Vi Command

From Luke Jackson

vi -- Linux/Unix/Mac OS X Basic Text Editor

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Usage 2.1 General Startup 2.2 Counts 2.3 Cursor Movement 2.4 Screen Movement 2.5 Inserting 2.6 Deleting 2.7 Copying Code 2.8 Put Command 2.9 Find Commands 2.10 Miscellaneous Commands 2.11 Line Editor Mode 2.12 READING FILES 2.13 WRITE FILE 2.14 MOVING 2.15 SHELL ESCAPE 3 Arguments 4 Examples 4.1 Show Line Numbers

Introduction

You can use vi to edit files via SHELL. It is very helpful when are you are managing a system remotely.

Usage

usage: vim [arguments] [file ..]       edit specified file(s)
   or: vim [arguments] -               read text from stdin
   or: vim [arguments] -t tag          edit file where tag is defined
   or: vim [arguments] -q [errorfile]  edit file with first error

General Startup

To use vi: vi filename To exit vi and save changes: ZZ or  :wq To exit vi without saving changes: :q! To enter vi command mode: [esc]

Counts

A number preceding any vi command tells vi to repeat that command that many times.

Cursor Movement

h move left (backspace)

j move down

k move up

l move right (spacebar)

[return] move to the beginning of the next line

$ last column on the current line

0 move cursor to the first column on the current line

^ move cursor to first nonblank column on the current line

w move to the beginning of the next word or punctuation mark

W move past the next space

b move to the beginning of the previous word or punctuation mark

B move to the beginning of the previous word, ignores punctuation

e end of next word or punctuation mark

E end of next word, ignoring punctuation

H move cursor to the top of the screen

M move cursor to the middle of the screen

L move cursor to the bottom of the screen

Screen Movement

G move to the last line in the file

xG move to line x

z+ move current line to top of screen

z move current line to the middle of screen

z- move current line to the bottom of screen

^F move forward one screen

^B move backward one line

^D move forward one half screen

^U move backward one half screen

^R redraw screen ( does not work with VT100 type terminals )

^L redraw screen ( does not work with Televideo terminals )

Inserting

r replace character under cursor with next character typed

R keep replacing character until [esc] is hit

i insert before cursor

a append after cursor

A append at end of line

O open line above cursor and enter append mode

Deleting

x delete character under cursor

dd delete line under cursor

dw delete word under cursor

db delete word before cursor

Copying Code

yy (yank)'copies' line which may then be put by the p(put) command. Precede with a count for multiple lines.

Put Command

Brings back previous deletion or yank of lines, words, or characters

P bring back before cursor

p bring back after cursor

Find Commands

? finds a word going backwards

/ finds a word going forwards

f finds a character on the line under the cursor going forward

F finds a character on the line under the cursor going backwards

t find a character on the current line going forward and stop one character before it

T find a character on the current line going backward and stop one character before it

repeat last f, F, t, T

Miscellaneous Commands

. repeat last command

u undoes last command issued

U undoes all commands on one line

xp deletes first character and inserts after second (swap)

J join current line with the next line

^G display current line number

% if at one parenthesis, will jump to its mate

mx mark current line with character x

'x find line marked with character x

NOTE: Marks are internal and not written to the file.

Line Editor Mode

Any commands form the line editor ex can be issued upon entering line mode.

To enter: type ':'

To exit: press[return] or [esc]

ex Commands For a complete list consult the UNIX Programmer's Manual

READING FILES

Copies (reads) filename after cursor in file currently editing

r filename

WRITE FILE

w saves the current file without quitting

MOVING

1. move to line #

$ move to last line of file

SHELL ESCAPE

Executes 'cmd' as a shell command.

!'cmd'

Arguments

--                   Only file names after this
-v                   Vi mode (like "vi")
-e                   Ex mode (like "ex")
-s                   Silent (batch) mode (only for "ex")
-d                   Diff mode (like "vimdiff")
-y                   Easy mode (like "evim", modeless)
-R                   Readonly mode (like "view")
-Z                   Restricted mode (like "rvim")
-m                   Modifications (writing files) not allowed
-M                   Modifications in text not allowed
-b                   Binary mode
-l                   Lisp mode
-C                   Compatible with Vi: 'compatible'
-N                   Not fully Vi compatible: 'nocompatible'
-V[N]                Verbose level
-D                   Debugging mode
-n                   No swap file, use memory only
-r                   List swap files and exit
-r (with file name)  Recover crashed session
-L                   Same as -r
-T <terminal>        Set terminal type to <terminal>
-u <vimrc>           Use <vimrc> instead of any .vimrc
--noplugin           Don't load plugin scripts
-o[N]                Open N windows (default: one for each file)
-O[N]                Like -o but split vertically
   +                    Start at end of file
   +<lnum>              Start at line <lnum>
--cmd <command>      Execute <command> before loading any vimrc file
-c <command>         Execute <command> after loading the first file
-S <session>         Source file <session> after loading the first file
-s <scriptin>        Read Normal mode commands from file <scriptin>
-w <scriptout>       Append all typed commands to file <scriptout>
-W <scriptout>       Write all typed commands to file <scriptout>
-x                   Edit encrypted files
-i <viminfo>         Use <viminfo> instead of .viminfo
-h  or  --help       Print Help (this message) and exit
--version            Print version information and exit

Examples

Show Line Numbers

While editing a document (and not inserting text), type the following to turn on line numbers:

:set number

If you tire of the line numbers, enter the following command to turn them off:

:set nonumber