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