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