GNU nano is a small and easy to use command line text editor. Besides basic text editing, nano offers features like undo/redo, syntax coloring, interactive search-and-replace, auto-indentation, line numbers, word completion, file locking, backup files, and internationalization support.

• Nano is terminal based and for use in command line.

• There are add-ons which allow it to be used in a GUI

• More information for using Nano on ARCC HPCs may be found here.

In an HPC terminal window, launch nano with the nano command.

• To open a specific file in nano, use command nano </path/to/file/filename> to open that file.

• You can insert text simply by typing it in.

• Use the arrow keys to navigate through the document.

• The Ctrl key is a key for “special” or common file-handling and administrative keystrokes.

• Hit Ctrl+x to exit the file.

• Nano has many “cheat sheets” available online.

  • http://nano-editor.org Cheatsheet: Cheatsheet for GNU nano

Emacs is a portable platform for creating applications with a text user interface. It serves as a fully programmable text editor. Many users use Emacs in a variety of different ways.

• Emacs may be run in a command prompt (command line environment) or in a GUI.

• It can also be used as an IDE (Integrated Development Environment).

• More information for using Emacs on ARCC HPCs may be found here.