Syntax

       pico [ options ] [ file ]


Description

       Pico is a simple, display-oriented text  editor  based  on
       the  Pine message system composer.  As with Pine, commands
       are displayed at the bottom of the  screen,  and  context-
       sensitive  help is provided.  As characters are typed they
       are immediately inserted into the text.

       Editing commands are entered  using  control-key  combina­
       tions.   As a work-around for communications programs that
       swallow certain control characters, you can emulate a con­
       trol 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 paragraph immediately below.  Para­
       graphs are delimited by blank lines, or by lines beginning
       with  a space or tab.  Unjustification can be done immedi­
       ately after justification using the control-U key combina­
       tion.

       String  searches  are  not  sensitive  to  case.  A search
       begins at the current 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  cre­
       ative  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 cursor 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 can­
       celled at any time.  Alternatively, pico  will  substitute
       for  the  default spell checking routine a routine defined
       by the SPELL environment variable.  The  replacement  rou­
       tine 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 direc­
       tory  hierarchies.   Filenames  with  sizes  and  names of
       -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 sup­
              ported 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  selec­
              tion  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 specified directory  sub­
              tree.

       -rn    Sets  column  used to limit the "Justify" command's
              right margin

       -s speller
       -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.

       -p     Preserve the "start" and "stop"  characters,  typi­
              cally  Ctrl-Q  and Ctrl-S, which are sometimes used
              in  communications  paths  to  control  data   flow
              between devices that operate at different speeds.

       -Q quotestr
              Set  the quote string.  Especially useful when com­
              posing email, setting this allows the quote  string
              to  be  checked  for when Justifying paragraphs.  A
              common quote string is "> ".

       -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 1989-2002 by the University of Washington.


See Also

       pine(1)

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