> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://igb.mit.edu/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://igb.mit.edu/mini-courses/introduction-to-unix/files/creating-and-editing-files.md).

# Creating and Editing Files

* `nano`
  * A basic text editor found on most UNIX operating systems.
  * Gives instructions on how to use it at the bottom of the screen.
    * `^` stands for `Ctrl`

Example output from running `nano arrayDat.txt`. Save any changes by exiting with `^X`:

```bash
  GNU nano 2.3.1                                      File: arrayDat.txt                                                                                    

ProbeID Sample1 Sample2 Sample3 Sample4
1007_s_at       10.93   11.44   11.19   11.64
1053_at 8.28    7.54    8.06    7.32
117_at  3.31    3.41    3.13    3.13
121_at  4.42    4.32    4.46    4.63
1255_g_at       1.8     1.7     1.75    1.81

^G Get Help               ^O WriteOut               ^R Read File              ^Y Prev Page              ^K Cut Text               ^C Cur Pos
^X Exit                   ^J Justify                ^W Where Is               ^V Next Page              ^U UnCut Text             ^T To Spell
```

If you recall, you can mount the storage servers to your local machine using SMB. Since mounting the server makes it look like a local directory on your computer, you can use whatever text editing software that you're comfortable with to edit text files on the computing cluster.


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