pico
pico(1) pico(1)
Name
pico - simple text editor in the style of the Pine Composer
Syntax
pico [ options ] [ file ]
Description
Pico is a simple, display-oriented text editor based on the Pine mes-
sage system composer. As with Pine, commands are displayed at the bot-
tom of the screen, and context-sensitive help is provided. As charac-
ters are typed they are immediately inserted into the text.
Editing commands are entered using control-key combinations. As a
work-around for communications programs that swallow certain control
characters, you can emulate a control key by pressing ESCAPE twice,
followed by the desired control character, e.g. "ESC ESC c" would be
equivalent to entering a ctrl-c. The editor has five basic features:
paragraph justification, searching, block cut/paste, a spelling
checker, and a file browser.
Paragraph justification (or filling) takes place in the paragraph that
contains the cursor, or, if the cursor is between lines, in the para-
graph immediately below. Paragraphs are delimited by blank lines, or
by lines beginning with a space or tab. Unjustification can be done
immediately after justification using the control-U key combination.
String searches are not sensitive to case. A search begins at the cur-
rent cursor position and wraps around the end of the text. The most
recent search string is offered as the default in subsequent searches.
Blocks of text can be moved, copied or deleted with creative use of the
command for mark (ctrl-^), delete (ctrl-k) and undelete (ctrl-u). The
delete command will remove text between the "mark" and the current cur-
sor position, and place it in the "cut" buffer. The undelete command
effects a "paste" at the current cursor position.
The spell checker examines all words in the text. It then offers, in
turn, each misspelled word for correction while highlighting it in the
text. Spell checking can be cancelled at any time. Alternatively,
pico will substitute for the default spell checking routine a routine
defined by the SPELL environment variable. The replacement routine
should read standard input and write standard output.
The file browser is offered as an option in the "Read File" and "Write
Out" command prompts. It is intended to help in searching for specific
files and navigating directory hierarchies. Filenames with sizes and
names of directories in the current working directory are presented for
selection. The current working directory is displayed on the top line
of the display while the list of available commands takes up the bottom
two. Several basic file manipulation functions are supported: file
renaming, copying, and deletion.
More specific help is available in pico's online help.
Options
+n Causes pico to be started with the cursor located n lines into
the file. (Note: no space between "+" sign and number)
-a Display all files including those beginning with a period (.).
-b Enable the option to Replace text matches found using the "Where
is" command.
-d Rebind the "delete" key so the character the cursor is on is
rubbed out rather than the character to its left.
-e Enable file name completion.
-f Use function keys for commands. This option supported only in
conjunction with UW Enhanced NCSA telnet.
-h List valid command line options.
-j Enable "Goto" command in the file browser. This enables the
command to permit explicitly telling pilot which directory to
visit.
-g Enable "Show Cursor" mode in file browser. Cause cursor to be
positioned before the current selection rather than placed at
the lower left of the display.
-k Causes "Cut Text" command to remove characters from the cursor
position to the end of the line rather than remove the entire
line.
-m Enable mouse functionality. This only works when pico is run
from within an X Window System "xterm" window.
-nn The -nn option enables new mail notification. The n argument is
optional, and specifies how often, in seconds, your mailbox is
checked for new mail. For example, -n60 causes pico to check
for new mail once every minute. The default interval is 180
seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no space
between "n" and the number)
-o dir Sets operating directory. Only files within this directory are
accessible. Likewise, the file browser is limited to the speci-
fied directory subtree.
-rn Sets column used to limit the "Justify" command's right margin
-s speller
Specify an alternate program spell to use when spell checking.
-t Enable "tool" mode. Intended for when pico is used as the edi-
tor within other tools (e.g., Elm, Pnews). Pico will not prompt
for save on exit, and will not rename the buffer during the
"Write Out" command.
-v View the file only, disallowing any editing.
-version
Print Pico version and exit.
-w Disable word wrap (thus allow editing of long lines).
-x Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.
-z Enable ^Z suspension of pico.
-q Termcap or terminfo definition for input escape sequences are
used in preference to sequences defined by default. This option
is only available if pico was compiled with the TERMCAP_WINS
define turned on.
Lastly, when a running pico is disconnected (i.e., receives a SIGHUP),
pico will save the current work if needed before exiting. Work is
saved under the current filename with ".save" appended. If the current
work is unnamed, it is saved under the filename "pico.save".
Bugs
The manner in which lines longer than the display width are dealt is
not immediately obvious. Lines that continue beyond the edge of the
display are indicated by a '$' character at the end of the line. Long
lines are scrolled horizontally as the cursor moves through them.
Files
pico.save Unnamed interrupted work saved here.
*.save Interrupted work on a named file is saved here.
Authors
Michael Seibel <mikes@cac.washington.edu>
Laurence Lundblade <lgl@cac.washington.edu>
Pico was originally derived from MicroEmacs 3.6, by Dave G. Conroy.
Pico is a trademark of the University of Washington.
Copyright 1989-2001 by the University of Washington.
See Also
pine(1)
Source distribution (part of the Pine Message System):
ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/mail/pine.tar.Z
$Date: 2001/10/12 20:35:45 $
Version 4.2 pico(1)
