- vi is an interface for the ex editor. It is one of many Unix text editors.
- vi has two modes: command and insert. You begin in command mode.
i insert text before the cursor
I insert text at the beginning of the line
a append text after the cursor
A append text at the end of the line
o/O insert a blank line below/above the cursor
Esc return to command mode (when in doubt, hit Esc a few times)
r replace one character, then return to command mode
R replace text until you hit Esc (overtype)
c replace a text object (e.g. cw will change a word)
x delete the character under the cursor
X delete the character to the left of your cursor
d delete a text object (e.g. dw will delete a word)
D delete from the current character to the end of the line
y copy a text object (e.g. yw will yank a word)
p/P paste text below/above the cursor
"[a-z][n]yy yank [n] lines into named buffer [a-z]
"[a-z]p/P put the contents of the buffer [a-z] below/above the cursor
u undo the last change (press u again to "undo the undo")
U undo all recent changes to the current line
:u undo the last command
0 beginning of the line (home)
$ end of the line (end)
b back one word (or the beginning of a word)
e to the end of a word
w forward one word
(B, E, and W ignore punctuation)
H top of the screen
L bottom of the screen
M middle of the screen
( previous sentence
) next sentence
[ previous section
] next section
h j k l (ell)
left down up right
^b scroll up one screen (page up)
^f scroll down one screen (page down)
^u scroll up half a screen
^d scroll down half a screen
[n]G go to line [n] (G by itself takes you to the last line)
:[n] go to line [n]
/[s] search for [s]
?[s] search backwards for [s]
n repeat the search
N repeat the search backwards
. repeat the last command (e.g. dd... will delete a few lines)
J join the current line with the next line
^T set autoindent one tab to the right
^D set autoindent one tab to the left
>> shift text one tab to the right
<< shift text one tab to the left
[command][number][text object] (e.g. "d2w" will delete 2 words)
[number][command][text object] (e.g. "2dw" will delete 2 words)
[command][command] affects an entire line (e.g. dd will delete a line)
ZZ save and quit
:wq save and quit
:w save, but don't quit
:q quit, if no edits have been made
:e! revert to the last saved version
:q! wipe out all edits and exit vi
Options apply during the current session only. Edit your .exrc file to make permanent changes, but make sure you know what you're doing!
:set view only those options which are currently in effect
:set all view a listing of other options
:set number display line numbers
:set showinsert show insert flag ("I") when in insert mode
:set wrapmargin=[n] specify a right margin of [n] character widths
:set tabstop=[n] sets default tab space to [n] character widths
:set ai set autoindent
After setting autoindent, enter insert mode and press tab. From this point on vi will indent each line to this point. Press Esc to stop the indentations.
:sh escape temporarily to a shell
^d return from shell to vi
:![command] execute UNIX command without leaving vi
:r![command] read in output of [command]
:r [file] read in [file]
:r !sort [file] read in [file], after passing through sort
:$r [file] append [file] to the end of the current document
:n open next file (works with wildcard filenames)
:^g list current line number
:3,18d delete lines 3 through 18
16,25m30 move lines 16 through 25 to after line 30
23,29co62 copy specified lines and place after line 62
:1,10w [file] write lines 1 through 10 to [file]
:40,$w >> [file] copy lines 40 and on, append to [file]
:1,$s/[s1]/[s2]/g (Yow!) global replacement of [s1] with [s2]
:%s/[s1]/[s2]/g Easier global replacement of [s1] with [s2]
This is simply an edited version of Joe R. Jah's introduction to vi.