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Vi Commands

Vi has two modes: command mode for cursor movement and text deletion/pasting, and insertion mode for inserting/changing text. Common commands include :wq to save and exit, dd to delete a line, p to put deleted text after the cursor, and /string to search forward for string. Vi allows marking text with buffers, markers, and ranges to easily delete, change, or yank sections of text.

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Frank Shaw
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44 views

Vi Commands

Vi has two modes: command mode for cursor movement and text deletion/pasting, and insertion mode for inserting/changing text. Common commands include :wq to save and exit, dd to delete a line, p to put deleted text after the cursor, and /string to search forward for string. Vi allows marking text with buffers, markers, and ranges to easily delete, change, or yank sections of text.

Uploaded by

Frank Shaw
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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commands

Modes
Vi has two modes insertion mode and command mode. The editor begins in command mode, where the cursor movement and text deletion and pasting occur. Insertion mode begins upon entering an insertion or change command. [ESC] returns the editor to command mode (where you can quit, for example by typing :q!). Most commands execute as soon as you type them except for "colon" commands which execute when you press the ruturn key.

Quitting
:x Exit, saving changes :q Exit as long as there have been no changes ZZ Exit and save changes if any have been made :q! Exit and ignore any changes

Inserting Text
i Insert before cursor

I Insert before line a Append after cursor A Append after line o Open a new line after current line O Open a new line before current line r Replace one character R Replace many characters

Motion
h j k l w b B Move left Move down Move up Move right Move to next word Move to the beginning of the word Move to the beginning of blank delimted word

W Move to next blank delimited word

e E ( ) { } 0 $ G

Move to the end of the word Move to the end of Blank delimited word Move a sentence back Move a sentence forward Move a paragraph back Move a paragraph forward Move to the begining of the line Move to the end of the line Move to the last line of the file

1G Move to the first line of the file nG Move to nth line of the file :n Move to nth line of the file fc H M L Move forward to c Move to top of screen Move to middle of screen Move to botton of screen Fc Move back to c

% Move to associated ( ), { }, [ ]

Deleting Text
Almost all deletion commands are performed by typing d followed by a motion. For example, dw deletes a word. A few other deletes are: x X D Delete character to the right of cursor Delete character to the left of cursor Delete to the end of the line

dd Delete current line :d Delete current line

Yanking Text
Like deletion, almost all yank commands are performed by typing y followed by a motion. For example, y$ yanks to the end of the line. Two other yank commands are: yy Yank the current line :y Yank the current line

Changing text
The change command is a deletion command that leaves the editor in insert mode. It is performed by typing c followed by a motion. For wxample cw changes a word. A few other change commands are:

C Change to the end of the line cc Change the whole line

Putting text
p Put after the position or after the line P Put before the poition or before the line

Buffers
Named buffers may be specified before any deletion, change, yank or put command. The general prefix has the form "c where c is any lowercase character. for example, "adw deletes a word into buffer a. It may thereafter be put back into text with an appropriate "ap.

Markers
Named markers may be set on any line in a file. Any lower case letter may be a marker name. Markers may also be used as limits for ranges. mc Set marker c on this line `c Go to beginning of marker c line. 'c Go to first non-blank character of marker c line.

Search for strings


/string Search forward for string ?string Search back for string n N Search for next instance of string Search for previous instance of string

Replace
The search and replace function is accomplished with the :s command. It is commonly used in combination with ranges or the :g command (below). :s/pattern/string/flags Replace pattern with string according to flags. g c & Flag - Replace all occurences of pattern Flag - Confirm replaces. Repeat last :s command

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