📣 Releasing r39

[joelim-work]

Things move fast in the world of software. Since the last release a couple of months ago, there has been (once again) a large number of changes made to lf. During this time, we have also gained a new collaborator - @CatsDeservePets, who in addition to being a much friendlier person than I am, has been very helpful in closing old issues, as well as providing new features to provide an enhanced experience for users. Consequently, I have not found a convenient time to schedule a new release until now.

Below are the release notes I am planning to include:

## [r39](https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/releases/tag/r39)

### Changed

- File extensions are now shown for long filenames even if they are truncated (#2159).
- The history file will no longer contain a space between the prefix and the actual command (e.g. `:quit` instead of `: quit`) for each line (#2161). The command `sed -i -E 's/^(.) /\1/' ~/.local/share/lf/history` can be run to make an existing history file compatible with the new format.
- The `cmd-history-next` and `cmd-history-prev` commands will now select only matching entries if part of the command is typed beforehand (#2161). Consecutive duplicate entries will also be skipped for convenience.
- The string representation of commands shown when displaying keybindings is simplified (e.g. `cd ~` instead of `cd -- [~]`) (#2165).
- `yes-no-prompts` now use the same design everywhere (#2212).
- Logs generated by `-log <path>` now get appended to `<path>` instead of overwriting it (#2215).
- The `showbinds` menu now hides the redundant `mode` column (#2226) (#2228) and omits already typed keys (#2249).
- The `setlocal` command no longer requires absolute paths (#2253).
- The string representation of file permissions now matches the traditional `Unix` format instead of the one used by `Go` (#2270).

### Added

- A new command `cmd-menu-discard` is added to allow exiting the completion menu with completions discarded (#2146).
- The `lf_mode` environment variable will now be set to `compmenu` if the completion menu is active (#2146).
- A `ruler` config file is added as an alternate method for customizing the ruler (#2186). This is intended to eventually replace the existing `rulerfmt`/`statfmt` options and must be enabled using the new `rulerfile` option. **This feature is currently experimental.**
- A new option `preload` is added to enable calling the `previewer` to generate previews in advance (#2206). **This feature is currently experimental.**
- `OSC 8` escape codes to render clickable hyperlinks are now supported (#2243).

### Fixed

- `shell-pipe` commands no longer wait for output if kept open after the command has finished running (#2155).
- Natural sorting now compares string lengths when dealing with equivalent numbers (e.g. `0` is ordered before `00`) (#2177).
- A bug where the copy progress indicator only displayed the first time a file was copied is now fixed (#2181).
- A bug where the `source` command does not show an error message upon failure is now fixed (#2189).
- The `addcustominfo` (#2198) and `setlocal` (#2254) (#2259) commands, as well as the `cleaner` and `previewer` options (#2211) now support filename completions.
- A bug where an empty `custom` info property would still take up space is now fixed (#2208).
- A bug where setting `drawbox` could lead to scrolling outside the view is now fixed (#2210) (#2218).
- The preview cache is now not cleared when setting `ratios` to its current value (#2218).
- Filtering is fixed when using special characters in the search pattern if the `filtermethod` is `text` (#2231).
- Custom commands that output messages (e.g. `cmd greet echo 'hello world'`) now display properly (#2245).
- Errors in config files are now displayed properly (#2246).

Although there are a large number of changes, users should in particular take note of the following:

• The format of the history file has been changed so that there is no space between the prefix and the actual command (e.g. :quit instead of : quit). The following command can be used to make an existing history file compatible with the new format by removing the space:

  sed -i -E 's/^(.) /\1/' ~/.local/share/lf/history

• A new ruler file has been introduced as an alternative to rulerfmt for customizing the ruler. The syntax is driven by Go templates and provides more powerful functionality such as padding and conditional logic. Below is the default ruler file:

  {{with .Message -}}
      {{. -}}
  {{else with .Stat -}}
      {{.Permissions | printf "\033[36m%s\033[0m" -}}
      {{with .LinkCount}} {{.}}{{end -}}
      {{with .User}} {{.}}{{end -}}
      {{with .Group}} {{.}}{{end -}}
      {{.Size | humanize | printf " %5s" -}}
      {{.ModTime | printf " %s" -}}
      {{with .Target}} -> {{.}}{{end -}}
  {{end -}}
  {{.SPACER -}}
  {{with .Keys}}  {{.}}{{end -}}
  {{with .Progress}}  {{join . " "}}{{end -}}
  {{with .Copy}}  {{len . | printf "%s %d \033[0m" $.Options.copyfmt}}{{end -}}
  {{with .Cut}}  {{len . | printf "%s %d \033[0m" $.Options.cutfmt}}{{end -}}
  {{with .Select}}  {{len . | printf "%s %d \033[0m" $.Options.selectfmt}}{{end -}}
  {{with .Visual}}  {{len . | printf "%s %d \033[0m" $.Options.visualfmt}}{{end -}}
  {{with .Filter}}  {{join . " " | printf "\033[7;34m %s \033[0m"}}{{end -}}
  {{printf "  %d/%d" .Index .Total}}

  Refer to the wiki for more examples. Although the ruler file is intended to eventually replace rulerfmt, the feature is currently labelled as experimental, and must first be enabled using set rulerfile true.
• File previews can now be preloaded by setting the preload option. Enabling preloading will trigger the previewer script for files around the cursor while traversing around the filesystem. A sixth argument $6 is now passed to the previewer script to indicate whether it is preloading or previewing a file. An example previewer script that displays video thumbnails using the Kitty graphics protocol is shown below:

  #!/bin/sh
  
  CACHE_DIR=$HOME/.cache/lf
  
  cache_thumbnail() {
      hash=$(stat --printf '%n\0%i\0%Y' "$1" | sha256sum | cut -d' ' -f1)
      echo "$CACHE_DIR/$hash.jpg"
  }
  
  cache_preview() {
      hash=$(printf '%s\0%s\0%s\0%s\0%s' "$1" "$2" "$3" "$4" "$5" | sha256sum | cut -d' ' -f1)
      echo "$CACHE_DIR/$hash"
  }
  
  preload() {
      mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"
  
      thumbnail=$(cache_thumbnail "$1")
      if ! [ -f "$thumbnail" ]; then
          ffmpeg -i "$1" -vframes 1 "$thumbnail"
      fi
  
      preview=$(cache_preview "$@")
      if ! [ -f "$preview" ]; then
          kitten icat --stdin no --transfer-mode file --place "${2}x${3}@${4}x${5}" "$thumbnail" > "$preview"
      fi
  
      exit 1
  }
  
  preview() {
      preview=$(cache_preview "$@")
      cat "$preview" > /dev/tty
  }
  
  "$6" "$@"

  Note that the preload function generates thumbnails that are cached on disk and uses exit 1 to bypass the preview cache in lf, while the preview function handles the actual display. Also please be aware that this feature is currently marked as experimental for the time being.

---

As usual there will be a change freeze to see if there are any regressions, and a new release will be made in around a few weeks from now. If anyone has any queries or concerns, please let me know.

[CatsDeservePets]

I really like this release, it has a number of QOL changes.

Also, I don't think you are nearly as grumpy as you see yourself. :D

[joelim-work]

BTW apologies if this announcement came as a surprise to you, I have gotten used to scheduling the releases myself and I noticed that there wasn't much activity these past few days. I plan to handle the release myself this time (mainly because I want to ensure the new release pipeline actually works), but in future I may involve you in the process as well.

[veltza]

• Directories are now ordered above files when sorting in reverse with dirfirst enabled (Order directories first when using reverse sort #2269).

r38 doesn't have this issue, so does this need to be mentioned in the changelog, since the bug only existed for a short time in the master/development branch?

[CatsDeservePets]

Good catch, it shouldn't!