Provided by: nano_2.2.6-1ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
nano - Nano's ANOther editor, an enhanced free Pico clone
SYNOPSIS
nano [OPTIONS] [[+LINE,COLUMN] FILE]...
DESCRIPTION
This manual page briefly documents the nano command.
nano is a small, free and friendly editor which aims to replace Pico, the default editor
included in the non-free Pine package. Rather than just copying Pico's look and feel,
nano also implements some missing (or disabled by default) features in Pico, such as
"search and replace" and "go to line and column number".
OPTIONS
+LINE,COLUMN
Places cursor at line number LINE and column number COLUMN (at least one of which
must be specified) on startup, instead of the default of line 1, column 1.
-? Same as -h (--help).
-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 to the current filename
suffixed with a ~.
-C dir (--backupdir=dir)
Set the directory where nano puts unique backup files if file backups are enabled.
-D (--boldtext)
Use bold text instead of reverse video text.
-E (--tabstospaces)
Convert typed tabs to spaces.
-F (--multibuffer)
Enable multiple file buffers, if available.
-H (--historylog)
Log search and replace strings to ~/.nano_history, so they can be retrieved in
later sessions, if nanorc support is available.
-I (--ignorercfiles)
Don't look at SYSCONFDIR/nanorc or ~/.nanorc, if nanorc support is available.
-K (--rebindkeypad)
Interpret the numeric keypad keys so that they all work properly. You should only
need to use this option if they don't, as mouse support won't work properly with
this option enabled.
-L (--nonewlines)
Don't add newlines to the ends of files.
-N (--noconvert)
Disable automatic conversion of files from DOS/Mac format.
-O (--morespace)
Use the blank line below the titlebar as extra editing space.
-Q str (--quotestr=str)
Set the quoting string for justifying. The default is "^([ \t]*[#:>\|}])+" if
extended regular expression support is available, or "> " otherwise. Note that \t
stands for a Tab.
-R (--restricted)
Restricted mode: don't read or write to any file not specified on the command line;
read any nanorc files; allow suspending; allow a file to be appended to, prepended
to, or saved under a different name if it already has one; or use backup files or
spell checking. Also accessible by invoking nano with any name beginning with 'r'
(e.g. "rnano").
-S (--smooth)
Enable smooth scrolling. Text will scroll line-by-line, instead of the usual
chunk-by-chunk behavior.
-T cols (--tabsize=cols)
Set the size (width) of a tab to cols columns. The value of cols must be greater
than 0. The default value is 8.
-U (--quickblank)
Do quick statusbar blanking. Statusbar messages will disappear after 1 keystroke
instead of 25. Note that -c overrides this.
-V (--version)
Show the current version number and exit.
-W (--wordbounds)
Detect word boundaries more accurately by treating punctuation characters as part
of a word.
-Y str (--syntax=str)
Specify a specific syntax highlighting from the nanorc to use, if available.
-c (--const)
Constantly show the cursor position. Note that this overrides -U.
-d (--rebinddelete)
Interpret the Delete key differently so that both Backspace and Delete work
properly. You should only need to use this option if Backspace acts like Delete on
your system.
-h (--help)
Show a summary of command line options and exit.
-i (--autoindent)
Indent new lines to the previous line's indentation. Useful when editing source
code.
-k (--cut)
Enable cut from cursor to end of line.
-l (--nofollow)
If the file being edited is a symbolic link, replace the link with a new file
instead of following it. Good for editing files in /tmp, perhaps?
-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.
-o dir (--operatingdir=dir)
Set operating directory. Makes nano set up something similar to a chroot.
-p (--preserve)
Preserve the XON and XOFF sequences (^Q and ^S) so they will be caught by the
terminal.
-q (--quiet)
Do not report errors in the nanorc file and ask them to be acknowledged by pressing
Enter at startup.
-r cols (--fill=cols)
Wrap lines at column cols. If this value is 0 or less, wrapping will occur at the
width of the screen less cols 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 prog (--speller=prog)
Enable alternative spell checker command.
-t (--tempfile)
Always save changed buffer without prompting. Same as Pico's -t option.
-u (--undo)
Enable experimental generic-purpose undo code. By default, the undo and redo
shortcuts are Meta-U and Meta-E, respectively.
-v (--view)
View file (read only) mode.
-w (--nowrap)
Disable wrapping of long lines.
-x (--nohelp)
Disable help screen at bottom of editor.
-z (--suspend)
Enable suspend ability.
-$ (--softwrap)
Enable 'soft wrapping'. nano will attempt to display the entire contents of a
line, even if it is longer than the screen width. Since '$' normally refers to a
variable in the Unix shell, you should specify this option last when using other
options (e.g. 'nano -wS$') or pass it separately (e.g. 'nano -wS -$').
-a, -b, -e, -f, -g, -j
Ignored, for compatibility with Pico.
INITIALIZATION FILE
nano will read initialization files in the following order: SYSCONFDIR/nanorc, then
~/.nanorc. Please see nanorc(5) and the example file nanorc.sample, both of which should
be provided with nano.
NOTES
If no alternative spell checker command is specified on the command line or in one of the
nanorc files, nano will check the SPELL environment variable for one.
In some cases nano will try to dump the buffer into an emergency file. This will happen
mainly if nano receives a SIGHUP or SIGTERM or runs out of memory. It will write the
buffer into a file named nano.save if the buffer didn't have a name already, or will add a
".save" suffix to the current filename. If an emergency file with that name already
exists in the current directory, it will add ".save" plus a number (e.g. ".save.1") to the
current filename in order to make it unique. In multibuffer mode, nano will write all the
open buffers to their respective emergency files.
BUGS
Please send any comments or bug reports to nano@nano-editor.org.
The nano mailing list is available from nano-devel@gnu.org.
To subscribe, email to nano-devel-request@gnu.org with a subject of "subscribe".
HOMEPAGE
http://www.nano-editor.org/
SEE ALSO
nanorc(5)
/usr/share/doc/nano/ (or equivalent on your system)
AUTHOR
Chris Allegretta <chrisa@asty.org>, et al (see AUTHORS and THANKS for details). This
manual page was originally written by Jordi Mallach <jordi@gnu.org>, for the Debian system
(but may be used by others).