[PATCH 12/31] docs: favor `\[ha]` special character over `^`

"G. Branden Robinson" <[email protected]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:58:54 -0500
Newsgroups	gmane.editors.nano.devel
Message-ID	<20260423225854.3k7vr4qpwf4o4c2f@illithid>
groff_man_style(7):
   Portability
...
     Exercise restraint with escape sequences as with requests.  Some
     escape sequences are however required for correct typesetting even
     in man pages and usually do not cause portability problems.
     Several of these render glyphs corresponding to punctuation code
     points in the Unicode basic Latin range (U+0020–U+007F) that are
     handled specially in roff input; the escape sequences below must be
     used to render them correctly and portably when documenting
     material that uses them as literals——namely, any of the set ' - \ ^
     ` ~ (apostrophe, dash or hyphen‐minus, backslash, caret, grave
     accent, tilde).
...
     Several special characters are also widely portable.  Except for
     \-, \[em], and \[ga], AT&T troff did not consistently define the
     characters listed below, but its descendants, like DWB, Plan 9, or
     Solaris troff, can be made to support them by defining them in font
     description files, making them aliases of existing glyphs if
     necessary; see groff_font(5).  groff’s extended notation for
     special characters, \[xx], is also supported by mandoc(1), Heirloom
     Doctools troff, and neatroff, but not DWB, Plan 9, or Solaris
     troffs.
...
     \[ha]  Basic Latin circumflex accent (“hat”).  Some output devices
            format “^” as U+02C6 (modifier letter circumflex accent).

This change was scripted.

$ sed -i -e 's/\^/\\[ha]/g' doc/*.[15]
---
 doc/nano.1   | 70 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------------
 doc/nanorc.5 | 36 +++++++++++++--------------
 2 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 53 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/nano.1 b/doc/nano.1
index 22402b63..d275c746 100644
--- a/doc/nano.1
+++ b/doc/nano.1
@@ -48,16 +48,16 @@ .SH NOTICES
 .EE
 .RE
 .P
-Since version 8.0, to be newcomer friendly, \fB^F\fR starts a forward search,
-\fB^B\fR starts a backward search, \fBM\-F\fR searches the next occurrence
+Since version 8.0, to be newcomer friendly, \fB\[ha]F\fR starts a forward search,
+\fB\[ha]B\fR starts a backward search, \fBM\-F\fR searches the next occurrence
 forward, and \fBM\-B\fR searches the next occurrence backward.  If you want
 those keystrokes to do what they did before version 8.0, add the following
 four lines at the end of your \fInanorc\fR file:
 .P
 .RS 4
 .EX
-bind ^F forward main
-bind ^B back main
+bind \[ha]F forward main
+bind \[ha]B back main
 bind M\-F formatter main
 bind M\-B linter main
 .EE
@@ -97,18 +97,18 @@ .SH DESCRIPTION
 .SH EDITING
 Entering text and moving around in a file is straightforward: typing the
 letters and using the normal cursor movement keys.  Commands are entered
-by using the Control (^) and the Alt or Meta (M\-) keys.
-Typing \fB^K\fR deletes the current line and puts it in the cutbuffer.
-Consecutive \fB^K\fRs put all deleted lines together in the cutbuffer.
+by using the Control (\[ha]) and the Alt or Meta (M\-) keys.
+Typing \fB\[ha]K\fR deletes the current line and puts it in the cutbuffer.
+Consecutive \fB\[ha]K\fRs put all deleted lines together in the cutbuffer.
 Any cursor movement or executing any other command causes the next
-\fB^K\fR to overwrite the cutbuffer.  A \fB^U\fR pastes the current
+\fB\[ha]K\fR to overwrite the cutbuffer.  A \fB\[ha]U\fR pastes the current
 contents of the cutbuffer at the current cursor position.
 .P
 When a more precise piece of text needs to be cut or copied, you can mark
-its start with \fB^6\fR, move the cursor to its end (the marked text is
-highlighted), and then use \fB^K\fR to cut it, or \fBM\-6\fR to copy it to
-the cutbuffer.  You can also save the marked text to a file with \fB^O\fR,
-or spell check it with \fB^T^T\fR.
+its start with \fB\[ha]6\fR, move the cursor to its end (the marked text is
+highlighted), and then use \fB\[ha]K\fR to cut it, or \fBM\-6\fR to copy it to
+the cutbuffer.  You can also save the marked text to a file with \fB\[ha]O\fR,
+or spell check it with \fB\[ha]T\[ha]T\fR.
 .P
 On some terminals, text can be selected also by holding down Shift while
 using the arrow keys.  Holding down the Ctrl or Alt key too increases
@@ -118,11 +118,11 @@ .SH EDITING
 Any valid Unicode code point can be inserted into the buffer by typing
 \fBM\-V\fR followed by the hexadecimal digits of the code point (concluded
 with \fB<Space>\fR or \fB<Enter>\fR when it are fewer than six digits).
-A literal control code (except \fB^J\fR) can be inserted by typing
+A literal control code (except \fB\[ha]J\fR) can be inserted by typing
 \fBM\-V\fR followed by the pertinent keystroke.
 .P
 The two lines at the bottom of the screen show some important commands;
-the built-in help (\fB^G\fR) lists all the available ones.
+the built-in help (\fB\[ha]G\fR) lists all the available ones.
 The default key bindings can be changed via a \fInanorc\fR file \[em] see
 .BR nanorc (5).
 .
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
 .BI "\-Q \[dq]" regex "\[dq]\fR, \fB\-\-quotestr=\[dq]" regex \[dq]
 Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line.
-The default value is "\fB^([\ \\t]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+\fR".
+The default value is "\fB\[ha]([\ \\t]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+\fR".
 (Note that \fB\\t\fR stands for an actual Tab.)
 This makes it possible to rejustify blocks of quoted text when composing
 email, and to rewrap blocks of line comments when writing source code.
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 Scroll the buffer contents per half-screen instead of per line.
 .TP
 .BR \-k ", " \-\-cutfromcursor
-Make the 'Cut Text' command (normally \fB^K\fR) cut from the current cursor
+Make the 'Cut Text' command (normally \fB\[ha]K\fR) cut from the current cursor
 position to the end of the line, instead of cutting the entire line.
 .TP
 .BR \-l ", " \-\-linenumbers
@@ -325,7 +325,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 files only in this directory and its subdirectories.
 .TP
 .BR \-p ", " \-\-preserve
-Preserve the XOFF and XON sequences (\fB^S\fR and \fB^Q\fR) so that
+Preserve the XOFF and XON sequences (\fB\[ha]S\fR and \fB\[ha]Q\fR) so that
 they are caught by the terminal (stopping and resuming the output).
 Note that option \fB\-/\fR (\fB\-\-modernbindings\fR) overrides this.
 .TP
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 using the built-in corrector that calls \fBhunspell\fR(1) or \fBspell\fR(1).
 .TP
 .BR \-t ", " \-\-saveonexit
-Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with \fB^X\fR).
+Save a changed buffer without prompting (when exiting with \fB\[ha]X\fR).
 .TP
 .BR \-u ", " \-\-unix
 Save a file by default in Unix format.  This overrides nano's
@@ -430,15 +430,15 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
 .BR \-/ ", " \-\-modernbindings
 Use key bindings similar to the ones that most modern programs use:
-\fB^X\fR cuts, \fB^C\fR copies, \fB^V\fR pastes,
-\fB^Z\fR undoes, \fB^Y\fR redoes,
-\fB^F\fR searches forward, \fB^G\fR searches next,
-\fB^S\fR saves, \fB^O\fR opens a file, \fB^Q\fR quits,
-and (when the terminal permits) \fB^H\fR shows help.
-Furthermore, \fB^A\fR sets the mark, \fB^B\fR searches backward,
-\fB^D\fR searches previous, \fB^R\fR makes replacements,
-\fB^P\fR shows the position, \fB^T\fR goes to a line,
-\fB^W\fR writes out a file, and \fB^E\fR executes a command.
+\fB\[ha]X\fR cuts, \fB\[ha]C\fR copies, \fB\[ha]V\fR pastes,
+\fB\[ha]Z\fR undoes, \fB\[ha]Y\fR redoes,
+\fB\[ha]F\fR searches forward, \fB\[ha]G\fR searches next,
+\fB\[ha]S\fR saves, \fB\[ha]O\fR opens a file, \fB\[ha]Q\fR quits,
+and (when the terminal permits) \fB\[ha]H\fR shows help.
+Furthermore, \fB\[ha]A\fR sets the mark, \fB\[ha]B\fR searches backward,
+\fB\[ha]D\fR searches previous, \fB\[ha]R\fR makes replacements,
+\fB\[ha]P\fR shows the position, \fB\[ha]T\fR goes to a line,
+\fB\[ha]W\fR writes out a file, and \fB\[ha]E\fR executes a command.
 Note that this option overrides option \fB\-p\fR \%(\fB\-\-preserve\fR).
 .
 .SH TOGGLES
@@ -447,7 +447,7 @@ .SH TOGGLES
 hard-wrapping of long lines, \fBM\-S\fR toggles soft-wrapping,
 \fBM\-N\fR toggles line numbers, \fBM\-M\fR toggles the mouse,
 \fBM\-I\fR auto-indentation, and \fBM\-X\fR the help lines.
-See at the end of the \fB^G\fR help text for a complete list.
+See at the end of the \fB\[ha]G\fR help text for a complete list.
 .P
 The \fBM\-X\fR toggle is special: it works in all menus except
 the help viewer and the linter.  All other toggles work in
@@ -475,16 +475,16 @@ .SH EXIT STATUS
 An invalid option or option argument was given.
 .TP
 .B 2
-The last open buffer was discarded (with \fB^O^Q\fR or \fB^X^Q\fR).
+The last open buffer was discarded (with \fB\[ha]O\[ha]Q\fR or \fB\[ha]X\[ha]Q\fR).
 .
 .SH NOTES
-Suspension is enabled by default, reachable via \fB^T^Z\fR.
-(If you want a plain \fB^Z\fR to suspend nano, add
-\fBbind ^Z suspend main\fR to your nanorc.)
+Suspension is enabled by default, reachable via \fB\[ha]T\[ha]Z\fR.
+(If you want a plain \fB\[ha]Z\fR to suspend nano, add
+\fBbind \[ha]Z suspend main\fR to your nanorc.)
 .P
-At a Yes-No prompt, \fB^Y\fR can be used for "Yes", \fB^N\fR for "No",
-and \fB^A\fR for "All".
-(And when exiting, \fB^Q\fR can be used for "Quit with error".)
+At a Yes-No prompt, \fB\[ha]Y\fR can be used for "Yes", \fB\[ha]N\fR for "No",
+and \fB\[ha]A\fR for "All".
+(And when exiting, \fB\[ha]Q\fR can be used for "Quit with error".)
 These unlisted bindings work in any locale.
 .P
 When you want to copy marked text from \fBnano\fR to the system's clipboard,
diff --git a/doc/nanorc.5 b/doc/nanorc.5
index 979d310a..485787bf 100644
--- a/doc/nanorc.5
+++ b/doc/nanorc.5
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ .SH NOTICES
 .EE
 .RE
 .P
-Since version 8.0, to be newcomer friendly, \fB^F\fR starts a forward search,
-\fB^B\fR starts a backward search, \fBM\-F\fR searches the next occurrence
+Since version 8.0, to be newcomer friendly, \fB\[ha]F\fR starts a forward search,
+\fB\[ha]B\fR starts a backward search, \fBM\-F\fR searches the next occurrence
 forward, and \fBM\-B\fR searches the next occurrence backward.  If you want
 those keystrokes to do what they did before version 8.0, add the following
 four lines at the end of your \fInanorc\fR file:
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 selected through dragging by holding down the Shift key.
 .TP
 .B set multibuffer
-When reading in a file with \fB^R\fR, insert it into a new buffer by default.
+When reading in a file with \fB\[ha]R\fR, insert it into a new buffer by default.
 .TP
 .B set noconvert
 Don't convert files from DOS format.
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 These positions are remembered for the 200 most-recently edited files.
 .TP
 .B set preserve
-Preserve the XOFF and XON sequences (\fB^S\fR and \fB^Q\fR) so that
+Preserve the XOFF and XON sequences (\fB\[ha]S\fR and \fB\[ha]Q\fR) so that
 they are caught by the terminal (stopping and resuming the output).
 .TP
 .B set promptcolor \fR[\fBbold,\fR][\fBitalic,\fR]\fIfgcolor\fB,\fIbgcolor\fR
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 .TP
 .BI "set quotestr \[dq]" regex \[dq]
 Set the regular expression for matching the quoting part of a line.
-The default value is "\fB^([\ \et]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+\fR".
+The default value is "\fB\[ha]([\ \et]*([!#%:;>|}]|//))+\fR".
 (Note that \fB\et\fR stands for an actual Tab character.)
 This makes it possible to rejustify blocks of quoted text when composing
 email, and to rewrap blocks of line comments when writing source code.
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ .SH OPTIONS
 Regular expressions in \fBnano\fR are of the extended type (ERE).
 .TP
 .B set saveonexit
-Save a changed buffer automatically on exit (\fB^X\fR); don't prompt.
+Save a changed buffer automatically on exit (\fB\[ha]X\fR); don't prompt.
 .TP
 .B set scrollercolor \fIfgcolor\fB,\fIbgcolor\fR
 Use this color combination for the indicator alias "scrollbar".
@@ -462,13 +462,13 @@ .SH SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING
 good fit for a small editor like \fBnano\fR.
 .P
 All regular expressions in \fBnano\fR are POSIX extended regular expressions.
-This means that \fB.\fR, \fB?\fR, \fB*\fR, \fB+\fR, \fB^\fR, \fB$\fR, and
+This means that \fB.\fR, \fB?\fR, \fB*\fR, \fB+\fR, \fB\[ha]\fR, \fB$\fR, and
 several other characters are special.
 The period \fB.\fR matches any single character,
 \fB?\fR means the preceding item is optional,
 \fB*\fR means the preceding item may be matched zero or more times,
 \fB+\fR means the preceding item must be matched one or more times,
-\fB^\fR matches the beginning of a line, and \fB$\fR the end,
+\fB\[ha]\fR matches the beginning of a line, and \fB$\fR the end,
 \fB\e<\fR matches the start of a word, and \fB\e>\fR the end,
 and \fB\es\fR matches a blank.
 It also means that lookahead and lookbehind are not possible.
@@ -633,10 +633,10 @@ .SH REBINDING KEYS
 The format of \fIkey\fR should be one of:
 .RS 3
 .TP 7
-.BI ^ X
+.BI \[ha] X
 where \fIX\fR is a Latin letter, or one of several ASCII characters
-(@, ], \e, ^, _), or the word "Space".
-Example: ^C.
+(@, ], \e, \[ha], _), or the word "Space".
+Example: \[ha]C.
 .TP
 .BI M\- X
 where \fIX\fR is any ASCII character (except [),
@@ -658,12 +658,12 @@ .SH REBINDING KEYS
 .BR Ins " or " Del .
 .RE
 .P
-Rebinding \fB^M\fR (Enter) or \fB^I\fR (Tab) is probably not a good idea.
-Rebinding \fB^[\fR (Esc) is not possible, because its keycode
+Rebinding \fB\[ha]M\fR (Enter) or \fB\[ha]I\fR (Tab) is probably not a good idea.
+Rebinding \fB\[ha][\fR (Esc) is not possible, because its keycode
 is the starter byte of Meta keystrokes and escape sequences.
 Rebinding any of the dedicated cursor-moving keys (the arrows,
 Home, End, PageUp and PageDown) is not possible.
-On some terminals it's not possible to rebind \fB^H\fR (unless \fB\-\-raw\fR
+On some terminals it's not possible to rebind \fB\[ha]H\fR (unless \fB\-\-raw\fR
 is used) because its keycode is identical to that of the Backspace key.
 .
 .TP
@@ -723,8 +723,8 @@ .SH REBINDING KEYS
 .B chopwordleft
 Deletes from the cursor position to the beginning of the preceding word.
 (This function is bound by default to <Shift+Ctrl+Delete>.  If your terminal
-produces \fB^H\fR for <Ctrl+Backspace>, you can make <Ctrl+Backspace> delete
-the word to the left of the cursor by rebinding \fB^H\fR to this function.)
+produces \fB\[ha]H\fR for <Ctrl+Backspace>, you can make <Ctrl+Backspace> delete
+the word to the left of the cursor by rebinding \fB\[ha]H\fR to this function.)
 .TP
 .B chopwordright
 Deletes from the cursor position to the beginning of the next word.
@@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ .SH REBINDING KEYS
 some message", then the cursor is put at the indicated position
 in the mentioned file while showing "some message" on the status bar.
 You can move from message to message with <PgUp> and <PgDn>,
-and leave linting mode with \fB^C\fR or <Enter>.
+and leave linting mode with \fB\[ha]C\fR or <Enter>.
 .TP
 .B justify
 Justifies the current paragraph (or the marked region).
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ .SH EXAMPLES
 .P
 .RS
 .EX
-bind ^Z suspend main
+bind \[ha]Z suspend main
 .EE
 .RE
 .P
-- 
2.30.2
signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, 833 B)