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Command Line Draft 2.0.1

CommandLineIntro: Nano

Nano

Nano is a simple editor. To open it and begin creating a new text file, type the following at the command line:

$ nano filepath

where filepath is the path to the file you want to edit (or nothing). The screen is taken over by the program as shown in Figure 1.

nano_openfile

 Figure 1. Opening screen for nano

The screen is no longer a place to execute commands; it has become a text editor.

Exiting nano

To exit nano, hold down the Ctrl key and press the x key (a combination we call ctrl + x in this book).  If you have created or altered some text but have not yet saved it, nano asks:

Save modified buffer (ANSWERING "No" WILL DESTROY CHANGES) ? 

To save the changes, just type y and nano prompts for a destination filepath. To abandon your changes, type n.
To save changes without exiting, press ctrl + o. nano asks you for the filename in which to save the text:

File Name to Write:

Type the name of the file, and press the Enter key (or if the buffer already has the right name just press Enter).  For instance:

File Name to Write: textfile.txt

Exploring Files

You can move around the file and view different parts using the arrow keys. This is a very fast and responsive way to explore a file.

 Help

Be sure to read the man page because it has a lot of good hints. There is help available in your nano session by typing ctrl + g and to get back to your file type ctrl + x.

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