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pico(1)								       pico(1)

Name
       pico - simple text editor in the style of the Alpine Composer

Syntax
       pico [ options ] [ file ]

Description
       Pico is a simple, display-oriented text editor based on the Alpine mes‐
       sage system composer.  As with Alpine, commands are  displayed  at  the
       bottom of the screen, and context-sensitive help is provided.  As char‐
       acters are typed they are immediately inserted into the text.

       Editing commands are entered  using  control-key	 combinations.	 As  a
       work-around  for	 communications	 programs that swallow certain control
       characters, you can emulate a control 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 para‐
       graph immediately below.	 Paragraphs are delimited by blank  lines,  or
       by  lines  beginning  with a space or tab.  Unjustification can be done
       immediately after justification using the control-U key combination.

       String searches are not sensitive to case.  A search begins at the cur‐
       rent  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 creative 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 cur‐
       sor  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 cancelled  at  any	time.	Alternatively,
       pico  will  substitute for the default spell checking routine a routine
       defined by the SPELL environment	 variable.   The  replacement  routine
       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)

       -a     Display all files including those beginning with a period (.).

       -b     Enable the option to Replace text matches found using the "Where
	      is" command. This now  does  nothing.  Instead,  the  option  is
	      always turned on (as if the -b flag had been specified).

       -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 supported  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 selection 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 speci‐
	      fied directory subtree.

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

       -s speller
	      Specify an alternate program spell to use when spell checking.

       -t     Enable  "tool" mode.  Intended for when pico is used as the edi‐
	      tor 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.

       -version
	      Print Pico version and exit.

       -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, typically Ctrl-Q and
	      Ctrl-S, which are sometimes used in communications paths to con‐
	      trol data flow between devices that operate at different speeds.

       -Q quotestr
	      Set the quote string.  Especially useful when  composing	email,
	      setting this allows the quote string to be checked for when Jus‐
	      tifying paragraphs.  A common quote string is "> ".

       -W word_separators
	      If characters listed here appear in the middle of	 a  word  sur‐
	      rounded  by  alphanumeric characters that word is split into two
	      words. This is used by the Forward and  Backward	word  commands
	      and by the spell checker.

       -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.

       -setlocale_ctype
	      Do setlocale(LC_CTYPE) if available. Default is to not  do  this
	      setlocale.

       -no_setlocale_collate
	      Do  not  do  setlocale(LC_COLLATE). Default is to do this setlo‐
	      cale.

       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.
       Copyright 1989-2008 by the University of Washington.

See Also
       alpine(1)
       Source distribution (part of the Alpine Message System):

       $Date: 2008-08-22 13:40:16 -0700 (Fri, 22 Aug 2008) $

				 Version 5.04			       pico(1)
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