pico(1)
Name
pico - simple text editor in the style of the Pine Com-
poser
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
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)
-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.
-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
-t Enable "tool" mode. Intended for when pico is used
as the editor 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.
-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.
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 lt;mikes@cac.washington.edu
Laurence Lundblade lt;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 1989-1996 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
96.02.17