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1 .TH pico 1 "Version 5.07"
2 .SH Name
3 pico \- simple text editor in the style of the Alpine Composer
4 .SH Syntax
5 .B pico
6 [
7 .I options
8 ] [
9 .I file
10 ]
11 .SH Description
12 \fIPico\fR is a simple, display-oriented text editor based on
13 the Alpine message system composer. As with Alpine, commands are
14 displayed at the bottom of the screen, and context-sensitive
15 help is provided. As characters are typed they are immediately
16 inserted into the text.
17 .PP
18 Editing commands are entered using control-key
19 combinations. As a work-around for communications programs that
20 swallow certain control characters, you can emulate a control key
21 by pressing ESCAPE twice, followed by the desired control character,
22 e.g. "ESC ESC c" would be equivalent to entering a ctrl-c.
23 The editor has five basic features: paragraph justification,
24 searching, block cut/paste, a spelling checker, and a file browser.
25 .PP
26 Paragraph justification (or filling) takes place in the paragraph that
27 contains the cursor, or, if the cursor is between lines, in the paragraph
28 immediately below. Paragraphs are delimited by blank lines, or by lines
29 beginning with a space or tab. Unjustification can be done immediately
30 after justification using the control-U key combination.
31 .PP
32 String searches are not sensitive to case. A search begins at the current
33 cursor position and wraps around the end of the text. The most recent
34 search string is offered as the default in subsequent searches.
35 .PP
36 Blocks of text can be moved, copied or deleted with creative use of the
37 command for mark (ctrl-^), delete (ctrl-k) and undelete (ctrl-u).
38 The delete command will remove text between the "mark" and the current
39 cursor position, and place it in the "cut" buffer. The undelete command
40 effects a "paste" at the current cursor position.
41 .PP
42 The spell checker examines all words in the text. It then offers, in
43 turn, each misspelled word for correction while
44 highlighting it in the text. Spell checking can be cancelled at any time.
45 Alternatively, \fIpico\fR will substitute for the default spell checking
46 routine a routine defined by the SPELL environment variable. The replacement
47 routine should read standard input and write standard output.
48 .PP
49 The file browser is offered as an option in the "Read File" and "Write Out"
50 command prompts. It is intended to help in searching for specific files
51 and navigating directory hierarchies. Filenames with sizes and names of
52 directories in the current working directory are presented for selection.
53 The current working directory is displayed on the top line of the display
54 while the list of available commands takes up the bottom two. Several
55 basic file manipulation functions are supported: file renaming, copying,
56 and deletion.
57 .PP
58 More specific help is available in \fIpico\fR's online help.
59 .SH Options
60 .IP \fB+\fIn\fB\fR
61 Causes \fIpico\fR to be started with the cursor located \fIn\fR lines
62 into the file. (Note: no space between "+" sign and number)
63 .IP \fB-a\fR
64 Display all files including those beginning with a period (.).
65 .IP \fB-b\fR
66 Enable the option to Replace text matches found using the
67 "Where is" command. This now does nothing. Instead, the option is
68 always turned on (as if the -b flag had been specified).
69 .IP \fB-d\fR
70 Rebind the "delete" key so the character the cursor is on is rubbed out
71 rather than the character to its left.
72 .IP \fB-e\fR
73 Enable file name completion.
74 .IP \fB-f\fR
75 Use function keys for commands. This option supported only in
76 conjunction with UW Enhanced NCSA telnet.
77 .IP \fB-h\fR
78 List valid command line options.
79 .IP \fB-j\fR
80 Enable "Goto" command in the file browser. This enables the command to
81 permit explicitly telling \fIpilot\fR which directory to visit.
82 .IP \fB-g\fR
83 Enable "Show Cursor" mode in file browser. Cause cursor to be positioned
84 before the current selection rather than placed at the lower left of the
85 display.
86 .IP \fB-k\fR
87 Causes "Cut Text" command to remove characters from the cursor position
88 to the end of the line rather than remove the entire line.
89 .IP \fB-m\fR
90 Enable mouse functionality. This only works when \fIpico\fR is run from
91 within an X Window System "xterm" window.
92 .IP \fB-n\fIn\fB\fR
93 The \-n\fIn\fR option enables new mail notification. The \fIn\fR
94 argument is optional, and specifies how often, in seconds, your
95 mailbox is checked for new mail. For example, \-n60 causes \fIpico\fR
96 to check for new mail once every minute. The default interval is 180
97 seconds, while the minimum allowed is 30. (Note: no space between "n" and
98 the number)
99 .IP \fB-o\ \fIdir\fB\fR
100 Sets operating directory. Only files within this directory are accessible.
101 Likewise, the file browser is limited to the specified directory subtree.
102 .IP \fB-r\fIn\fB\fR
103 Sets column used to limit the "Justify" command's right margin
104 .IP \fB-s\ \fIspeller\fR
105 Specify an alternate program
106 .I spell
107 to use when spell checking.
108 .IP \fB-t\fR
109 Enable "tool" mode. Intended for when \fIpico\fR is used as the
110 editor within other tools (e.g., Elm, Pnews). \fIPico\fR will not prompt
111 for save on exit, and will not rename the buffer during the "Write Out"
112 command.
113 .IP \fB-v\fR
114 View the file only, disallowing any editing.
115 .IP \fB-version\fR
116 Print Pico version and exit.
117 .IP \fB-w\fR
118 Disable word wrap (thus allow editing of long lines).
119 .IP \fB-x\fR
120 Disable keymenu at the bottom of the screen.
121 .IP \fB-z\fR
122 Enable ^Z suspension of \fIpico\fR.
123 .IP \fB-p\fR
124 Preserve the "start" and "stop" characters, typically Ctrl-Q and Ctrl-S,
125 which are sometimes used in communications paths to control data flow
126 between devices that operate at different speeds.
127 .IP \fB-Q\ \fIquotestr\fB\fR
128 Set the quote string. Especially useful when composing email, setting this
129 allows the quote string to be checked for when Justifying paragraphs.
130 A common quote string is "> ".
131 .IP \fB-W\ \fIword_separators\fB\fR
132 If characters listed here appear in the middle of a word surrounded by
133 alphanumeric characters that word is split into two words. This is used by
134 the Forward and Backward word commands and by the spell checker.
135 .IP \fB-q\fR
136 Termcap or terminfo definition for input escape sequences are used in
137 preference to sequences defined by default. This option is only available
138 if \fIpico\fR was compiled with the TERMCAP_WINS define turned on.
139 .IP \fB-setlocale_ctype\fR
140 Do setlocale(LC_CTYPE) if available. Default is to not do this setlocale.
141 .IP \fB-no_setlocale_collate\fR
142 Do not do setlocale(LC_COLLATE). Default is to do this setlocale.
143 .PP
144 Lastly, when a running \fIpico\fR is disconnected (i.e., receives a
145 SIGHUP), \fIpico\fR will save the current work if needed before exiting.
146 Work is saved under the current filename with ".save" appended.
147 If the current work is unnamed, it is saved under the filename "pico.save".
148 .PP
149 .SH Bugs
150 The manner in which lines longer than the display width are dealt
151 is not immediately obvious. Lines that continue beyond the edge
152 of the display are indicated by a '$' character at the end
153 of the line. Long lines are scrolled horizontally as the cursor
154 moves through them.
155 .SH Files
156 .ta 1.75i
157 .nf
158 pico.save Unnamed interrupted work saved here.
159 *.save Interrupted work on a named file is saved here.
160 .fi
161 .SH Authors
162 Michael Seibel <mikes@cac.washington.edu>
163 .br
164 Laurence Lundblade <lgl@cac.washington.edu>
165 .br
166 Pico was originally derived from MicroEmacs 3.6, by Dave G. Conroy.
167 .br
168 Copyright 1989-2008 by the University of Washington.
169 .SH "See Also"
170 alpine(1)
171 .br
172 Source distribution (part of the Alpine Message System):
174 .nf
175 $Date: 2009-02-02 13:54:23 -0600 (Mon, 02 Feb 2009) $