a5f0fb151d
distributed under your choice of the GPL or a BSD style license. Reviewed by: peter Obtained from: http://home.flash.net/~marknu/less/
486 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
486 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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NEWS about less
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======================================================================
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For the latest news about less, see the "less" Web page:
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http://www.flash.net/~marknu/less
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You can also download the latest version of less from there.
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To report bugs, suggestions or comments, send email to
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bug-less@gnu.org or marknu@flash.net.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
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* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
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* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
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* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
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* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
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a regular expression library.
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* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
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* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
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* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
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* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
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* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
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* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
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* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
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* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
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bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
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* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
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* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
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* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
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* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
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long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
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normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
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* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
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the first screen.
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* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
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* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
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* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
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* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
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file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
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* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
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* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
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single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
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See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
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* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
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form. See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
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* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
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* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
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* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
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* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
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command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
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* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
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"special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
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* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
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* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
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suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
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* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
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* Fixed bugs in "make install".
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
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* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
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* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
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* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
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* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
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variables are incorrect.
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* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
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%d is replaced by the page number, and
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%D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
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* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
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* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
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* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
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* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
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so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
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* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
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window (buffer larger than display window).
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* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
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Use -X to get the old behavior.
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* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
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* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
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* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
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line terminators (CR/LF).
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* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
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* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
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New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
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* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
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If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
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that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
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* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
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* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
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* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
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string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
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* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
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more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
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* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
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* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
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* Bug fixes.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
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* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
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than the screen width.
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* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
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* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
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hits end-of-file.
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* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
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^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
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* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
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currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
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* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
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expressions in the search.
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* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
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* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
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"secure" mode.
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* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
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are files (not option flags).
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* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed. Help text is now
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embedded in the less executable itself.
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* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
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Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
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* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
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* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
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* Ported to OS-9.
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* Ported to GNU Hurd.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
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* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
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* Fixed MS-DOS build.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
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* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
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* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
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* Bug fixes
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
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* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
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rather than writing it to a temporary file.
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* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed. It now highlights
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reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
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contains TABs, etc.
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* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
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to -G. A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
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only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
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strings which match the last search command.
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* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
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pattern contains uppercase letters.
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* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
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* Ported to OS/2.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
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* Changes in line-editing keys:
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The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
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Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
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when typing a search pattern.
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* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
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* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
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rather than standard input.
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* New option -V displays version number of less.
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* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
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* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
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rather than /usr/local/lib.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
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* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
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is highlighted. New -F flag disables this feature.
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* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
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have a regular expression library.
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regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
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* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
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filename completion (TAB).
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* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
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via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
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* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
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deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
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* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
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repeated search.
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* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
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flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
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* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
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the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
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* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
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(reverse video) rather than blinking. This can still be changed by
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setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
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* Use autoconf installation technology.
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* Ported to MS-DOS.
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********************************
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Things that may surprise you
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********************************
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* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
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filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
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Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
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now have line editing functions.
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* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
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compressed files. The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
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this functionality in a different way.
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* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
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set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
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The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
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functionality.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
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* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
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* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
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rather than wrapping onto the next line.
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* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
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* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
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* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
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Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
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in blinking mode.
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* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
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* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
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* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
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which acts as though typed in after the command.
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* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
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* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
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* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
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* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
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* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
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n Repeat search, same direction.
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N Repeat search, opposite direction.
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ESC-/ Search forward thru file boundaries
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ESC-? Search backward thru file boundaries
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ESC-n Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
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ESC-N Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
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Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
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Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
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* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
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A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
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may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
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* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
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a non-ASCII character set.
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* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
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on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
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======================================================================
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Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
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* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
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text of the file (like vi "set nu").
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* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
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* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
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mapping them to ^X notation.
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* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
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(directories, etc).
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* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
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* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
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(like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
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* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
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file is edited. The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
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* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
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for a pattern.
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* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
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* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
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in the reverse direction. The old N command is still available
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via :n.
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* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
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direction and spanning files.
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* 8 bit characters are now supported. A new option (-g) can be
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used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
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* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
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optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
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* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
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brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
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* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
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simultaneously set the window size.
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* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
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line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
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Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
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can use j for the jump target line.
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* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
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command string passed to the editor by the v command.
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* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
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to the same position in the file.
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* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
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previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
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(Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
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only in the E command.)
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* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
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* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
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* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
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for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
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* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
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extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
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"toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
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