[naveenchb4u]

What is vi?

The default editor that comes with the UNIX operating system is called vi (visual editor). [Alternate editors for UNIX environments include pico and emacs, a product of GNU.]

The UNIX vi editor is a full screen editor and has two modes of operation:

1. Command mode commands which cause action to be taken on the file, and
2. Insert mode in which entered text is inserted into the file.

In the command mode, every character typed is a command that does something to the text file being edited; a character typed in the command mode may even cause the vi editor to enter the insert mode. In the insert mode, every character typed is added to the text in the file; pressing the <Esc> (Escape) key turns off the Insert mode.

While there are a number of vi commands, just a handful of these is usually sufficient for beginning vi users. To assist such users, this Web page contains a sampling of basic vi commands. The most basic and useful commands are marked with an asterisk (* or star) in the tables below. With practice, these commands should become automatic.







some basic commands

* vi filename edit filename starting at line 1
vi -r filename recover filename that was being edited when system crashed

* <Return> quit vi, writing out modified file to file named in original invocation
:wq<Return> quit vi, writing out modified file to file named in original invocation
:q<Return> quit (or exit) vi
* :q!<Return> quit vi even though latest changes have not been saved for this vi call

* j or <Return>
[or down-arrow] move cursor down one line
* k [or up-arrow] move cursor up one line
* h or <Backspace>
[or left-arrow] move cursor left one character
* l or <Space>
[or right-arrow] move cursor right one character
* 0 (zero) move cursor to start of current line (the one with the cursor)
* $ move cursor to end of current line
w move cursor to beginning of next word
b move cursor back to beginning of preceding word
:0<Return> or 1G move cursor to first line in file
:n<Return> or nG move cursor to line n
:$<Return> or G move cursor to last line in file

^f move forward one screen
^b move backward one screen
^d move down (forward) one half screen
^u move up (back) one half screen
^l redraws the screen
^r redraws the screen, removing deleted lines

r replace single character under cursor (no <Esc> needed)


R replace characters, starting with current cursor position, until <Esc> hit

cw change the current word with new text,
starting with the character under cursor, until <Esc> hit


x delete single character under cursor

Nx delete N characters, starting with character under cursor

dw delete the single word beginning with character under cursor

dNw delete N words beginning with character under cursor;
e.g., d5w deletes 5 words

D delete the remainder of the line, starting with current cursor position

dd delete entire current line

Ndd or dNd delete N lines, beginning with the current line;

e.g., 5dd deletes 5 lines

yy copy (yank, cut) the current line into the buffer

Nyy or yNy copy (yank, cut) the next N lines, including the current line, into the buffer

p put (paste) the line(s) in the buffer into the text after the current line


:r filename<Return> read file named filename and insert after current line
(the line with cursor)
:w<Return> write current contents to file named in original vi call

:w newfile<Return> write current contents to a new file named newfile

:12,35w smallfile<Return> write the contents of the lines numbered 12 through 35 to a new file named smallfile

:w! prevfile<Return> write current contents over a pre-existing file named prevfile



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