xref: /freebsd/contrib/less/NEWS (revision 53b70c86)
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 581 and 590
15
16* Make less able to read lesskey source files (deprecating lesskey).
17
18* If XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, find lesskey source file
19  in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/lesskey rather than $HOME/.lesskey.
20
21* If XDG_DATA_HOME is set, find and store history file
22  in $XDG_DATA_HOME/lesshst rather than $HOME/.lesshst.
23
24* Add the --lesskey-src option.
25
26* Add the --file-size option.
27
28* With -F, if screen is resized to make file fit on one screen, don't exit.
29
30* Fix bug which could leave terminal in mouse-reporting mode
31  after exiting less.
32
33* Fix bug which caused failure to respond to window resize.
34
35* Fix backslash bug searching in tag file.
36
37======================================================================
38
39	Major changes between "less" versions 563 and 581
40
41* Change ESC-u command to toggle, not disable, highlighting per man page.
42
43* Add ESC-U command.
44
45* Add ctrl-W search modifier for wrapping search.
46
47* F command can be interrupted by ^X.
48
49* Support OSC 8 hyperlinks when -R is in effect.
50
51* g command with no number will ignore -j and put first line at top of screen.
52
53* Multiple + or -p command line options are handled better.
54
55* Add the --incsearch option.
56
57* Add the --line-num-width option.
58
59* Add the --status-col-width option.
60
61* Add the --use-color and --color options.
62
63* Display -w highlight even if highlighted line is empty.
64
65* If search result is in a long line, scroll to ensure it is visible.
66
67* Editing the same file under different names now creates only
68  one entry in the file list.
69
70* Make visual bell more visible on some terminals.
71
72* Ring end-of-file bell no more than once per second.
73
74* Build can use either Python or Perl for Makefile.aut operations.
75
76* Fix crash when using the @ search modifier.
77
78* Fix crash in the 's' command due to duplicate free.
79
80* Fix realpath crash on Darwin.
81
82======================================================================
83
84	Major changes between "less" versions 551 and 563
85
86* Update Unicode tables.
87
88* Treat Hangul Jamo medial vowels and final consonants as zero width.
89
90* Display error message immediately when -o is toggled and
91  input is not a pipe.
92
93* Fix regression: make screen repaint when "squished" and
94  a no-movement command is given.
95
96* Fix erroneous EOF calculation when F command is interrupted.
97
98* Make WIN32C version include this fix from 551:
99  Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
100
101* Fix display bug in WIN32C version.
102
103* Fix memory corruption when built with libtermcap.
104
105* Support libtinfow.
106
107======================================================================
108
109	Major changes between "less" versions 530 and 551
110
111* Add --mouse option.
112
113* Add --wheel-lines option.
114
115* Add --no-histdups option.
116
117* Add --save-marks option.
118
119* Support PCRE2 regular expression library.
120
121* Redraw screen on SIGWINCH even if screen size doesn't change.
122
123* Shell-escape filenames in history so they can be used again.
124
125* Ring bell if user enters invalid long option name.
126
127* Use PCRE_UTF8 flag for pcre regular expressions when in UTF-8 mode.
128
129* Windows: use wide-char string to set console title.
130
131* Don't count lines in initial screen if using -X with -F.
132
133* Support mingw build system.
134
135* Fix bug in v command on empty file.
136
137* Fix bug in v command when filename contains shell metacharacters.
138
139======================================================================
140
141	Major changes between "less" versions 487 and 530
142
143* Don't output terminal init sequence if using -F and file fits on one screen.
144
145* When using -S, mark truncated lines with a special character.
146  The character can be changed or disabled via the new --rscroll option.
147
148* New command M marks the last line displayed on the screen.
149
150* New command ESC-m removes a line mark.
151
152* Status column (enabled via -J) now shows mark letters.
153
154* Status column shows search matches even if highlighting is disabled via -G.
155
156* A second ESC-u command will clear search match markers in the status column.
157
158* Do same ANSI escape code filtering for tag matching that we do for
159  searching, to help when viewing syntax-highlighted code.
160
161* Catch SIGTERM and clean up before exiting.
162
163* Fix bug initializing default charset on Windows.
164
165* Handle keypad ENTER key correctly if it sends something other than newline.
166
167* Fix buffering bug when using stdin with a LESSOPEN pipe.
168
169* On Windows, allow 'u' in -D option to enable underlining.
170
171* On Windows, use underline in sgr mode.
172
173* On Windows, convert UTF-8 to multibyte if console is not UTF-8.
174
175* Update Unicode tables to 2017-03-08.
176
177* Pass-thru Unicode formating chars (Cf type) instead of treating them
178  as binary chars. But treat them as binary if -U is set.
179
180* Fix erroneous binary file warning when UTF-8 file contains ANSI SGR sequences.
181
182* Fix bugs when using LESSOPEN and switching between stdin and other files.
183
184* Fix some bugs handling filenames containing shell metacharacters.
185
186* Fix some memory leaks.
187
188* Allow some debugging environment variables to be set in lesskey file.
189
190* Code improvements:
191  . Use ANSI prototypes in funcs.h declarations.
192  . Fix some const mismatches.
193  . Remove archaic "register" in variable declarations.
194
195======================================================================
196
197	Major changes between "less" versions 481 and 487
198
199* New commands ESC-{ and ESC-} to shift to start/end of displayed lines.
200
201* Make search highlights work correctly when changing caselessness with -i.
202
203* New option -Da in Windows version to enable SGR mode.
204
205* Fix "nothing to search" error when top or bottom line on screen is empty.
206
207* Fix bug when terminal has no "cm" termcap entry.
208
209* Fix incorrect display when entering double-width chars in search string.
210
211* Fix bug in Unicode handling that missed some double width characters.
212
213* Update Unicode database to 9.0.0.
214
215======================================================================
216
217	Major changes between "less" versions 458 and 481
218
219* Don't overwrite history file; just append to it.
220
221* New command ESC-G goes to end of currently buffered data in a pipe.
222
223* Disable history feature when compiled with LESSHISTFILE set to "-".
224
225* In more-compatible mode, make the -p option apply to every file opened,
226  not just the first one.
227
228* In more-compatible mode, change the -e option to work like -E, not -EF.
229
230* Treat multiple CRs before LF are like one CR (all the CRs are hidden).
231
232* Allow "extra" string in lesskey file to append to a multi-char command
233  (like a search pattern), without executing the command.
234
235* Ignore -u/-U setting while viewing help file, so that
236  underline and bold chars are displayed correctly.
237
238* Improve detection of "binary" files in UTF-8 mode.
239
240* Fix bug with ++ commands.
241
242* Fix bug where prompt was sometimes not displayed with +G.
243
244* Fix possible memory corruption
245
246* Fix bugs and improve performance in ampersand filtering.
247
248* Automate construction of Unicode tables from Unicode database.
249
250* Allow %% escape sequence in LESSOPEN variable.
251
252======================================================================
253
254	Major changes between "less" versions 451 and 458
255
256* Allow backslash escaping of metacharacters in LESS environment variable
257  after the --use-backslash option.
258
259* Don't quit if syntax errors are found in command line options.
260
261* Increase sizes of some internal buffers.
262
263* Fix configure bug with --with-regex=none.
264
265* Fix crash with "stty rows 0".
266
267* Fix Win32 attribute display bug.
268
269* Fix display bug when using up/down arrow on the command line.
270
271======================================================================
272
273	Major changes between "less" versions 444 and 451
274
275* Add ESC-F command to keep reading data until a pattern is found.
276
277* Use exit code of LESSOPEN script if LESSOPEN starts with "||".
278
279* When up/down arrow is used on the command line immediately after
280  typing text, the next command starting with that text is found.
281
282* Add support for GNU regex.
283
284* Add configure option --with-regex=none and fix compile errors
285  when compiling with no regex library.
286
287* Fix bugs handling SGR sequences in Win32.
288
289* Fix possible crashes caused by malformed LESSOPEN or
290  LESSCLOSE variables.
291
292* Fix bug highlighting text which is discontiguous in the file
293  due to backspace processing.
294
295* Fix bug in displaying status column when scrolling backwards
296  with -J and -S in effect.
297
298======================================================================
299
300	Major changes between "less" versions 443 and 444
301
302* Fix bug in unget handling that can cause strange effects on the
303  command line.
304
305* Remove vestiges of obsolete -l option that can cause a crash.
306
307======================================================================
308
309	Major changes between "less" versions 436 and 443
310
311* Change search behavior such that when a search is given an explicit
312  pattern, the entire displayed screen is included in the search and
313  not just the portion after the target line.
314
315* Add -A option to change search behavior to the old way: only
316  the portion of the screen after the target line is searched.
317
318* Add %F formatting to prompt strings, replaced by the last component
319  of the input file.
320
321* Control-G while editing a command exits the command.
322
323* Less now exits with status 2 if control-C is pressed and -K is in effect.
324
325* Fix "ungetc overflow" when passing long commands via the -p option.
326
327* Fix bug in using line filtering via the & command
328  in combination with -i and -I.
329
330* Fix bug in handling negative arguments to the -j option.
331
332* Fix bug in handling %t in prompt strings.
333
334* Improve handling of long option names.
335
336* Improve percentage calculation for very large files.
337
338======================================================================
339
340	Major changes between "less" versions 429 and 436
341
342* Don't pass "-" to non-pipe LESSOPEN unless it starts with "-".
343
344* Allow a fraction as the argument to the -# (--shift) option.
345
346* Fix highlight bug when underlined/overstruck text matches at end of line.
347
348* Fix non-regex searches with ctrl-R.
349
350======================================================================
351
352	Major changes between "less" versions 424 and 429
353
354* LESSOPEN pipe will now be used on standard input, if the LESSOPEN
355  environment variable begins with "|-".
356
357* The -D option with one number now means use the normal background color.
358
359* Don't change permissions on history file if it is not a regular file.
360
361* Fix non-ANSI-compliant code that caused problems with some compilers.
362
363* Fix binary file detection in UTF-8 mode.
364
365* Fix display problems with long lines on "ignaw" terminals.
366
367* Fix problem interrupting the line number calculation for initial prompt.
368
369* Fix SGR emulation when dealing with multiple attributes (eg. bold+underline).
370
371* Fix highlight bug when searching for underlined/overstruck text.
372
373======================================================================
374
375	Major changes between "less" versions 418 and 424
376
377* New "&" command allows filtering of lines based on a pattern.
378
379* Status column now displays a search match, even if the matched
380  string is scrolled off screen because -S is in effect.
381
382* Improve behavior of -F option.
383
384* Allow CSI character (0x9B) to work in UTF-8 mode.
385
386* Output carriage return at startup in case terminal doesn't default
387  to column 1.
388
389* Fix bug in '' (quote, quote) command after G command.
390
391======================================================================
392
393	Major changes between "less" versions 416 and 418
394
395* Color escape sequences are now supported in WIN32 build.
396
397* Makefile now uses EXEEXT feature of autoconf.
398
399* Fix search bug when using -R and text contains ANSI color escape sequences.
400
401* Fix crash when using -r with UTF-8 text containing 0x9B bytes.
402
403* Fix display bug when using ' command to move less than one page forward.
404
405* Update GPL to version 3.
406
407======================================================================
408
409	Major changes between "less" versions 409 and 416
410
411* New --follow-name option makes F command follow the name of a file
412  rather than the file descriptor if an open file is renamed.
413
414* Make searching with -i/-I work correctly with non-ASCII text.
415
416* Fix DJGPP build.
417
418======================================================================
419
420	Major changes between "less" versions 406 and 409
421
422* Support CSI escape sequences, like SGR escape sequences.
423
424* Fix bug which caused screen to fail to repaint when window is resized.
425
426* Fix bug in using -i and -I flags with non-ASCII text.
427
428* Fix configure bug on systems which don't support langinfo.h.
429
430* Fix crash when searching text containing certain invalid UTF-8 sequences.
431
432======================================================================
433
434	Major changes between "less" versions 394 and 406
435
436* Allow decimal point in number for % (percent) command.
437
438* Allow decimal point in number for -j option (fraction of screen height).
439
440* Make n command fetch previous pattern from history file on first search.
441
442* Don't rewrite history file if it has not changed.
443
444* Don't move to bottom of screen on first page.
445
446* Don't output extraneous newlines, so copy & pasting lines from the
447  output works better.
448
449* The -c option has been made identical with the -C option.
450
451* Allow "/dev/null" as synomym for "-" in LESSHISTFILE to indicate
452  that no history file should be used.
453
454* Search can now find text which follows a null byte, if the PCRE
455  library is used, or if no-regex searching (ctrl-R) is used.
456
457* Better compatibility with POSIX more specification.
458
459* Make -f work for directories.
460
461* Make "t" cmd traverse tags in the correct order.
462
463* Allow a few binary characters in the input file before warning
464  that the file is binary.
465
466* Don't warn that file is binary if it merely contains ANSI color sequences
467  and -R is in effect.
468
469* Update Unicode character tables.
470
471* Support DESTDIR in Makefile.
472
473* Fix bug when filename contains certain shell metacharacters such as "$".
474
475* Fix bug when resizing the window while waiting for input from a pipe.
476
477* Fix configure bugs.
478
479======================================================================
480
481	Major changes between "less" versions 382 and 394
482
483* Add history file to save search and shell command history between
484  invocations of less.
485
486* Improve behavior of history list for search and shell commands.
487
488* Add -K (or --quit-on-intr) option to make less exit immediately on ctrl-C.
489
490* Improve handling of UTF-8 files and commands, including better
491  line wrapping and handling double-width chars.
492
493* Added LESSUTFBINFMT environment variable to control display of
494  non-printable characters in a UTF-8 file.
495
496* Add --with-secure option to configure, to make it easier to
497  build a secure version of less.
498
499* Show search matches in the status column even if search highlights
500  are disabled via the -G option or the ESC-u command.
501
502* Improve performance when the file contains very long lines.
503
504* Add "windows" charset.
505
506* Add man page for lessecho.
507
508* Add support for erase2 character, treated same as erase.
509
510* Use ASCII lowercase/uppercase logic when operating on the command line.
511
512* Update makefile for Borland C++ 5.5.1.
513
514* Fix bug in calculating number of pages for %D prompt.
515
516* Fix bug in handling tag file error.
517
518* Fix obscure bug if input file is deleted while viewing help.
519
520* Fix bug handling filenames which include square brackets.
521
522* Fix possible buffer overflow in "global" tag search.
523
524* Fix possible buffer overflow in usage of LESSOPEN and LESSCLOSE.
525
526* Fix buffer overflow in reverse search.
527
528======================================================================
529
530	Major changes between "less" versions 381 and 382
531
532* Removed some old copyrighted code.
533  This probably breaks OS/9 support.
534
535======================================================================
536
537	Major changes between "less" versions 378 and 381
538
539* New -L option to disable LESSOPEN processing.
540
541* Further support for large (64 bit) file addressing.
542  Large file support is now set up by the configure script.
543
544* Use autoconf 2.54.
545  Replace configure.in, acconfig.h, defines.h.top with configure.ac.
546
547* Overstriking underscore with underscore is now bold or underlined
548  depending on context.
549
550* Use only 7 spaces for line numbers in -N mode, if possible.
551
552* Fix some bugs in handling overstriking in UTF-8 files.
553
554* Fix some nroff issues in the man page.
555
556======================================================================
557
558	Major changes between "less" versions 376 and 378
559
560* Bug fixes:
561  Default buffer space is now 64K as documented.
562  Search highlighting works properly when used with -R.
563  Windows version works properly when input file contains carriage returns.
564  Clean up some compiler warnings.
565
566======================================================================
567
568	Major changes between "less" versions 358 and 376
569
570* -x option can now specify multiple variable-width tab stops.
571
572* -X option no longer disables keypad initialization.
573  New option --no-keypad disables keypad initialization.
574
575* New commands t and T step through multiple tag matches.
576  Added support for "global(1)" tags
577  (see http://www.gnu.org/software/global/global.html).
578
579* New prompt style set by option -Pw defines the message printed
580  while waiting for data in the F command.
581
582* System-wide lesskey file now defaults to sysless in etc directory
583  instead of .sysless in bin directory.
584  Use "configure --sysconfdir=..." to change it.
585  (For backwards compatibility, .sysless in bin is still recognized.)
586
587* Pressing RightArrow or LeftArrow while entering a number now shifts
588  the display N columns rather than editing the number itself.
589
590* Status column (enabled with -J) now shows search results.
591
592* Windows version sets window title.
593
594* Default LESSCHARSET for MS-DOS versions is now "dos".
595
596* Searching works better with ANSI (SGR) escape sequences.
597  ANSI color escape sequences are now supported in the MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
598
599* Improved performance in reading very large pipes.
600
601* Eliminated some dependencies on file offets being 32 bits.
602
603* Fixed problems when viewing files with very long lines.
604
605* Fixed overstriking in UTF-8 mode, and overstriking tabs.
606
607* Improved horizontal shifting of text using -R option with ANSI color.
608
609* Improved handling of filenames containing shell metacharacters.
610
611* Some fixes for EBCDIC systems.
612
613* Some fixes for OS/2 systems.
614
615======================================================================
616
617	Major changes between "less" versions 354 and 358
618
619* Add -J (--status-column) option to display a status column.
620
621* Add -# (--shift) option to set default horizontal shift distance.
622  Default horizontal shift distance is now one-half screen width.
623
624* Horizontal shifting does not shift line numbers if -N is in effect.
625
626* Horizontal shifting acts as though -S were set, to avoid confusion.
627
628======================================================================
629
630
631	Major changes between "less" versions 352 and 354
632
633* Allow space after numeric-valued command line options.
634
635* Fix problem with configuring terminal libraries on some systems.
636
637* Add support for PCRE regular expression library.
638
639* Add --with-regex option to configure to allow manually selecting
640  a regular expression library.
641
642* Fix bug compiling with SECURE = 1.
643
644======================================================================
645
646
647	Major changes between "less" versions 346 and 352
648
649* Enable UTF-8 if "UTF-8" appears in locale-related environment variables.
650
651* Add --with-editor option to configure script.
652
653* The -M prompt and = message now show the top and bottom line number.
654
655* Fix bug in running the editor on a file whose name contains quotes, etc.
656
657* Fix bug in horizontal scrolling of long lines.
658
659* Fix bug in doing :d on a file which contains marks.
660
661* Fix bug causing cleared lines to sometimes be filled with standout,
662  bold, underline, etc. on certain terminals.
663
664* Fixes for MS-DOS (DJGPP) version.
665
666======================================================================
667
668
669	Major changes between "less" versions 340 and 346
670
671* The UTF-8 character set is now supported.
672
673* The default character set is now latin1 rather than ascii.
674
675* New option -R (--RAW-CONTROL-CHARS) is like -r but handles
676  long (wrapped) lines correctly, as long as the input contains only
677  normal text and ANSI color escape sequences.
678
679* New option -F (--quit-if-one-screen) quits if the text fits on
680  the first screen.
681
682* The -w option now highlights the target line of a g or p command.
683
684* A system-wide lesskey file is supported (LESSKEY_SYSTEM).
685
686* New escape for prompt strings: %c is replaced by column number.
687
688* New escape for prompt strings: %P is replaced by percentage into
689  file, based on line number rather than byte offset.
690
691* HOME and END keys now jump to beginning of file or end of file.
692
693======================================================================
694
695
696	Major changes between "less" versions 337 and 340
697
698* Command line options for less may now be given in either the old
699  single-letter form, or a new long name form (--option-name).
700  See the less man page or "less --help" for the list of long option names.
701
702* Command line options for lesskey may now be given in a new long name
703  form.  See the lesskey man page for the list of long option names.
704
705* New command -- toggles an option using the long option name.
706
707* New command __ queries an option using the long option name.
708
709* The old -- command is renamed as -!.
710
711* If a ^P is entered between the dash and the option letter of the -
712  command, the message describing the new setting is suppressed.
713
714* Lesskey files may now contain \k escape sequences to represent the
715  "special" keys (arrows, PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN, HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE).
716
717* New command :d removes the current file from the list of files.
718
719* New option -~ (like -w before version 335)
720  suppresses tildes after end-of-file.
721
722* Less is now released under the GNU General Public License.
723
724======================================================================
725
726
727	Major changes between "less" versions 335 and 337
728
729* Fixed bugs in "make install".
730
731======================================================================
732
733
734	Major changes between "less" versions 332 and 335
735
736* The old -w flag (suppress tildes after end-of-file) has been removed.
737
738* New -w flag highlights the first new line after a forward-screen.
739
740* New -W flag highlights the first new line after any forward movement.
741
742* Window resize works even if LINES and/or COLUMNS environment
743  variables are incorrect.
744
745* New percent escapes for prompt strings:
746  %d is replaced by the page number, and
747  %D is replaced by the number of pages in the file.
748
749* Added charsets "iso8859" and "ebcdic".
750
751* In Windows version, uses HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH if HOME is not defined.
752
753* Fixed some bugs causing incorrect display on DOS/Windows.
754
755======================================================================
756
757
758	Major changes between "less" versions 330 and 332
759
760* Filenames from the command line are entered into the command history,
761  so UPARROW/DOWNARROW can be used to retrieve them from the :e command.
762
763* Now works correctly on Windows when using a scrolling terminal
764  window (buffer larger than display window).
765
766* On Windows, now restores the console screen on exit.
767  Use -X to get the old behavior.
768
769* Fixed bug on Windows when CAPS-LOCK or NUM-LOCK is pressed.
770
771* Fixed bug on Windows when piping output of an interactive program.
772
773* Fixed bug in tags file processing when tags file has DOS-style
774  line terminators (CR/LF).
775
776* Fixed compilation problem on OS/2.
777
778======================================================================
779
780
781	Major changes between "less" versions 321 and 330
782
783* Now supports filenames containing spaces (in double quotes).
784  New option -" can be used to change the quoting characters.
785
786* In filename completion, a slash is appended to a directory name.
787  If the environment variable LESSSEPARATOR is set, the value of
788  that variable, rather than a slash, is appended.
789
790* LeftArrow and RightArrow are same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
791
792* Added commands ESC-( and ESC-), same as ESC-[ and ESC-].
793
794* A "quit" command defined in a lesskey file may now have an "extra"
795  string, which is used to return an exit code from less when it quits.
796
797* New environment variables LESSMETACHARS and LESSMETAESCAPE provide
798  more control over how less interfaces to the shell.
799
800* Ported to Microsoft Visual C compiler for Windows.
801
802* Ported to DJGPP compiler for MS-DOS.
803
804* Bug fixes.
805
806======================================================================
807
808
809	Major changes between "less" versions 291 and 321
810
811* Command line at bottom of screen now scrolls, so it can be longer
812  than the screen width.
813
814* New commands ESC-] and ESC-[ scroll the display horizontally.
815
816* New command ESC-SPACE scrolls forward a full screen, even if it
817  hits end-of-file.
818
819* Alternate modifiers for search commands: ^N is same as !,
820  ^F is same as @, and ^E is same as *.
821
822* New modifier for search commands: ^K means highlight the matches
823  currently on-screen, but don't move to the first match.
824
825* New modifier for search commands: ^R means don't use regular
826  expressions in the search.
827
828* Environment variable LESSKEY gives name of default lesskey file.
829
830* Environment variable LESSSECURE will force less to run in
831  "secure" mode.
832
833* Command line argument "--" signals that the rest of the arguments
834  are files (not option flags).
835
836* Help file (less.hlp) is no longer installed.  Help text is now
837  embedded in the less executable itself.
838
839* Added -Ph to change the prompt for the help text.
840  Added -Ps to change the default short prompt (same as plain -P).
841
842* Ported to the Borland C compiler for MS-DOS.
843
844* Ported to Windows 95 & Windows NT.
845
846* Ported to OS-9.
847
848* Ported to GNU Hurd.
849
850======================================================================
851
852
853	Major changes between "less" versions 290 and 291
854
855* Less environment variables can be specified in lesskey files.
856
857* Fixed MS-DOS build.
858
859======================================================================
860
861
862	Major changes between "less" versions 278 and 290
863
864* Accepts GNU-style options "--help" and "--version".
865
866* OS/2 version looks for less.ini in $HOME before $INIT and $PATH.
867
868* Bug fixes
869
870======================================================================
871
872
873	Major changes between "less" versions 252 and 278
874
875* A LESSOPEN preprocessor may now pipe the converted file data to less,
876  rather than writing it to a temporary file.
877
878* Search pattern highlighting has been fixed.  It now highlights
879  reliably, even if a string is split across two screen lines,
880  contains TABs, etc.
881
882* The -F flag (which suppress search highlighting) has been changed
883  to -G.  A new flag, -g, changes search highlighting to highlight
884  only the string found by the last search command, instead of all
885  strings which match the last search command.
886
887* New flag -I acts like -i, but ignores case even if the search
888  pattern contains uppercase letters.
889
890* Less now checks for the environment variable VISUAL before EDITOR.
891
892* Ported to OS/2.
893
894======================================================================
895
896
897	Major changes between "less" versions 237 and 252
898
899* Changes in line-editing keys:
900  The literal key is now ^V or ^A rather than \ (backslash).
901  Filename completion commands (TAB and ^L) are disabled
902  when typing a search pattern.
903
904* Line-editing command keys can be redefined using lesskey.
905
906* Lesskey with no input file defaults to $HOME/.lesskey
907  rather than standard input.
908
909* New option -V displays version number of less.
910
911* New option -V displays version number of lesskey.
912
913* Help file less.hlp is now installed by default in /usr/local/share
914  rather than /usr/local/lib.
915
916
917======================================================================
918
919
920	Major changes between "less" versions 170 and 237
921
922* By popular demand, text which matches the current search pattern
923  is highlighted.  New -F flag disables this feature.
924
925* Henry Spencer's regexp.c is now included, for systems which do not
926  have a regular expression library.
927  regexp.c is Copyright (c) 1986 by University of Toronto.
928
929* New line-editing keys, including command history (arrow keys) and
930  filename completion (TAB).
931
932* Input preprocessor allows modification of input files (e.g. uncompress)
933  via LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE environment variables.
934
935* New -X flag disables sending termcap "ti" and "te" (initialize and
936  deinitialize) strings to the terminal.
937
938* Changing -i from within less now correctly affects a subsequent
939  repeated search.
940
941* Searching for underlined or overstruck text now works when the -u
942  flag is in effect, rather than the -i flag.
943
944* Use setlocale (LANG and LC_CTYPE environment variables) to determine
945  the character set if LESSCHARSET/LESSCHARDEF are not set.
946
947* The default format for displaying binary characters is now standout
948  (reverse video) rather than blinking.  This can still be changed by
949  setting the LESSBINFMT environment variable.
950
951* Use autoconf installation technology.
952
953* Ported to MS-DOS.
954
955        ********************************
956          Things that may surprise you
957        ********************************
958
959* When you enter text at the bottom of the screen (search string,
960  filename, etc.), some keys act different than previously.
961  Specifically, \ (backslash), ESC, TAB, BACKTAB, and control-L
962  now have line editing functions.
963
964* Some previous unofficial versions of less were able to display
965  compressed files.  The new LESSOPEN/LESSCLOSE feature now provides
966  this functionality in a different way.
967
968* Some previous unofficial versions of less provided a -Z flag to
969  set the number of lines of text to retain between full screen scrolls.
970  The -z-n flag (that is, -z with a negative number) provides this
971  functionality.
972
973
974======================================================================
975
976
977	Major changes between "less" versions 123 and 170
978
979* New option -j allows target lines to be positioned anywhere on screen.
980
981* New option -S truncates displayed line at the screen width,
982  rather than wrapping onto the next line.
983
984* New option -y limits amount of forward scroll.
985
986* New option -T specifies a "tags" file.
987
988* Non-printable, non-control characters are displayed in octal.
989  Such characters, as well as control characters, are displayed
990  in blinking mode.
991
992* New command -+ sets an option to its default.
993* New command -- sets an option to the opposite of its default.
994
995* Lesskey file may have a string appended to a key's action,
996  which acts as though typed in after the command.
997
998* New commands ESC-^F and ESC-^B match arbitrary types of brackets.
999
1000* New command F monitors a growing file (like "tail -f").
1001
1002* New command | pipes a section of the input file into a shell command.
1003
1004* New command :x directly jumps to a file in the command line list.
1005
1006* Search commands have been enhanced and reorganized:
1007	n	Repeat search, same direction.
1008	N	Repeat search, opposite direction.
1009	ESC-/	Search forward thru file boundaries
1010	ESC-?	Search backward thru file boundaries
1011	ESC-n	Repeat search thru file boundaries, same direction.
1012	ESC-N	Repeat search thru file boundaries, opposite direction.
1013  Special character * causes search to search thru file boundaries.
1014  Special character @ causes search to begin at start/end of file list.
1015
1016* Examining a new file adds it to the command line list.
1017  A list of files, or an expression which matches more than one file,
1018  may be examined; all of them are added to the command line list.
1019
1020* Environment variables LESSCHARSET and LESSCHARDEF can define
1021  a non-ASCII character set.
1022
1023* Partial support for MSDOS, including options -R for repainting screen
1024  on quit, -v/-V to select video mode, and -W to change window size.
1025
1026
1027======================================================================
1028
1029
1030	Major changes between "less" versions 97 and 123
1031
1032* New option (-N) causes line numbers to be displayed in the
1033  text of the file (like vi "set nu").
1034
1035* New option (-?) prints help message immediately.
1036
1037* New option (-r) displays "raw" control characters, without
1038  mapping them to ^X notation.
1039
1040* New option (-f) forces less to open non-regular files
1041  (directories, etc).
1042
1043* New option (-k) can be used to specify lesskey files by name.
1044
1045* New option (-y) can be used to set a forward scroll limit
1046  (like -h sets a backward scroll limit).
1047
1048* File marks (set by the m command) are now preserved when a new
1049  file is edited.  The ' command can thus be used to switch files.
1050
1051* New command ESC-/ searches all files (on the command line)
1052  for a pattern.
1053
1054* New command ESC-n repeats previous search, spanning files.
1055
1056* The N command has been changed to repeat the previous search
1057  in the reverse direction.  The old N command is still available
1058  via :n.
1059
1060* New command ESC-N repeats previous search in the reverse
1061  direction and spanning files.
1062
1063* 8 bit characters are now supported.  A new option (-g) can be
1064  used to strip off the eighth bit (the previous behavior).
1065
1066* Options which take a following string (like -t) may now
1067  optionally have a space between the option letter and the string.
1068
1069* Six new commands { } ( ) [ and ] can be used to match
1070  brackets of specific types, similar to vi % command.
1071
1072* New commands z and w move forward/backward one window and
1073  simultaneously set the window size.
1074
1075* Prompt string expansion now has %L for line number of the last
1076  line in the file, and %E for the name of the editor.
1077  Also, % escapes which refer to a line (b=bottom, t=top, etc.)
1078  can use j for the jump target line.
1079
1080* New environment variable LESSEDIT can be used to tailor the
1081  command string passed to the editor by the v command.
1082
1083* Examining a file which was previously examined will return
1084  to the same position in the file.
1085
1086* A "%" is expanded to the current filename and a "#" to the
1087  previous filename, in both shell commands and the E command.
1088  (Previously % worked only in shell commands and # worked
1089  only in the E command.)
1090
1091* New command ":ta" is equivalent to "-t".
1092
1093* New command "s" is equivalent to "-l".
1094
1095* The - command may be followed by "+X" to revert to the default
1096  for option X, or "-X" to get the opposite of the default.
1097
1098* Lesskey files may now include characters after the action as
1099  extra input to be parsed after the action; for example:
1100  "toggle-option X" to toggle a specific option X.
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106