xref: /freebsd/contrib/less/NEWS (revision d5cb458b4b58b0f0b3c058a32439f232fd5455ca)
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 679 and 685
15
16* Add --cmd option (github #624).
17
18* Add LESS_TERMCAP_SUSPEND and LESS_TERMCAP_RESUME (github #654).
19
20* Change --incsearch so that after typing each character of the pattern,
21  the search begins at the position where the search command was invoked,
22  not the current position (github #640).
23
24* Allow mixing of option arguments and filename arguments on the
25  command line unless POSIXLY_CORRECT is set (github #653).
26
27* Don't output U+00AD and U+200D, and fix some bugs handling emoji
28  modifier characters (github #637).
29
30* Fix hang if a search using ^S modifier matches empty string (github #634).
31
32* Fix bug using -g and -J (github #636).
33
34* Fix bug when pasting a search pattern while --incsearch is active
35  (github #635).
36
37* Fix bug in Windows build when autorepeating a search pattern (github #639).
38
39* Fix lesskey bug using #stop directive.
40
41* Fix lesskey bug using "invalid" action (github #643).
42
43* Fix bug causing file to appear to end prematurely if an input command
44  was received during a file read (github #649).
45
46* Fix performance issue in & filtering (github #638). Problem was introduced
47  in da2a9ecdf16beb642d0c030e35f0351c5f2e5a12 and released in less-673.
48
49* Fix some problems reported by valgrind (github #659, github #660, github #661).
50
51======================================================================
52
53	Major changes between "less" versions 678 and 679
54
55* Fix bad parsing of lesskey file an env var is a prefix of another
56  env var (github #626).
57
58* Fix unexpected exit using -K if a key press is received while reading
59  the input file (github #628).
60
61======================================================================
62
63	Major changes between "less" versions 668 and 678
64
65* Treat -r in LESS environment variable as -R.
66
67* Add ESC-j and ESC-k commands (github #560).
68
69* Add --no-paste option (github #523).
70
71* Add --no-edit-warn option (github #513).
72
73* Add --form-feed option (github #496).
74
75* Add ESC-b command (github #615).
76
77* Make TAB complete option name in -- command (github #531).
78
79* Update the file size on an attempt to go past end of file.
80
81* Make -R able to pass through any OSC escape sequences,
82  not just OSC 8 (github #504).
83
84* Setting LESS_IS_MORE=0 now disables "more" compatibility even
85  if invoked via a file link named "more" (github #500).
86
87* Pass through escape sequences in prompts even if -R is not set.
88
89* Add LESS_SHELL_LINES to support shell prompts which use more than
90  one line (github #514).
91
92* Add LESSANSIOSCALLOW to define OSC types which may be passed through.
93
94* Add LESSANSIOSCCHARS to define non-standard OSC intro chars.
95
96* Add LESS_SIGUSR1 to define user signal handler (github #582).
97
98* Add mouse and mouse6 commands to lesskey (github #569).
99
100* Improve behavior of ^O^N and ^O^P commands.
101
102* Leave stty tabs setting unchanged (github #620).
103
104* Fix unexpected behavior when entering a partial command followed by
105  a valid command (github #543).
106
107* Fix bug when coloring prompt string with SGR sequences (github #516).
108
109* Fix bug when searching for text near an invalid UTF-8 sequence (github #542).
110
111* Fix display bug when file contains ESC followed by NUL (github #550).
112
113* Fix bug when using +:n +:p +:x or +:d on the command line (github #552).
114
115* Fix bug with --no-number-headers when header is not at start of file
116  (github #566).
117
118* Fix bug where lesstest fails if window is resized (github #570).
119
120* Fix bug using "configure --with-secure=no" (github #584).
121
122* Fix bug using multibyte command chars (github #595).
123
124* Fix auto_wrap setting on Windows (github #497).
125
126* Fix two bugs using ^S search modifier (github #605).
127
128* Fix bug searching for UTF-8 strings with the PCRE2 library (github #610).
129
130* Fix bug highlighting OSC 8 links when opening a new file.
131
132* Fix bug when & filtering is active (github #618).
133
134======================================================================
135
136	Major changes between "less" versions 661 and 668
137
138* Make 256/true colors work better on Windows without -Da
139  (github #539, github #546, github #562).
140
141* Fix build using --with-secure (github #544).
142
143* Fix crash when using --header on command line (github #545).
144
145* Fix possible crash when scrolling left/right or toggling -S (github #547).
146
147* Fix bug when using #stop in a lesskey file (github #551).
148
149* Fix bug when using --shift or --match-shift on command line with
150  a parameter starting with '.' (github #554).
151
152* Fix bug in R command when file size changes (github #553).
153
154* Fix bug using --header when file does not fill screen (github #556).
155
156* Fix ^X bug when output is not a terminal (github #558).
157
158* Fix bug where ^Z is not handled immediately (github #563).
159
160* Fix bug where first byte from a LESSOPEN filter is deleted if it is
161  greater than 0x7F (github #568).
162
163* Fix uninitialized variable in edit_ifile (github #573).
164
165* Fix incorrect handling of UTF-8 chars in prompts (github #576).
166
167======================================================================
168
169	Major changes between "less" versions 643 and 661
170
171* Add ^O^N, ^O^P, ^O^L and ^O^O commands and mouse clicks (with --mouse)
172  to find and open OSC8 hyperlinks (github #251).
173
174* Add --match-shift option.
175
176* Add --lesskey-content option (github #447).
177
178* Add LESSKEY_CONTENT environment variable (github #447).
179
180* Add --no-search-header-lines and --no-search-header-columns options
181  (github #397).
182
183* Add ctrl-L search modifier (github #367).
184
185* A ctrl-P at the start of a shell command suppresses the "done"
186  message (github #462).
187
188* Add attribute characters ('*', '~', '_', '&') to --color
189  parameter (github #471).
190
191* Allow expansion of environment variables in lesskey files.
192
193* Add LESSSECURE_ALLOW environment variable (github #449).
194
195* Add LESS_UNSUPPORT environment variable.
196
197* Add line number parameter to --header option (github #436).
198
199* Mouse right-click jumps to position marked by left-click (github #390).
200
201* Ensure that the target line is not obscured by a header line
202  set by --header (github #444).
203
204* Change default character set to "utf-8", except remains "dos" on MS-DOS.
205
206* Add message when search with ^W wraps (github #459).
207
208* UCRT builds on Windows 10 and later now support Unicode file names
209  (github #438).
210
211* Improve behavior of interrupt while reading non-terminated pipe
212  (github #414).
213
214* Improve parsing of -j, -x and -# options (github #393).
215
216* Support files larger than 4GB on Windows (github #417).
217
218* Support entry of Unicode chars larger than U+FFFF on Windows (github #391).
219
220* Improve colors of bold, underline and standout text on Windows.
221
222* Allow --rscroll to accept non-ASCII characters (github #483).
223
224* Allow the parameter to certain options to be terminated with a
225  space (--color, --quotes, --rscroll, --search-options
226  and --intr) (github #495).
227
228* Fix bug where # substitution failed after viewing help (github #420).
229
230* Fix crash if files are deleted while less is viewing them (github #404).
231
232* Workaround unreliable ReadConsoleInputW behavior on Windows
233  with non-ASCII input.
234
235* Fix -J display when searching for non-ASCII characters (github #422).
236
237* Don't filter header lines via the & command (github #423).
238
239* Fix bug when horizontally shifting long lines (github #425).
240
241* Add -x and -D options to lesstest, to make it easier to diagnose
242  a failed lesstest run.
243
244* Fix bug searching long lines with --incsearch and -S (github #428).
245
246* Fix bug that made ESC-} fail if top line on screen was empty (github #429).
247
248* Fix bug with --mouse on Windows when used with pipes (github #440).
249
250* Fix bug in --+OPTION command line syntax.
251
252* Fix display bug when using -w with an empty line with a CR/LF
253  line ending (github #474).
254
255* When substituting '#' or '%' with a filename, quote the filename
256  if it contains a space (github #480).
257
258* Fix wrong sleep time when system has usleep but not nanosleep (github #489).
259
260* Fix bug when file name contains a newline.
261
262* Fix bug when file name contains nonprintable characters (github #503).
263
264* Fix DJGPP build (github #497).
265
266* Update Unicode tables.
267
268======================================================================
269
270	Major changes between "less" versions 633 and 643
271
272* Fix problem when a program piping into less reads from the tty,
273  like sudo asking for password (github #368).
274
275* Fix search modifier ^E after ^W.
276
277* Fix bug using negated (^N) search (github #374).
278
279* Fix bug setting colors with -D on Windows build (github #386).
280
281* Fix reading special chars like PageDown on Windows (github #378).
282
283* Fix mouse wheel scrolling on Windows (github #379).
284
285* Fix erroneous EOF when terminal window size changes (github #372).
286
287* Fix compile error with some definitions of ECHONL (github #395).
288
289* Fix crash on Windows when writing logfile (github #405).
290
291* Fix regression in exit code when stdin is /dev/null and
292  output is a file (github #373).
293
294* Add lesstest test suite to production release (github #344).
295
296* Change lesstest output to conform with
297  automake Simple Test Format (github #399).
298
299======================================================================
300
301	Major changes between "less" versions 632 and 633
302
303* Fix build on systems which have ncurses/termcap.h or
304  ncursesw/termcap.h but not termcap.h.
305
306======================================================================
307
308	Major changes between "less" versions 608 and 632
309
310* Add LESSUTFCHARDEF environment variable (github #275).
311
312* Add # command (github #330).
313
314* Add ^S search modifier (github #196).
315
316* Add --wordwrap option (github #113).
317
318* Add --no-vbell option (github #304).
319
320* Add --no-search-headers option (github #44).
321
322* Add --modelines option (github #89).
323
324* Add --intr option (github #224).
325
326* Add --proc-backspace, --proc-tab and --proc-return options (github #335).
327
328* Add --show-preproc-errors option (github #258).
329
330* Add LESS_LINES and LESS_COLUMNS environment variables (github #84).
331
332* Add LESS_DATA_DELAY environment variable (github #337).
333
334* Allow empty "lines" field in --header option.
335
336* Update Unicode tables.
337
338* Improve ability of ^X to interrupt F command (github #49).
339
340* Status column (-J) shows off-screen matches.
341
342* Parenthesized sub-patterns in searches are colored with unique colors,
343  if supported by the regular expression library (github #196).
344
345* Don't allow opening a tty as file input unless -f is set (github #309).
346
347* Don't require newline input after +&... option (github #339).
348
349* Fix incorrect handling of some Private Use Unicode characters.
350
351* Fix ANSI color bug when overstriking with colored chars (github #276).
352
353* Fix compiler const warning (github #279).
354
355* Fix signal race in iread (github #280).
356
357* Fix reading procfs files on Linux (github #282).
358
359* Fix --ignore-case with ctrl-R (no regex) search (github #300).
360
361* Fix bug doing repeat search after setting & filter (github #299).
362
363* Fix bug doing repeat search before non-repeat search.
364
365* Fix crash with -R and certain line lengths (github #338).
366
367* Fix input of Windows dead keys (github #352).
368
369* Don't retain search options from a cancelled search (github #302).
370
371* Don't call realpath on fake filenames like "-" (github #289).
372
373* Implement lesstest test suite.
374
375* Convert function parameter definitions from K&R to C89 (github #316).
376
377======================================================================
378
379	Major changes between "less" versions 590 and 608
380
381* Add the --header option (github #43).
382
383* Add the --no-number-headers option (github #178).
384
385* Add the --status-line option.
386
387* Add the --redraw-on-quit option (github #36).
388
389* Add the --search-options option (github #213).
390
391* Add the --exit-follow-on-close option (github #244).
392
393* Add 'H' color type to set color of header lines.
394
395* Add #version conditional to lesskey.
396
397* Add += syntax to variable section in lesskey files.
398
399* Allow option name in -- command to end with '=' in addition to '\n'.
400
401* Add $HOME/.config to possible locations of lesskey file (github #153).
402
403* Add $XDG_STATE_HOME and $HOME/.local/state to possible locations
404  of history file (github #223).
405
406* Don't read or write history file in secure mode (github #201).
407
408* Fix display of multibyte and double-width chars in prompt.
409
410* Fix ESC-BACKSPACE command when BACKSPACE key does not send 0x08
411  (github #188).
412
413* Add more \k codes to lesskey format.
414
415* Fix bug when empty file is modified while viewing it.
416
417* Fix bug when parsing a malformed lesskey file (githb #234).
418
419* Fix bug scrolling history when --incsearch is set (github #214).
420
421* Fix buffer overflow when invoking lessecho with more than 63 -m/-n
422  options (github #198).
423
424* Fix buffer overflow in bin_file (github #271).
425
426* Fix bug restoring color at end of highlighted text.
427
428* Fix bug in parsing lesskey file.
429
430* Defer moving cursor to lower left in some more cases.
431
432* Suppress TAB filename expansion in some cases where it doesn't make sense.
433
434* Fix termlib detection when compiler doesn't accept
435  calls to undeclared functions.
436
437* Fix bug in input of non-ASCII characters on Windows (github #247)
438
439* Escape filenames when invoking LESSCLOSE.
440
441* Fix bug using multibyte UTF-8 char in search string
442  with --incsearch (github #273).
443
444======================================================================
445
446	Major changes between "less" versions 581 and 590
447
448* Make less able to read lesskey source files (deprecating lesskey).
449
450* If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, find lesskey source file
451  in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lesskey rather than $HOME/.lesskey.
452
453* If XDG_DATA_HOME is set, find and store history file
454  in $XDG_DATA_HOME/lesshst rather than $HOME/.lesshst.
455
456* Add the --lesskey-src option.
457
458* Add the --file-size option.
459
460* With -F, if screen is resized to make file fit on one screen, don't exit.
461
462* Fix bug which could leave terminal in mouse-reporting mode
463  after exiting less.
464
465* Fix bug which caused failure to respond to window resize.
466
467* Fix backslash bug searching in tag file.
468
469======================================================================
470
471	Major changes between "less" versions 563 and 581
472
473* Change ESC-u command to toggle, not disable, highlighting per man page.
474
475* Add ESC-U command.
476
477* Add ctrl-W search modifier for wrapping search.
478
479* F command can be interrupted by ^X.
480
481* Support OSC 8 hyperlinks when -R is in effect.
482
483* g command with no number will ignore -j and put first line at top of screen.
484
485* Multiple + or -p command line options are handled better.
486
487* Add the --incsearch option.
488
489* Add the --line-num-width option.
490
491* Add the --status-col-width option.
492
493* Add the --use-color and --color options.
494
495* Display -w highlight even if highlighted line is empty.
496
497* If search result is in a long line, scroll to ensure it is visible.
498
499* Editing the same file under different names now creates only
500  one entry in the file list.
501
502* Make visual bell more visible on some terminals.
503
504* Ring end-of-file bell no more than once per second.
505
506* Build can use either Python or Perl for Makefile.aut operations.
507
508* Fix crash when using the @ search modifier.
509
510* Fix crash in the 's' command due to duplicate free.
511
512* Fix realpath crash on Darwin.
513
514======================================================================
515
516	Major changes between "less" versions 551 and 563
517
518* Update Unicode tables.
519
520* Treat Hangul Jamo medial vowels and final consonants as zero width.
521
522* Display error message immediately when -o is toggled and
523  input is not a pipe.
524
525* Fix regression: make screen repaint when "squished" and
526  a no-movement command is given.
527
528* Fix erroneous EOF calculation when F command is interrupted.
529
530* Make WIN32C version include this fix from 551:
531  Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
532
533* Fix display bug in WIN32C version.
534
535* Fix memory corruption when built with libtermcap.
536
537* Support libtinfow.
538
539======================================================================
540
541	Major changes between "less" versions 530 and 551
542
543* Add --mouse option.
544
545* Add --wheel-lines option.
546
547* Add --no-histdups option.
548
549* Add --save-marks option.
550
551* Support PCRE2 regular expression library.
552
553* Redraw screen on SIGWINCH even if screen size doesn't change.
554
555* Shell-escape filenames in history so they can be used again.
556
557* Ring bell if user enters invalid long option name.
558
559* Use PCRE_UTF8 flag for pcre regular expressions when in UTF-8 mode.
560
561* Windows: use wide-char string to set console title.
562
563* Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
564
565* Support mingw build system.
566
567* Fix bug in v command on empty file.
568
569* Fix bug in v command when filename contains shell metacharacters.
570
571======================================================================
572
573	Major changes between "less" versions 487 and 530
574
575* Don't output terminal init sequence if using -F and file fits on one screen.
576
577* When using -S, mark truncated lines with a special character.
578  The character can be changed or disabled via the new --rscroll option.
579
580* New command M marks the last line displayed on the screen.
581
582* New command ESC-m removes a line mark.
583
584* Status column (enabled via -J) now shows mark letters.
585
586* Status column shows search matches even if highlighting is disabled via -G.
587
588* A second ESC-u command will clear search match markers in the status column.
589
590* Do same ANSI escape code filtering for tag matching that we do for
591  searching, to help when viewing syntax-highlighted code.
592
593* Catch SIGTERM and clean up before exiting.
594
595* Fix bug initializing default charset on Windows.
596
597* Handle keypad ENTER key correctly if it sends something other than newline.
598
599* Fix buffering bug when using stdin with a LESSOPEN pipe.
600
601* On Windows, allow 'u' in -D option to enable underlining.
602
603* On Windows, use underline in sgr mode.
604
605* On Windows, convert UTF-8 to multibyte if console is not UTF-8.
606
607* Update Unicode tables to 2017-03-08.
608
609* Pass-thru Unicode formatting chars (Cf type) instead of treating them
610  as binary chars. But treat them as binary if -U is set.
611
612* Fix erroneous binary file warning when UTF-8 file contains ANSI SGR sequences.
613
614* Fix bugs when using LESSOPEN and switching between stdin and other files.
615
616* Fix some bugs handling filenames containing shell metacharacters.
617
618* Fix some memory leaks.
619
620* Allow some debugging environment variables to be set in lesskey file.
621
622* Code improvements:
623  . Use ANSI prototypes in funcs.h declarations.
624  . Fix some const mismatches.
625  . Remove archaic "register" in variable declarations.
626
627======================================================================
628
629	Major changes between "less" versions 481 and 487
630
631* New commands ESC-{ and ESC-} to shift to start/end of displayed lines.
632
633* Make search highlights work correctly when changing caselessness with -i.
634
635* New option -Da in Windows version to enable SGR mode.
636
637* Fix "nothing to search" error when top or bottom line on screen is empty.
638
639* Fix bug when terminal has no "cm" termcap entry.
640
641* Fix incorrect display when entering double-width chars in search string.
642
643* Fix bug in Unicode handling that missed some double width characters.
644
645* Update Unicode database to 9.0.0.
646
647======================================================================
648
649	Major changes between "less" versions 458 and 481
650
651* Don't overwrite history file; just append to it.
652
653* New command ESC-G goes to end of currently buffered data in a pipe.
654
655* Disable history feature when compiled with LESSHISTFILE set to "-".
656
657* In more-compatible mode, make the -p option apply to every file opened,
658  not just the first one.
659
660* In more-compatible mode, change the -e option to work like -E, not -EF.
661
662* Treat multiple CRs before LF are like one CR (all the CRs are hidden).
663
664* Allow "extra" string in lesskey file to append to a multi-char command
665  (like a search pattern), without executing the command.
666
667* Ignore -u/-U setting while viewing help file, so that
668  underline and bold chars are displayed correctly.
669
670* Improve detection of "binary" files in UTF-8 mode.
671
672* Fix bug with ++ commands.
673
674* Fix bug where prompt was sometimes not displayed with +G.
675
676* Fix possible memory corruption
677
678* Fix bugs and improve performance in ampersand filtering.
679
680* Automate construction of Unicode tables from Unicode database.
681
682* Allow %% escape sequence in LESSOPEN variable.
683
684======================================================================
685
686	Major changes between "less" versions 451 and 458
687
688* Allow backslash escaping of metacharacters in LESS environment variable
689  after the --use-backslash option.
690
691* Don't quit if syntax errors are found in command line options.
692
693* Increase sizes of some internal buffers.
694
695* Fix configure bug with --with-regex=none.
696
697* Fix crash with "stty rows 0".
698
699* Fix Win32 attribute display bug.
700
701* Fix display bug when using up/down arrow on the command line.
702
703======================================================================
704
705	Major changes between "less" versions 444 and 451
706
707* Add ESC-F command to keep reading data until a pattern is found.
708
709* Use exit code of LESSOPEN script if LESSOPEN starts with "||".
710
711* When up/down arrow is used on the command line immediately after
712  typing text, the next command starting with that text is found.
713
714* Add support for GNU regex.
715
716* Add configure option --with-regex=none and fix compile errors
717  when compiling with no regex library.
718
719* Fix bugs handling SGR sequences in Win32.
720
721* Fix possible crashes caused by malformed LESSOPEN or
722  LESSCLOSE variables.
723
724* Fix bug highlighting text which is discontiguous in the file
725  due to backspace processing.
726
727* Fix bug in displaying status column when scrolling backwards
728  with -J and -S in effect.
729
730======================================================================
731
732	Major changes between "less" versions 443 and 444
733
734* Fix bug in unget handling that can cause strange effects on the
735  command line.
736
737* Remove vestiges of obsolete -l option that can cause a crash.
738
739======================================================================
740
741	Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443
742
743* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit
744  pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and
745  not just the portion after the target line.
746
747* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only
748  the portion of the screen after the target line is searched.
749
750* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component
751  of the input file.
752
753* Control-G while editing a command exits the command.
754
755* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect.
756
757* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option.
758
759* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command
760  in combination with -i and -I.
761
762* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option.
763
764* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings.
765
766* Improve handling of long option names.
767
768* Improve percentage calculation for very large files.
769
770======================================================================
771
772	Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436
773
774* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-".
775
776* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option.
777
778* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line.
779
780* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R.
781
782======================================================================
783
784	Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429
785
786* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN
787  environment variable begins with "|-".
788
789* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color.
790
791* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file.
792
793* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers.
794
795* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode.
796
797* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals.
798
799* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt.
800
801* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (e.g. bold+underline).
802
803* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text.
804
805======================================================================
806
807	Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424
808
809* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern.
810
811* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched
812  string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect.
813
814* Improve behavior of -F option.
815
816* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode.
817
818* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default
819  to column 1.
820
821* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command.
822
823======================================================================
824
825	Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418
826
827* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build.
828
829* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf.
830
831* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences.
832
833* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes.
834
835* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward.
836
837* Update GPL to version 3.
838
839======================================================================
840
841	Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416
842
843* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file
844  rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed.
845
846* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text.
847
848* Fix DJGPP build.
849
850======================================================================
851
852	Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409
853
854* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences.
855
856* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized.
857
858* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text.
859
860* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h.
861
862* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences.
863
864======================================================================
865
866	Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
867
868* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
869
870* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
871
872* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
873
874* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
875
876* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
877
878* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
879  output works better.
880
881* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
882
883* Allow "/dev/null" as synonym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
884  that no history file should be used.
885
886* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
887  library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
888
889* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
890
891* Make -f work for directories.
892
893* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
894
895* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
896  that the file is binary.
897
898* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
899  and -R is in effect.
900
901* Update Unicode character tables.
902
903* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
904
905* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
906
907* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
908
909* Fix configure bugs.
910
911======================================================================
912
913	Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
914
915* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
916  invocations of less.
917
918* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
919
920* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
921
922* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
923  line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
924
925* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
926  non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
927
928* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
929  build a secure version of less.
930
931* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
932  are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
933
934* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
935
936* Add "windows" charset.
937
938* Add man page for lessecho.
939
940* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
941
942* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
943
944* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
945
946* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
947
948* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
949
950* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
951
952* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
953
954* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
955
956* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
957
958* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
959
960======================================================================
961
962	Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
963
964* Removed some old copyrighted code.
965  This probably breaks OS/9 support.
966
967======================================================================
968
969	Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
970
971* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
972
973* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
974  Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
975
976* Use autoconf 2.54.
977  Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
978
979* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
980  depending on context.
981
982* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
983
984* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
985
986* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
987
988======================================================================
989
990	Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
991
992* Bug fixes:
993  Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
994  Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
995  Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
996  Clean up some compiler warnings.
997
998======================================================================
999
1000	Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
1001
1002* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
1003
1004* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
1005  New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
1006
1007* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
1008  Added support for "global(1)" tags
1009  (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
1010
1011* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
1012  while waiting for data in the F command.
1013
1014* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
1015  instead of .sysless in bin directory.
1016  Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
1017  (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
1018
1019* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
1020  the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
1021
1022* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
1023
1024* Windows version sets window title.
1025
1026* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
1027
1028* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
1029  ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
1030
1031* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
1032
1033* Eliminated some dependencies on file offsets being 32 bits.
1034
1035* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
1036
1037* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
1038
1039* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
1040
1041* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
1042
1043* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
1044
1045* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
1046
1047======================================================================
1048
1049	Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
1050
1051* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
1052
1053* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
1054  Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
1055
1056* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
1057
1058* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
1059
1060======================================================================
1061
1062
1063	Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
1064
1065* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
1066
1067* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
1068
1069* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
1070
1071* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
1072  a regular expression library.
1073
1074* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
1075
1076======================================================================
1077
1078
1079	Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
1080
1081* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
1082
1083* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
1084
1085* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
1086
1087* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
1088
1089* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
1090
1091* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
1092
1093* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
1094  bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
1095
1096* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
1097
1098======================================================================
1099
1100
1101	Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
1102
1103* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
1104
1105* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
1106
1107* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
1108  long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
1109  normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
1110
1111* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
1112  the first screen.
1113
1114* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
1115
1116* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
1117
1118* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
1119
1120* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
1121  file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
1122
1123* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
1124
1125======================================================================
1126
1127
1128	Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
1129
1130* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
1131  single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
1132  See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
1133
1134* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
1135  form.  See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
1136
1137* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
1138
1139* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
1140
1141* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
1142
1143* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
1144  command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
1145
1146* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
1147  "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
1148
1149* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
1150
1151* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
1152  suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
1153
1154* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
1155
1156======================================================================
1157
1158
1159	Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
1160
1161* Fixed bugs in "make install".
1162
1163======================================================================
1164
1165
1166	Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
1167
1168* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
1169
1170* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
1171
1172* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
1173
1174* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
1175  variables are incorrect.
1176
1177* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
1178  %d is replaced by the page number, and
1179  %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
1180
1181* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
1182
1183* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
1184
1185* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
1186
1187======================================================================
1188
1189
1190	Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
1191
1192* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
1193  so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
1194
1195* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
1196  window (buffer larger than display window).
1197
1198* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
1199  Use -X to get the old behavior.
1200
1201* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
1202
1203* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
1204
1205* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
1206  line terminators (CR/LF).
1207
1208* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
1209
1210======================================================================
1211
1212
1213	Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
1214
1215* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
1216  New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
1217
1218* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
1219  If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
1220  that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
1221
1222* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
1223
1224* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
1225
1226* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
1227  string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
1228
1229* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
1230  more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
1231
1232* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
1233
1234* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
1235
1236* Bug fixes.
1237
1238======================================================================
1239
1240
1241	Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
1242
1243* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
1244  than the screen width.
1245
1246* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
1247
1248* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
1249  hits end-of-file.
1250
1251* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
1252  ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
1253
1254* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
1255  currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
1256
1257* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
1258  expressions in the search.
1259
1260* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
1261
1262* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
1263  "secure" mode.
1264
1265* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
1266  are files (not option flags).
1267
1268* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed.  Help text is now
1269  embedded in the less executable itself.
1270
1271* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
1272  Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
1273
1274* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
1275
1276* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
1277
1278* Ported to OS-9.
1279
1280* Ported to GNU Hurd.
1281
1282======================================================================
1283
1284
1285	Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
1286
1287* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
1288
1289* Fixed MS-DOS build.
1290
1291======================================================================
1292
1293
1294	Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
1295
1296* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
1297
1298* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
1299
1300* Bug fixes
1301
1302======================================================================
1303
1304
1305	Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
1306
1307* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
1308  rather than writing it to a temporary file.
1309
1310* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed.  It now highlights
1311  reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
1312  contains TABs, etc.
1313
1314* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
1315  to -G.  A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
1316  only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
1317  strings which match the last search command.
1318
1319* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
1320  pattern contains uppercase letters.
1321
1322* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
1323
1324* Ported to OS/2.
1325
1326======================================================================
1327
1328
1329	Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
1330
1331* Changes in line-editing keys:
1332  The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
1333  Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
1334  when typing a search pattern.
1335
1336* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
1337
1338* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
1339  rather than standard input.
1340
1341* New option -V displays version number of less.
1342
1343* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
1344
1345* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
1346  rather than /usr/local/lib.
1347
1348
1349======================================================================
1350
1351
1352	Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
1353
1354* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
1355  is highlighted.  New -F flag disables this feature.
1356
1357* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
1358  have a regular expression library.
1359  regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
1360
1361* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
1362  filename completion (TAB).
1363
1364* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
1365  via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
1366
1367* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
1368  deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
1369
1370* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
1371  repeated search.
1372
1373* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
1374  flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
1375
1376* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
1377  the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
1378
1379* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
1380  (reverse video) rather than blinking.  This can still be changed by
1381  setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
1382
1383* Use autoconf installation technology.
1384
1385* Ported to MS-DOS.
1386
1387        ********************************
1388          Things that may surprise you
1389        ********************************
1390
1391* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
1392  filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
1393  Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
1394  now have line editing functions.
1395
1396* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
1397  compressed files.  The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
1398  this functionality in a different way.
1399
1400* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
1401  set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
1402  The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
1403  functionality.
1404
1405
1406======================================================================
1407
1408
1409	Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
1410
1411* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
1412
1413* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
1414  rather than wrapping onto the next line.
1415
1416* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
1417
1418* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
1419
1420* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
1421  Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
1422  in blinking mode.
1423
1424* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
1425* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
1426
1427* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
1428  which acts as though typed in after the command.
1429
1430* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
1431
1432* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
1433
1434* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
1435
1436* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
1437
1438* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
1439	n	Repeat search, same direction.
1440	N	Repeat search, opposite direction.
1441	ESC-/	Search forward thru file boundaries
1442	ESC-?	Search backward thru file boundaries
1443	ESC-n	Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
1444	ESC-N	Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
1445  Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
1446  Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
1447
1448* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
1449  A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
1450  may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
1451
1452* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
1453  a non-ASCII character set.
1454
1455* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
1456  on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
1457
1458
1459======================================================================
1460
1461
1462	Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
1463
1464* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
1465  text of the file (like vi "set nu").
1466
1467* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
1468
1469* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
1470  mapping them to ^X notation.
1471
1472* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
1473  (directories, etc).
1474
1475* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
1476
1477* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
1478  (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
1479
1480* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
1481  file is edited.  The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
1482
1483* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
1484  for a pattern.
1485
1486* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
1487
1488* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
1489  in the reverse direction.  The old N command is still available
1490  via :n.
1491
1492* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
1493  direction and spanning files.
1494
1495* 8 bit characters are now supported.  A new option (-g) can be
1496  used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
1497
1498* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
1499  optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
1500
1501* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
1502  brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
1503
1504* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
1505  simultaneously set the window size.
1506
1507* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
1508  line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
1509  Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
1510  can use j for the jump target line.
1511
1512* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
1513  command string passed to the editor by the v command.
1514
1515* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
1516  to the same position in the file.
1517
1518* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
1519  previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
1520  (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
1521  only in the E command.)
1522
1523* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
1524
1525* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
1526
1527* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
1528  for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
1529
1530* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
1531  extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
1532  "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538