characters as parts of words.
@item -Y <str>, --syntax=<str>
-Specify a specific syntax highlighting from the nanorc to use, if
-available. See @xref{Nanorc Files}, for more info.
+Specify a specific syntax from the nanorc to use for highlighting, if
+available. See @xref{Syntax Highlighting}, for more info.
@item -c, --const
Constantly display the cursor position and line number on the statusbar.
@item Whitespace Display Toggle (Meta-P)
toggles whitespace display mode if you have a "whitespace" option in
-your nanorc. See @xref{Nanorc Files}, for more info.
+your nanorc. See @xref{Whitespace}, for more info.
@item Tabs to Spaces Toggle (Meta-Q)
toggles the -E (@code{--tabstospaces}) command line option.
@item Color Syntax Highlighting Toggle (Meta-Y)
toggles color syntax highlighting if you have color syntaxes in your
-nanorc. See @xref{Nanorc Files}, for more info.
+nanorc. See @xref{Syntax Highlighting}, for more info.
@item Suspend Toggle (Meta-Z)
toggles the -z (@code{--suspend}) command line option.
@chapter Nanorc Files
The nanorc files contain the default settings for @code{nano}. They
-should not be in DOS or Mac format. During startup, @code{nano} will
-first read its system-wide settings from SYSCONFDIR/nanorc, and then
-user-specific settings from ~/.nanorc.
+should be in Unix format, not in DOS or Mac format. During startup,
+@code{nano} will first read the system-wide settings, from /etc/nanorc,
+and then the user-specific settings, from ~/.nanorc.
A nanorc file accepts a series of "set" and "unset" commands, which can
-be used to configure @code{nano} on startup without using the command
-line options. Additionally, the "syntax", "color", and "icolor"
-keywords are used to define syntax highlighting rules for different text
-patterns. @code{nano} will read one command per line.
+be used to configure @code{nano} on startup without using command-line
+options. Additionally, there are some commands to define syntax highlighting
+and to rebind keys -- @xref{Syntax Highlighting}, and @xref{Rebinding Keys}.
+@code{nano} will read one command per line.
Options in nanorc files take precedence over @code{nano}'s defaults, and
command-line options override nanorc settings. Options are also unset
Quotes inside string parameters don't have to be escaped with
backslashes. The last double quote in the string will be treated as its
-end. For example, for the "brackets" option,
+end. For example, for the "brackets" option, @code{""')>]@}"} will match
+@code{"}, @code{'}, @code{)}, @code{>}, @code{]}, and @code{@}}.
-@quotation
-@code{""')>]@}"}
-@end quotation
+@menu
+* Settings::
+* Syntax Highlighting::
+* Rebinding Keys::
+@end menu
-will match @code{"}, @code{'}, @code{)}, @code{>}, @code{]}, and
-@code{@}}.
+@node Settings
+@section Settings
-The supported commands and arguments are:
+The supported settings in a nanorc file are:
@table @code
@item set/unset view
Disallow file modification.
+@anchor{Whitespace}
@item set whitespace "string"
Set the two characters used to indicate the presence of tabs and
-spaces. They must be single-column characters.
+spaces. They must be single-column characters. The default pair
+for a UTF-8 locale is "»·", and for other locales ">.".
@item set/unset wordbounds
Detect word boundaries more accurately by treating punctuation
characters as part of a word.
+@end table
+
+@node Syntax Highlighting
+@section Syntax Highlighting
+
+Coloring the different syntactic elements of a file can be defined
+via the following commands in a nanorc file:
+
+@table @code
+
@item syntax "str" ["fileregex" @dots{}]
Defines a syntax named "str" which can be activated via the -Y/--syntax
command-line option, or will be automatically activated if the current
For the currently defined syntax, use the given program to invoke the
linter (this overrides the speller function when defined).
+@item header "regex" @dots{}
+For the currently defined syntax, add one or more regexes which will
+be compared against the very first line of the file to be edited,
+to determine whether this syntax should be used for that file.
+
@item magic ["regex" @dots{}]
For the currently defined syntax, add one or more regexes which will be
-compared against the magic database when attempting to determine which
-highlighting rules to use for a given file. This functionality only works
-when libmagic is installed on the system and will be silently ignored otherwise.
+compared against the result of querying the magic database about the file
+to be edited, to determine whether this syntax should be used for that
+file. This functionality only works when libmagic is installed on the
+system and will be silently ignored otherwise.
@item color fgcolor,bgcolor "regex" @dots{}
For the currently defined syntax, display all expressions matching the
@item include "syntaxfile"
Read in self-contained color syntaxes from "syntaxfile". Note that
-"syntaxfile" can only contain "syntax", "color", and "icolor" commands.
+"syntaxfile" can only contain the above commands, from "syntax" to
+"icolor".
@item extendsyntax str directive [arg @dots{}]
Extend the syntax previously defined as str to include new information.
@end table
+@node Rebinding Keys
+@section Rebinding Keys
+
+Key bindings may be reassigned via the following two commands in a
+nanorc file:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item bind key function menu
+Rebinds @code{key} to @code{function} in the context of @code{menu}
+(or in all menus where the function exists by using @code{all}.
+
+@item unbind key menu
+Unbinds @code{key} from the specified @code{menu}
+(or from all menus where it exists by using @code{all}).
+
+@end table
+
+The format of @code{key} should be one of:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item ^
+followed by an alpha character or the word "Space".
+Example: @code{^C}
+
+@item M-
+followed by a printable character or the word "Space".
+Example: @code{M-C}
+
+@item F
+followed by a numeric value from 1 to 16.
+Example: @code{F10}
+
+@end table
+
+Valid names for the @code{function} to be bound are:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item help
+Invokes the help viewer.
+
+@item cancel
+Cancels the current command.
+
+@item exit
+Exits from the program (or from the help viewer or the file browser).
+
+@item writeout
+Writes the current buffer to disk.
+
+@item insert
+Inserts a file into the current buffer (or into a new buffer when multibuffer
+is enabled).
+
+@item whereis
+Searches for text in the current buffer.
+
+@item searchagain
+Repeats the last search command.
+
+@item replace
+Interactively replaces text within the current buffer.
+
+@item cut
+Cuts and stores the current line (or the marked region).
+
+@item copytext
+Copies the current line (or the marked region) without deleting it.
+
+@item uncut
+Copies the currently stored text into the current buffer at the
+current cursor position.
+
+@item mark
+Sets the mark at the current position, to start selecting text.
+
+@item cutrestoffile
+Cuts all text from the cursor position till the end of the buffer.
+
+@item curpos
+Shows the current cursor position: the line, column, and character positions.
+
+@item wordcount
+Counts the number of words, lines and characters in the current buffer.
+
+@item speller
+Invokes a spell-checking program (or a linting program, if the current
+syntax highlighting defines one).
+
+@item justify
+Justifies the current paragraph.
+
+@item fulljustify
+Justifies the entire current buffer.
+
+@item indent
+Indents (shifts to the right) the currently marked text.
+
+@item unindent
+Unindents (shifts to the left) the currently marked text.
+
+@item left
+Goes left one position (in the editor or browser).
+
+@item right
+Goes right one position (in the editor or browser).
+
+@item up
+Goes one line up (in the editor or browser).
+
+@item down
+Goes one line down (in the editor or browser).
+
+@item scrollup
+Scrolls up one line of text from the current position.
+
+@item scrolldown
+Scrolls down one line of text from the current position.
+
+@item nextword
+Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
+
+@item prevword
+Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
+
+@item home
+Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
+
+@item end
+Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.
+
+@item beginpara
+Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current paragraph.
+
+@item endpara
+Moves the cursor to the end of the current paragraph.
+
+@item prevpage
+Goes up one screenful.
+
+@item nextpage
+Goes down one screenful.
+
+@item firstline
+Goes to the first line of the file.
+
+@item lastline
+Goes to the last line of the file.
+
+@item gotoline
+Goes to a specific line (and column if specified).
+
+@item findbracket
+Moves the cursor to the bracket (brace, parenthesis, etc.) that matches
+(pairs) with the one under the cursor.
+
+@item prevbuf
+Switches to editing/viewing the previous buffer when using multibuffer mode.
+
+@item nextbuf
+Switches to editing/viewing the next buffer when using multibuffer mode.
+
+@item verbatim
+Inserts the next character verbatim into the file.
+
+@item tab
+Inserts a tab at the current cursor location.
+
+@item enter
+Inserts a new line below the current one.
+
+@item delete
+Deletes the character under the cursor.
+
+@item backspace
+Deletes the character before the cursor.
+
+@item undo
+Undoes the last performed text action (add text, delete text, etc).
+
+@item redo
+Redoes the last undone action (i.e., it undoes an undo).
+
+@item refresh
+Refreshes the screen.
+
+@item suspend
+Suspends the editor (if the suspending function is enabled, see the
+"suspendenable" entry below).
+
+@item casesens
+Toggles case sensitivity in searching (search/replace menus only).
+
+@item regexp
+Toggles whether searching/replacing is based on literal strings or regular expressions.
+
+@item backwards
+Toggles whether searching/replacing goes forward or backward.
+
+@item prevhistory
+Shows the previous history entry in the prompt menus (e.g. search).
+
+@item nexthistory
+Shows the next history entry in the prompt menus (e.g. search).
+
+@item dontreplace
+Switches back to searching instead of replacing.
+
+@item gototext
+Searches for files matching a string in the file browser (reading or writing files).
+
+@item dosformat
+When writing a file, switches to writing a DOS format (CR/LF).
+
+@item macformat
+When writing a file, switches to writing a Mac format.
+
+@item append
+When writing a file, appends to the end instead of overwriting.
+
+@item prepend
+When writing a file, 'prepends' (writes at the beginning) instead of overwriting.
+
+@item backup
+When writing a file, creates a backup of the current file.
+
+@item firstfile
+Goes to the first file when using the file browser (reading or writing files).
+
+@item lastfile
+Goes to the last file when using the file browser (reading or writing files).
+
+@item nohelp
+Toggles the presence of the two-line list of key bindings at the bottom of the screen.
+
+@item constupdate
+Toggles the constant display of the current line, column, and character positions.
+
+@item morespace
+Toggles the presence of the blank line which 'separates' the titlebar from the file text.
+
+@item smoothscroll
+Toggles smooth scrolling (when moving around with the arrow keys).
+
+@item softwrap
+Toggles the displaying of overlong lines on multiple screen lines.
+
+@item whitespacedisplay
+Toggles the showing of whitespace.
+
+@item nosyntax
+Toggles syntax highlighting.
+
+@item smarthome
+Toggles the smartness of the Home key.
+
+@item autoindent
+Toggles whether new lines will contain the same amount of whitespace as the preceding line.
+
+@item cuttoend
+Toggles whether cutting text will cut the whole line or just from the current cursor
+position to the end of the line.
+
+@item nowrap
+Toggles whether long lines will be hard-wrapped to the next line.
+
+@item tabstospaces
+Toggles whether typed tabs will be converted to spaces.
+
+@item backupfile
+Toggles whether a backup will be made of the file to be edited.
+
+@item multibuffer
+Toggles the use of multiple file buffers (if available).
+
+@item mouse
+Toggles mouse support.
+
+@item noconvert
+Toggles automatic conversion of files from DOS/Mac format.
+
+@item suspendenable
+Toggles whether the suspend sequence (normally ^Z) will suspend the editor window.
+
+@end table
+
+Valid names for @code{menu} are:
+
+@table @code
+
+@item main
+The main editor window where text is entered and edited.
+
+@item search
+The search menu (AKA whereis).
+
+@item replace
+The 'search to replace' menu.
+
+@item replacewith
+The 'replace with' menu, which comes up after 'search to replace'.
+
+@item gotoline
+The 'goto line (and column)' menu.
+
+@item writeout
+The 'write file' menu.
+
+@item insert
+The 'insert file' menu.
+
+@item extcmd
+The menu for inserting output from an external command, reached from the insert menu.
+
+@item help
+The help-viewer menu.
+
+@item spell
+The interactive spell checker Yes/no menu.
+
+@item linter
+The linter menu.
+
+@item browser
+The file browser for inserting or writing a file.
+
+@item whereisfile
+The 'search for a file' menu in the file browser.
+
+@item gotodir
+The 'go to directory' menu in the file browser.
+
+@item all
+A special name meaning: apply to all menus where this function exists.
+
+@end table
+
@node The File Browser
@chapter The File Browser
projects / nano.git / commitdiff