docs: reword the main paragraph of the man page

Mention some things that really set nano apart from Pico.
Plus some other small tweaks here and there.
This commit is contained in:
Benno Schulenberg 2017-04-19 20:31:04 +02:00
parent 040bd93cc4
commit 9a4c384afa
2 changed files with 26 additions and 25 deletions

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@ -27,15 +27,14 @@ nano \- Nano's ANOther editor, an enhanced free Pico clone
.RI [ options "] [[+" line [, column "]]\ " file "]..."
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBnano\fP is a small, free and friendly editor which aims to replace
Pico, the default editor included in the non-free Pine package. On
top of 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".
\fBnano\fP is a small and friendly editor. It copies the look and feel
of Pico, but is free software, and implements several features that Pico
lacks, such as: opening multiple files, scrolling per line, undo/redo,
syntax coloring, line numbering, and soft-wrapping overlong lines.
When opening a file, the cursor can be put on a specific line by adding
the line number with a plus sign (\fB+\fR) before the filename, and even
in a specific column by adding it with a comma.
When giving filename on the command line, the cursor can be put on a
specific line by adding the line number with a plus sign (\fB+\fR) before
the filename, and even in a specific column by adding it with a comma.
If the first file specified is a dash (\fB\-\fR), \fBnano\fR will read
data from standard input.
@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ Since nano-2.7.0, text can also be selected by holding Shift and moving the
cursor with the arrow keys. Holding down the Alt key too will increase the
stride.
.PP
The two lines at the bottom of the screen show the most important commands;
The two lines at the bottom of the screen show some important commands;
the built-in help (\fB^G\fR) lists all the available ones.
The default key bindings can be changed via the .nanorc file -- see
.BR nanorc (5).
@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ filename suffixed with a tilde (\fB~\fP).
.TP
.BR \-C\ \fIdirectory\fR ", " \-\-backupdir= \fIdirectory
Make and keep not just one backup file, but make and keep a uniquely
numbered one every time a file is saved -- when backups are enabled.
numbered one every time a file is saved -- when backups are enabled (\fB\-B\fR).
The uniquely numbered files are stored in the specified \fIdirectory\fR.
.TP
.BR \-D ", " \-\-boldtext
@ -90,10 +89,10 @@ Use bold text instead of reverse video text.
Convert typed tabs to spaces.
.TP
.BR \-F ", " \-\-multibuffer
Enable multiple file buffers (if support for them has been compiled in).
Read a file into a new buffer by default.
.TP
.BR \-G ", " \-\-locking
Enable vim-style file locking when editing files.
Use vim-style file locking when editing files.
.TP
.BR \-H ", " \-\-historylog
Log search and replace strings to \fI~/.nano/search_history\fP, so they can be
@ -137,7 +136,7 @@ This restricted mode is also accessible by invoking \fBnano\fP
with any name beginning with 'r' (e.g. "rnano").
.TP
.BR \-S ", " \-\-smooth
Enable smooth scrolling. Text will scroll line-by-line, instead of the
Use smooth scrolling: text will scroll line-by-line, instead of the
usual chunk-by-chunk behavior.
.TP
.BR \-T\ \fInumber\fR ", " \-\-tabsize= \fInumber
@ -145,7 +144,7 @@ Set the size (width) of a tab to \fInumber\fP columns. The value of
\fInumber\fP must be greater than 0. The default value is 8.
.TP
.BR \-U ", " \-\-quickblank
Do quick statusbar blanking. Statusbar messages will disappear after 1
Do quick statusbar blanking: statusbar messages will disappear after 1
keystroke instead of 25. Note that \fB\-c\fP overrides this.
.TP
.BR \-V ", " \-\-version
@ -165,7 +164,8 @@ Specify the name of the syntax highlighting to use from among the ones
defined in the \fInanorc\fP files.
.TP
.BR \-c ", " \-\-constantshow
Constantly show the cursor position. Note that this overrides \fB\-U\fP.
Constantly show the cursor position on the statusbar.
Note that this overrides \fB\-U\fP.
.TP
.BR \-d ", " \-\-rebinddelete
Interpret the Delete key differently so that both Backspace and Delete
@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ Please report any other bugs that you encounter via:
\fIhttps://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=nano\fR.
.SH HOMEPAGE
https://nano-editor.org/
\fIhttps://nano-editor.org/\fR
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR nanorc (5)

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@ -289,14 +289,14 @@ good fit for a small editor like \fBnano\fR.
A separate syntax can be defined for each kind of file
via the following commands:
.TP
.BR syntax " ""\fIstr\fR"" [""\fIfileregex\fR"" ...]"
Defines a syntax named \fIstr\fP which can be activated via the
.BR syntax " ""\fIname\fR"" [""\fIfileregex\fR"" ...]"
Defines a syntax named \fIname\fP which can be activated via the
.BR \-Y / \-\-syntax
command-line option, or will be automatically activated if
the current filename matches the extended regular expression
\fIfileregex\fP. All subsequent \fBcolor\fR, \fBicolor\fR,
\fBheader\fR and other such statements will apply to this
\fIstr\fP syntax until a new \fBsyntax\fR command is encountered.
\fIname\fP syntax until a new \fBsyntax\fR command is encountered.
The \fBnone\fP syntax is reserved; specifying it on the command line is
the same as not having a syntax at all. The \fBdefault\fP syntax is
@ -365,13 +365,14 @@ Read in self-contained color syntaxes from \fIsyntaxfile\fP. Note that
\fIsyntaxfile\fP may contain only 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. This allows you to add a new \fBcolor\fP, \fBicolor\fP,
\fBheader\fP, \fBmagic\fP, \fBcomment\fP, \fBlinter\fP, or \fBformatter\fP directive
to an already defined syntax -- useful when you want to
.BI extendsyntax " name directive " \fR[ "arg " \fR...]
Extend the syntax previously defined as \fIname\fP to include
new information. This allows adding a new \fBcolor\fP, \fBicolor\fP,
\fBheader\fP, \fBmagic\fP, \fBcomment\fP, \fBlinter\fP, or \fBformatter\fP
directive to an already defined syntax -- useful when you want to
slightly improve a syntax defined in one of the system-installed
files (which are normally not writable)
files (which are normally not writable).
.SH REBINDING KEYS
Key bindings can be changed via the following two commands:
.TP