From: Bram Moolenaar To: vim-announce@vim.org Subject: Vim version 5.4m has been released for BETA testing Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 21:56:43 +0200 Message-Id: <199906211956.VAA03190@moolenaar.net> Announcing: Vim (Vi IMproved) version 5.4m BETA Author: Bram Moolenaar et al. Announcement ------------ This is a Beta test version for a minor release of Vim. Since version 5.3 new features have been added and bugs have been fixed. Vim 5.4 has already been tested by quite a few people over the past months, there should be no serious problems. But, it is still in a testing phase, use at your own risk! What is Vim? ------------ Vim is an almost 100% compatible version of the UNIX editor Vi. Many new features have been added: Multi level undo, syntax highlighting, command line history, filename completion, block operations, etc. Those who don't know Vi can probably skip this message, unless you are prepared to learn something new and useful. Vim is especially recommended for editing programs. Vim should run on any Unix flavor, MS-DOS, MS-Windows 3.1, MS-Windows 95/98/NT, OS/2, Atari MiNT, BeOS, VMS, RISC OS, Macintosh and Amiga. For more information, see "http://www.vim.org". New since version 5.3 --------------------- A short overview: - Port to the GTK+ GUI. - A version-specific runtime directory has been introduced. This makes it easier to upgrade to a newer version, or run two versions at the same time. - Recognizing file types and syntax highlighting has been separated. This allows you to add your own file type specific items. And syntax highlighting is more flexible. - Now includes syntax highlighting for about 150 file types. - Vim scripts have been improved: Line continuation with a backslash, more functions, etc. - The hit-return prompt is avoided by truncating messages. A message history has been added to view previous (untruncated) messages. - Support for encryption of files. - Quickfix support extended to support more error formats, including multi-line error messages and change-directory messages. - Menus can be used in console mode. The wildmenu feature offers menu-like command line completion. - A number of useful commands and options added. - Many improvements for existing commands. And many bug fixes! This version is aimed at stability. See ":help version-5.4" in Vim for the details. Where to get it --------------- You can find a list of distribution sites at ftp://ftp.vim.org/MIRRORS Suggested locations: ftp://ftp..vim.org/pub/vim/unreleased ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/unreleased Replace with a country code, e.g.: ftp://ftp.us.vim.org/pub/vim/unreleased What is available ----------------- Note that for all systems the distribution is split into an archive with runtime files (documentation, syntax files, etc.) and a binary and/or source archive. You should download at least two archives. Note: it's all under the "unreleased" directory. FILE SYSTEM COMMENTS unix/vim-5.4m-src.tar.gz Unix(*) Sources. unix/vim-5.4l-5.4m-src.diff.gz Sources diff with version 5.4l. unix/vim-5.4m-rt.tar.gz Unix(*) Runtime files. unix/vim-5.4l-5.4m-rt.diff.gz Runtime diff with version 5.4l. extra/vim-5.4m-extra.tar.gz Unix(*) Extra sources and docs (Farsi, OLE, VisVim) extra/vim-5.4l-5.4m-extra.diff.gz diff with version 5.4l pc/vim54mrt.zip Win32 DOS and MS-Windows runtime files. pc/gvim54m.zip Win32 32 bit MS-Windows 95/98/NT GUI binaries. Recommended for MS-Windows 95/98 and NT. The best choice for syntax highlighting and speed. pc/gvim54mole.zip Win32 32 bit MS-Windows 95/98/NT GUI binaries, with OLE support and VisVim. pc/gvim54m_s.zip Win32s 32 bit MS-Windows 3.1/3.11 GUI binaries. Requires Win32s. pc/vim54mw32.zip Win32 32 bit MS-Windows 95/98/NT console binaries. Recommended for Windows NT, NOT for 95/98. Supports long file names. pc/vim54md32.zip MS-DOS 32 bit protected mode binaries. Recommended for MS-DOS, MS-Windows 3.1 and MS-Windows 95/98 console. It is compiled with DJGPP, it may need a DPMI driver (CWSDPMI is included). Supports long file names on MS-Windows 95/98/NT. pc/vim54md16.zip MS-DOS 16 bit real mode binaries. Runs on most MS-DOS systems, but is restricted to using 640K memory. Small version, without e.g., syntax highlighting and autocommands. pc/vim54msrc.zip PC Sources for PC versions (with CR-LF). os2/vim54mos2.zip OS/2 Binaries. os2/vim54mrt.zip OS/2 Runtime files (same as for PC). (use the Unix+extra archives for sources) amiga/vim54mrt.tgz Amiga Runtime files. amiga/vim54mbin.tgz Amiga Binary. amiga/vim54mbig.tgz Amiga Binary with more features. amiga/vim54msrc.tgz Amiga Sources for Amiga. doc/vim54mhtml.zip all Documentation converted to HTML. (*) Also for BeOS, OS/2, VMS, Macintosh and Atari MiNT The contents of the source archives depends on the specified system. To obtain the full sources and docs, get the three Unix archives. system file type Unpack with Unix file.tar.gz gunzip file.tar.gz; tar xf file.tar Amiga file.tgz gzip -d file.tgz; tar xf file.tar PC file.zip pkunzip -d file.zip or: unzip file.zip Mailing lists ------------- For user questions you can turn to the Vim mailing list. There are a lot of tips, scripts and solutions. You can ask your Vim questions, but only if you subscribe. See http://www.vim.org/mail.html. If you want to help developing Vim or get the latest patches, subscribe to the vim-dev mailing list. Reporting bugs -------------- Send them to . Please be brief, all the time that is spend on answering mail is subtracted from the time that is spend on improving Vim! Always give a reproducable example and try to find out which settings or other things influence the appearance of the bug. Try different machines if possible. See ":help bugs" in Vim. Send me patches if you can! If something needs discussing with other developers, send a message to the vim-dev mailing list. You need to subscribe first. Happy Vimming!