xref: /freebsd/contrib/less/NEWS (revision 9f27341c336aa12f6c7163c17e646e76c813b689)
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 608 and 632
15
16* Add LESSUTFCHARDEF environment variable (github #275).
17
18* Add # command (github #330).
19
20* Add ^S search modifier (github #196).
21
22* Add --wordwrap option (github #113).
23
24* Add --no-vbell option (github #304).
25
26* Add --no-search-headers option (github #44).
27
28* Add --modelines option (github #89).
29
30* Add --intr option (github #224).
31
32* Add --proc-backspace, --proc-tab and --proc-return options (github #335).
33
34* Add --show-preproc-errors option (github #258).
35
36* Add LESS_LINES and LESS_COLUMNS environment variables (github #84).
37
38* Add LESS_DATA_DELAY environment variable (github #337).
39
40* Allow empty "lines" field in --header option.
41
42* Update Unicode tables.
43
44* Improve ability of ^X to interrupt F command (github #49).
45
46* Status column (-J) shows off-screen matches.
47
48* Parenthesized sub-patterns in searches are colored with unique colors,
49  if supported by the regular expression library (github #196).
50
51* Don't allow opening a tty as file input unless -f is set (github #309).
52
53* Don't require newline input after +&... option (github #339).
54
55* Fix incorrect handling of some Private Use Unicode characters.
56
57* Fix ANSI color bug when overstriking with colored chars (github #276).
58
59* Fix compiler const warning (github #279).
60
61* Fix signal race in iread (github #280).
62
63* Fix reading procfs files on Linux (github #282).
64
65* Fix --ignore-case with ctrl-R (no regex) search (github #300).
66
67* Fix bug doing repeat search after setting & filter (github #299).
68
69* Fix bug doing repeat search before non-repeat search.
70
71* Fix crash with -R and certain line lengths (github #338).
72
73* Fix input of Windows dead keys (github #352).
74
75* Don't retain search options from a cancelled search (github #302).
76
77* Don't call realpath on fake filenames like "-" (github #289).
78
79* Implement lesstest test suite.
80
81* Convert function parameter definitions from K&R to C89 (github #316).
82
83======================================================================
84
85	Major changes between "less" versions 590 and 608
86
87* Add the --header option (github #43).
88
89* Add the --no-number-headers option (github #178).
90
91* Add the --status-line option.
92
93* Add the --redraw-on-quit option (github #36).
94
95* Add the --search-options option (github #213).
96
97* Add the --exit-follow-on-close option (github #244).
98
99* Add 'H' color type to set color of header lines.
100
101* Add #version conditional to lesskey.
102
103* Add += syntax to variable section in lesskey files.
104
105* Allow option name in -- command to end with '=' in addition to '\n'.
106
107* Add $HOME/.config to possible locations of lesskey file (github #153).
108
109* Add $XDG_STATE_HOME and $HOME/.local/state to possible locations
110  of history file (github #223).
111
112* Don't read or write history file in secure mode (github #201).
113
114* Fix display of multibyte and double-width chars in prompt.
115
116* Fix ESC-BACKSPACE command when BACKSPACE key does not send 0x08
117  (github #188).
118
119* Add more \k codes to lesskey format.
120
121* Fix bug when empty file is modified while viewing it.
122
123* Fix bug when parsing a malformed lesskey file (githb #234).
124
125* Fix bug scrolling history when --incsearch is set (github #214).
126
127* Fix buffer overflow when invoking lessecho with more than 63 -m/-n
128  options (github #198).
129
130* Fix buffer overflow in bin_file (github #271).
131
132* Fix bug restoring color at end of highlighted text.
133
134* Fix bug in parsing lesskey file.
135
136* Defer moving cursor to lower left in some more cases.
137
138* Suppress TAB filename expansion in some cases where it doesn't make sense.
139
140* Fix termlib detection when compiler doesn't accept
141  calls to undeclared functions.
142
143* Fix bug in input of non-ASCII characters on Windows (github #247)
144
145* Escape filenames when invoking LESSCLOSE.
146
147* Fix bug using multibyte UTF-8 char in search string
148  with --incsearch (github #273).
149
150======================================================================
151
152	Major changes between "less" versions 581 and 590
153
154* Make less able to read lesskey source files (deprecating lesskey).
155
156* If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, find lesskey source file
157  in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lesskey rather than $HOME/.lesskey.
158
159* If XDG_DATA_HOME is set, find and store history file
160  in $XDG_DATA_HOME/lesshst rather than $HOME/.lesshst.
161
162* Add the --lesskey-src option.
163
164* Add the --file-size option.
165
166* With -F, if screen is resized to make file fit on one screen, don't exit.
167
168* Fix bug which could leave terminal in mouse-reporting mode
169  after exiting less.
170
171* Fix bug which caused failure to respond to window resize.
172
173* Fix backslash bug searching in tag file.
174
175======================================================================
176
177	Major changes between "less" versions 563 and 581
178
179* Change ESC-u command to toggle, not disable, highlighting per man page.
180
181* Add ESC-U command.
182
183* Add ctrl-W search modifier for wrapping search.
184
185* F command can be interrupted by ^X.
186
187* Support OSC 8 hyperlinks when -R is in effect.
188
189* g command with no number will ignore -j and put first line at top of screen.
190
191* Multiple + or -p command line options are handled better.
192
193* Add the --incsearch option.
194
195* Add the --line-num-width option.
196
197* Add the --status-col-width option.
198
199* Add the --use-color and --color options.
200
201* Display -w highlight even if highlighted line is empty.
202
203* If search result is in a long line, scroll to ensure it is visible.
204
205* Editing the same file under different names now creates only
206  one entry in the file list.
207
208* Make visual bell more visible on some terminals.
209
210* Ring end-of-file bell no more than once per second.
211
212* Build can use either Python or Perl for Makefile.aut operations.
213
214* Fix crash when using the @ search modifier.
215
216* Fix crash in the 's' command due to duplicate free.
217
218* Fix realpath crash on Darwin.
219
220======================================================================
221
222	Major changes between "less" versions 551 and 563
223
224* Update Unicode tables.
225
226* Treat Hangul Jamo medial vowels and final consonants as zero width.
227
228* Display error message immediately when -o is toggled and
229  input is not a pipe.
230
231* Fix regression: make screen repaint when "squished" and
232  a no-movement command is given.
233
234* Fix erroneous EOF calculation when F command is interrupted.
235
236* Make WIN32C version include this fix from 551:
237  Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
238
239* Fix display bug in WIN32C version.
240
241* Fix memory corruption when built with libtermcap.
242
243* Support libtinfow.
244
245======================================================================
246
247	Major changes between "less" versions 530 and 551
248
249* Add --mouse option.
250
251* Add --wheel-lines option.
252
253* Add --no-histdups option.
254
255* Add --save-marks option.
256
257* Support PCRE2 regular expression library.
258
259* Redraw screen on SIGWINCH even if screen size doesn't change.
260
261* Shell-escape filenames in history so they can be used again.
262
263* Ring bell if user enters invalid long option name.
264
265* Use PCRE_UTF8 flag for pcre regular expressions when in UTF-8 mode.
266
267* Windows: use wide-char string to set console title.
268
269* Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
270
271* Support mingw build system.
272
273* Fix bug in v command on empty file.
274
275* Fix bug in v command when filename contains shell metacharacters.
276
277======================================================================
278
279	Major changes between "less" versions 487 and 530
280
281* Don't output terminal init sequence if using -F and file fits on one screen.
282
283* When using -S, mark truncated lines with a special character.
284  The character can be changed or disabled via the new --rscroll option.
285
286* New command M marks the last line displayed on the screen.
287
288* New command ESC-m removes a line mark.
289
290* Status column (enabled via -J) now shows mark letters.
291
292* Status column shows search matches even if highlighting is disabled via -G.
293
294* A second ESC-u command will clear search match markers in the status column.
295
296* Do same ANSI escape code filtering for tag matching that we do for
297  searching, to help when viewing syntax-highlighted code.
298
299* Catch SIGTERM and clean up before exiting.
300
301* Fix bug initializing default charset on Windows.
302
303* Handle keypad ENTER key correctly if it sends something other than newline.
304
305* Fix buffering bug when using stdin with a LESSOPEN pipe.
306
307* On Windows, allow 'u' in -D option to enable underlining.
308
309* On Windows, use underline in sgr mode.
310
311* On Windows, convert UTF-8 to multibyte if console is not UTF-8.
312
313* Update Unicode tables to 2017-03-08.
314
315* Pass-thru Unicode formatting chars (Cf type) instead of treating them
316  as binary chars. But treat them as binary if -U is set.
317
318* Fix erroneous binary file warning when UTF-8 file contains ANSI SGR sequences.
319
320* Fix bugs when using LESSOPEN and switching between stdin and other files.
321
322* Fix some bugs handling filenames containing shell metacharacters.
323
324* Fix some memory leaks.
325
326* Allow some debugging environment variables to be set in lesskey file.
327
328* Code improvements:
329  . Use ANSI prototypes in funcs.h declarations.
330  . Fix some const mismatches.
331  . Remove archaic "register" in variable declarations.
332
333======================================================================
334
335	Major changes between "less" versions 481 and 487
336
337* New commands ESC-{ and ESC-} to shift to start/end of displayed lines.
338
339* Make search highlights work correctly when changing caselessness with -i.
340
341* New option -Da in Windows version to enable SGR mode.
342
343* Fix "nothing to search" error when top or bottom line on screen is empty.
344
345* Fix bug when terminal has no "cm" termcap entry.
346
347* Fix incorrect display when entering double-width chars in search string.
348
349* Fix bug in Unicode handling that missed some double width characters.
350
351* Update Unicode database to 9.0.0.
352
353======================================================================
354
355	Major changes between "less" versions 458 and 481
356
357* Don't overwrite history file; just append to it.
358
359* New command ESC-G goes to end of currently buffered data in a pipe.
360
361* Disable history feature when compiled with LESSHISTFILE set to "-".
362
363* In more-compatible mode, make the -p option apply to every file opened,
364  not just the first one.
365
366* In more-compatible mode, change the -e option to work like -E, not -EF.
367
368* Treat multiple CRs before LF are like one CR (all the CRs are hidden).
369
370* Allow "extra" string in lesskey file to append to a multi-char command
371  (like a search pattern), without executing the command.
372
373* Ignore -u/-U setting while viewing help file, so that
374  underline and bold chars are displayed correctly.
375
376* Improve detection of "binary" files in UTF-8 mode.
377
378* Fix bug with ++ commands.
379
380* Fix bug where prompt was sometimes not displayed with +G.
381
382* Fix possible memory corruption
383
384* Fix bugs and improve performance in ampersand filtering.
385
386* Automate construction of Unicode tables from Unicode database.
387
388* Allow %% escape sequence in LESSOPEN variable.
389
390======================================================================
391
392	Major changes between "less" versions 451 and 458
393
394* Allow backslash escaping of metacharacters in LESS environment variable
395  after the --use-backslash option.
396
397* Don't quit if syntax errors are found in command line options.
398
399* Increase sizes of some internal buffers.
400
401* Fix configure bug with --with-regex=none.
402
403* Fix crash with "stty rows 0".
404
405* Fix Win32 attribute display bug.
406
407* Fix display bug when using up/down arrow on the command line.
408
409======================================================================
410
411	Major changes between "less" versions 444 and 451
412
413* Add ESC-F command to keep reading data until a pattern is found.
414
415* Use exit code of LESSOPEN script if LESSOPEN starts with "||".
416
417* When up/down arrow is used on the command line immediately after
418  typing text, the next command starting with that text is found.
419
420* Add support for GNU regex.
421
422* Add configure option --with-regex=none and fix compile errors
423  when compiling with no regex library.
424
425* Fix bugs handling SGR sequences in Win32.
426
427* Fix possible crashes caused by malformed LESSOPEN or
428  LESSCLOSE variables.
429
430* Fix bug highlighting text which is discontiguous in the file
431  due to backspace processing.
432
433* Fix bug in displaying status column when scrolling backwards
434  with -J and -S in effect.
435
436======================================================================
437
438	Major changes between "less" versions 443 and 444
439
440* Fix bug in unget handling that can cause strange effects on the
441  command line.
442
443* Remove vestiges of obsolete -l option that can cause a crash.
444
445======================================================================
446
447	Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443
448
449* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit
450  pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and
451  not just the portion after the target line.
452
453* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only
454  the portion of the screen after the target line is searched.
455
456* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component
457  of the input file.
458
459* Control-G while editing a command exits the command.
460
461* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect.
462
463* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option.
464
465* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command
466  in combination with -i and -I.
467
468* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option.
469
470* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings.
471
472* Improve handling of long option names.
473
474* Improve percentage calculation for very large files.
475
476======================================================================
477
478	Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436
479
480* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-".
481
482* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option.
483
484* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line.
485
486* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R.
487
488======================================================================
489
490	Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429
491
492* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN
493  environment variable begins with "|-".
494
495* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color.
496
497* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file.
498
499* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers.
500
501* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode.
502
503* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals.
504
505* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt.
506
507* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (e.g. bold+underline).
508
509* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text.
510
511======================================================================
512
513	Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424
514
515* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern.
516
517* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched
518  string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect.
519
520* Improve behavior of -F option.
521
522* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode.
523
524* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default
525  to column 1.
526
527* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command.
528
529======================================================================
530
531	Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418
532
533* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build.
534
535* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf.
536
537* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences.
538
539* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes.
540
541* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward.
542
543* Update GPL to version 3.
544
545======================================================================
546
547	Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416
548
549* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file
550  rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed.
551
552* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text.
553
554* Fix DJGPP build.
555
556======================================================================
557
558	Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409
559
560* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences.
561
562* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized.
563
564* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text.
565
566* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h.
567
568* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences.
569
570======================================================================
571
572	Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
573
574* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
575
576* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
577
578* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
579
580* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
581
582* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
583
584* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
585  output works better.
586
587* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
588
589* Allow "/dev/null" as synonym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
590  that no history file should be used.
591
592* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
593  library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
594
595* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
596
597* Make -f work for directories.
598
599* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
600
601* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
602  that the file is binary.
603
604* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
605  and -R is in effect.
606
607* Update Unicode character tables.
608
609* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
610
611* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
612
613* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
614
615* Fix configure bugs.
616
617======================================================================
618
619	Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
620
621* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
622  invocations of less.
623
624* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
625
626* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
627
628* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
629  line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
630
631* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
632  non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
633
634* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
635  build a secure version of less.
636
637* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
638  are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
639
640* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
641
642* Add "windows" charset.
643
644* Add man page for lessecho.
645
646* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
647
648* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
649
650* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
651
652* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
653
654* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
655
656* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
657
658* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
659
660* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
661
662* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
663
664* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
665
666======================================================================
667
668	Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
669
670* Removed some old copyrighted code.
671  This probably breaks OS/9 support.
672
673======================================================================
674
675	Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
676
677* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
678
679* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
680  Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
681
682* Use autoconf 2.54.
683  Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
684
685* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
686  depending on context.
687
688* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
689
690* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
691
692* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
693
694======================================================================
695
696	Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
697
698* Bug fixes:
699  Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
700  Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
701  Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
702  Clean up some compiler warnings.
703
704======================================================================
705
706	Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
707
708* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
709
710* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
711  New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
712
713* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
714  Added support for "global(1)" tags
715  (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
716
717* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
718  while waiting for data in the F command.
719
720* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
721  instead of .sysless in bin directory.
722  Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
723  (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
724
725* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
726  the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
727
728* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
729
730* Windows version sets window title.
731
732* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
733
734* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
735  ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
736
737* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
738
739* Eliminated some dependencies on file offsets being 32 bits.
740
741* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
742
743* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
744
745* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
746
747* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
748
749* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
750
751* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
752
753======================================================================
754
755	Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
756
757* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
758
759* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
760  Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
761
762* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
763
764* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
765
766======================================================================
767
768
769	Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
770
771* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
772
773* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
774
775* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
776
777* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
778  a regular expression library.
779
780* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
781
782======================================================================
783
784
785	Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
786
787* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
788
789* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
790
791* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
792
793* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
794
795* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
796
797* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
798
799* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
800  bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
801
802* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
803
804======================================================================
805
806
807	Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
808
809* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
810
811* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
812
813* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
814  long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
815  normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
816
817* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
818  the first screen.
819
820* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
821
822* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
823
824* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
825
826* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
827  file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
828
829* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
830
831======================================================================
832
833
834	Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
835
836* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
837  single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
838  See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
839
840* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
841  form.  See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
842
843* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
844
845* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
846
847* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
848
849* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
850  command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
851
852* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
853  "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
854
855* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
856
857* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
858  suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
859
860* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
861
862======================================================================
863
864
865	Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
866
867* Fixed bugs in "make install".
868
869======================================================================
870
871
872	Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
873
874* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
875
876* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
877
878* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
879
880* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
881  variables are incorrect.
882
883* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
884  %d is replaced by the page number, and
885  %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
886
887* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
888
889* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
890
891* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
892
893======================================================================
894
895
896	Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
897
898* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
899  so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
900
901* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
902  window (buffer larger than display window).
903
904* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
905  Use -X to get the old behavior.
906
907* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
908
909* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
910
911* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
912  line terminators (CR/LF).
913
914* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
915
916======================================================================
917
918
919	Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
920
921* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
922  New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
923
924* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
925  If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
926  that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
927
928* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
929
930* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
931
932* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
933  string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
934
935* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
936  more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
937
938* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
939
940* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
941
942* Bug fixes.
943
944======================================================================
945
946
947	Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
948
949* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
950  than the screen width.
951
952* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
953
954* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
955  hits end-of-file.
956
957* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
958  ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
959
960* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
961  currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
962
963* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
964  expressions in the search.
965
966* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
967
968* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
969  "secure" mode.
970
971* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
972  are files (not option flags).
973
974* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed.  Help text is now
975  embedded in the less executable itself.
976
977* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
978  Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
979
980* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
981
982* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
983
984* Ported to OS-9.
985
986* Ported to GNU Hurd.
987
988======================================================================
989
990
991	Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
992
993* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
994
995* Fixed MS-DOS build.
996
997======================================================================
998
999
1000	Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
1001
1002* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
1003
1004* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
1005
1006* Bug fixes
1007
1008======================================================================
1009
1010
1011	Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
1012
1013* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
1014  rather than writing it to a temporary file.
1015
1016* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed.  It now highlights
1017  reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
1018  contains TABs, etc.
1019
1020* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
1021  to -G.  A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
1022  only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
1023  strings which match the last search command.
1024
1025* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
1026  pattern contains uppercase letters.
1027
1028* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
1029
1030* Ported to OS/2.
1031
1032======================================================================
1033
1034
1035	Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
1036
1037* Changes in line-editing keys:
1038  The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
1039  Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
1040  when typing a search pattern.
1041
1042* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
1043
1044* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
1045  rather than standard input.
1046
1047* New option -V displays version number of less.
1048
1049* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
1050
1051* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
1052  rather than /usr/local/lib.
1053
1054
1055======================================================================
1056
1057
1058	Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
1059
1060* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
1061  is highlighted.  New -F flag disables this feature.
1062
1063* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
1064  have a regular expression library.
1065  regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
1066
1067* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
1068  filename completion (TAB).
1069
1070* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
1071  via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
1072
1073* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
1074  deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
1075
1076* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
1077  repeated search.
1078
1079* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
1080  flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
1081
1082* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
1083  the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
1084
1085* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
1086  (reverse video) rather than blinking.  This can still be changed by
1087  setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
1088
1089* Use autoconf installation technology.
1090
1091* Ported to MS-DOS.
1092
1093        ********************************
1094          Things that may surprise you
1095        ********************************
1096
1097* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
1098  filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
1099  Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
1100  now have line editing functions.
1101
1102* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
1103  compressed files.  The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
1104  this functionality in a different way.
1105
1106* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
1107  set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
1108  The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
1109  functionality.
1110
1111
1112======================================================================
1113
1114
1115	Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
1116
1117* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
1118
1119* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
1120  rather than wrapping onto the next line.
1121
1122* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
1123
1124* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
1125
1126* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
1127  Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
1128  in blinking mode.
1129
1130* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
1131* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
1132
1133* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
1134  which acts as though typed in after the command.
1135
1136* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
1137
1138* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
1139
1140* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
1141
1142* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
1143
1144* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
1145	n	Repeat search, same direction.
1146	N	Repeat search, opposite direction.
1147	ESC-/	Search forward thru file boundaries
1148	ESC-?	Search backward thru file boundaries
1149	ESC-n	Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
1150	ESC-N	Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
1151  Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
1152  Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
1153
1154* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
1155  A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
1156  may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
1157
1158* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
1159  a non-ASCII character set.
1160
1161* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
1162  on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
1163
1164
1165======================================================================
1166
1167
1168	Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
1169
1170* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
1171  text of the file (like vi "set nu").
1172
1173* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
1174
1175* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
1176  mapping them to ^X notation.
1177
1178* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
1179  (directories, etc).
1180
1181* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
1182
1183* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
1184  (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
1185
1186* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
1187  file is edited.  The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
1188
1189* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
1190  for a pattern.
1191
1192* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
1193
1194* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
1195  in the reverse direction.  The old N command is still available
1196  via :n.
1197
1198* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
1199  direction and spanning files.
1200
1201* 8 bit characters are now supported.  A new option (-g) can be
1202  used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
1203
1204* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
1205  optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
1206
1207* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
1208  brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
1209
1210* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
1211  simultaneously set the window size.
1212
1213* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
1214  line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
1215  Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
1216  can use j for the jump target line.
1217
1218* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
1219  command string passed to the editor by the v command.
1220
1221* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
1222  to the same position in the file.
1223
1224* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
1225  previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
1226  (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
1227  only in the E command.)
1228
1229* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
1230
1231* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
1232
1233* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
1234  for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
1235
1236* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
1237  extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
1238  "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244