VI editor

Quick reference

• 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

:# move to line #

:$ move to last line of file

• SHELL ESCAPE

executes 'cmd' as a shell command.

:!'cmd'