The Nano Text Editor

Topics

The nano Text Editor
Running nano
nano Commands
Editing Text in nano
Searching in nano
Save and Quit
Colorizing nano

The `nano` Text Editor

nano is a simple text editor
It was created as part of the GNU project started by Richard Stallman
Most Linux distributions contain the vi and/or vim editors ...
which are often used by System Administrators
And you can always download the emacs editor ...
which is preferred by programmers
But both of these editors take some time to learn
nano does not have the full set of features of these editors ...
but it is great for people who are just starting to work with Unix ...
and have not learned how to use the more full featured editors

Running `nano`

To run nano you type the name of the editor followed by the name of the file
```
nano FILENAME
```
If the file does not yet exist it will be created for you ...
as long as you have write privileges in the directory ...
where you are creating the file
So if I wanted to create a .forward file ...
I would type
```
nano .forward
```
This will bring up a text window ...
with the name of the file on the top line

At the bottom of the text window will appear a list of commands

^G Get Help  ^O WriteOut  ^R Read File  ^Y Prev Page  ^K Cut Text    ^C Cur Pos
^X Exit      ^J Justify   ^W Where Is   ^V Next Page  ^U UnCut Text  ^T To Spell

In between is the area in which you will type the contents of the text file

`nano` Commands

All command in nano are issued with the help of the Control key ...
which is labeled Cntrl on all machines except Macs
In the list of commands at the bottom of the nano window ...
the symbol ^ stands for the Control key
To quit nano you hold down the Control key ...
and press X
The save command in nano is ^O WriteOut ...
which sounds like a dumb idea
It should be ^S Save
Unfortunately Control S has special meaning to Unix ...
so it cannot be used for this purpose
The same problem exists for Control Q ...
so you have to use Control X to quit

Editing Text in `nano`

To enter text in a file, simply type it in the window ...
between the header line at the top...
and the list of commands at the bottom
You can use the arrow keys to move around in the text window ...
and the Backspace or Delete keys to delete a character
You can move to the end of a line with Control E ...
and the beginning of the line with Control A
nano has a very simple cut and paste feature ...
but it only works on the whole line of text
If you use the arrow keys to get to a line you want to move ...
you can cut it with Control K ...
which will remove the line and place it in a buffer
You can then move to another position in the file ...
and use Control U to paste the line into` this new position

Searching in `nano`

nano has a very basic search feature
If you hit Control W (for Where) ...
a line will appear at the bottom of the screen
```
Search:
```
and the text entry point will move there
Type in your search text and hit Enter or Return ...
and the text entry point will move to the first line that has the text
The search is not case sensitive
If you hit Control W a second time ...
nano will remember your last search string ...
and if you want to search again for that string ...
you simply hit Enter or Return

Save and Quit

To save the file, hold down the Control key while pressing O ...
the letter, not the digit
When you do this, a line will appear at the bottom of the screen
```
File Name to Write: .forward 
```
This line is asking you to confirm that the name of your file is .forward
Hit Enter or Return to accept this filename ...
To quit, hold down the Control key while pressing X

Colorizing `nano`

You can make nano add color to certain elements of a script
This is called colorizing ...
and is a feature of many Unix text editors ...
including emacs and vi
To add colorization to nano go to your home directory ...
and create the file .nanorc

Add the following lines to this file

include /usr/share/nano/sh.nanorc
include /usr/share/nano/python.nanorc
include /usr/share/nano/perl.nanorc
include /usr/share/nano/php.nanorc
include /usr/share/nano/html.nanorc

Save and quit
The next time you run nano on a script file ...
with the proper extension ...
certain words in the file will appear in color

Topics

The nano Text Editor

Running nano

nano Commands

Editing Text in nano

Searching in nano

Save and Quit

Colorizing nano

Copyright : Glenn Hoffman, Director of the IT program

The `nano` Text Editor

Running `nano`

`nano` Commands

Editing Text in `nano`

Searching in `nano`

Colorizing `nano`