Table of Contents
Text Editing
It is possible that you might need to tweak your programs or to view output files. There are many options to edit text on a Linux system. Some are text-only (console mode) and some use a graphical user interface.
Nano
Nano is a very simple console text editor. To use it to edit a file, type:
$ nano [file name]
Note that nano may automatically wrap long lines (unless started with -w
) and it does not have an undo function.
Emacs
Emacs is one of the oldest text-editors (along with vi(m)). To start, enter the command:
$ emacs
To edit a file, use:
$ emacs [file name]
You can find an interactive emacs tutorial by typing C-h t
(Control+h together, then t). To quit, type C-x C-c
Vim
You can run Vim with:
$ vim
Upon starting Vim, you will be in 'command mode'. In command mode, you cannot actually edit a file. To edit the file type i
to enter 'insert mode' and type Esc
to return to 'command mode'. A tutorial is available for Vim, by typing :help
and pressing enter (in command mode). To quit, type :quit
+Enter (in command mode).