424 lines
18 KiB
Groff
424 lines
18 KiB
Groff
.\" Copyright (C) 1999-2011, 2013-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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.\"
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.\" This document is dual-licensed. You may distribute and/or modify it
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.\" under the terms of either of the following licenses:
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.\"
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.\" * The GNU General Public License, as published by the Free Software
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.\" Foundation, version 3 or (at your option) any later version. You
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.\" should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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.\" along with this program. If not, see
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.\" <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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.\"
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.\" * The GNU Free Documentation License, as published by the Free
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.\" Software Foundation, version 1.2 or (at your option) any later
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.\" version, with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no
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.\" Back-Cover Texts. You should have received a copy of the GNU Free
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.\" Documentation License along with this program. If not, see
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.\" <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
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.\"
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.TH NANO 1 "version 5.4" "December 2020"
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.SH NAME
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nano \- Nano's ANOther editor, inspired by Pico
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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.B nano
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.RI [ options "] [[\fB+" line [\fB, column "]] " file ]...
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.sp
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.BR nano " [" \fIoptions "] [[" + [ crCR ]( / | ? ) \fIstring "] " \fIfile ]...
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.SH NOTICE
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Since version 4.0, \fBnano\fR by default:
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.sp
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.RS 4
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\(bu does not automatically hard-wrap lines that become overlong,
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.br
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\(bu includes the line below the title bar in the editing area,
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.br
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\(bu does linewise (smooth) scrolling.
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.RE
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.sp
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If you want the old, Pico behavior back, you can use \fB\-\-breaklonglines\fR,
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\fB\-\-emptyline\fR, and \fB\-\-jumpyscrolling\fR (or \fB\-bej\fR for short).
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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\fBnano\fP is a small and friendly editor. It copies the look and feel
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of Pico, but is free software, and implements several features that Pico
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lacks, such as: opening multiple files, scrolling per line, undo/redo,
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syntax coloring, line numbering, and soft-wrapping overlong lines.
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.sp
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When giving a filename on the command line, the cursor can be put on a
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specific line by adding the line number with a plus sign (\fB+\fR) before
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the filename, and even in a specific column by adding it with a comma.
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(Negative numbers count from the end of the file or line.)
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The cursor can be put on the first or last occurrence of a specific string
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by specifying that string after \fB+/\fR or \fB+?\fR before the filename.
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The string can be made case sensitive and/or caused to be interpreted as a
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regular expression by inserting \fBc\fR and/or \fBr\fR after the \fB+\fR sign.
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These search modes can be explicitly disabled by using the uppercase variant
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of those letters: \fBC\fR and/or \fBR\fR. When the string contains spaces,
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it needs to be enclosed in quotes. To give an example: to open a file at
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the first occurrence of the word "Foo", one would do:
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.sp
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.RS 4
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.BI "nano +c/Foo " file
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.RE
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.sp
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As a special case: if instead of a filename a dash (\fB\-\fR) is given,
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\fBnano\fR will read data from standard input.
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.SH EDITING
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Entering text and moving around in a file is straightforward: typing the
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letters and using the normal cursor movement keys. Commands are entered
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by using the Control (^) and the Alt or Meta (M\-) keys.
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Typing \fB^K\fR deletes the current line and puts it in the cutbuffer.
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Consecutive \fB^K\fRs will put all deleted lines together in the cutbuffer.
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Any cursor movement or executing any other command will cause the next
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\fB^K\fR to overwrite the cutbuffer. A \fB^U\fR will paste the current
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contents of the cutbuffer at the current cursor position.
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.sp
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When a more precise piece of text needs to be cut or copied, one can mark
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its start with \fB^6\fR, move the cursor to its end (the marked text will be
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highlighted), and then use \fB^K\fR to cut it, or \fBM\-6\fR to copy it to the
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cutbuffer. One can also save the marked text to a file with \fB^O\fR, or
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spell check it with \fB^T\fR.
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.sp
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On some terminals, text can be selected also by holding down Shift while
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using the arrow keys. Holding down the Ctrl or Alt key too will increase
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the stride.
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Any cursor movement without Shift being held will cancel such a selection.
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.sp
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The two lines at the bottom of the screen show some important commands;
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the built-in help (\fB^G\fR) lists all the available ones.
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The default key bindings can be changed via a \fInanorc\fR file -- see
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.BR nanorc (5).
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.BR \-A ", " \-\-smarthome
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Make the Home key smarter. When Home is pressed anywhere but at the
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very beginning of non-whitespace characters on a line, the cursor will
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jump to that beginning (either forwards or backwards). If the cursor is
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already at that position, it will jump to the true beginning of the
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line.
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.TP
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.BR \-B ", " \-\-backup
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When saving a file, back up the previous version of it, using the current
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filename suffixed with a tilde (\fB~\fP).
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.TP
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.BR \-C\ \fIdirectory ", " \-\-backupdir= \fIdirectory
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Make and keep not just one backup file, but make and keep a uniquely
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numbered one every time a file is saved -- when backups are enabled (\fB\-B\fR).
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The uniquely numbered files are stored in the specified \fIdirectory\fR.
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.TP
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.BR \-D ", " \-\-boldtext
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For the interface, use bold instead of reverse video. This will be overridden
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by setting the options \fBtitlecolor\fP, \fBstatuscolor\fP, \fBkeycolor\fP,
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\fBfunctioncolor\fP, \fBnumbercolor\fP, and/or \fBselectedcolor\fP in your
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nanorc file. See \fBnanorc\fR(5).
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.TP
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.BR \-E ", " \-\-tabstospaces
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Convert typed tabs to spaces.
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.TP
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.BR \-F ", " \-\-multibuffer
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Read a file into a new buffer by default.
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.TP
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.BR \-G ", " \-\-locking
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Use vim-style file locking when editing files.
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.TP
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.BR \-H ", " \-\-historylog
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Save the last hundred search strings and replacement strings and
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executed commands, so they can be easily reused in later sessions.
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.TP
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.BR \-I ", " \-\-ignorercfiles
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Don't look at the system's \fInanorc\fR nor at the user's \fInanorc\fR.
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.TP
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.BR \-J\ \fInumber ", " \-\-guidestripe= \fInumber
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Draw a vertical stripe at the given column, to help judge the width of the
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text. (The color of the stripe can be changed with \fBset stripecolor\fR
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in your \fInanorc\fR file.)
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.TP
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.BR \-K ", " \-\-rawsequences
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Interpret escape sequences directly (instead of asking \fBncurses\fR to
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translate them). If you need this option to get your keyboard to work
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properly, please report a bug. Using this option disables \fBnano\fR's
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mouse support.
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.TP
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.BR \-L ", " \-\-nonewlines
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Don't automatically add a newline when a text does not end with one.
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(This can cause you to save non-POSIX text files.)
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.TP
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.BR \-M ", " \-\-trimblanks
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Snip trailing whitespace from the wrapped line when automatic
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hard-wrapping occurs or when text is justified.
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.TP
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.BR \-N ", " \-\-noconvert
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Disable automatic conversion of files from DOS/Mac format.
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.TP
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.BR \-O ", " \-\-bookstyle
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When justifying, treat any line that starts with whitespace as the
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beginning of a paragraph (unless auto-indenting is on).
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.TP
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.BR \-P ", " \-\-positionlog
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For the 200 most recent files, log the last position of the cursor,
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and place it at that position again upon reopening such a file.
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.TP
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.BR "\-Q ""\fIregex\fB""" ", " "\-\-quotestr=""" \fIregex """
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Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line.
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The default value is "\fB^([\ \\t]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+\fR".
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(Note that \fB\\t\fP stands for an actual Tab.)
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This makes it possible to rejustify blocks of quoted text when composing
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email, and to rewrap blocks of line comments when writing source code.
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.TP
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.BR \-R ", " \-\-restricted
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Restricted mode: don't read or write to any file not specified on the
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command line. This means: don't read or write history files;
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don't allow suspending; don't allow spell checking;
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don't allow a file to be appended to, prepended to, or saved under a
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different name if it already has one; and don't make backup files.
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Restricted mode can also be activated by invoking \fBnano\fP
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with any name beginning with 'r' (e.g. "rnano").
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.TP
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.BR \-S ", " \-\-softwrap
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Display over multiple screen rows lines that exceed the screen's width.
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(You can make this soft-wrapping occur at whitespace instead of rudely at
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the screen's edge, by using also \fB\-\-atblanks\fR.)
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(The old short option, \fB\-$\fR, is deprecated.)
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.TP
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.BR \-T\ \fInumber ", " \-\-tabsize= \fInumber
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Set the size (width) of a tab to \fInumber\fP columns. The value of
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\fInumber\fR must be greater than 0. The default value is \fB8\fR.
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.TP
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.BR \-U ", " \-\-quickblank
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Do quick status-bar blanking: status-bar messages will disappear after 1
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keystroke instead of 25. Note that option \fB\-c\fR (\fB\-\-constantshow\fR)
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overrides this.
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.TP
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.BR \-V ", " \-\-version
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Show the current version number and exit.
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.TP
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.BR \-W ", " \-\-wordbounds
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Detect word boundaries differently by treating punctuation
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characters as part of a word.
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.TP
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.BR "\-X ""\fIcharacters\fB""" ", " "\-\-wordchars=""" \fIcharacters """
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Specify which other characters (besides the normal alphanumeric ones)
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should be considered as part of a word. When using this option, you
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probably want to omit \fB\-W\fR (\fB\-\-wordbounds\fR).
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.TP
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.BR \-Y\ \fIname ", " \-\-syntax= \fIname
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Specify the name of the syntax highlighting to use from among the ones
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defined in the \fInanorc\fP files.
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.TP
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.BR \-Z ", " \-\-zap
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Let an unmodified Backspace or Delete erase the marked region
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(instead of a single character, and without affecting the cutbuffer).
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.TP
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.BR \-a ", " \-\-atblanks
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When doing soft line wrapping, wrap lines at whitespace
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instead of always at the edge of the screen.
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.TP
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.BR \-b ", " \-\-breaklonglines
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Automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong.
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(This option is the opposite of \fB\-w\fR (\fB\-\-nowrap\fR) --
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the last one given takes effect.)
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.TP
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.BR \-c ", " \-\-constantshow
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Constantly show the cursor position on the status bar.
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Note that this overrides option \fB\-U\fR (\fB\-\-quickblank\fR).
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.TP
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.BR \-d ", " \-\-rebinddelete
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Interpret the Delete and Backspace keys differently so that both Backspace
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and Delete work properly. You should only use this option when on your
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system either Backspace acts like Delete or Delete acts like Backspace.
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.TP
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.BR \-e ", " \-\-emptyline
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Do not use the line below the title bar, leaving it entirely blank.
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.TP
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.BR \-f\ \fIfile ", " \-\-rcfile= \fIfile
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Read only this \fIfile\fR for setting nano's options, instead of reading
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both the system-wide and the user's nanorc files.
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.TP
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.BR \-g ", " \-\-showcursor
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Make the cursor visible in the file browser (putting it on the
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highlighted item) and in the help viewer. Useful for braille users
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and people with poor vision.
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.TP
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.BR \-h ", " \-\-help
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Show a summary of the available command-line options and exit.
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.TP
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.BR \-i ", " \-\-autoindent
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Automatically indent a newly created line to the same number of tabs
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and/or spaces as the previous line (or as the next line if the previous
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line is the beginning of a paragraph).
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.TP
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.BR \-j ", " \-\-jumpyscrolling
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Scroll the buffer contents per half-screen instead of per line.
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.TP
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.BR \-k ", " \-\-cutfromcursor
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Make the 'Cut Text' command (normally \fB^K\fR) cut from the current cursor
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position to the end of the line, instead of cutting the entire line.
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.TP
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.BR \-l ", " \-\-linenumbers
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Display line numbers to the left of the text area.
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(Any line with an anchor additionally gets a mark in the margin.)
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.TP
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.BR \-m ", " \-\-mouse
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Enable mouse support, if available for your system. When enabled, mouse
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clicks can be used to place the cursor, set the mark (with a double
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click), and execute shortcuts. The mouse will work in the X Window
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System, and on the console when gpm is running. Text can still be
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selected through dragging by holding down the Shift key.
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.TP
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.BR \-n ", " \-\-noread
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Treat any name given on the command line as a new file. This allows
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\fBnano\fR to write to named pipes: it will start with a blank buffer,
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and will write to the pipe when the user saves the "file". This way
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\fBnano\fR can be used as an editor in combination with for instance
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\fBgpg\fR without having to write sensitive data to disk first.
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.TP
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.BR \-o\ \fIdirectory ", " \-\-operatingdir= \fIdirectory
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Set the operating directory. This makes \fBnano\fP set up something
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similar to a chroot.
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.TP
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.BR \-p ", " \-\-preserve
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Preserve the XON and XOFF sequences (\fB^Q\fR and \fB^S\fR) so they
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will be caught by the terminal.
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.TP
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.BR \-q ", " \-\-indicator
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Display a "scrollbar" on the righthand side of the edit window.
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It shows the position of the viewport in the buffer
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and how much of the buffer is covered by the viewport.
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.TP
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.BR \-r\ \fInumber ", " \-\-fill= \fInumber
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Set the target width for justifying and automatic hard-wrapping at this
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\fInumber\fR of columns. If the value is 0 or less, wrapping will occur
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at the width of the screen minus \fInumber\fR columns, allowing the wrap
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point to vary along with the width of the screen if the screen is resized.
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The default value is \fB\-8\fR.
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.TP
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.B "\-s ""\fIprogram\fR [\fIargument \fR...]\fB""\fR, \fB\-\-speller=""\fIprogram\fR [\fIargument \fR...]\fB"""
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Use this command to perform spell checking and correcting, instead of
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using the built-in corrector that calls \fBhunspell\fR(1) or \fBspell\fR(1).
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.TP
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.BR \-t ", " \-\-saveonexit
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Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with \fB^X\fR).
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(The old form of the long option, \fB\-\-tempfile\fR, is deprecated.)
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.TP
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.BR \-u ", " \-\-unix
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Save a file by default in Unix format. This overrides nano's
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default behavior of saving a file in the format that it had.
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(This option has no effect when you also use \fB\-\-noconvert\fR.)
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.TP
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.BR \-v ", " \-\-view
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Just view the file and disallow editing: read-only mode.
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This mode allows the user to open also other files for viewing,
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unless \fB\-\-restricted\fR is given too.
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.TP
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.BR \-w ", " \-\-nowrap
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Do not automatically hard-wrap the current line when it becomes overlong.
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This is the default. (This option is the opposite of \fB\-b\fR
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(\fB\-\-breaklonglines\fR) -- the last one given takes effect.)
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.TP
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.BR \-x ", " \-\-nohelp
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Don't show the two help lines at the bottom of the screen.
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.TP
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.BR \-y ", " \-\-afterends
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Make Ctrl+Right and Ctrl+Delete stop at word ends instead of beginnings.
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.TP
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.BR \-z ", " \-\-suspendable
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Allow the user to suspend the editor (with \fB^Z\fR by default).
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.TP
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.BR \-% ", " \-\-stateflags
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Use the top-right corner of the screen for showing some state flags:
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\fBI\fR when auto-indenting, \fBM\fR when the mark is on, \fBL\fR when
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hard-wrapping (breaking long lines), \fBR\fR when recording a macro,
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and \fBS\fR when soft-wrapping.
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When the buffer is modified, a star (\fB*\fR) is shown after the
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filename in the center of the title bar.
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.TP
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.BR \-^ ", " \-\-markmatch
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After a search, set the mark at the end of the found match
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(if there is any) so that it gets highlighted. This makes
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the match more visible, but also allows deleting the match
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with a single keystroke.
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.TP
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.BR \-_ ", " \-\-minibar
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Suppress the title bar and instead show information about
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the current buffer at the bottom of the screen, in the space
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for the status bar. In this "minibar" the file name is shown
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on the left, followed by an asterisk if the buffer has been modified.
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On the right are displayed the current line and column number, the
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code of the character under the cursor (in Unicode format: U+xxxx),
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the same flags as are shown by \fB\-\-stateflags\fR, and a percentage
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that expresses how far the cursor is into the file (linewise).
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When a file is loaded or saved, and also when switching between buffers,
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the number of lines in the buffer is displayed after the file name.
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This number is cleared upon the next keystroke, or replaced with an
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[i/n] counter when multiple buffers are open.
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.TP
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.BR \-! ", " \-\-magic
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When neither the file's name nor its first line give a clue,
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try using libmagic to determine the applicable syntax.
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.SH TOGGLES
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Several of the above options can be switched on and off also while
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\fBnano\fR is running. For example, \fBM\-L\fR toggles the
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hard-wrapping of long lines, \fBM\-S\fR toggles soft-wrapping,
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\fBM\-N\fR toggles line numbers, \fBM\-M\fR toggles the mouse,
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\fBM\-I\fR auto-indentation, and \fBM\-X\fR the help lines.
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See at the end of the \fB^G\fR help text for a complete list.
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.sp
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The \fBM\-X\fR toggle is special: it works in all menus except
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the help viewer and the linter. All other toggles work in
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the main menu only.
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.SH FILES
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When \fB\-\-rcfile\fR is given, \fBnano\fR will read just the specified file
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for setting its options and syntaxes and key bindings. Without that option,
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\fBnano\fR will read two configuration files: first the system's
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\fInanorc\fR (if it exists), and then the user's \fInanorc\fR (if it
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exists), either \fI~/.nanorc\fR or \fI$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nano/nanorc\fR
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or \fI~/.config/nano/nanorc\fR, whichever is encountered first. See
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.BR nanorc (5)
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for more information on the possible contents of those files.
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.sp
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See \fI/usr/share/nano/\fR and \fI/usr/share/nano/extra/\fR
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for available syntax-coloring definitions.
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.SH NOTES
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If no alternative spell checker command is specified on the command
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line nor in one of the \fInanorc\fP files, \fBnano\fP will check the
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\fBSPELL\fP environment variable for one.
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.sp
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In some cases \fBnano\fP will try to dump the buffer into an emergency
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file. This will happen mainly if \fBnano\fP receives a SIGHUP or
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SIGTERM or runs out of memory. It will write the buffer into a file
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named \fInano.save\fP if the buffer didn't have a name already, or will
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add a ".save" suffix to the current filename. If an emergency file with
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that name already exists in the current directory, it will add ".save"
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plus a number (e.g.\& ".save.1") to the current filename in order to make
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it unique. In multibuffer mode, \fBnano\fP will write all the open
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buffers to their respective emergency files.
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.SH BUGS
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|
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.
|
|
.sp
|
|
Please report any other bugs that you encounter via:
|
|
.br
|
|
.IR https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=nano .
|
|
.sp
|
|
When nano crashes, it will save any modified buffers to emergency .save files.
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|
If you are able to reproduce the crash and you want to get a backtrace, define
|
|
the environment variable \fBNANO_NOCATCH\fR.
|
|
|
|
.SH HOMEPAGE
|
|
.I https://nano\-editor.org/
|
|
|
|
.SH SEE ALSO
|
|
.BR nanorc (5)
|
|
.sp
|
|
\fI/usr/share/doc/nano/\fP (or equivalent on your system)
|