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Using the Unix Text Editor Pico

U-M Information Technology Central Services * R1168 * June 2004

NOTE: This document is also available in the following formats: Microsoft Word | Adobe Acrobat (PDF).

This document provides instructions for using the Unix text editor Pico on the ITCS Login Service (login.itd.umich.edu). These instructions may also apply to Pico on other Unix machines. Pico is a command-based text editor. Editing files with Pico is similar to composing messages in the Pine e-mail program; the commands you can use are listed at the bottom of your screen.

Table of Contents

To Open Pico

  1. Use secure software to connect to the ITCS Login Service (login.itd.umich.edu).

    Windows. Use SSH Secure Shell software. For information about obtaining and using SSH Secure Shell, see Using SSH Secure Shell to Connect to Host Computers [Windows] (s4304).

    Mac OS X. Mac OS X comes with SSH software called Terminal. Open the Applications folder, then the Utilities folder to find it. Open Terminal and enter this command:
    ssh login.itd.umich.edu
    The Blue Disc installs an icon in your dock that you can click to connect to the Login Service.

    Mac OS 8.6-9.2.2. Mac Classic users can use MacSSH, which is available on the Blue Disc.

  2. Log in with your uniqname and UMICH password.

  3. At the % prompt, type pico and press the Return key.

  4. Pico will open a buffer (temporary storage for any text you type). You can start typing text or use any of Pico's commands.

    5. description of the screen shot

Commands Use the Control Key

You issue most commands in Pico by holding down the Control key and typing a letter. A caret (^) is used to indicate the Control key. To issue the Get Help command (^G), for example, hold down the Control key and type g.

Marking, Cutting, and Pasting

You cannot use your mouse to select text in Pico, so you must mark text you want to cut instead. The command for marking text is ^^. The first ^ indicates that you should hold down the Control key. The second ^ means to type a caret (Shift-6).

The mark feature (^^) allows you to mark any segment of text, cut it out (^K), move the cursor, and paste the text (^U) in the new location.

Commands That Move Your Cursor

Command
 What the Command Lets You Do
Arrow keys
 Move curser up, down, to the right, and to the left.
Delete/ Backspace key
 Move curser back one space.
^A
 Move curser to beginning of line.
^B
 Move curser back one character.
^E
 Move curser to end of line.
^F
 Move curser forward one character.
^N
 Move curser to next line.
^P
 Move curser to previous line.
^V
 Move curser forward a page of text.
^Y
 Move curser backward a page of text.
^-space
 Move curser to next word.

Other Commands

Command
 What the Command Lets You Do
^C
 Report current cursor position.
^D
 Delete the character at the cursor position.
^G
 Display the Pico help file.
^H
 Delete previous character.
^I
 Insert a tab at the current cursor position.
^J
 Reformat the text in the paragraph the cursor is on so that it is left-justified and the right margin is ragged (a paragraph is separated by one blank line). Useful when you are editing a paragraph and the lines become uneven.
^K
 Cut marked text or current line.
^L
 Redraw screen.
^O
 Output the current buffer to a file, saving it.
^R
 Insert text from an existing file. Pico prompts you for the name of a file in your IFS home directory. You can then type ^T to see a list of files in your home directory. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the file you want, and then press Return to read in the selected file.
^T
 Check the spelling in the file you are composing. You will be prompted at the bottom of the screen with each misspelled word. You can correct the word, then press Return to change it in the text. If you don't want to change the spelling of a word flagged by the spell checker, press Return to continue the spell check without making changes. If a word is misspelled more than once, you will be prompted to confirm the correction of each occurrence.
^U
 Undelete the last line, series of lines, or marked block you deleted. Using Mark (^^), Cut (^K), and Undelete (^U) is a convenient way to move text to a new location in your file. Also, ^U can be used to "unjustify" the last justification.
^W
 Search the file for a string of characters (such as a word). The cursor is put on the first occurrence appearing after the location of the cursor. The search will wrap to the beginning of the file when it no longer finds matches in the remainder of the file. To search for the same string a second time, press ^W to begin search and then just press Return to accept the previous search string shown in square brackets rather than entering a new search string.
^X
 Exit Pico. You'll be prompted whether to save the buffer (your changes).
^^
 Mark cursor position as beginning of selected text. Used to set a mark and then perform a delete/move operation on a block of text.

To Exit Pico

  1. Use the Exit command (^X) to exit Pico. You'll be prompted to indicate whether you want to save your changes.

  2. At the % prompt, type logout and press Return to log out of the ITD Login Service.

  3. Quit or Exit your secure connection software.

Additional Resources

Visit ITCS's Information System to obtain ITCS computer documentation and other resources. A list of relevant documents follows:

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