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
1474  command string passed to the editor by the v command.
1475
1476* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
1477  to the same position in the file.
1478
1479* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
1480  previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
1481  (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
1482  only in the E command.)
1483
1484* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
1485
1486* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
1487
1488* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
1489  for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
1490
1491* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
1492  extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
1493  "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499