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Brief tutorial to the Nano editor

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• Start editing a (program) file:

  (1) use "cd" to go to the directory that contains the project file e.g.: cd ~/cs255/pj1 cd ~/cs355/pj2 (2) Execute this command to edit the file "filename" nano filename

• Saving an edited file:

  When you want to save the file, type this inside the Nano window: control-S (hold the control key and press S)

• Exit the Nano application:

  After saving the edited file (see above), you can exit/quit Nano by typing: control-X (hold the control key and press X)

• Quit without saving your work:

  When you messed up and don't want to save your work, do the following: (1) Type control-X (exit) (2) Nano will ask if you want to save your work Answer: No (N)

   

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  Nagivating in file, character insertion/deletion and line deletion

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  • Moving around in your text file:

    Use arrow keys to move up, down, left, right Use page up, down to ove a screen forward/backward

  • Inserting/deleting text at the cursor location:

    (1) move the cursor (using arrow keys, page up, page down) to the location where you want to insert (2) type the text you want to insert backspace will delete a character

  • Delete the current line: type control-K (K is for "Kut").

   

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  Cutting and pasting

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  • Cut and paste 1 line:

    (1) move to the line you want to cut and press control-K (2) IF you want to paste the cut line somewhere else: move to the line you want to paste and press control-U (Nano will paste the cut line above the current line)

  • Cut and paste multiple lines: (it's pretty complicated...)

    (1) move to the first character of the first line of text you want to cut and press Ctrl-6. (2) move to the last character of the last line of text you want to cut and press Ctrl-K. This will cut the text. (K is for "Kut"). If you want to paste the cut text somewhere else: (3) move to the place where you want to insert the text and (4) press Ctrl-U (for `Uncut')

   

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  Copying and pasting

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  • Copy and paste 1 line:

    (1) move to the line you want to copy and press Alt-6 (2) move to the line you want to paste and press control-U (Nano will paste the cut line above the current line)

    • Note 1 to Mac users: If you're just copy and pasting, the regular Cmd-C and Cmd-V works after highlighting in nano.

    • Note 2 to Mac users: if you want to use the Nano key sequence to do copy-and-paset, you need to change preference in order to use the copy-and-paste function

      On Terminal (not the Xquartz terminal), go to Preferences -> Profile -> Keyboard -> Use Option as Meta key. On iTerm2, go to: Preferences -> Profiles -> Keys -> Left Option Key -> Esc+

      Then you should be able to use Alt-6 as described.

      Don't use the terminal inside Xquartz, it has limited functionality and the other terminals will still spawn X11 windows as long as Xquartz is running

  • Copy and paste multiple lines: (it's pretty repetitive...)

    (1) move to the first line of text you want to copy and press Alt-6. (Cursor will move down 1 line) (2) press Alt-6 again to copy another line, and so on.... (3) move to line of text you want to paste and press Ctrl-U.

   

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  Searching and optionally replacing

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  • Search for a text pattern:

    (1) press Ctrl-W (for `Where is...'). You''ll be asked what to search for. (2) Enter the text pattern, then press the Enter or Return key. The cursor will jump forward to the first occurrance of the text you're searching for. If there are no matches, you'll see a message at the bottom telling you that the tex you searched for was not found. Otherwise, the cursor will be over the text pattern. (3) To search for the same pattern again, press Crtl-W again.

  • Search and replace:

    (1) press control-\ Nano will ask for the text that you want to replace (2) enter the text that you want to replace Nano will ask for the text you wish to replace with (3) enter the replacement text Starting at the current cursor location, Nano will find the text and ask you if you want to replace it. Answer by pressing Y or N

   

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  Miscelaneous

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  • Undo the last action: type Alt-U

    You can undo earlier changes by typing Alt-U repeatedly.

  • Redo the last undone action: type Alt-E

    You can redo more changes by typing Alt-E repeatedly.

  • Display the current line number (and column position): press Alt-C

    (Press Alt-C again to disable)