Provided by: nano_7.2-1_amd64 bug

NAME

       nano - Nano's ANOther editor, inspired by Pico

SYNOPSIS

       nano [options] [[+line[,column]] file]...

       nano [options] [[+[crCR](/|?)string] file]...

DESCRIPTION

       nano  is  a  small  and friendly editor.  It copies the look and feel of Pico, but is free
       software, and implements several features that  Pico  lacks,  such  as:  opening  multiple
       files,  scrolling  per line, undo/redo, syntax coloring, line numbering, and soft-wrapping
       overlong lines.

       When giving a filename on the command line, the cursor can be put on a  specific  line  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  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 c and/or r
       after the + 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.  To give an example: to open a file at the  first  occurrence  of  the
       word "Foo", you would do:

           nano +c/Foo file

       As  a special case: if instead of a filename a dash (-) is given, nano will read data from
       standard input.

EDITING

       Entering text and moving around in a file is straightforward: typing the letters and using
       the  normal  cursor  movement keys.  Commands are entered by using the Control (^) and the
       Alt or Meta (M-) keys.  Typing ^K deletes the current line and puts it in  the  cutbuffer.
       Consecutive ^Ks will put all deleted lines together in the cutbuffer.  Any cursor movement
       or executing any other command will cause the next ^K to overwrite the  cutbuffer.   A  ^U
       will paste the current contents of the cutbuffer at the current cursor position.

       When  a  more precise piece of text needs to be cut or copied, you can mark its start with
       ^6, move the cursor to its end (the marked text will be highlighted), and then use  ^K  to
       cut  it,  or M-6 to copy it to the cutbuffer.  You can also save the marked text to a file
       with ^O, or spell check it with ^T^T.

       On some terminals, text can be selected also by holding down Shift while using  the  arrow
       keys.  Holding down the Ctrl or Alt key too will increase the stride.  Any cursor movement
       without Shift being held will cancel such a selection.

       Any valid Unicode code point can be inserted into the buffer by typing M-V followed by the
       hexadecimal  digits of the code point (concluded with <Space> or <Enter> when it are fewer
       than six digits).  A literal control code (except  ^J)  can  be  inserted  by  typing  M-V
       followed by the pertinent keystroke.

       The  two lines at the bottom of the screen show some important commands; the built-in help
       (^G) lists all the available ones.  The default key bindings can be changed via  a  nanorc
       file -- see nanorc(5).

OPTIONS

       -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 (-B).  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.  See nanorc(5).

       -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
              Use 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 nor at the user's nanorc.

       -J number, --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 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 an actual Tab.)
              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 size (width) of a tab 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 part of  a
              word.

       -X "characters", --wordchars="characters"
              Specify  which  other  characters  (besides the normal alphanumeric ones) should be
              considered as part of a word.  When using this option, you probably want to omit -W
              (--wordbounds).

       -Y name, --syntax=name
              Specify  the  name of the syntax highlighting to use from among the ones defined in
              the nanorc files.

       -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  show  the  cursor position on the status bar.  Note that this overrides
              option -U (--quickblank).

       -d, --rebinddelete
              Interpret the Delete and Backspace keys differently  so  that  both  Backspace  and
              Delete  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 the available 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  XON  and  XOFF  sequences  (^Q and ^S) so they will be caught by the
              terminal.

       -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  this  command  to  perform spell checking and correcting, instead of using the
              built-in corrector that calls hunspell(1) or spell(1).

       -t, --saveonexit
              Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with ^X).

       -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
              Just view the file and disallow editing: read-only mode.  This mode allows the user
              to open also other files for viewing, unless --restricted is given too.

       -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
              Don't show the two help lines at the bottom of the screen.

       -y, --afterends
              Make Ctrl+Right and Ctrl+Delete stop at word ends instead of beginnings.

       -!, --magic
              When  neither the file's name nor its first line give a clue, try using libmagic to
              determine the applicable syntax.

       -%, --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.

TOGGLES

       Several of the above options can be switched on and off also while nano is  running.   For
       example,  M-L  toggles  the  hard-wrapping  of  long lines, M-S toggles soft-wrapping, M-N
       toggles line numbers, M-M toggles the mouse, M-I auto-indentation, and M-X the help lines.
       See at the end of the ^G help text for a complete list.

       The  M-X  toggle  is special: it works in all menus except the help viewer and the linter.
       All other toggles work in the main menu only.

FILES

       When --rcfile is given, nano will read just the specified file for setting its options and
       syntaxes  and  key bindings.  Without that option, nano will read two configuration files:
       first the system's nanorc (if it exists), and then  the  user's  nanorc  (if  it  exists),
       either  ~/.nanorc  or  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nano/nanorc or ~/.config/nano/nanorc, whichever is
       encountered first.  See nanorc(5) for more information on the possible contents  of  those
       files.

       See /usr/share/nano/ and /usr/share/nano/extra/ for available syntax-coloring definitions.

NOTES

       Option  -z  (--suspendable) has been removed.  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.)

       If no alternative spell checker command is specified on the command line nor 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

       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.

       Please report any other bugs that you encounter via:
       https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=nano.

       When nano crashes, it will save any modified buffers to emergency .save files.  If you are
       able  to  reproduce  the  crash  and  you  want to get a backtrace, define the environment
       variable NANO_NOCATCH.

HOMEPAGE

       https://nano-editor.org/

SEE ALSO

       nanorc(5)

       /usr/share/doc/nano/ (or equivalent on your system)