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File: nano.info, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Up: (dir)
The GNU nano text editor
************************
This manual documents GNU 'nano', version 6.2.
* Menu:
* Introduction::
* Invoking::
* Editor Basics::
* The Help Viewer::
* The File Browser::
* Command-line Options::
* Feature Toggles::
* Nanorc Files::
* Pico Compatibility::
* Building and its Options::
File: nano.info, Node: Introduction, Next: Invoking, Prev: Top, Up: Top
1 Introduction
**************
GNU 'nano' is a small and friendly text editor. Besides basic text
editing, 'nano' offers features like undo/redo, syntax coloring,
interactive search-and-replace, auto-indentation, line numbers, word
completion, file locking, backup files, and internationalization
support.
The original goal for 'nano' was to be a complete bug-for-bug
emulation of Pico. But currently the goal is to be as compatible as is
reasonable while offering a superset of Pico's functionality. *Note
Pico Compatibility:: for more details on how 'nano' and Pico differ.
Starting with version 4.0, 'nano' no longer hard-wraps an overlong
line by default. It further uses linewise scrolling by default, and by
default includes the line below the title bar into the editing area. If
you want the old, Pico behavior back, you can use the following options:
'--breaklonglines', '--jumpyscrolling', and '--emptyline' (or '-bje').
Please report bugs via <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=nano>.
For background information see <https://nano-editor.org/>.
File: nano.info, Node: Invoking, Next: Editor Basics, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top
2 Invoking
**********
The usual way to invoke 'nano' is:
nano [FILE]
But it is also possible to specify one or more options (*note
Command-line Options::), and to edit several files in a row.
Additionally, the cursor can be put on a specific line of a file by
adding the line number with a plus sign before the filename, and even in
a specific column by adding it with a comma. (Negative numbers count
from the end of the file or line.) The cursor can also be put on the
first or last occurrence of a specific string by specifying that string
after '+/' or '+?' before the filename. The string can be made case
sensitive and/or caused to be interpreted as a regular expression by
inserting a 'c' and/or 'r' after the plus sign. These search modes can
be explicitly disabled by using the uppercase variant of those letters:
'C' and/or 'R'. When the string contains spaces, it needs to be
enclosed in quotes. A more complete command synopsis thus is:
nano [OPTION]... [[+LINE[,COLUMN]|+[crCR](/|?)STRING] FILE]...
Normally, however, you set your preferred options in a 'nanorc' file
(*note Nanorc Files::). And when using 'set positionlog' (making 'nano'
remember the cursor position when you close a file), you will rarely
need to specify a line number.
As a special case: when instead of a filename a dash is given, 'nano'
will read data from standard input. This means you can pipe the output
of a command straight into a buffer, and then edit it.
File: nano.info, Node: Editor Basics, Next: The Help Viewer, Prev: Invoking, Up: Top
3 Editor Basics
***************
* Menu:
* Screen Layout::
* Entering Text::
* Commands::
* The Cutbuffer::
* The Mark::
* Search and Replace::
* Using the Mouse::
* Anchors::
* Limitations::
File: nano.info, Node: Screen Layout, Next: Entering Text, Up: Editor Basics
3.1 Screen Layout
=================
The default screen of 'nano' consists of four areas. From top to bottom
these are: the title bar, the edit window, the status bar, and two help
lines.
The title bar consists of three sections: left, center and right.
The section on the left displays the version of 'nano' being used. The
center section displays the current filename, or "New Buffer" if the
file has not yet been named. The section on the right displays
"Modified" if the file has been modified since it was last saved or
opened.
The status bar is the third line from the bottom of the screen. It
shows important and informational messages. Any error messages that
occur from using the editor will appear on the status bar. Any
questions that are asked of the user will be asked on the status bar,
and any user input (search strings, filenames, etc.) will be input on
the status bar.
The two help lines at the bottom of the screen show some of the most
essential functions of the editor.
File: nano.info, Node: Entering Text, Next: Commands, Prev: Screen Layout, Up: Editor Basics
3.2 Entering Text
=================
'nano' is a "modeless" editor. This means that all keystrokes, with the
exception of Control and Meta sequences, enter text into the file being
edited.
Characters not present on the keyboard can be entered in two ways:
* For characters with a single-byte code, pressing the Esc key twice
and then typing a three-digit decimal number (from '000' to '255')
will make 'nano' behave as if you typed the key with that value.
* For any possible character, pressing 'M-V' (Alt+V) and then typing
a six-digit hexadecimal number (starting with '0' or '1') will
enter the corresponding Unicode character into the buffer.
For example, typing 'Esc Esc 2 3 4' will enter the character "e^" --
useful when writing about a French party. Typing 'M-V 0 0 2 2 c 4' will
enter the symbol "???", a little diamond.
File: nano.info, Node: Commands, Next: The Cutbuffer, Prev: Entering Text, Up: Editor Basics
3.3 Commands
============
Commands are given by using the Control key (Ctrl, shown as '^') or the
Meta key (Alt or Cmd, shown as 'M-').
* A control-key sequence is entered by holding down the Ctrl key and
pressing the desired key.
* A meta-key sequence is entered by holding down the Meta key
(normally the Alt key) and pressing the desired key.
If for some reason on your system the combinations with Ctrl or Alt
do not work, you can generate them by using the Esc key. A control-key
sequence is generated by pressing the Esc key twice and then pressing
the desired key, and a meta-key sequence by pressing the Esc key once
and then pressing the desired key.
File: nano.info, Node: The Cutbuffer, Next: The Mark, Prev: Commands, Up: Editor Basics
3.4 The Cutbuffer
=================
Text can be cut from a file a whole line at a time with '^K'. The cut
line is stored in the cutbuffer. Consecutive strokes of '^K' will add
each cut line to this buffer, but a '^K' after any other keystroke will
overwrite the entire cutbuffer.
The contents of the cutbuffer can be pasted at the current cursor
position with '^U'.
A line of text can be copied into the cutbuffer (without cutting it)
with 'M-6'.
File: nano.info, Node: The Mark, Next: Search and Replace, Prev: The Cutbuffer, Up: Editor Basics
3.5 The Mark
============
Text can be selected by first 'setting the Mark' with '^6' or 'M-A' and
then moving the cursor to the other end of the portion to be selected.
The selected portion of text will be highlighted. This selection can
now be cut or copied in its entirety with a single '^K' or 'M-6'. Or
the selection can be used to limit the scope of a search-and-replace
('^\') or spell-checking session ('^T^T').
On some terminals, text can be selected also by holding down 'Shift'
while using the cursor keys. Holding down the 'Ctrl' or 'Alt' key too
will increase the stride. Such a selection is cancelled upon any cursor
movement where 'Shift' isn't held.
Cutting or copying selected text toggles off the mark automatically.
If needed, it can be toggled off manually with another '^6' or 'M-A'.
File: nano.info, Node: Search and Replace, Next: Using the Mouse, Prev: The Mark, Up: Editor Basics
3.6 Search and Replace
======================
One can search the current buffer for the occurrence of any string with
the Search command (default key binding: '^W'). The default search mode
is forward, case-insensitive, and for literal strings. But one can
search backwards by pressing 'M-B', search case sensitively with 'M-C',
and interpret regular expressions in the search string with 'M-R'.
A regular expression in a search string always covers just one line;
it cannot span multiple lines. And when replacing (with '^\' or 'M-R')
the replacement string cannot contain a newline (LF).
File: nano.info, Node: Using the Mouse, Next: Anchors, Prev: Search and Replace, Up: Editor Basics
3.7 Using the Mouse
===================
When mouse support has been configured and enabled, a single mouse click
places the cursor at the indicated position. Clicking a second time in
the same position toggles the mark. Clicking in the two help lines
executes the selected shortcut. To be able to select text with the left
button, or paste text with the middle button, hold down the Shift key
during those actions.
The mouse will work in the X Window System, and on the console when
gpm is running.
File: nano.info, Node: Anchors, Next: Limitations, Prev: Using the Mouse, Up: Editor Basics
3.8 Anchors
===========
With 'M-Ins' you can place an anchor (a kind of temporary bookmark) at
the current line. With 'M-PgUp' and 'M-PgDn' you can jump to an anchor
in the backward/forward direction. This jumping wraps around at the top
and bottom.
When a line with an anchor is removed, the line where the cursor ends
up inherits the anchor. After performing an operation on the entire
buffer (like formatting it, piping it through a command, or doing an
external spell check on it), any anchors that were present are gone.
And when you close the buffer, all its anchors simply disappear; they
are not saved.
Anchors are visualized in the margin when line numbers are activated.
File: nano.info, Node: Limitations, Prev: Anchors, Up: Editor Basics
3.9 Limitations
===============
The recording and playback of keyboard macros works correctly only on a
terminal emulator, not on a Linux console (VT), because the latter does
not by default distinguish modified from unmodified arrow keys.
File: nano.info, Node: The Help Viewer, Next: The File Browser, Prev: Editor Basics, Up: Top
4 The Help Viewer
*****************
The built-in help in 'nano' is available by pressing '^G'. It is fairly
self-explanatory. It documents the various parts of the editor and the
available keystrokes. Navigation is via the '^Y' (Page Up) and '^V'
(Page Down) keys. '^X' exits from the help viewer.
File: nano.info, Node: The File Browser, Next: Command-line Options, Prev: The Help Viewer, Up: Top
5 The File Browser
******************
When in the Read-File ('^R') or Write-Out menu ('^O'), pressing '^T'
will invoke the file browser. Here, one can navigate directories in a
graphical manner in order to find the desired file.
Basic movement in the file browser is accomplished with the arrow and
other cursor-movement keys. More targeted movement is accomplished by
searching, via '^W' or 'w', or by changing directory, via '^_' or 'g'.
The behavior of the 'Enter' key (or 's') varies by what is currently
selected. If the currently selected object is a directory, the file
browser will enter and display the contents of the directory. If the
object is a file, this filename and path are copied to the status bar,
and the file browser exits.
File: nano.info, Node: Command-line Options, Next: Feature Toggles, Prev: The File Browser, Up: Top
6 Command-line Options
**********************
'nano' takes the following options from the command line:
'-A'
'--smarthome'
Make the Home key smarter. When Home is pressed anywhere but at
the very beginning of non-whitespace characters on a line, the
cursor will jump to that beginning (either forwards or backwards).
If the cursor is already at that position, it will jump to the true
beginning of the line.
'-B'
'--backup'
When saving a file, back up the previous version of it, using the
current filename suffixed with a tilde ('~').
'-C DIRECTORY'
'--backupdir=DIRECTORY'
Make and keep not just one backup file, but make and keep a
uniquely numbered one every time a file is saved -- when backups are
enabled. The uniquely numbered files are stored in the specified
directory.
'-D'
'--boldtext'
For the interface, use bold instead of reverse video. This will be
overridden by setting the options 'titlecolor', 'statuscolor',
'keycolor', 'functioncolor', 'numbercolor', and/or 'selectedcolor'
in your nanorc file. *Note set keycolor:: for details.
'-E'
'--tabstospaces'
Convert each typed tab to spaces -- to the number of spaces that a
tab at that position would take up.
'-F'
'--multibuffer'
Read a file into a new buffer by default.
'-G'
'--locking'
Enable vim-style file locking when editing files.
'-H'
'--historylog'
Save the last hundred search strings and replacement strings and
executed commands, so they can be easily reused in later sessions.
'-I'
'--ignorercfiles'
Don't look at the system's nanorc file nor at the user's nanorc.
'-J'
'--guidestripe'
Draw a vertical stripe at the given column, to help judge the width
of the text. (The color of the stripe can be changed with 'set
stripecolor' in your nanorc file.)
'-K'
'--rawsequences'
Interpret escape sequences directly, instead of asking 'ncurses' to
translate them. (If you need this option to get some keys to work
properly, it means that the terminfo terminal description that is
used does not fully match the actual behavior of your terminal.
This can happen when you ssh into a BSD machine, for example.)
Using this option disables 'nano''s mouse support.
'-L'
'--nonewlines'
Don't automatically add a newline when a text does not end with
one. (This can cause you to save non-POSIX text files.)
'-M'
'--trimblanks'
Snip trailing whitespace from the wrapped line when automatic
hard-wrapping occurs or when text is justified.
'-N'
'--noconvert'
Disable automatic conversion of files from DOS/Mac format.
'-O'
'--bookstyle'
When justifying, treat any line that starts with whitespace as the
beginning of a paragraph (unless auto-indenting is on).
'-P'
'--positionlog'
For the 200 most recent files, log the last position of the cursor,
and place it at that position again upon reopening such a file.
'-Q "REGEX"'
'--quotestr="REGEX"'
Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line.
The default value is "^([ \t]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+". (Note that '\t'
stands for a literal Tab character.) This makes it possible to
rejustify blocks of quoted text when composing email, and to rewrap
blocks of line comments when writing source code.
'-R'
'--restricted'
Restricted mode: don't read or write to any file not specified on
the command line. This means: don't read or write history files;
don't allow suspending; don't allow spell checking; don't allow a
file to be appended to, prepended to, or saved under a different
name if it already has one; and don't make backup files.
Restricted mode can also be activated by invoking 'nano' with any
name beginning with 'r' (e.g. 'rnano').
'-S'
'--softwrap'
Display over multiple screen rows lines that exceed the screen's
width. (You can make this soft-wrapping occur at whitespace
instead of rudely at the screen's edge, by using also
'--atblanks'.) (The old short option, '-$', is deprecated.)
'-T NUMBER'
'--tabsize=NUMBER'
Set the displayed tab length to NUMBER columns. The value of
NUMBER must be greater than 0. The default value is 8.
'-U'
'--quickblank'
Make status-bar messages disappear after 1 keystroke instead of
after 20. Note that option '-c' ('--constantshow') overrides this.
When option '--minibar' or '--zero' is in effect, '--quickblank'
makes a message disappear after 0.8 seconds instead of after the
default 1.5 seconds.
'-V'
'--version'
Show the current version number and exit.
'-W'
'--wordbounds'
Detect word boundaries differently by treating punctuation
characters as parts of words.
'-X "CHARACTERS"'
'--wordchars="CHARACTERS"'
Specify which other characters (besides the normal alphanumeric
ones) should be considered as parts of words. When using this
option, you probably want to omit '-W' ('--wordbounds').
'-Y NAME'
'--syntax=NAME'
Specify the syntax to be used for highlighting. *Note Syntax
Highlighting:: for more info.
'-Z'
'--zap'
Let an unmodified 'Backspace' or 'Delete' erase the marked region
(instead of a single character, and without affecting the
cutbuffer).
'-a'
'--atblanks'
When doing soft line wrapping, wrap lines at whitespace instead of
always at the edge of the screen.
'-b'
'--breaklonglines'
Automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong.
(This option is the opposite of '-w' ('--nowrap') -- the last one
given takes effect.)
'-c'
'--constantshow'
Constantly display the cursor position (line number, column number,
and character number) on the status bar. Note that this overrides
option '-U' ('--quickblank').
'-d'
'--rebinddelete'
Interpret the 'Delete' and 'Backspace' keys differently so that
both work properly. You should only use this option when on your
system either 'Backspace' acts like Delete or 'Delete' acts like
Backspace.
'-e'
'--emptyline'
Do not use the line below the title bar, leaving it entirely blank.
'-f FILE'
'--rcfile=FILE'
Read only this FILE for setting nano's options, instead of reading
both the system-wide and the user's nanorc files.
'-g'
'--showcursor'
Make the cursor visible in the file browser (putting it on the
highlighted item) and in the help viewer. Useful for braille users
and people with poor vision.
'-h'
'--help'
Show a summary of command-line options and exit.
'-i'
'--autoindent'
Automatically indent a newly created line to the same number of
tabs and/or spaces as the previous line (or as the next line if the
previous line is the beginning of a paragraph).
'-j'
'--jumpyscrolling'
Scroll the buffer contents per half-screen instead of per line.
'-k'
'--cutfromcursor'
Make the 'Cut Text' command (normally '^K') cut from the current
cursor position to the end of the line, instead of cutting the
entire line.
'-l'
'--linenumbers'
Display line numbers to the left of the text area. (Any line with
an anchor additionally gets a mark in the margin.)
'-m'
'--mouse'
Enable mouse support, if available for your system. When enabled,
mouse clicks can be used to place the cursor, set the mark (with a
double click), and execute shortcuts. The mouse will work in the X
Window System, and on the console when gpm is running. Text can
still be selected through dragging by holding down the Shift key.
'-n'
'--noread'
Treat any name given on the command line as a new file. This
allows 'nano' to write to named pipes: it will start with a blank
buffer, and will write to the pipe when the user saves the "file".
This way 'nano' can be used as an editor in combination with for
instance 'gpg' without having to write sensitive data to disk
first.
'-o DIRECTORY'
'--operatingdir=DIRECTORY'
Set the operating directory. This makes 'nano' set up something
similar to a chroot.
'-p'
'--preserve'
Preserve the '^Q' (XON) and '^S' (XOFF) sequences so data being
sent to the editor can be stopped and started.
'-q'
'--indicator'
Display a "scrollbar" on the righthand side of the edit window. It
shows the position of the viewport in the buffer and how much of
the buffer is covered by the viewport.
'-r NUMBER'
'--fill=NUMBER'
Set the target width for justifying and automatic hard-wrapping at
this NUMBER of columns. If the value is 0 or less, wrapping will
occur at the width of the screen minus NUMBER columns, allowing the
wrap point to vary along with the width of the screen if the screen
is resized. The default value is -8.
'-s "PROGRAM [ARGUMENT ...]"'
'--speller="PROGRAM [ARGUMENT ...]"'
Use the given program to do spell checking and correcting. By
default, 'nano' uses the command specified in the 'SPELL'
environment variable. If 'SPELL' is not set, and '--speller' is
not specified either, then 'nano' uses its own interactive spell
corrector, which requires either 'hunspell' or GNU 'spell' to be
installed.
'-t'
'--saveonexit'
Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with '^X').
This can be handy when 'nano' is used as the composer of an email
program. (The old form of the long option, '--tempfile', is
deprecated.)
'-u'
'--unix'
Save a file by default in Unix format. This overrides nano's
default behavior of saving a file in the format that it had. (This
option has no effect when you also use '--noconvert'.)
'-v'
'--view'
Don't allow the contents of the file to be altered: read-only mode.
This mode allows the user to open also other files for viewing,
unless '--restricted' is given too. (Note that this option should
NOT be used in place of correct file permissions to implement a
read-only file.)
'-w'
'--nowrap'
Do not automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes
overlong. This is the default. (This option is the opposite of
'-b' ('--breaklonglines') -- the last one given takes effect.)
'-x'
'--nohelp'
Expert mode: don't show the two help lines at the bottom of the
screen. This affects the location of the status bar as well, as in
Expert mode it is located at the very bottom of the editor.
Note: When accessing the help system, Expert mode is temporarily
disabled to display the help-system navigation keys.
'-y'
'--afterends'
Make 'Ctrl+Right' and 'Ctrl+Delete' stop at word ends instead of
beginnings.
'-z'
'--suspendable'
Obsolete option; ignored. Suspension is enabled by default,
reachable via '^T^Z'. (If you want a plain '^Z' to suspend nano,
add 'bind ^Z suspend main' to your nanorc.)
'-%'
'--stateflags'
Use the top-right corner of the screen for showing some state
flags: 'I' when auto-indenting, 'M' when the mark is on, 'L' when
hard-wrapping (breaking long lines), 'R' when recording a macro,
and 'S' when soft-wrapping. When the buffer is modified, a star
('*') is shown after the filename in the center of the title bar.
'-_'
'--minibar'
Suppress the title bar and instead show information about the
current buffer at the bottom of the screen, in the space for the
status bar. In this "minibar" the filename is shown on the left,
followed by an asterisk if the buffer has been modified. On the
right are displayed the current line and column number, the code of
the character under the cursor (in Unicode format: U+xxxx), the
same flags as are shown by '--stateflags', and a percentage that
expresses how far the cursor is into the file (linewise). When a
file is loaded or saved, and also when switching between buffers,
the number of lines in the buffer is displayed after the filename.
This number is cleared upon the next keystroke, or replaced with an
[i/n] counter when multiple buffers are open. The line plus column
numbers and the character code are displayed only when
'--constantshow' is used, and can be toggled on and off with 'M-C'.
The state flags are displayed only when '--stateflags' is used.
'-0'
'--zero'
Hide all elements of the interface (title bar, status bar, and help
lines) and use all rows of the terminal for showing the contents of
the buffer. The status bar appears only when there is a
significant message, and disappears after 1.5 seconds or upon the
next keystroke. With 'M-Z' the title bar plus status bar can be
toggled. With 'M-X' the help lines.
'-!'
'--magic'
When neither the file's name nor its first line give a clue, try
using libmagic to determine the applicable syntax.
File: nano.info, Node: Feature Toggles, Next: Nanorc Files, Prev: Command-line Options, Up: Top
7 Feature Toggles
*****************
Toggles allow you to change certain aspects of the editor while you are
editing, aspects that you would normally specify via command-line
options or nanorc options. Each toggle can be flicked via a Meta-key
combination -- the 'Meta' key is normally the 'Alt' key (*note Commands::
for more details). The following global toggles are available:
'Constant Cursor Position Display'
'M-C' toggles the '-c' ('--constantshow') command-line option.
'Smart Home Key'
'M-H' toggles the '-A' ('--smarthome') command-line option.
'Auto Indent'
'M-I' toggles the '-i' ('--autoindent') command-line option.
'Cut From Cursor To End-of-Line'
'M-K' toggles the '-k' ('--cutfromcursor') command-line option.
'Long-Line Wrapping'
'M-L' toggles the '-b' ('--breaklonglines') command-line option.
'Mouse Support'
'M-M' toggles the '-m' ('--mouse') command-line option.
'Line Numbers'
'M-N' toggles the '-l' ('--linenumbers') command-line option.
'Tabs To Spaces'
'M-O' toggles the '-E' ('--tabstospaces') command-line option.
'Whitespace Display'
'M-P' toggles the displaying of whitespace (*note Whitespace::).
'Soft Wrapping'
'M-S' toggles the '-S' ('--softwrap') command-line option.
'Expert'
'M-X' toggles the '-x' ('--nohelp') command-line option.
'Syntax Coloring'
'M-Y' toggles syntax coloring, when your nanorc defines syntaxes
(*note Syntax Highlighting::).
'Hidden Interface'
'M-Z' toggles the '-0' ('--zero') command-line option, but without
the '-x' ('--nohelp') part. That is: it toggles just the title bar
plus status bar (or the combined minibar plus status bar), not the
help lines. The latter are toggled with 'M-X'.
File: nano.info, Node: Nanorc Files, Next: Pico Compatibility, Prev: Feature Toggles, Up: Top
8 Nanorc Files
**************
Nanorc files can be used to configure 'nano' to your liking without
using command-line options. During startup 'nano' will normally read
two files: first the system-wide file, '/etc/nanorc' (the exact path may
be different on your system), and then the user-specific file, either
'~/.nanorc' or '$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nano/nanorc' or '.config/nano/nanorc',
whichever exists first. However, if '--rcfile' is given, 'nano' will
skip the above files and will read just the specified settings file.
A nanorc file can contain 'set' and 'unset' commands for various
options (*note Settings::). It can also contain commands that define
syntax highlighting (*note Syntax Highlighting::) and commands that
rebind keys (*note Rebinding Keys::). Each command should be on a
separate line, and all commands should be written in lowercase.
Options that do not take an argument are unset by default. So using
the 'unset' command is only needed when wanting to override a setting
from the system's nanorc file in your own nanorc. Options that take an
argument cannot be unset, but can be assigned the empty string.
Any command-line option overrides its nanorc setting, of course.
Quotes inside the CHARACTERS parameters below should not be escaped.
The last double quote on the line will be seen as the closing quote.
* Menu:
* Settings::
* Syntax Highlighting::
* Rebinding Keys::
File: nano.info, Node: Settings, Next: Syntax Highlighting, Up: Nanorc Files
8.1 Settings
============
The supported settings in a nanorc file are:
'set afterends'
Make 'Ctrl+Right' and 'Ctrl+Delete' stop at word ends instead of
beginnings.
'set allow_insecure_backup'
When backing up files, allow the backup to succeed even if its
permissions can't be (re)set due to special OS considerations. You
should NOT enable this option unless you are sure you need it.
'set atblanks'
When soft line wrapping is enabled, make it wrap lines at blank
characters (tabs and spaces) instead of always at the edge of the
screen.
'set autoindent'
Automatically indent a newly created line to the same number of
tabs and/or spaces as the previous line (or as the next line if the
previous line is the beginning of a paragraph).
'set backup'
When saving a file, back up the previous version of it, using the
current filename suffixed with a tilde ('~').
'set backupdir "DIRECTORY"'
Make and keep not just one backup file, but make and keep a
uniquely numbered one every time a file is saved -- when backups are
enabled with 'set backup' or '--backup' or '-B'. The uniquely
numbered files are stored in the specified directory.
'set boldtext'
Use bold instead of reverse video for the title bar, status bar,
key combos, function tags, line numbers, and selected text. This
is overridden by setting the options 'titlecolor', 'statuscolor',
'keycolor', 'functioncolor', 'numbercolor', and/or 'selectedcolor'.
'set bookstyle'
When justifying, treat any line that starts with whitespace as the
beginning of a paragraph (unless auto-indenting is on).
'set brackets "CHARACTERS"'
Set the characters treated as closing brackets when justifying
paragraphs. This may not include blank characters. Only closing
punctuation (see 'set punct'), optionally followed by the specified
closing brackets, can end sentences. The default value is
""')>]}".
'set breaklonglines'
Automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong.
'set casesensitive'
Do case-sensitive searches by default.
'set constantshow'
Constantly display the cursor position on the status bar. Note
that this overrides 'quickblank'.
'set cutfromcursor'
Use cut-from-cursor-to-end-of-line by default, instead of cutting
the whole line.
'set emptyline'
Do not use the line below the title bar, leaving it entirely blank.
'set errorcolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the status bar when an error message
is displayed. The default value is bold,white,red. *Note set
keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set fill NUMBER'
Set the target width for justifying and automatic hard-wrapping at
this NUMBER of columns. If the value is 0 or less, wrapping will
occur at the width of the screen minus NUMBER columns, allowing the
wrap point to vary along with the width of the screen if the screen
is resized. The default value is -8.
'set functioncolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the concise function descriptions in
the two help lines at the bottom of the screen. *Note set
keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set guidestripe NUMBER'
Draw a vertical stripe at the given column, to help judge the width
of the text. (The color of the stripe can be changed with 'set
stripecolor'.)
'set historylog'
Save the last hundred search strings and replacement strings and
executed commands, so they can be easily reused in later sessions.
'set indicator'
Display a "scrollbar" on the righthand side of the edit window. It
shows the position of the viewport in the buffer and how much of
the buffer is covered by the viewport.
'set jumpyscrolling'
Scroll the buffer contents per half-screen instead of per line.
'set keycolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the shortcut key combos in the two
help lines at the bottom of the screen. Valid names for the
foreground and background colors are: 'red', 'green', 'blue',
'magenta', 'yellow', 'cyan', 'white', and 'black'. Each of these
eight names may be prefixed with the word 'light' to get a brighter
version of that color. The word 'grey' or 'gray' may be used as a
synonym for 'lightblack'.
On terminal emulators that can do at least 256 colors, other valid
(but unprefixable) color names are: 'pink', 'purple', 'mauve',
'lagoon', 'mint', 'lime', 'peach', 'orange', 'latte', 'rosy',
'beet', 'plum', 'sea', 'sky', 'slate', 'teal', 'sage', 'brown',
'ocher', 'sand', 'tawny', 'brick', 'crimson', and 'normal' -- where
'normal' means the default foreground or background color. On such
emulators, the color may also be specified as a three-digit
hexadecimal number prefixed with '#', with the digits representing
the amounts of red, green, and blue, respectively. This tells
'nano' to select from the available palette the color that
approximates the given values.
Either FGCOLOR or ,BGCOLOR may be left out, and the pair may be
preceded by 'bold' and/or 'italic' (separated by commas) to get a
bold and/or slanting typeface, if your terminal can do those.
'set linenumbers'
Display line numbers to the left of the text area. (Any line with
an anchor additionally gets a mark in the margin.)
'set locking'
Enable vim-style lock-files for when editing files.
'set magic'
When neither the file's name nor its first line give a clue, try
using libmagic to determine the applicable syntax. (Calling
libmagic can be relatively time consuming. It is therefore not
done by default.)
'set matchbrackets "CHARACTERS"'
Specify the opening and closing brackets that can be found by
bracket searches. This may not include blank characters. The
opening set must come before the closing set, and the two sets must
be in the same order. The default value is "(<[{)>]}".
'set minibar'
Suppress the title bar and instead show information about the
current buffer at the bottom of the screen, in the space for the
status bar. In this "minibar" the filename is shown on the left,
followed by an asterisk if the buffer has been modified. On the
right are displayed the current line and column number, the code of
the character under the cursor (in Unicode format: U+xxxx), the
same flags as are shown by 'set stateflags', and a percentage that
expresses how far the cursor is into the file (linewise). When a
file is loaded or saved, and also when switching between buffers,
the number of lines in the buffer is displayed after the filename.
This number is cleared upon the next keystroke, or replaced with an
[i/n] counter when multiple buffers are open. The line plus column
numbers and the character code are displayed only when 'set
constantshow' is used, and can be toggled on and off with 'M-C'.
The state flags are displayed only when 'set stateflags' is used.
'set minicolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the minibar. (When this option is
not specified, the colors of the title bar are used.) *Note set
keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set mouse'
Enable mouse support, so that mouse clicks can be used to place the
cursor, set the mark (with a double click), or execute shortcuts.
'set multibuffer'
When reading in a file with '^R', insert it into a new buffer by
default.
'set noconvert'
Don't convert files from DOS/Mac format.
'set nohelp'
Don't display the help lists at the bottom of the screen.
'set nonewlines'
Don't automatically add a newline when a text does not end with
one. (This can cause you to save non-POSIX text files.)
'set nowrap'
Deprecated option since it has become the default setting. When
needed, use 'unset breaklonglines' instead.
'set numbercolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for line numbers. *Note set keycolor::
for valid color names.
'set operatingdir "DIRECTORY"'
'nano' will only read and write files inside "directory" and its
subdirectories. Also, the current directory is changed to here, so
files are inserted from this directory. By default, the operating
directory feature is turned off.
'set positionlog'
Save the cursor position of files between editing sessions. The
cursor position is remembered for the 200 most-recently edited
files.
'set preserve'
Preserve the XON and XOFF keys ('^Q' and '^S').
'set promptcolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the prompt bar. (When this option
is not specified, the colors of the title bar are used.) *Note set
keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set punct "CHARACTERS"'
Set the characters treated as closing punctuation when justifying
paragraphs. This may not include blank characters. Only the
specified closing punctuation, optionally followed by closing
brackets (see 'set brackets'), can end sentences. The default
value is "!.?".
'set quickblank'
Make status-bar messages disappear after 1 keystroke instead of
after 20. Note that option 'constantshow' overrides this. When
option 'minibar' or 'zero' is in effect, 'quickblank' makes a
message disappear after 0.8 seconds instead of after the default
1.5 seconds.
'set quotestr "REGEX"'
Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line.
The default value is "^([ \t]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+". (Note that '\t'
stands for a literal Tab character.) This makes it possible to
rejustify blocks of quoted text when composing email, and to rewrap
blocks of line comments when writing source code.
'set rawsequences'
Interpret escape sequences directly, instead of asking 'ncurses' to
translate them. (If you need this option to get some keys to work
properly, it means that the terminfo terminal description that is
used does not fully match the actual behavior of your terminal.
This can happen when you ssh into a BSD machine, for example.)
Using this option disables 'nano''s mouse support.
'set rebinddelete'
Interpret the 'Delete' and 'Backspace' keys differently so that
both work properly. You should only use this option when on your
system either 'Backspace' acts like Delete or 'Delete' acts like
Backspace.
'set regexp'
Do regular-expression searches by default. Regular expressions in
'nano' are of the extended type (ERE).
'set saveonexit'
Save a changed buffer automatically on exit ('^X'); don't prompt.
(The old form of this option, 'set tempfile', is deprecated.)
'set scrollercolor FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the indicator alias "scrollbar".
(On terminal emulators that link to a libvte older than version
0.55, using a background color here does not work correctly.)
*Note set keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set selectedcolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for selected text. *Note set keycolor::
for valid color names.
'set showcursor'
Put the cursor on the highlighted item in the file browser, and
show the cursor in the help viewer, to aid braille users and people
with poor vision.
'set smarthome'
Make the Home key smarter. When Home is pressed anywhere but at
the very beginning of non-whitespace characters on a line, the
cursor will jump to that beginning (either forwards or backwards).
If the cursor is already at that position, it will jump to the true
beginning of the line.
'set softwrap'
Display lines that exceed the screen's width over multiple screen
lines. (You can make this soft-wrapping occur at whitespace
instead of rudely at the screen's edge, by using also 'set
atblanks'.)
'set speller "PROGRAM [ARGUMENT ...]"'
Use the given program to do spell checking and correcting. *Note
--speller:: for details.
'set spotlightcolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for highlighting a search match. The
default value is black,lightyellow. *Note set keycolor:: for valid
color names.
'set stateflags'
Use the top-right corner of the screen for showing some state
flags: 'I' when auto-indenting, 'M' when the mark is on, 'L' when
hard-wrapping (breaking long lines), 'R' when recording a macro,
and 'S' when soft-wrapping. When the buffer is modified, a star
('*') is shown after the filename in the center of the title bar.
'set statuscolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the status bar. *Note set
keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set stripecolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the vertical guiding stripe. *Note
set keycolor:: for valid color names.
'set suspendable'
Obsolete option; ignored. Suspension is enabled by default,
reachable via '^T^Z'. (If you want a plain '^Z' to suspend nano,
add 'bind ^Z suspend main' to your nanorc.)
'set tabsize NUMBER'
Use a tab size of NUMBER columns. The value of NUMBER must be
greater than 0. The default value is 8.
'set tabstospaces'
Convert each typed tab to spaces -- to the number of spaces that a
tab at that position would take up.
'set titlecolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR'
Use this color combination for the title bar. *Note set keycolor::
for valid color names.
'set trimblanks'
Remove trailing whitespace from wrapped lines when automatic
hard-wrapping occurs or when text is justified.
'set unix'
Save a file by default in Unix format. This overrides nano's
default behavior of saving a file in the format that it had. (This
option has no effect when you also use 'set noconvert'.)
'set whitespace "CHARACTERS"'
Set the two characters used to indicate the presence of tabs and
spaces. They must be single-column characters. The default pair
for a UTF-8 locale is ">>??", and for other locales ">.".
'set wordbounds'
Detect word boundaries differently by treating punctuation
characters as part of a word.
'set wordchars "CHARACTERS"'
Specify which other characters (besides the normal alphanumeric
ones) should be considered as parts of words. When using this
option, you probably want to unset 'wordbounds'.
'set zap'
Let an unmodified 'Backspace' or 'Delete' erase the marked region
(instead of a single character, and without affecting the
cutbuffer).
'set zero'
Hide all elements of the interface (title bar, status bar, and help
lines) and use all rows of the terminal for showing the contents of
the buffer. The status bar appears only when there is a
significant message, and disappears after 1.5 seconds or upon the
next keystroke. With 'M-Z' the title bar plus status bar can be
toggled. With 'M-X' the help lines.
File: nano.info, Node: Syntax Highlighting, Next: Rebinding Keys, Prev: Settings, Up: Nanorc Files
8.2 Syntax Highlighting
=======================
Coloring the different syntactic elements of a file is done via regular
expressions (see the 'color' command below). This is inherently
imperfect, because regular expressions are not powerful enough to fully
parse a file. Nevertheless, regular expressions can do a lot and are
easy to make, so they are a good fit for a small editor like 'nano'.
See '/usr/share/nano/' and '/usr/share/nano/extra/' for the
syntax-coloring definitions that are available out of the box.
All regular expressions in 'nano' are POSIX extended regular
expressions (ERE). This means that '.', '?', '*', '+', '^', '$', and
several other characters are special. The period '.' matches any single
character, '?' means the preceding item is optional, '*' means the
preceding item may be matched zero or more times, '+' means the
preceding item must be matched one or more times, '^' matches the
beginning of a line, and '$' the end, '\<' matches the start of a word,
and '\>' the end, and '\s' matches a blank. It also means that
lookahead and lookbehind are not possible. A complete explanation can
be found in the manual of GNU grep: 'info grep regular'.
A separate syntax can be defined for each kind of file via the
following commands in a nanorc file:
'syntax NAME ["FILEREGEX" ...]'
Start the definition of a syntax with this NAME. All subsequent
'color' and other such commands will be added to this syntax, until
a new 'syntax' command is encountered.
When 'nano' is run, this syntax will be automatically activated if
the current filename matches the extended regular expression
FILEREGEX. Or the syntax can be explicitly activated by using the
'-Y' or '--syntax' command-line option followed by the NAME.
The 'default' syntax is special: it takes no FILEREGEX, and applies
to files that don't match any syntax's regexes. The 'none' syntax
is reserved; specifying it on the command line is the same as not
having a syntax at all.
'header "REGEX" ...'
If from all defined syntaxes no FILEREGEX matched, then compare
this REGEX (or regexes) against the first line of the current file,
to determine whether this syntax should be used for it.
'magic "REGEX" ...'
If no FILEREGEX matched and no 'header' regex matched either, then
compare this REGEX (or regexes) against the result of querying the
'magic' database about the current file, to determine whether this
syntax should be used for it. (This functionality only works when
'libmagic' is installed on the system and will be silently ignored
otherwise.)
'formatter PROGRAM [ARGUMENT ...]'
Run the given PROGRAM on the full contents of the current buffer.
(The current buffer is written out to a temporary file, the program
is run on it, and then the temporary file is read back in,
replacing the contents of the buffer.)
'linter PROGRAM [ARGUMENT ...]'
Use the given PROGRAM to do a syntax check on the current buffer.
'comment "STRING"'
Use the given string for commenting and uncommenting lines. If the
string contains a vertical bar or pipe character (|), this
designates bracket-style comments; for example, "/*|*/" for CSS
files. The characters before the pipe are prepended to the line
and the characters after the pipe are appended at the end of the
line. If no pipe character is present, the full string is
prepended; for example, "#" for Python files. If empty double
quotes are specified, the comment/uncomment functions are disabled;
for example, "" for JSON. The default value is "#".
'tabgives "STRING"'
Make the <Tab> key produce the given STRING. Useful for languages
like Python that want to see only spaces for indentation. This
overrides the setting of the 'tabstospaces' option.
'color [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR "REGEX" ...'
Paint all pieces of text that match the extended regular expression
"regex" with the given foreground and background colors, at least
one of which must be specified. Valid color names are: 'red',
'green', 'blue', 'magenta', 'yellow', 'cyan', 'white', and 'black'.
Each of these eight names may be prefixed with the word 'light' to
get a brighter version of that color. The word 'grey' or 'gray'
may be used as a synonym for 'lightblack'.
On terminal emulators that can do at least 256 colors, other valid
(but unprefixable) color names are: 'pink', 'purple', 'mauve',
'lagoon', 'mint', 'lime', 'peach', 'orange', 'latte', 'rosy',
'beet', 'plum', 'sea', 'sky', 'slate', 'teal', 'sage', 'brown',
'ocher', 'sand', 'tawny', 'brick', 'crimson', and 'normal' -- where
'normal' means the default foreground or background color. On such
emulators, the color may also be specified as a three-digit
hexadecimal number prefixed with '#', with the digits representing
the amounts of red, green, and blue, respectively. This tells
'nano' to select from the available palette the color that
approximates the given values.
The color pair may be preceded by 'bold' and/or 'italic' (separated
by commas) to get a bold and/or slanting typeface, if your terminal
can do those.
All coloring commands are applied in the order in which they are
specified, which means that later commands can recolor stuff that
was colored earlier.
'icolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR "REGEX" ...'
Same as above, except that the matching is case insensitive.
'color [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR start="FROMRX" end="TORX"'
Paint all pieces of text whose start matches extended regular
expression "fromrx" and whose end matches extended regular
expression "torx" with the given foreground and background colors,
at least one of which must be specified. This means that, after an
initial instance of "fromrx", all text until the first instance of
"torx" will be colored. This allows syntax highlighting to span
multiple lines.
'icolor [bold,][italic,]FGCOLOR,BGCOLOR start="FROMRX" end="TORX"'
Same as above, except that the matching is case insensitive.
'include "SYNTAXFILE"'
Read in self-contained color syntaxes from "syntaxfile". Note that
"syntaxfile" may contain only the above commands, from 'syntax' to
'icolor'.
'extendsyntax NAME COMMAND ARGUMENT ...'
Extend the syntax previously defined as "NAME" with another
COMMAND. This allows you to add a new 'color', 'icolor', 'header',
'magic', 'formatter', 'linter', 'comment', or 'tabgives' command to
an already defined syntax -- useful when you want to slightly
improve a syntax defined in one of the system-installed files
(which normally are not writable).
File: nano.info, Node: Rebinding Keys, Prev: Syntax Highlighting, Up: Nanorc Files
8.3 Rebinding Keys
==================
Key bindings can be changed via the following three commands in a nanorc
file:
'bind key function menu'
Rebinds 'key' to 'function' in the context of 'menu' (or in all
menus where the function exists when 'all' is used).
'bind key "string" menu'
Makes 'key' produce 'string' in the context of 'menu' (or in all
menus where the key exists when 'all' is used). The 'string' can
consist of text or commands or a mix of them. (To enter a command
into the 'string', precede its keystroke with 'M-V'.)
'unbind key menu'
Unbinds 'key' from 'menu' (or from all menus where the key exists
when 'all' is used).
The format of 'key' should be one of:
'^X' ---- where X is a Latin letter, or one of several ASCII
characters (@, ], \, ^, _), or the word "Space". Example: '^C'.
'M-X' ---- where X is any ASCII character except [, or the word
"Space". Example: 'M-8'.
'Sh-M-X' ---- where X is a Latin letter. Example: 'Sh-M-U'. By
default, each Meta+letter keystroke does the same as the
corresponding Shift+Meta+letter. But when any Shift+Meta bind is
made, that will no longer be the case, for all letters.
'FN' ---- where N is a numeric value from 1 to 24. Example: 'F10'.
(Often, 'F13' to 'F24' can be typed as 'F1' to 'F12' with Shift.)
'Ins' or 'Del'.
Rebinding '^M' (Enter) or '^I' (Tab) is probably not a good idea.
Rebinding '^[' (Esc) is not possible, because its keycode is the starter
byte of Meta keystrokes and escape sequences. Rebinding any of the
dedicated cursor-moving keys (the arrows, Home, End, PageUp and
PageDown) is not possible. On some terminals it's not possible to
rebind '^H' (unless '--raw' is used) because its keycode is identical to
that of the Backspace key.
Valid names for the 'function' to be bound are:
'help'
Invokes the help viewer.
'cancel'
Cancels the current command.
'exit'
Exits from the program (or from the help viewer or file browser).
'writeout'
Writes the current buffer to disk, asking for a name.
'savefile'
Writes the current file to disk without prompting.
'insert'
Inserts a file into the current buffer (at the current cursor
position), or into a new buffer when option 'multibuffer' is set.
'whereis'
Starts a forward search for text in the current buffer -- or for
filenames matching a string in the current list in the file
browser.
'wherewas'
Starts a backward search for text in the current buffer -- or for
filenames matching a string in the current list in the file
browser.
'findprevious'
Searches the next occurrence in the backward direction.
'findnext'
Searches the next occurrence in the forward direction.
'replace'
Interactively replaces text within the current buffer.
'cut'
Cuts and stores the current line (or the marked region).
'copy'
Copies the current line (or the marked region) without deleting it.
'paste'
Pastes the currently stored text into the current buffer at the
current cursor position.
'zap'
Throws away the current line (or the marked region). (This
function is bound by default to 'Alt+Delete'.)
'chopwordleft'
Deletes from the cursor position to the beginning of the preceding
word. (This function is bound by default to 'Shift+Ctrl+Delete'.
If your terminal produces '^H' for 'Ctrl+Backspace', you can make
'Ctrl+Backspace' delete the word to the left of the cursor by
rebinding '^H' to this function.)
'chopwordright'
Deletes from the cursor position to the beginning of the next word.
(This function is bound by default to 'Ctrl+Delete'.)
'cutrestoffile'
Cuts all text from the cursor position till the end of the buffer.
'mark'
Sets the mark at the current position, to start selecting text.
Or, when it is set, unsets the mark.
'location'
Reports the current position of the cursor in the buffer: the line,
column, and character positions. (The old name of this function,
'curpos', is deprecated.)
'wordcount'
Counts and reports on the status bar the number of lines, words,
and characters in the current buffer (or in the marked region).
'execute'
Prompts for a program to execute. The program's output will be
inserted into the current buffer (or into a new buffer when 'M-F'
is toggled).
'speller'
Invokes a spell-checking program, either the default 'hunspell' or
GNU 'spell', or the one defined by '--speller' or 'set speller'.
'formatter'
Invokes a full-buffer-processing program (if the active syntax
defines one).
'linter'
Invokes a syntax-checking program (if the active syntax defines
one).
'justify'
Justifies the current paragraph (or the marked region). A
paragraph is a group of contiguous lines that, apart from possibly
the first line, all have the same indentation. The beginning of a
paragraph is detected by either this lone line with a differing
indentation or by a preceding blank line.
'fulljustify'
Justifies the entire current buffer (or the marked region).
'indent'
Indents (shifts to the right) the current line or the marked lines.
'unindent'
Unindents (shifts to the left) the current line or the marked
lines.
'comment'
Comments or uncomments the current line or the marked lines, using
the comment style specified in the active syntax.
'complete'
Completes (when possible) the fragment before the cursor to a full
word found elsewhere in the current buffer.
'left'
Goes left one position (in the editor or browser).
'right'
Goes right one position (in the editor or browser).
'up'
Goes one line up (in the editor or browser).
'down'
Goes one line down (in the editor or browser).
'scrollup'
Scrolls the viewport up one row (meaning that the text slides down)
while keeping the cursor in the same text position, if possible.
(This function is bound by default to 'Alt+Up'. If 'Alt+Up' does
nothing on your Linux console, see the FAQ:
<https://nano-editor.org/dist/latest/faq.html#4.1>.)
'scrolldown'
Scrolls the viewport down one row (meaning that the text slides up)
while keeping the cursor in the same text position, if possible.
(This function is bound by default to 'Alt+Down'.)
'center'
Scrolls the line with the cursor to the middle of the screen.
'prevword'
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
'nextword'
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
'home'
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
'end'
Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.
'beginpara'
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current paragraph.
'endpara'
Moves the cursor to the end of the current paragraph.
'prevblock'
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current or preceding block
of text. (Blocks are separated by one or more blank lines.)
'nextblock'
Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next block of text.
'pageup'
Goes up one screenful.
'pagedown'
Goes down one screenful.
'firstline'
Goes to the first line of the file.
'lastline'
Goes to the last line of the file.
'gotoline'
Goes to a specific line (and column if specified). Negative
numbers count from the end of the file (and end of the line).
'findbracket'
Moves the cursor to the bracket (or brace or parenthesis, etc.)
that matches (pairs) with the one under the cursor. *Note set
matchbrackets::.
'anchor'
Places an anchor at the current line, or removes it when already
present. (An anchor is visible when line numbers are activated.)
'prevanchor'
Goes to the first anchor before the current line.
'nextanchor'
Goes to the first anchor after the current line.
'prevbuf'
Switches to editing/viewing the previous buffer when multiple
buffers are open.
'nextbuf'
Switches to editing/viewing the next buffer when multiple buffers
are open.
'verbatim'
Inserts the next keystroke verbatim into the file.
'tab'
Inserts a tab at the current cursor location.
'enter'
Inserts a new line below the current one.
'delete'
Deletes the character under the cursor.
'backspace'
Deletes the character before the cursor.
'recordmacro'
Starts the recording of keystrokes -- the keystrokes are stored as a
macro. When already recording, the recording is stopped.
'runmacro'
Replays the keystrokes of the last recorded macro.
'undo'
Undoes the last performed text action (add text, delete text, etc).
'redo'
Redoes the last undone action (i.e., it undoes an undo).
'refresh'
Refreshes the screen.
'suspend'
Suspends the editor and returns control to the shell (until you
tell the process to resume execution with 'fg').
'casesens'
Toggles whether searching/replacing ignores or respects the case of
the given characters.
'regexp'
Toggles whether searching/replacing uses literal strings or regular
expressions.
'backwards'
Toggles whether searching/replacing goes forward or backward.
'older'
Retrieves the previous (earlier) entry at a prompt.
'newer'
Retrieves the next (later) entry at a prompt.
'flipreplace'
Toggles between searching for something and replacing something.
'flipgoto'
Toggles between searching for text and targeting a line number.
'flipexecute'
Toggles between inserting a file and executing a command.
'flippipe'
When executing a command, toggles whether the current buffer (or
marked region) is piped to the command.
'flipnewbuffer'
Toggles between inserting into the current buffer and into a new
empty buffer.
'flipconvert'
When reading in a file, toggles between converting and not
converting it from DOS/Mac format. Converting is the default.
'dosformat'
When writing a file, switches to writing a DOS format (CR/LF).
'macformat'
When writing a file, switches to writing a Mac format.
'append'
When writing a file, appends to the end instead of overwriting.
'prepend'
When writing a file, 'prepends' (writes at the beginning) instead
of overwriting.
'backup'
When writing a file, creates a backup of the current file.
'discardbuffer'
When about to write a file, discard the current buffer without
saving. (This function is bound by default only when option
'--saveonexit' is in effect.)
'browser'
Starts the file browser (in the Read File and Write Out menus),
allowing to select a file from a list.
'gotodir'
Goes to a directory to be specified, allowing to browse anywhere in
the filesystem.
'firstfile'
Goes to the first file in the list when using the file browser.
'lastfile'
Goes to the last file in the list when using the file browser.
'nohelp'
Toggles the presence of the two-line list of key bindings at the
bottom of the screen. (This toggle is special: it is available in
all menus except the help viewer and the linter. All further
toggles are available in the main menu only.)
'zero'
Toggles the presence of title bar and status bar.
'constantshow'
Toggles the constant display of the current line, column, and
character positions.
'softwrap'
Toggles the displaying of overlong lines on multiple screen lines.
'linenumbers'
Toggles the display of line numbers in front of the text.
'whitespacedisplay'
Toggles the showing of whitespace.
'nosyntax'
Toggles syntax highlighting.
'smarthome'
Toggles the smartness of the Home key.
'autoindent'
Toggles whether a newly created line will contain the same amount
of leading whitespace as the preceding line -- or as the next line
if the preceding line is the beginning of a paragraph.
'cutfromcursor'
Toggles whether cutting text will cut the whole line or just from
the current cursor position to the end of the line.
'breaklonglines'
Toggles whether long lines will be hard-wrapped to the next line.
(The old name of this function, 'nowrap', is deprecated.)
'tabstospaces'
Toggles whether typed tabs will be converted to spaces.
'mouse'
Toggles mouse support.
Valid names for 'menu' are:
'main'
The main editor window where text is entered and edited.
'help'
The help-viewer menu.
'search'
The search menu (AKA whereis).
'replace'
The 'search to replace' menu.
'replacewith'
The 'replace with' menu, which comes up after 'search to replace'.
'yesno'
The 'yesno' menu, where the Yes/No/All/Cancel question is asked.
'gotoline'
The 'goto line (and column)' menu.
'writeout'
The 'write file' menu.
'insert'
The 'insert file' menu.
'browser'
The 'file browser' menu, for selecting a file to be opened or
inserted or written to.
'whereisfile'
The 'search for a file' menu in the file browser.
'gotodir'
The 'go to directory' menu in the file browser.
'execute'
The menu for inserting the output from an external command, or for
filtering the buffer (or the marked region) through an external
command, or for executing one of several tools. (The old form of
this menu name, 'extcmd', is deprecated.)
'spell'
The menu of the integrated spell checker where the user can edit a
misspelled word.
'linter'
The linter menu, which allows jumping through the linting messages.
'all'
A special name that encompasses all menus. For 'bind' it means all
menus where the specified 'function' exists; for 'unbind' it means
all menus where the specified 'key' exists.
File: nano.info, Node: Pico Compatibility, Next: Building and its Options, Prev: Nanorc Files, Up: Top
9 Pico Compatibility
********************
'nano' emulates Pico quite closely, but there are some differences
between the two editors:
'Hard-Wrapping'
Unlike Pico, 'nano' does not automatically hard-wrap the current
line when it becomes overlong during typing. This hard-wrapping
can be switched on with the '--breaklonglines' option. With that
option, 'nano' by default breaks lines at screen width minus eight
columns, whereas Pico does it at screen width minus six columns.
You can make 'nano' do as Pico by using '--fill=-6'.
'Scrolling'
By default, 'nano' will scroll just one line (instead of half a
screen) when the cursor is moved to a line that is just out of
view. And when paging up or down, 'nano' keeps the cursor in the
same screen position as much as possible, instead of always placing
it on the first line of the viewport. The Pico-like behavior can
be obtained with the '--jumpyscrolling' option.
'Edit Area'
Pico never uses the line directly below the title bar, leaving it
always blank. 'nano' includes this line in the editing area, in
order to not waste space, and because in this way it is slightly
clearer where the text starts. If you are accustomed to this line
being empty, you can get it back with the '--emptyline' option.
'Interactive Replace'
Instead of allowing you to replace either just one occurrence of a
search string or all of them, 'nano''s replace function is
interactive: it will pause at each found search string and query
whether to replace this instance. You can then choose Yes, or No
(skip this one), or All (don't ask any more), or Cancel (stop with
replacing).
'Search and Replace History'
When the option '-H' or '--historylog' is given (or set in a nanorc
file), text entered as search or replace strings is stored. These
strings can be accessed with the up/down arrow keys at their
respective prompts, or you can type the first few characters and
then use 'Tab' to cycle through the matching strings. A retrieved
string can subsequently be edited.
'Position History'
When the option '-P' or '--positionlog' is given (or set in a
nanorc file), 'nano' will store the position of the cursor when you
close a file, and will place the cursor in that position again when
you later reopen the file.
'Current Cursor Position'
The output of the "Display Cursor Position" command ('^C') displays
not only the current line and character position of the cursor, but
also (between the two) the current column position.
'Spell Checking'
In the internal spell checker misspelled words are sorted
alphabetically and trimmed for uniqueness, such that the words
'apple' and 'Apple' will be prompted for correction separately.
'Writing Selected Text to Files'
When using the Write-Out key ('^O'), text that has been selected
using the marking key ('^^') can not just be written out to a new
(or existing) file, it can also be appended or prepended to an
existing file.
'Reading Text from a Command'
When using the Read-File key ('^R'), 'nano' can not just read a
file, it can also read the output of a command to be run ('^X').
'Reading from Working Directory'
By default, Pico will read files from the user's home directory
(when using '^R'), but it will write files to the current working
directory (when using '^O'). 'nano' makes this symmetrical: always
reading from and writing to the current working directory -- the
directory that 'nano' was started in.
'File Browser'
In the file browser, 'nano' does not implement the Add, Copy,
Rename, and Delete commands that Pico provides. In 'nano' the
browser is just a file browser, not a file manager.
'Toggles'
Many options which alter the functionality of the program can be
"toggled" on or off using Meta key sequences, meaning the program
does not have to be restarted to turn a particular feature on or
off. *Note Feature Toggles:: for a list of options that can be
toggled. Or see the list at the end of the main internal help text
('^G') instead.
File: nano.info, Node: Building and its Options, Prev: Pico Compatibility, Up: Top
10 Building and its Options
***************************
Building 'nano' from source is straightforward if you are familiar with
compiling programs with autoconf support:
tar -xf nano-x.y.tar.gz
cd nano-x.y
./configure
make
make install
The possible options to './configure' are:
'--disable-browser'
Exclude the file browser that can be called with '^T' when wanting
to read or write a file.
'--disable-color'
Exclude support for syntax coloring. This also eliminates the '-Y'
command-line option, which allows choosing a specific syntax.
'--disable-comment'
Exclude the single-keystroke comment/uncomment function ('M-3').
'--disable-extra'
Exclude the Easter egg: a crawl of major contributors.
'--disable-help'
Exclude the help texts ('^G'). This makes the binary much smaller,
but also makes it difficult for new users to learn more than very
basic things about using the editor.
'--disable-histories'
Exclude the code for handling the history files: the search and
replace strings that were used, the commands that were executed,
and the cursor position at which each file was closed. This also
eliminates the '-H' and '-P' command-line options, which switch on
the storing of search/replace strings, executed commands, and
cursor positions.
'--disable-justify'
Exclude the text-justification functions ('^J' and 'M-J').
'--disable-libmagic'
Exclude the code for using the library of magic-number tests (for
determining the file type and thus which syntax to use for coloring
-- in most cases the regexes for filename and header line will be
enough).
'--disable-linenumbers'
Exclude the ability to show line numbers. This also eliminates the
'-l' command-line option, which turns line numbering on.
'--disable-mouse'
Exclude all mouse functionality. This also eliminates the '-m'
command-line option, which enables the mouse functionality.
'--disable-multibuffer'
Exclude support for opening multiple files at a time and switching
between them. This also eliminates the '-F' command-line option,
which causes a file to be read into a separate buffer by default.
'--disable-nanorc'
Exclude support for reading the nanorc files at startup. With such
support, you can store custom settings in a system-wide and a
per-user nanorc file rather than having to pass command-line
options to get the desired behavior. *Note Nanorc Files:: for more
info. Disabling this also eliminates the '-I' command-line option,
which inhibits the reading of nanorc files.
'--disable-operatingdir'
Exclude the code for setting an operating directory. This also
eliminates the '-o' command-line option, which sets the operating
directory.
'--disable-speller'
Exclude the code for spell checking. This also eliminates the '-s'
command-line option, which allows specifying an alternate spell
checker.
'--disable-tabcomp'
Exclude tab completion (when nano asks for a filename or search
string or replace string or command to execute).
'--disable-wordcomp'
Exclude word completion ('^]').
'--disable-wrapping'
Exclude all hard-wrapping of overlong lines. This also eliminates
the '-b' and '-w' command-line options, which switch automatic
long-line wrapping on and off, respectively.
'--enable-tiny'
This option implies all of the above. It also disables some other
internals of the editor, like the function toggles, the marking of
text, the undo/redo code, line anchors, the recording and playback
of a macro, softwrapping, and the cut-to-end-of-line code. These
things stay disabled also when using the enabling counterpart of
the above options together with '--enable-tiny' to switch specific
features back on.
'--enable-debug'
Include some code for runtime debugging output. This can get
messy, so chances are you only want this feature when you're
working on the nano source.
'--disable-nls'
Exclude Native Language support. This will disable the use of any
available GNU 'nano' translations.
'--enable-utf8'
Include support for handling and displaying Unicode files. This
requires a "wide" version of the curses library.
'--disable-utf8'
Exclude support for handling and displaying Unicode files.
Normally the configure script auto-detects whether to enable UTF-8
support or not. You can use this or the previous option to
override that detection.
'--enable-altrcname=NAME'
Use the file with the given NAME (in the user's home directory) as
nano's settings file, instead of the default '.nanorc'.
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