Editing files

There are a number of options for editing files at TACC. These fall into three categories:

Linux text editors installed at TACC (nano, vi, emacs). These run in your terminal window. vi and emacs are extremely powerful but also quite complex, so nano may be the best choice as a first local text editor.
Text editors or IDEs that run on your local computer but have an SFTP (secure FTP) interface that lets you connect to a remote computer (Notepad++ or Komodo Edit). Once you connect to the remote host, you can navigate its directory structure and edit files. When you open a file, its contents are brought over the network into the text editor's edit window, then saved back when you save the file.
Software that will allow you to mount your home directory on TACC as if it were a normal disk e.g. MacFuse/MacFusion for Mac, or ExpanDrive for Windows or Mac ($$, but free trial). Then, you can use any text editor to open files and copy them to your computer with the usual drag-drop.

We'll go over nano together in class, but you may find these other options more useful for your day-to-day work.

nano on Lonestar via ssh

nano is a very simple editor available on most Linux systems. If you are able to use ssh, you can use nano.

To invoke it, just type:

How to start the nano text editor

nano

You'll see a short menu of operations at the bottom of the terminal window. The most important are:

ctl-o - write out the file
ctl-x - exit nano
You can just type in text, and navigate around using arrow keys. A couple of other navigation shortcuts:
ctl-a - go to start of line
ctl-e - go to end of line

Be careful with long lines – sometimes nano will split long lines into more than one line, which can cause problems in our commands files, as you will see.

Komodo Edit for Mac and Windows

Komodo Edit is another free, full-featured text editor with syntax coloring for many programming languages and a remote file editing interface. It has versions for both Macintosh and Windows. Download the appropriate install image here.

Once installed, start Komodo Edit and follow these steps to configure it:

Configure the default line separator for Unix
- On the Edit menu select Preferences
- Select the New Files Category
- For Specify the end-of-line (EOL) indicator for newly created files select UNIX (\n)
- Select OK
Configure a connection to TACC
- On the Edit menu select Preferences
- Select the Servers Category
- For Server type select SFTP
- Give this profile the Name of Lonestar
- For Hostname enter lonestar.tacc.utexas.edu
- Enter your TACC user ID for Username
- Leave Port and Default path blank
- Select OK

When you want to open an existing file at Lonestar, do the following:

Select the File menu -> Open -> Remote File
- Select your Lonestar profile from the top Server drop-down menu
- Once you log in, it should show you all the files and directories in your lonestar $HOME directory
Navigate to the file you want and open it
- Often you will use the work or scratch directory links to help you here

To create and save a new file, do the following:

From the Komodo Edit Start Page, select New File
- Select the file type (Text is good for commands files)
Edit the contents
Select the File menu -> Save As Other -> Remote File
- Select your Lonestar profile from the Server drop-down menu
- Once you log in, it should show you all the files and directories in your lonestar $HOME directory
Navigate to where you want the put the file and save it
- Often you will use the work or scratch directory links to help you here

Notepad++ for Windows

Notepad++ is an open source, full-featured text editor for Windows PCs (not Macs). It has syntax coloring for many programming languages (Python, Perl, shell), and a remote file editing interface.

If you're on a Windows PC download the installer here.

Once it has been installed, start Notepad++ and follow these steps to configure it:

Configure the default line separator for Unix
- In the Settings menu, select Preferences
- In the Preferences dialog, select the New Document/Default Directory tab.
- Select Unix in the Format section
- Close
Configure a connection to TACC
- In the Plugins menu, select NppFTP, then select Focus NppFTP Window. The top bar of the NppFTP panel should become blue.
- Click the Settings icon (looks like a gear), then select Profile Settings
- In the Profile settings dialog click Add new
- Call the new profile lonestar
- Fill in Hostname (lonestar.tacc.utexas.edu) and your TACC user ID
- Connection type must be SFTP
- Close

To open the connection, click the blue (Dis)connect icon then select lonestar connection. It should prompt for your password. Once you've authenticated, a directory tree ending in your home directory will be visible in the NppFTP window. You can click the the (Dis)connect icon again to Disconnect when you're done.

Since much of the editing we'll do will be in your SCRATCH area at TACC, rather than having to navigate around TACC's complex file system tree, it helps to create symbolic links to your WORK and SCRATCH directory in your home directory. Then you'll be able to get there just by clicking on the scratch or work folder in the Notepad++ Remote directory tree. See below for how to do this.

MacFuse/MacFusion/TextWrangler for Mac

Want your Lonestar files to appear like any other place on your hard drive? You can do this using MacFuse/MacFusion on a Mac.

Want to edit files on