smol/UPGRADE

GNU nano upgrading information
==============================

Visible changes since 1.2
-------------------------
* Editor Features
  - Support for UTF-8.
  - Moving to a specified line and column of a file, instead of just a
    line (+LINE[,COLUMN]).
  - Smart home key (-A).
  - Creation of unique backup files in a specified directory (-C <dir>).
  - Insertion of spaces instead of a tab when Tab is pressed (-E).
  - The long option for -K is now --rebindkeypad.
  - Regular expression searching can now be toggled when nano is built
    with --enable-tiny, so -R now means something else (see below).
  - Restricted mode that provides more security than -o (-R).
  - Blanking of the statusbar after 1 keystroke instead of 25 (-U).
  - Word searches can optionally skip over punctuation (-W).
  - Workaround for Delete's acting like Backspace (-d).
  - Many more options are supported in the nanorc.
  - Improvements to color syntax highlighting support: case insensitive
    matching, the ability to include color syntaxes in separate files,
    the ability to specify background colors without foreground colors,
    etc.
  - Insertion of single-byte characters via Esc Esc <000-255>.
  - Insertion of all characters via "Verbatim Input" mode.
  - Workaround for the "NumLock glitch".
  - Meta-W now repeats the last search.  Wrapping is now toggled via
    Meta-L.
  - Replacing and spell checking only selected text.
  - Indenting all marked lines with one keystroke.
  - Copying text into the cutbuffer without cutting it.
  - Scrolling the text up and down single lines without moving the
    cursor.
  - PageUp and PageDown work more smoothly when using -S.
  - Scrolling the help text up and down single lines.
  - Cutting all text from the current position to the end of the file
    with one keystroke.
  - Justifying the entire file with one keystroke.
  - Justifying without removing spaces from the ends of lines.
  - Unjustifying after justifying and immediately resizing.
  - Going to the first or last line of the current paragraph.
  - Going to the first or last line of the file without having to go to
    the "Search" prompt.
  - Searching for filenames in the file browser.
  - Displaying spaces and tabs differently to make it easier to tell
    them apart.
  - Many more functions available at the statusbar prompt: moving to the
    next or previous word, searching for matching brackets, "Verbatim
    Input" mode, etc.

* File Handling
  - Automatic adding of newlines to the ends of files without them can
    now be disabled (-L).
  - Converting from and to DOS/Mac file format is now toggled only at
    the "Write File" prompt, via Meta-D and Meta-M, and the default file
    format to save in is now set depending on what format the file was
    originally in.  -D now makes nano use bold text instead of reverse
    video text, and Meta-D at the edit window now does a
    word/line/character count.  -O now makes the unused second line of
    the screen part of the edit window, and Meta-O at the edit window
    now toggles this behavior.
  - Converting files that contain a mix of DOS and Mac format lines.
  - Automatic switching on of -N with binary files has been removed, as
    it causes problems with UTF-8 support.

Visible changes since 1.0
-------------------------
* Editor Features
  - Complete Pico compatibility (--pico has been removed, and -p means
    something else, see below).
  - nanorc support (see nanorc.sample included in sources).
  - Smooth scrolling (-S).
  - Support for searching for matching braces, brackets, etc.
  - Help for all editor features.
  - Color syntax highlighting support.
  - Quote string support, useful for mail agents, etc. (-Q).
  - Insertion of output of external commands.
  - Optional enabling of XON and XOFF control characters (-p).
  - Tons of bugfixes/enhancements for already existing features.

* File Handling
  - Overwriting and appending or prepending to files.
  - Writing marked text to separate files.
  - Multiple file buffers (-F).
  - Converting from and to DOS/Mac file format (-D/-M, -N to disable).
  - Better control character handling.
  - Creation of backup files (-B).
  - Search/replace history (-H).

See the GNU nano manual for detailed information on each feature.