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Diffstat (limited to 'Etc/NEWS-4.3')
| -rw-r--r-- | Etc/NEWS-4.3 | 356 |
1 files changed, 356 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Etc/NEWS-4.3 b/Etc/NEWS-4.3 new file mode 100644 index 000000000..19b3daada --- /dev/null +++ b/Etc/NEWS-4.3 @@ -0,0 +1,356 @@ +This file describes changes made during the 4.3 series of releases; +it is superseded by the description of changes between 4.2 and 5.0 +in the main NEWS file. + + +Changes since 4.3.15 +-------------------- + +The option HASH_EXECUTABLES_ONLY has been added. When this is set, +directories in the command path will be checked for executables before +they are added to the command table (hash); otherwise, all files in the +directory are added. The effect of this option was present in 4.3.15, +which could cause significant delays when hashing on systems with +network directories in the path. + +Changes since 4.3.12 +-------------------- + +There are no significant feature changes to the shell itself, although +many bug fixes and improvements to functions. + +Changes since 4.3.11 +-------------------- + +The zsh/parameter module has a new readonly associative array +$usergroups whose keys are the names of system groups of which the +current user is a member and whose values are the corresponding +group identifiers. + +The region_highlight array, which controls highlighting of the +command line from zle widgets, is now updated dynamically as +the command line is edited. + +In POSIX emulation ("emulate sh") the shell is more accurate about +when it should or should not exit on errors. + +The ${NAME:OFFSET:LENGTH} syntax now supports negative LENGTH, which +counts back from the end of the string. + +The (g:opts:) flag in parameter expansion processes escape sequences like +the echo and print builtins. opts can be any combination of o, e and c. +With e, acts like print rather than echo except for octal escapes which +are controlled separately by the o option. With c, interpret control +sequences like "^X" as bindkey does. Regardless of the opts, \c is not +interpreted. + +Changes between versions 4.3.10 and 4.3.11 +------------------------------------------ + +When the shell is invoked with the base name of a script, for example as +`zsh scriptname', previous versions of zsh have used the name directly, +whereas other shells use the value of $PATH to find the script. The +option PATH_SCRIPT has been added to provide the alternative behaviour. +This is turned on where appropriate in compatibility modes. + +Parameters, globbing, etc. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + +Parameter expansion has been enhanced to provide the ${NAME:OFFSET} and +${NAME:OFFSET:LENGTH} syntax for substrings and subarrays present in +several other shells. OFFSET always uses zero-based indexing. The only +clash with existing zsh syntax occurs if OFFSET begins with an +alphabetic character or `&', which is not likely. + +The (D) flag in parameter expansion abbreviates directories in the +substituted value. The (q-) flag does minimal shell quotation of arguments +for maximum human readability of the result. + +The (Z) flag in parameter expansion is an enhanced version of the (z) +flag that takes an argument indicating how the string to be split +is treated. (Z:c:) parses comments as strings; (Z:C:) parses comments +and strips them; (Z:n:) treats newlines as ordinary whitespace: (z) +has always treated unquoted newlines as shell delimiters and turned them +into semicolons, though this was not previously documented. + +Numeric expansion with braces has been extended so that a step may be +given, as in {3..9..2}. The step may be negative as may the start and +end of the range (this is also new). + +The glob qualifier P can be used to add a separate word before each +match. For example, *(P:-f:) produces the command line +`-f file1 -f file2 ...'. + +Regular expression matches now use the same variables for storing matched +components as shell pattern matching. The function system now provides the +function regexp-replace for replacing text using regular expressions. The +zle widget functions replace-string, replace-string-again, if defined with +regex in the name (e.g. "zle -N replace-regexp replace-string"), perform +regular expression matches. In replacement text \& and \1 have the +standard meaning. + +Line editor and completion +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + +The completion system now has a style path-completion. Setting this to +false inhibits completion of paths before the current path component, +e.g. /u/b/z no longer completes to /usr/bin/zsh. This is useful on systems +where this form of completion is pathologically slow due to network +performance. + +With the MULTIBYTE option, the line editor now highlights bytes in the +input that are not part of a valid character in the current locale in hex +as <XX> for hex digits X; highlighting is controlled by the "special" +keyword in the zle_highlight array. These can be distinguished from +unprintable Unicode characters which also use "special" highlighting as the +latter are always two or four bytes long, e.g. <XXXX>, <XXXXXXXX>. + +zle_highlight also controls highlighting of a removable completion +suffix, e.g. the "/" automatically appended to directories. This uses +the keyword "suffix". + +The line editor now sets the variable ZLE_LINE_ABORTED if there is +an error when editing the line. The following code can be used +to create a bindable editor widget to restore the aborted line: + recover-line() { LBUFFER=$ZLE_LINE_ABORTED RBUFFER=; } + zle -N recover-line +and then either bind recover-line to a key sequence or use +`M-x recover-line <RET>'. + +The parameter ZLE_STATE, available in user-defined line editor widgets, +gives information on the state of the line editor. Currently this is +whether the line editor is in insert or overwrite mode. + +Miscellaneous options +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- + +The new shell option HIST_LEX_WORDS causes history lines read in from +a file to be split in the same way as normal shell lines, instead of +simply on whitespace. It's an option as although the result is more +accurate it can take a long time when the history size is large. + +The shell option MONITOR can be set in non-interactive shells, and also in +subshells (as created by surrounding commands with parentheses), turning on +job control for that subshell. The initial behaviour of a subshell is +still to turn job control off, however if the new POSIX_JOBS option is set +MONITOR remains active in subshells. + +The new shell option POSIX_CD, active in emulations of POSIX-based shells, +makes the cd builtin POSIX-compatible. + +The POSIX_JOBS option already referred to has various other +compatibility enchancements. + +The new shell option POSIX_STRINGS makes a null character in $'...' +expansion terminate the string, as is already the case in bash. This is +not particularly useful behaviour but may become a POSIX requirement. + +The new shell option POSIX_TRAPS causes the EXIT trap to behave in the same +way as in other shells, i.e. it is only run when the shell exits. + +The new shell option SOURCE_TRACE causes the shell to report files +containing shell code that the shell executes directly, i.e. startup files +or files run with the `source' or `.' builtins. + +The shell option SUN_KEYBOARD_HACK has been supplemented by a more general +mechanism: the KEYBOARD_HACK variable defines the character to be ignored. + +Add-on modules and function +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- + +The module zsh/system has a new "zsystem" builtin whose subcommands perform +system level tasks. Currently "zsystem flock" performs advisory file +locking (for aficionados, this uses the fcntl() system call so works over +the network on Linux). This is a particularly convenient way of locking +files for the length of a subshell. "zsystem supports flock" provides a +test for this feature. + +There is now a function system for recording and restoring recently +entered directories in a persistent fashion, with support in completion +and (if explicitly installed) dynamic directory expansion. See the +entry for cdr in the zshcontrib manual page. + + +Changes between versions 4.3.9 and 4.3.10 +----------------------------------------- + +The command "emulate <mode> -c ..." evaluates an expression in a given +emulation. The emulation is sticky for functions defined within the +expression. + +The variable CORRECT_IGNORE gives a pattern that can be ignored +in spelling correction. CORRECT_IGNORE='_*' ignores completion functions. + +The option POSIX_ALIASES improves compatibility of aliases with other +shells. + +The variable ZSH_PATCHLEVEL can be used to test for unreleased versions of +the shell; it is present but less useful in released versions. + +The variables ZLE_REMOVE_SUFFIX_CHARS and ZLE_SPACE_SUFFIX_CHARS allow more +control over the way automatically removed suffixes are treated in +completion. + +Major changes between versions 4.3.6 and 4.3.9 +---------------------------------------------- + +The option COMBINING_CHARS has been added. When it is set, the +line editor assumes the terminal is capable of displaying zero-width +combining characters (typically accents) correctly as modifications +to the base character, and will act accordingly. Note it is not set +by default owing to vagaries of terminals. The system is reported +to work on MacOS, where this is particularly important as accented +characters in file names are stored in their decomposed form (i.e. +with base and combining characters). + +The option HIST_FCNTL_LOCK has been added to provide locking of history +files using the system call fcntl(). On recent NFS implementations this +may provide better reliability. + +The syntax ~[...] provides a dynamic form of directory naming, +supplementing the existing static ~name syntax. A user-defined shell +function, zsh_directory_name, is used to handle both expansion of names to +directories and contraction of directories to names. + +Patterns can now be used in incremental searches with the new widgets +history-incremental-pattern-search-backward and +history-incremental-pattern-search-forward. These are not bound to +keys by default. + +Highlighting and colouring of sections of the command line is now +supported, controlled by the array parameter zle_highlight and the ZLE +special parameter region_highlight. + +Colouring of prompts is now supported within the shell by prompt +escapes. The prompt theme system has been updated. + +Various changes have been added to make debugging of shell code easier: + - As noted in README, the option DEBUG_BEFORE_CMD is now set by default. + - In DEBUG traps, $ZSH_DEBUG_CMD gives the code for which the trap is + called as a string. + - "setopt ERR_EXIT" in a DEBUG trap causes the code not to be executed. + - $ZSH_SUBSHELL indicates the subshell level at which code is being + executed. + - The zsh/parameter module has various additional arrays similar to + the existing $funcstack and $functrace, namely $funcsourcetrace + and $funcfiletrace. The consistency and informativeness of + the output of all these arrays has been improved. + - Prompt escapes %x and %I show the source file and line number in + debug prompts (compare %N and %i which show names and line numbers + in the execution environment). + - The option NO_MULTI_FUNCDEF can turn off multiple definition of + functions at once, a rarely used feature that can cause problems + with misplaced "()". + - The "fc" builtin has been enhanced to make non-interactive use possible + and output consistent when the history is manipulated with "print -s". + +The completion style accept-exact-dirs has been added. When true, this +suppresses attempts to complete non-final directory segments of a filename +path when the directory exists. (For example, /home/pws/src/zsh/<TAB> +discovers that /home/pws/src/zsh exists and leaves the directory component +alone, while /h/p/s/z/<TAB> completes to /home/pws/src/zsh/... as before.) +This should improve completion behaviour noticeably in special cases, such +as remote paths under Cygwin. + +Major changes between versions 4.3.5 and 4.3.6 +---------------------------------------------- + +cd, chdir, pushd and popd now take a -q option to suppress side effects +including printing the directory stack (for pushd and popd) and executing +the chpwd hook functions (for all four). + +The parameter subscript (e) flag now forces the argument to be treated +as a string where it would previously have been treated as a pattern, +for example ${array[(ie)*]} substitutes the index of the element whose +value is "*". + +Major changes between versions 4.3.4 and 4.3.5 +---------------------------------------------- + +- The new extended globbing flag (#cN,M) behaves similarly to the extended + regular expression syntax {N,M}. + +- The zsh/datetime module has been enhanced and a calendar function + system has been added along the lines of (but much enhanced from) + the traditional Unix "calendar" utility. This is still under + development. See the zshcalsys manual. (The calendar functions + were in 4.3.4 but were not listed in this file. There have been + significant enhancements since 4.3.4.) + +- A new module zsh/curses provides a builtin zcurses for access to + to the curses screen manipulation package. See the entry for zsh/curses + in the zshmodules manual. + +- The module system has been enhanced to support the notion of "features" + that give more control over which builtins, parameters, conditions + and math functions are loaded from a module. In particular, + "zmodload -F zsh/stat b:zstat" makes the builtin previously called + "stat" available as "zstat" (only) to avoid clashes with a system + command named "stat". + +Major changes between versions 4.2 and 4.3.4 +-------------------------------------------- + +- There is support for multibyte character sets. This is now reasonably + close to complete, although Unicode combining characters don't work + properly. See Multibyte Character Support in INSTALL. + +- The shell can now run an installation function for a new user + (a user with no .zshrc, .zshenv, .zprofile or .zlogin file) without + any additional setting up by the administrator. See "THE ZSH/NEWUSER + MODULE" in the zshmodules manual page. + +- The manual now has a Roadmap section (manual page zshroadmap) to + give new users an indication of the most interesting parts of the + manual. + +- New option PROMPT_SP (on by default): works around the problem that the + line editor can overwrite output with no newline at the end. See the + zshoptions manual page. + +- New option HIST_SAVE_BY_COPY (on by default): history is saved by + copying and renaming instead of directly overwriting. See the + zshoptions manual page. + +- New redirection syntax e.g. {myfd}>file opens a new file descriptor + and stores the number in $myfd, so that >&$myfd will work. Chosen + not to break existing code (and to be compatible with proposals for the + Korn shell). See the section REDIRECTION in the zshmisc manual page. + +- Substitutions of the form ${var:-"$@"}, ${var:+"$@"} and similar where + word-splitting is applied to the text after the :- or :+ (in particular, + where the SH_WORD_SPLIT option is in effect for compatibility) now + behave as in other Bourne- and POSIX-compatible shells when in the + appropriate emulation mode. + +- New Posix-style zsh-specific tests [[:IDENT:]], [[:IFS:]], + [[:IFSSPACE:]], [[:WORD:]] test if character can appear in identifier, + is an IFS character, is an IFS whitespace character, or is considered + as part of a word (is alphanumeric or appears in $WORDCHARS). These + works correctly on multibyte characters if the appropriate support + is present. See the section FILENAME GENERATION in the zshexpn + manual page. + +- Time comparisons on files when sorting or using test operators will + use high-resolution timestamps when available. This gives a + resolution of a nanosecond instead of a second. + +- The idiom =(<<<...) is optimised so that the shell internally turns + the ... into the contents of a file whose name is then substituted. + The syntax has always been usable by means of the NULLCMD feature, + but previously it generated an intermediate process; it has now + been rewritten along the same lines as the optimisation for $(<...) + that inserts a file into the command line without the use of an + external programme. + +- Supplied functions catch and throw provide limited support for + exception handling using the `{ ... } always { ... }' syntax. + See the section EXCEPTION HANDLING in the zshcontrib manual page. + +- Signals now accept the SIG as part of the name for compatibility with + other shells. + +- Editor function argument-base allows non-decimal arguments for + editor widgets. See the entry in the zshzle manual page. + +- As always, there are many enhancements to completion functions. |