PICO TUTORIAL

Pico ^tm (PIne COmposer) is a simple text-editing program created and maintained by the Computing & Communications group at the University of Washington. Pico is a plain text (ASCII) editing program that can be used for text editing as well as computer program development. It does not have text enhancement capabilities (bold, italics, etc.) like many word processing programs. The basic features are text entry, searching, spelling checker, file browsing, and paragraph justification.

The top line of the Pico window shows Pico's version, the current file name (or buffer for an unsaved file) being edited and whether there are any changes that have not been saved. The bottom two lines contain some of the available commands. The line above this is used to report messages and receive corresponding command input.

Every character typed is entered into the text editor at the cursor position. Commands are entered using control characters. On the Pico screen the "^", caret, refers to the control key (labeled CTRL or control on the keyboard). Control-X would be ^X on the screen.

Pico requires a video terminal emulation of VT-100, VT-200, VT-210, or VT-220. This will allow for the inverse characters on your computer screen. If your display is garbled, check the terminal settings on your telnet software as Pico does not work in the TTY communications mode.

Some computers may need to be set up so the backspace or delete key works correctly. This can be done easily by typing stty erase [space] and then pressing the Backspace or Delete key and return.

Pine is copyrighted by the University of Washington.
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PICO TUTORIAL

comments to: Brad James
Updated 5/17/96

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