.SH NAME
nanorc \- GNU nano's rcfile
.SH DESCRIPTION
-This manual page briefly documents GNU \fBnano\fP's rcfile.
-.PP
-\fBnano\fP is a small, free and friendly editor which aims to replace
-Pico, the default editor included in the non-free Pine package. Rather
-than just copying Pico's look and feel, \fBnano\fP also implements some
-missing (or disabled by default) features in Pico, such as "search and
-replace" and "go to line and column number".
-.PP
-The \fInanorc\fP file contains the default settings for \fBnano\fP. It
-should not be in DOS or Mac format. During startup, \fBnano\fP will
-first read its system-wide settings from \fISYSCONFDIR/nanorc\fP, and
-then user-specific settings from \fI~/.nanorc\fP.
+The \fInanorc\fP file contains the default settings for \fBnano\fP, a
+small and friendly editor. The file should be in Unix format, not in
+DOS or Mac format. During startup, \fBnano\fP will first read the
+system-wide settings, from \fBSYSCONFDIR/nanorc\fP, and then the
+user-specific settings, from \fB~/.nanorc\fP.
.SH OPTIONS
The configuration file accepts a series of \fBset\fP and \fBunset\fP
commands, which can be used to configure nano on startup without using
-the command line options. Additionally, the \fBsyntax\fP, \fBcolor\fP,
-and \fBicolor\fP keywords are used to define syntax highlighting rules
-for different text patterns. \fBnano\fP will read one command per line.
+command-line options. Additionally, there are some commands to define
+syntax highlighting and to rebind keys -- see the two separate sections
+on those. \fBnano\fP reads one command per line.
Options in \fInanorc\fP files take precedence over nano's defaults, and
-command line options override \fInanorc\fP settings. Also, options are
+command-line options override \fInanorc\fP settings. Also, options are
unset by default, except for those that take arguments.
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 \fBbrackets\fP option, "\fI"')>]}\fP" will
-match \fI"\fP, \fI'\fP, \fI)\fP, \fI>\fP, \fI]\fP, and \fI}\fP.
+end. For example, for the \fBbrackets\fP option, "\fB"')>]}\fP" will
+match \fB"\fP, \fB'\fP, \fB)\fP, \fB>\fP, \fB]\fP, and \fB}\fP.
The supported commands and arguments are:
Use auto-indentation.
.TP
.B set/unset backup
-Create backup files in \fIfilename~\fP.
+Create backup files by adding a tilde (\fB~\fP) to each file's name.
.TP
.B set backupdir "\fIdirectory\fP"
Set the directory where \fBnano\fP puts unique backup files if file
Do backwards searches by default.
.TP
.B set/unset boldtext
-Use bold text instead of reverse video text.
+Use bold instead of reverse video for the titlebar, statusbar, key combos,
+and selected text. This can be overridden for the first three by setting
+the options \fBtitlecolor\fP, \fBstatuscolor\fP, and \fBkeycolor\fP.
.TP
.B set brackets "\fIstring\fP"
Set the characters treated as closing brackets when justifying
-paragraphs. They cannot contain blank characters. Only closing
-punctuation, optionally followed by closing brackets, can end sentences.
-The default value is "\fI"')>]}\fP".
+paragraphs. This cannot include blank characters. Only closing
+punctuation, optionally followed by the specified closing brackets,
+can end sentences. The default value is "\fB"')>]}\fP".
.TP
.B set/unset casesensitive
-Do case sensitive searches by default.
+Do case-sensitive searches by default.
.TP
.B set/unset const
Constantly display the cursor position in the status bar.
See \fBset titlecolor\fR for more details.
.TP
.B set/unset historylog
-Enable \fI~/.nano_history\fP for saving and reading search/replace
-strings.
+Enable the use of \fB~/.nano_history\fP for saving and reading
+search/replace strings.
.TP
.B set keycolor \fIfgcolor\fR,\fIbgcolor\fR
Specify the color combination to use for the shortcut key combos
.TP
.B set matchbrackets "\fIstring\fP"
Set the opening and closing brackets that can be found by bracket
-searches. They cannot contain blank characters. The former set must
-come before the latter set, and both must be in the same order. The
-default value is "\fI(<[{)>]}\fP".
+searches. They cannot contain blank characters. The opening set must
+come before the closing set, and both must be in the same order. The
+default value is "\fB(<[{)>]}\fP".
.TP
.B set/unset morespace
Use the blank line below the titlebar as extra editing space.
Enable mouse support, if available for your system. When enabled, mouse
clicks can be used to place the cursor, set the mark (with a double
click), and execute shortcuts. The mouse will work in the X Window
-System, and on the console when gpm is running.
+System, and on the console when gpm is running. Text can still be
+selected through dragging by holding the Shift key.
.TP
.B set/unset multibuffer
Allow inserting files into their own buffers.
Don't follow symlinks when writing files.
.TP
.B set/unset nohelp
-Don't display the help lists at the bottom of the screen.
+Don't display the two help lines at the bottom of the screen.
.TP
.B set/unset nonewlines
-Don't add newlines to the ends of files.
+Don't automatically add a newline to the ends of files.
.TP
.B set/unset nowrap
Don't hard-wrap text at all.
.TP
.B set punct "\fIstring\fP"
Set the characters treated as closing punctuation when justifying
-paragraphs. They cannot contain blank characters. Only closing
-punctuation, optionally followed by closing brackets, can end sentences.
-The default value is "\fI!.?\fP".
+paragraphs. This cannot include blank characters. Only the specfified
+closing punctuation, optionally followed by closing brackets, can end
+sentences. The default value is "\fB!.?\fP".
.TP
.B set/unset quickblank
Do quick statusbar blanking. Statusbar messages will disappear after 1
The email-quote string, used to justify email-quoted paragraphs. This
is an extended regular expression if your system supports them,
otherwise a literal string. The default value is
-"\fI^([\ \\t]*[#:>\\|}])+\fP" if you have extended regular expression
-support, or "\fI>\ \fP" otherwise. Note that '\\t' stands for a literal
+"\fB^([\ \\t]*[#:>\\|}])+\fP" if you have extended regular expression
+support, and "\fB>\ \fP" otherwise. Note that '\\t' stands for a literal
Tab character.
.TP
.B set/unset rebinddelete
And either "\fIfgcolor\fR" or ",\fIbgcolor\fR" may be left out.
.TP
.B set/unset undo
-Enable experimental generic-purpose undo code.
+Enable the experimental generic-purpose undo/redo code.
.TP
.B set/unset view
Disallow file modification.
.TP
.B set whitespace "\fIstring\fP"
-Set the two characters used to display the first characters of tabs and
+Set the two characters used to indicate the presence of tabs and
spaces. They must be single-column characters.
.TP
.B set/unset wordbounds
Detect word boundaries more accurately by treating punctuation
characters as parts of words.
+
+.SH SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING
+Coloring the different syntactic elements of a file
+can be defined via the following commands:
.TP
.BR syntax " ""\fIstr\fR"" [""\fIfileregex\fR"" ...]"
Defines a syntax named \fIstr\fP which can be activated via the
to invoke the linter (this overrides the speller function when
defined).
.TP
+.BR header " [""\fIregex\fR"" ...]
+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.
+.TP
.BR magic " [""\fIregex\fR"" ...]
For the currently defined syntax, add one or more regexes which
-will be compared against the \fBmagic\fP database when attempting
-to determine which highlighting rules to use for a given file. This
+will be compared against the result of querying the \fBmagic\fP
+database about the file to be edited, to determine whether this
+syntax should be used for that file. This
functionality only works when \fBlibmagic\fP is installed on the
system and will be silently ignored otherwise.
.TP
.TP
.BR include " ""\fIsyntaxfile\fR"""
Read in self-contained color syntaxes from \fIsyntaxfile\fP. Note that
-\fIsyntaxfile\fP can only contain \fBsyntax\fP, \fBcolor\fP, and
-\fBicolor\fP commands.
+\fIsyntaxfile\fP can only contain the above commands, from \fBsyntax\fP
+to \fBicolor\fP.
.TP
.BI extendsyntax " str directive " \fR[ "arg " \fR...]
Extend the syntax previously defined as \fIstr\fP to include
-new information. Allows you to add a new \fIcolor\fP, \fIicolor\fP,
-\fImagic\fP, \fIheader\fP, or \fIlinter\fP directive to a syntax
-defined. Useful when you want to add to definitions from the
+new information. This allows you to add a new \fIcolor\fP, \fIicolor\fP,
+\fImagic\fP, \fIheader\fP, or \fIlinter\fP directive to an already
+defined syntax -- useful when you want to add to definitions from the
system-installed syntax definitions (which are normally not writable).
-.SH KEY BINDINGS
+.SH REBINDING KEYS
Key bindings may be reassigned via the following commands:
.TP
.BI bind " key function menu"
Rebinds the key \fIkey\fP to a new function named \fIfunction\fP in the
-context of menu \fImenu\fP.
+context of menu \fImenu\fP (or in all menus where the function exists
+by using \fBall\fP).
.TP
.BI unbind " key menu"
Unbinds the key \fIkey\fP from the menu named \fImenu\fP (or from all
.TP 2
.B help
-Invoke the help menu.
+Invoke the help viewer.
.TP
.B cancel
Cancel the current command.
.TP
.B exit
-Exit from the program.
+Exit from the program (or from the help viewer or the file browser).
.TP
.B writeout
Write the current buffer to disk.
syntax highlighting defines one).
.TP
.B justify
-Justify the current text.
+Justify the current paragraph.
.TP
.B fulljustify
Justify the entire current file.
Move to a specific line (and column if specified).
.TP
.B findbracket
-Move the cursor to the matching bracket (brace, parenthesis, etc.) of the one
-under the cursor.
+Move the cursor to the bracket (brace, parenthesis, etc.) that matches
+(pairs) with the one under the cursor.
.TP
.B prevbuf
Switch to editing/viewing the previous buffer when using multibuffer mode.
Delete the character before the cursor.
.TP
.B undo
-Undo the text action peformed (add text, delete text, etc).
+Undo the last text action performed (add text, delete text, etc).
.TP
.B redo
Redo the last undone action (i.e., undo an undo).
The menu for inserting output from an external command, reached from the insert menu.
.TP
.B help
-The help menu.
+The help-viewer menu.
.TP
.B spell
The interactive spell checker Yes/no menu.
The 'search for a file' menu in the file browser.
.TP
.B gotodir
-The 'go to directory' menu.
+The 'go to directory' menu in the file browser.
.TP
.B all
A special name meaning: apply to all menus where this function exists.
.SH FILES
.TP
-.I SYSCONFDIR/nanorc
+.B SYSCONFDIR/nanorc
System-wide configuration file
.TP
-.I ~/.nanorc
+.B ~/.nanorc
Per-user configuration file
.SH SEE ALSO
-.PD 0
.TP
\fBnano\fP(1)
.PP
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