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f73dda09
JA
1This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.05a since
2the release of bash-2.05. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is
3the place to look for complete descriptions.
4
51. New Features in Bash
6
7a. Added support for DESTDIR installation root prefix, so you can do a
8 `make install DESTDIR=bash-root' and do easier binary packaging.
9
10b. Added support for builtin printf "'" flag character as per latest POSIX
11 drafts.
12
13c. Support for POSIX.2 printf(1) length specifiers `j', `t', and `z' (from
14 ISO C99).
15
16d. New autoconf macro, RL_LIB_READLINE_VERSION, for use by other applications
17 (bash doesn't use very much of what it returns).
18
19e. `set [-+]o nolog' is recognized as required by the latest POSIX drafts,
20 but ignored.
21
22f. New read-only `shopt' option: login_shell. Set to non-zero value if the
23 shell is a login shell.
24
25g. New `\A' prompt string escape sequence; expands to time in 24 HH:MM format.
26
27h. New `-A group/-g' option to complete and compgen; does group name
28 completion.
29
30i. New `-t' option to `hash' to list hash values for each filename argument.
31
32j. New [-+]O invocation option to set and unset `shopt' options at startup.
33
34k. configure's `--with-installed-readline' option now takes an optional
35 `=PATH' suffix to set the root of the tree where readline is installed
36 to PATH.
37
38l. The ksh-like `ERR' trap has been added. The `ERR' trap will be run
39 whenever the shell would have exited if the -e option were enabled.
40 It is not inherited by shell functions.
41
42m. `readonly', `export', and `declare' now print variables which have been
43 given attributes but not set by assigning a value as just a command and
44 a variable name (like `export foo') when listing, as the latest POSIX
45 drafts require.
46
47n. `bashbug' now requires that the subject be changed from the default.
48
49o. configure has a new `--enable-largefile' option, like other GNU utilities.
50
51p. `for' loops now allow empty word lists after `in', like the latest POSIX
52 drafts require.
53
54q. The builtin `ulimit' now takes two new non-numeric arguments: `hard',
55 meaning the current hard limit, and `soft', meaning the current soft
56 limit, in addition to `unlimited'
57
58r. `ulimit' now prints the option letter associated with a particular
59 resource when printing more than one limit.
60
61s. `ulimit' prints `hard' or `soft' when a value is not `unlimited' but is
62 one of RLIM_SAVED_MAX or RLIM_SAVED_CUR, respectively.
63
64t. The `printf' builtin now handles the %a and %A conversions if they're
65 implemented by printf(3).
66
67u. The `printf' builtin now handles the %F conversion (just about like %f).
68
69v. The `printf' builtin now handles the %n conversion like printf(3). The
70 corresponding argument is the name of a shell variable to which the
71 value is assigned.
72
732. New Features in Readline
74
75a. Added extern declaration for rl_get_termcap to readline.h, making it a
76 public function (it was always there, just not in readline.h).
77
78b. New #defines in readline.h: RL_READLINE_VERSION, currently 0x0402,
79 RL_VERSION_MAJOR, currently 4, and RL_VERSION_MINOR, currently 2.
80
81c. New readline variable: rl_readline_version, mirrors RL_READLINE_VERSION.
82
83d. New bindable boolean readline variable: match-hidden-files. Controls
84 completion of files beginning with a `.' (on Unix). Enabled by default.
85
86e. The history expansion code now allows any character to terminate a
87 `:first-' modifier, like csh.
88
89f. New bindable variable `history-preserve-point'. If set, the history
90 code attempts to place the user at the same location on each history
91 line retrived with previous-history or next-history.
92
93-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28ef6c31
JA
94This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.05 since
95the release of bash-2.04. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is
96the place to look for complete descriptions.
97
981. New Features in Bash
99
100a. Added a new `--init-file' invocation argument as a synonym for `--rcfile',
101 per the new GNU coding standards.
102
103b. The /dev/tcp and /dev/udp redirections now accept service names as well as
104 port numbers.
105
106c. `complete' and `compgen' now take a `-o value' option, which controls some
107 of the aspects of that compspec. Valid values are:
108
109 default - perform bash default completion if programmable
110 completion produces no matches
111 dirnames - perform directory name completion if programmable
112 completion produces no matches
113 filenames - tell readline that the compspec produces filenames,
114 so it can do things like append slashes to
115 directory names and suppress trailing spaces
116
117d. A new loadable builtin, realpath, which canonicalizes and expands symlinks
118 in pathname arguments.
119
120e. When `set' is called without options, it prints function defintions in a
121 way that allows them to be reused as input. This affects `declare' and
122 `declare -p' as well. This only happens when the shell is not in POSIX
123 mode, since POSIX.2 forbids this behavior.
124
125f. Bash-2.05 once again honors the current locale setting when processing
126 ranges within pattern matching bracket expressions (e.g., [A-Z]).
127
1282. New Features in Readline
129
130a. The blink timeout for paren matching is now settable by applications,
131 via the rl_set_paren_blink_timeout() function.
132
133b. _rl_executing_macro has been renamed to rl_executing_macro, which means
134 it's now part of the public interface.
135
136c. Readline has a new variable, rl_readline_state, which is a bitmap that
137 encapsulates the current state of the library; intended for use by
138 callbacks and hook functions.
139
140d. New application-callable function rl_set_prompt(const char *prompt):
141 expands its prompt string argument and sets rl_prompt to the result.
142
143e. New application-callable function rl_set_screen_size(int rows, int cols):
144 public method for applications to set readline's idea of the screen
145 dimensions.
146
147f. New function, rl_get_screen_size (int *rows, int *columns), returns
148 readline's idea of the screen dimensions.
149
150g. The timeout in rl_gather_tyi (readline keyboard input polling function)
151 is now settable via a function (rl_set_keyboard_input_timeout()).
152
153h. Renamed the max_input_history variable to history_max_entries; the old
154 variable is maintained for backwards compatibility.
155
156i. The list of characters that separate words for the history tokenizer is
157 now settable with a variable: history_word_delimiters. The default
158 value is as before.
159
160-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bb70624e
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161This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.04 since
162the release of bash-2.03. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is
163the place to look for complete descriptions.
164
1651. New Features in Bash
166
167a. The history builtin has a `-d offset' option to delete the history entry
168 at position `offset'.
169
170b. The prompt expansion code has two new escape sequences: \j, the number of
171 active jobs; and \l, the basename of the shell's tty device name.
172
173c. The `bind' builtin has a new `-x' option to bind key sequences to shell
174 commands.
175
176d. There is a new shell option, no_empty_command_completion, which, when
177 enabled, disables command completion when TAB is typed on an empty line.
178
179e. The `help' builtin has a `-s' option to just print a builtin's usage
180 synopsis.
181
182f. There are several new arithmetic operators: id++, id-- (variable
f73dda09 183 post-increment/decrement), ++id, --id (variable pre-increment/decrement),
bb70624e
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184 expr1 , expr2 (comma operator).
185
186g. There is a new ksh-93 style arithmetic for command:
187 for ((expr1 ; expr2; expr3 )); do list; done
188
189h. The `read' builtin has a number of new options:
190 -t timeout only wait timeout seconds for input
191 -n nchars only read nchars from input instead of a full line
192 -d delim read until delim rather than newline
193 -s don't echo input chars as they are read
194
195i. The redirection code now handles several filenames specially:
196 /dev/fd/N, /dev/stdin, /dev/stdout, and /dev/stderr, whether or
197 not they are present in the file system.
198
199j. The redirection code now recognizes pathnames of the form
200 /dev/tcp/host/port and /dev/udp/host/port, and tries to open a socket
201 of the appropriate type to the specified port on the specified host.
202
203k. The ksh-93 ${!prefix*} expansion, which expands to the names of all
204 shell variables with prefix PREFIX, has been implemented.
205
206l. There is a new dynamic variable, FUNCNAME, which expands to the name of
207 a currently-executing function. Assignments to FUNCNAME have no effect.
208
209m. The GROUPS variable is no longer readonly; assignments to it are silently
210 discarded. This means it can be unset.
211
212n. A new programmable completion facility, with two new builtin commands:
213 complete and compgen.
214
215o. configure has a new option, `--enable-progcomp', to compile in the
216 programmable completion features (enabled by default).
217
218p. `shopt' has a new option, `progcomp', to enable and disable programmable
219 completion at runtime.
220
221q. Unsetting HOSTFILE now clears the list of hostnames used for completion.
222
223r. configure has a new option, `--enable-bash-malloc', replacing the old
224 `--with-gnu-malloc' (which is still present for backwards compatibility).
225
226s. There is a new manual page describing rbash, the restricted shell.
227
228t. `bashbug' has new `--help' and `--version' options.
229
230u. `shopt' has a new `xpg_echo' option, which controls the behavior of
231 `echo' with respect to backslash-escaped characters at runtime.
232
233v. If NON_INTERACTIVE_LOGIN_SHELLS is defined, all login shells read the
234 startup files, even if they are not interactive.
235
236w. The LC_NUMERIC variable is now treated specially, and used to set the
237 LC_NUMERIC locale category for number formatting, e.g., when `printf'
238 displays floating-point numbers.
239
2402. New features in Readline
241
242a. Parentheses matching is now always compiled into readline, and enabled
243 or disabled when the value of the `blink-matching-paren' variable is
244 changed.
245
246b. MS-DOS systems now use ~/_inputrc as the last-ditch inputrc filename.
247
248c. MS-DOS systems now use ~/_history as the default history file.
249
250d. history-search-{forward,backward} now leave the point at the end of the
251 line when the string to search for is empty, like
252 {reverse,forward}-search-history.
253
254e. history-search-{forward,backward} now leave the last history line found
255 in the readline buffer if the second or subsequent search fails.
256
257f. New function for use by applications: rl_on_new_line_with_prompt, used
258 when an application displays the prompt itself before calling readline().
259
260g. New variable for use by applications: rl_already_prompted. An application
261 that displays the prompt itself before calling readline() must set this to
262 a non-zero value.
263
264h. A new variable, rl_gnu_readline_p, always 1. The intent is that an
265 application can verify whether or not it is linked with the `real'
266 readline library or some substitute.
267
268-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b72432fd
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269This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.03 since
270the release of bash-2.02. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is
271the place to look for complete descriptions.
272
2731. New Features in Bash
274
275a. New `shopt' option, `restricted_shell', indicating whether or not the
276 shell was started in restricted mode, for use in startup files.
277
278b. Filename generation is now performed on the words between ( and ) in
279 array assignments (which it probably should have done all along).
280
281c. OLDPWD is now auto-exported, as POSIX.2 seems to require.
282
283d. ENV and BASH_ENV are read-only variables in a restricted shell.
284
285e. A change was made to the startup file code so that any shell begun with
286 the `--login' option, even non-interactive shells, will source the login
287 shell startup files.
288
2892. New Features in Readline
290
291a. Many changes to the signal handling:
292 o Readline now catches SIGQUIT and cleans up the tty before returning;
293 o A new variable, rl_catch_signals, is available to application writers
294 to indicate to readline whether or not it should install its own
295 signal handlers for SIGINT, SIGTERM, SIGQUIT, SIGALRM, SIGTSTP,
296 SIGTTIN, and SIGTTOU;
297 o A new variable, rl_catch_sigwinch, is available to application
298 writers to indicate to readline whether or not it should install its
299 own signal handler for SIGWINCH, which will chain to the calling
300 applications's SIGWINCH handler, if one is installed;
301 o There is a new function, rl_free_line_state, for application signal
302 handlers to call to free up the state associated with the current
303 line after receiving a signal;
304 o There is a new function, rl_cleanup_after_signal, to clean up the
305 display and terminal state after receiving a signal;
306 o There is a new function, rl_reset_after_signal, to reinitialize the
307 terminal and display state after an application signal handler
308 returns and readline continues
309
310b. There is a new function, rl_resize_terminal, to reset readline's idea of
311 the screen size after a SIGWINCH.
312
313c. New public functions: rl_save_prompt and rl_restore_prompt. These were
314 previously private functions with a `_' prefix.
315
316d. New function hook: rl_pre_input_hook, called just before readline starts
317 reading input, after initialization.
318
319e. New function hook: rl_display_matches_hook, called when readline would
320 display the list of completion matches. The new function
321 rl_display_match_list is what readline uses internally, and is available
322 for use by application functions called via this hook.
323
324f. New bindable function, delete-char-or-list, like tcsh.
325
326g. A new variable, rl_erase_empty_line, which, if set by an application using
327 readline, will cause readline to erase, prompt and all, lines on which the
328 only thing typed was a newline.
329
330h. New bindable variable: `isearch-terminators'.
331
332i. New bindable function: `forward-backward-delete-char' (unbound by default).
333
334-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cce855bc
JA
335This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.02 since
336the release of bash-2.01.1. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is
337the place to look for complete descriptions.
338
3391. New Features in Bash
340
341a. A new version of malloc, based on the older GNU malloc, that has many
342 changes, is more page-based, is more conservative with memory usage,
343 and does not `orphan' large blocks when they are freed.
344
345b. A new version of gmalloc, based on the old GLIBC malloc, with many
346 changes and range checking included by default.
347
348c. A new implementation of fnmatch(3) that includes full POSIX.2 Basic
349 Regular Expression matching, including character classes, collating
350 symbols, equivalence classes, and support for case-insensitive pattern
351 matching.
352
353d. ksh-88 egrep-style extended pattern matching ([@+*?!](patlist)) has been
354 implemented, controlled by a new `shopt' option, `extglob'.
355
356e. There is a new ksh-like `[[' compound command, which implements
357 extended `test' functionality.
358
359f. There is a new `printf' builtin, implemented according to the POSIX.2
360 specification.
361
362g. There is a new feature for command substitution: $(< filename) now expands
363 to the contents of `filename', with any trailing newlines removed
364 (equivalent to $(cat filename)).
365
366h. There are new tilde prefixes which expand to directories from the
367 directory stack.
368
369i. There is a new `**' arithmetic operator to do exponentiation.
370
371j. There are new configuration options to control how bash is linked:
372 `--enable-profiling', to allow bash to be profiled with gprof, and
373 `--enable-static-link', to allow bash to be linked statically.
374
375k. There is a new configuration option, `--enable-cond-command', which
376 controls whether or not the `[[' command is included. It is on by
377 default.
378
379l. There is a new configuration option, `--enable-extended-glob', which
380 controls whether or not the ksh extended globbing feature is included.
381 It is enabled by default.
382
383m. There is a new configuration #define in config.h.top that, when enabled,
384 will cause all login shells to source /etc/profile and one of the user-
385 specific login shell startup files, whether or not the shell is
386 interactive.
387
388n. There is a new invocation option, `--dump-po-strings', to dump
389 a shell script's translatable strings ($"...") in GNU `po' format.
390
391o. There is a new `shopt' option, `nocaseglob', to enable case-insensitive
392 pattern matching when globbing filenames and using the `case' construct.
393
394p. There is a new `shopt' option, `huponexit', which, when enabled, causes
395 the shell to send SIGHUP to all jobs when an interactive login shell
396 exits.
397
398q. `bind' has a new `-u' option, which takes a readline function name as an
399 argument and unbinds all key sequences bound to that function in a
400 specified keymap.
401
402r. `disown' now has `-a' and `-r' options, to limit operation to all jobs
403 and running jobs, respectively.
404
405s. The `shopt' `-p' option now causes output to be displayed in a reusable
406 format.
407
408t. `test' has a new `-N' option, which returns true if the filename argument
409 has been modified since it was last accessed.
410
411u. `umask' now has a `-p' option to print output in a reusable format.
412
413v. A new escape sequence, `\xNNN', has been added to the `echo -e' and $'...'
414 translation code. It expands to the character whose ascii code is NNN
415 in hexadecimal.
416
417w. The prompt string expansion code has a new `\r' escape sequence.
418
419x. The shell may now be cross-compiled for the CYGWIN32 environment on
420 a Unix machine.
421
4222. New Features in Readline
423
424a. There is now an option for `iterative' yank-last-arg handline, so a user
425 can keep entering `M-.', yanking the last argument of successive history
426 lines.
427
428b. New variable, `print-completions-horizontally', which causes completion
429 matches to be displayed across the screen (like `ls -x') rather than up
430 and down the screen (like `ls').
431
432c. New variable, `completion-ignore-case', which causes filename completion
433 and matching to be performed case-insensitively.
434
435d. There is a new bindable command, `magic-space', which causes history
436 expansion to be performed on the current readline buffer and a space to
437 be inserted into the result.
438
439e. There is a new bindable command, `menu-complete', which enables tcsh-like
440 menu completion (successive executions of menu-complete insert a single
441 completion match, cycling through the list of possible completions).
442
443f. There is a new bindable command, `paste-from-clipboard', for use on Win32
444 systems, to insert the text from the Win32 clipboard into the editing
445 buffer.
446
447g. The key sequence translation code now understands printf-style backslash
448 escape sequences, including \NNN octal escapes. These escape sequences
449 may be used in key sequence definitions or macro values.
450
451h. An `$include' inputrc file parser directive has been added.
452
453-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d166f048
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454This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.01 since
455the release of bash-2.0. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is the
456place to look for complete descriptions.
457
4581. New Features in Bash
459
460a. There is a new builtin array variable: GROUPS, the set of groups to which
461 the user belongs. This is used by the test suite.
462
4632. New Features in Readline
464
465a. If a key sequence bound to `universal-argument' is read while reading a
466 numeric argument started with `universal-argument', it terminates the
467 argument but is otherwise ignored. This provides a way to insert multiple
468 instances of a digit string, and is how GNU emacs does it.
469
470-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ccc6cda3
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471This is a terse description of the new features added to bash-2.0 since
472the release of bash-1.14.7. As always, the manual page (doc/bash.1) is
473the place to look for complete descriptions.
726f6388 474
ccc6cda3 4751. New Features in Bash
726f6388 476
ccc6cda3
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477a. There is a new invocation option, -D, that dumps translatable strings
478 in a script.
726f6388 479
ccc6cda3
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480b. The `long' invocation options must now be prefixed with `--'.
481
482c. New long invocation options: --dump-strings, --help, --verbose
483
484d. The `nolineediting' invocation option was renamed to `noediting'.
485
486e. The `nobraceexpansion' and `quiet' long invocation options were removed.
487
488f. The `--help' and `--version' long options now work as the GNU coding
489 standards specify.
490
491g. If invoked as `sh', bash now enters posix mode after reading the
492 startup files, and reads and executes commands from the file named
493 by $ENV if interactive (as POSIX.2 specifies). A login shell invoked
494 as `sh' reads $ENV after /etc/profile and ~/.profile.
495
496h. There is a new reserved word, `time', for timing pipelines, builtin
497 commands, and shell functions. It uses the value of the TIMEFORMAT
498 variable as a format string describing how to print the timing
499 statistics.
500
501i. The $'...' quoting syntax expands ANSI-C escapes in ... and leaves the
502 result single-quoted.
503
504j. The $"..." quoting syntax performs locale-specific translation of ...
505 and leaves the result double-quoted.
506
507k. LINENO now works correctly in functions.
508
509l. New variables: DIRSTACK, PIPESTATUS, BASH_VERSINFO, HOSTNAME, SHELLOPTS,
510 MACHTYPE. The first three are array variables.
511
512m. The BASH_VERSION and BASH_VERSINFO variables now include the shell's
513 `release status' (alpha[N], beta[N], release).
514
515n. Some variables have been removed: MAIL_WARNING, notify, history_control,
516 command_oriented_history, glob_dot_filenames, allow_null_glob_expansion,
517 nolinks, hostname_completion_file, noclobber, no_exit_on_failed_exec, and
518 cdable_vars. Most of them are now implemented with the new `shopt'
519 builtin; others were already implemented by `set'.
520
521o. Bash now uses some new variables: LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, LC_CTYPE,
522 LC_COLLATE, LANG, GLOBIGNORE, HISTIGNORE.
523
524p. The shell now supports integer-indexed arrays of unlimited length,
525 with a new compound assignment syntax and changes to the appropriate
526 builtin commands (declare/typeset, read, readonly, etc.). The array
527 index may be an arithmetic expression.
528
529q. ${!var}: indirect variable expansion, equivalent to eval \${$var}.
530
531r. ${paramter:offset[:length]}: variable substring extraction.
532
533s. ${parameter/pattern[/[/]string]}: variable pattern substitution.
534
535t. The $[...] arithmetic expansion syntax is no longer supported, in
536 favor of $((...)).
537
538u. Aliases can now be expanded in shell scripts with a shell option
539 (shopt expand_aliases).
540
541v. History and history expansion can now be used in scripts with
542 set -o history and set -H.
543
544w. All builtins now return an exit status of 2 for incorrect usage.
545
546x. Interactive shells resend SIGHUP to all running or stopped children
547 if (and only if) they exit due to a SIGHUP.
548
549y. New prompting expansions: \a, \e, \H, \T, \@, \v, \V.
550
551z. Variable expansion in prompt strings is now controllable via a shell
552 option (shopt promptvars).
553
554aa. Bash now defaults to using command-oriented history.
555
556bb. The history file ($HISTFILE) is now truncated to $HISTFILESIZE after
557 being written.
558
559cc. The POSIX.2 conditional arithmetic evaluation syntax (expr ? expr : expr)
560 has been implemented.
561
562dd. Each builtin now accepts `--' to signify the end of the options, except
563 as documented (echo, etc.).
564
565ee. All builtins use -p to display values in a re-readable format where
566 appropriate, except as documented (echo, type, etc.).
567
568ff. The `alias' builtin has a new -p option.
569
570gg. Changes to the `bind' builtin:
571 o has new options: -psPSVr.
572 o the `-d' option was renamed to `-p'
573 o the `-v' option now dumps variables; the old `-v' is now `-P'
574
575hh. The `bye' synonym for `exit' was removed.
576
577ii. The -L and -P options to `cd' and `pwd' have been documented.
578
579jj. The `cd' builtin now does spelling correction on the directory name
580 by default. This is settable with a shell option (shopt cdspell).
581
582kk. The `declare' builtin has new options: -a, -F, -p.
583
584ll. The `dirs' builtin has new options: -c, -p, -v.
585
586mm. The new `disown' builtin removes jobs from the shell's jobs table
587 or inhibits the resending of SIGHUP when the shell receives a
588 SIGHUP.
589
590nn. The `echo' builtin has a new escape character: \e.
591
592oo. The `enable' builtin can now load new builtins dynamically from shared
593 objects on systems with the dlopen/dlsym interface. There are a number
594 of examples in the examples/loadables directory. There are also
595 new options: -d, -f, -s, -p.
596
597pp. The `-all' option to `enable' was removed in favor of `-a'.
598
599qq. The `exec' builtin has new options: -l, -c, -a.
600
601rr. The `hash' builtin has a new option: -p.
602
603ss. The `history' builtin has new options: -c, -p, -s.
604
605tt. The `jobs' builtin has new options: -r, -s.
606
607uu. The `kill' builtin has new options: -n signum, -l signame.
608
609vv. The `pushd' and `popd' builtins have a new option: -n.
610
611ww. The `read' builtin has new options: -p prompt, -e, -a.
612
613xx. The `readonly' builtin has a new -a option, and the -n option was removed.
614
615yy. Changes to the `set' builtin:
616 o new options: -B, -o keyword, -o onecmd, -o history
617 o options removed: -l, -d, -o nohash
618 o options changed: +o, -h, -o hashall
619 o now displays variables in a format that can be re-read as input
620
621zz. The new `shopt' builtin controls shell optional behavior previously
622 done by setting and unsetting certain shell variables.
623
624aaa. The `test' builtin has new operators: -o option, s1 == s2, s1 < s2,
625 and s1 > s2, where s1 and s2 are strings.
626
627bbb. There is a new trap, DEBUG, executed after every simple command.
628
629ccc. The `trap' builtin has a new -p option.
630
631ddd. The `ulimit' builtin has a new -l option on 4.4BSD-based systems.
632
633eee. The PS1, PS2, PATH, and IFS variables may now be unset.
634
635fff. The restricted shell mode has been expanded and is now documented.
636
637ggg. Security improvements:
638 o functions are not imported from the environment if running setuid
639 or with -p
640 o no startup files are sourced if running setuid or with -p
641
642hhh. The documentation has been overhauled: the texinfo manual was
643 expanded, and HTML versions of the man page and texinfo manual
644 are included.
645
646iii. Changes to Posix mode:
647 o Command lookup now finds special builtins before shell functions.
648 o Failure of a special builtin causes a non-interactive shell to
649 exit. Failures are defined in the POSIX.2 specification.
650 o If the `cd' builtin finds a directory to change to using $CDPATH,
651 the value assigned to PWD when `cd' completes does not contain
652 any symbolic links.
653 o A non-interactive shell exits if a variable assignment error
654 occurs when no command name follows the assignment statements.
655 o A non-interactive shell exits if the interation variable in a
656 `for' statement or the selection variable in a `select' statement
657 is read-only or another variable assignment error occurs.
658 o The `<>' redirection operator now opens a file for both stdin and
659 stdout by default, not just when in posix mode.
660 o Assignment statements preceding special builtins now persist in
661 the shell's environment when the builtin completes.
662
663 Posix mode is now completely POSIX.2-compliant (modulo bugs). When
664 invoked as sh, bash should be completely POSIX.2-compliant.
665
666jjj. The default value of PS1 is now "\s-\v\$ ".
667
668kkk. The ksh-like ((...)) arithmetic command syntax has been implemented.
669 This is exactly equivalent to `let "..."'.
670
671lll. Integer constants have been extended to base 64.
672
673mmm. The `ulimit' builtin now sets both hard and soft limits and reports the
674 soft limit by default.
675
6762. New Features in Readline
677
678a. New variables: enable-keypad, input-meta (new name for meta-flag),
679 mark-directories, visible-stats (now documented), disable-completion,
680 comment-begin.
681
682b. New bindable commands: kill-region, copy-region-as-kill,
683 copy-backward-word, copy-forward-word, set-mark, exchange-point-and-mark,
684 character-search, character-search-backward, insert-comment,
685 glob-expand-word, glob-list-expansions, dump-variables, dump-macros.
686
687c. New emacs keybindings: delete-horizontal-space (M-\),
688 insert-completions (M-*), possible-completions (M-=).
689
690d. The history-search-backward and history-search-forward commands were
691 modified to be the same as previous-line and next-line if point is at
692 the start of the line.
693
694e. More file types are available for the visible-stats mode.
695
6963. Changes of interest in the Bash implementation
697
698a. There is a new autoconf-based configuration mechanism.
699
700b. More things have been moved from Posix mode to standard shell behavior.
701
702c. The trace output (set -x) now inserts quotes where necessary so it can
703 be reused as input.
704
705d. There is a compile-time option for a system-wide interactive shell
706 startup file (disabled by default).
707
708e. The YACC grammar is smaller and tighter, and all 66 shift-reduce
709 conflicts are gone. Several parsing bugs have been fixed.
710
711f. Builtin option parsing has been regularized (using internal_getopt()),
712 with the exception of `echo', `type', and `set'.
713
714g. Builtins now return standard usage messages constructed from the
715 `short doc' used by the help builtin.
716
717h. Completion now quotes using backslashes by default, but honors
718 user-supplied quotes.
719
720i. The GNU libc malloc is available as a configure-time option.
721
722j. There are more internationalization features; bash uses gettext if
723 it is available. The $"..." translation syntax uses the current
724 locale and gettext.
725
726k. There is better reporting of job termination when the shell is not
727 interactive.
728
729l. The shell is somewhat more efficient: it uses a little less memory and
730 makes fewer system calls.
731
7324. Changes of interest in the Readline implementation
733
734a. There is now support for readline `callback' functions.
735
736b. There is now support for user-supplied input, redisplay, and terminal
737 preparation functions.
738
739c. Most of the shell-specific code in readline has been generalized or
740 removed.
741
742d. Most of the annoying redisplay bugs have been fixed, notably the problems
743 with incremental search and excessive redrawing when special characters
744 appear in the prompt string.
745
746e. There are new library functions and variables available to application
747 writers, most having to do with completion and quoting.
748
749f. The NEWLINE character (^J) is now treated as a search terminator by the
750 incremental search functions.