From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 25927 invoked from network); 1 Jun 2001 16:20:54 -0000 Received: from sunsite.dk (130.225.51.30) by ns1.primenet.com.au with SMTP; 1 Jun 2001 16:20:54 -0000 Received: (qmail 29388 invoked by alias); 1 Jun 2001 16:20:31 -0000 Mailing-List: contact zsh-users-help@sunsite.dk; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk X-No-Archive: yes X-Seq: 3908 Received: (qmail 29366 invoked from network); 1 Jun 2001 16:20:31 -0000 Message-ID: To: zsh-users@sunsite.dk (Zsh users list) Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: zsh 4.0.1 released Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2001 17:15:06 +0100 From: Peter Stephenson Version 4.0.1 of zsh, the Z-Shell, has been released. Zsh is a command interpreter for UNIX, Linux, Cygwin, and other UNIX relatives, whose design is based on the Bourne and Korn shells familiar to UNIX users. Zsh has many enhanced features for interactive use. This is a stable release, replacing both the previous stable series, 3.0, and the beta series, 3.1. There are a great many new and enhanced features over 3.0. Administrators with a large user base who are upgrading from 3.0 will probably want to test the shell's new behaviour before installing it widely. The principal new features since 3.0 are: - a new function-based completion system. A large number of functions providing completion for a whole range of commands from a2ps to zstyle means that this will work out of the box, needing only a couple of commands to load the system. The system supports a huge range of other features such as - partial file path completion - spelling correction and approximate completion of any completable word - highly configurable expansion of shell arguments - completion list colouring [`colorizing' for you lot over there] - selection of completion elements with the cursor, including full scrolling of lists (in optional module) - completion of words from the history list, a bit like Emacs' dynamic abbreviation expansion - `styles' feature for versatile configuration - `tags' feature for choosing completions preferentially, e.g. prefer directories to ordinary files, or prefer a certain filename pattern with a certain completion - `match' specifications, allowing user-specified control of comparisons between completion choices and the word typed so far, e.g. - variant forms: NO_glob, noglob, _NOGLOB_ all from the keyword glob - partial-word matches with arbitrary anchors, e.g. z_t.c -> zle_tricky.c c.u.s -> comp.unix.shell - complete control over case-insensitive matching - can be defined globally or for individual completions - functions for special completion to bind to keys, e.g. most recently modified file matching a given name - the shell line editor has been enhanced in other ways: - it is now programmable via shell functions - these can access and manipulate the editor state via builtin commands and shell parameters - user-defined `widgets' behave as far as possible like other editor functions - enhancements to key bindings, much improved keymap customisation - example functions provided - many enhancements to pattern matching (`globbing'), including fuzzy and case-insensitive matching and extraction of parenthesised subexpressions (`backreferences') - ordering and selection of files based on criteria such as modification time, size, etc (enhancements to `glob qualifiers') - associative arrays, with enhanced parameter substitutions to make searches easy - floating point support and 64-bit integer support on 32-bit machines, including large (> 2GB) file access - dynamic loading of modules on machines that support it (virtually all modern operating systems that run zsh). Various add-on modules are provided: - an FTP client which runs in the shell, with function suite - math functions - builtin interface to the `stat' system command - builtin versions of standard commands (mv, ln, etc.) for emergencies - internal state of hash tables etc. - access files as the contents of shell parameters - profile shell functions - a pseudo-terminal handler, for purposes like `expect' - interaction with termcap and terminfo There is also the ability to define autoloadable builtins, parameters, editor functions and condition codes. Any module can be compiled directly into the shell whether or not dynamic loading is available; disposition of standard modules (manner of linking and loading) can be determined during configuration by editing the config.modules file - extra history options, for sharing history and removing unwanted history lines among other things - create new tied parameters like path and PATH, e.g. texinputs and TEXINPUTS - more functions including a set for manipulating the shell prompt as themes - many internal changes for speed and compactness. Functions and scripts can be dumped as `wordcode' for faster loading. - behaviour more consistent and compatibile with other shells, particularly in the areas of parameters and traps - test suite for validating shell behaviour If you have been using the 3.1 series, you will certainly want to upgrade from 3.1.9; this should be painless. Most of the changes reflect continued development of the new completion system and internal improvements. Here is some general information about the shell, including where to find it. If you are used to installing binary distributions of Linux etc., it is possible that an upgrade to the zsh package, which is supplied by many major vendors, will become available from the vendor's own website. ------------------------ META-FAQ for the Z Shell ------------------------ The latest version of this META-FAQ can be found at any of the FTP sites listed below. Author ------ Zsh was originally written by Paul Falstad . Zsh is now maintained by the members of the zsh-workers mailing list . The development is currently coordinated by Peter Stephenson . The coordinator can be contacted at , but matters relating to the code should generally go to the mailing list. Availability ------------ Zsh is available from the following anonymous FTP sites. These mirror sites are kept frequently up to date. The sites marked with (H) may be mirroring ftp.cs.elte.hu instead of the primary site. Primary site ftp://ftp.zsh.org/pub/zsh/ http://www.zsh.org/pub/zsh/ Australia ftp://ftp.zsh.org/pub/zsh/ http://www.zsh.org/pub/zsh/ ftp://ftp.ips.gov.au/pub/packages/zsh/ (H) Denmark ftp://sunsite.dk/pub/unix/shells/zsh/ Finland ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/unix/shells/zsh/ France ftp://ftp.cenatls.cena.dgac.fr/shells/zsh/ Germany ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/unix/shells/zsh/ (H) ftp://ftp.gmd.de/packages/zsh/ ftp://ftp.uni-trier.de/pub/unix/shell/zsh/ Hungary ftp://ftp.cs.elte.hu/pub/zsh/ http://www.cs.elte.hu/pub/zsh/ ftp://ftp.kfki.hu/pub/packages/zsh/ Israel ftp://ftp.math.technion.ac.il/pub/zsh/ http://www.math.technion.ac.il/pub/zsh/ Italy ftp://ftp.unina.it/pub/Unix/pkgs/shell/zsh/ Japan ftp://ftp.nisiq.net/pub/shells/zsh/ (H) ftp://ftp.win.ne.jp/pub/shell/zsh/ Norway ftp://ftp.uit.no/pub/unix/shells/zsh/ Poland ftp://sunsite.icm.edu.pl/pub/unix/shells/zsh/ Romania ftp://ftp.roedu.net/pub/mirrors/ftp.zsh.org/pub/zsh/ ftp://ftp.kappa.ro/pub/mirrors/ftp.zsh.org/pub/zsh/ Slovenia ftp://ftp.siol.net/mirrors/zsh/ Sweden ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/unix/zsh/ UK ftp://ftp.net.lut.ac.uk/zsh/ ftp://sunsite.org.uk/packages/zsh/ USA ftp://uiarchive.uiuc.edu/pub/packages/shells/zsh/ ftp://ftp.rge.com/pub/shells/zsh/ ftp://foad.org/pub/zsh/ http://foad.org/zsh/ Mailing Lists ------------- Zsh has 3 mailing lists: Announcements about releases, major changes in the shell and the monthly posting of the Zsh FAQ. (moderated) User discussions. Hacking, development, bug reports and patches. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to the associated administrative address for the mailing list. YOU ONLY NEED TO JOIN ONE OF THE MAILING LISTS AS THEY ARE NESTED. All submissions to zsh-announce are automatically forwarded to zsh-users. All submissions to zsh-users are automatically forwarded to zsh-workers. If you have problems subscribing/unsubscribing to any of the mailing lists, send mail to . The mailing lists are maintained by Karsten Thygesen . The mailing lists are archived; the archives can be accessed via the administrative addresses listed above. There is also a hypertext archive, maintained by Geoff Wing , available at http://www.zsh.org/mla/. The Zsh FAQ ----------- Zsh has a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), maintained by Peter Stephenson . It is regularly posted to the newsgroup comp.unix.shell and the zsh-announce mailing list. The latest version can be found at any of the Zsh FTP sites, or at http://www.zsh.org/FAQ/. The contact address for FAQ-related matters is . The Zsh Web Page ---------------- Zsh has a web page which is located at http://www.zsh.org/. This is maintained by Karsten Thygesen , of SunSITE Denmark. The contact address for web-related matters is . The Zsh Userguide ----------------- A userguide is currently in preparation. It is intended to complement the manual, with explanations and hints on issues where the manual can be cabbalistic, hierographic, or downright mystifying (for example, the word `hierographic' does not exist). It can be viewed in its current state at http://sunsite.dk/zsh/Guide/. At the time of writing, chapters dealing with startup files and their contents and the new completion system were essentially complete. ********************************************************************** The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. **********************************************************************