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VI is a full screen text editor.
Ways to start the editor
| % vi filename |
| % vi -R filename |
| % view filename |
| % vi -r filename |
| % vi |
Ways to save
| :w |
| :w filename |
| :w! filename |
| :w >> filename |
| :address w filename address can be added to any of the above in the same
way |
Addressing examples
| 72 |
just line 72 |
:72w this |
| 5,10 lines 5 thru 10 inclusive :5,10w that |
| 1,. lines 1 thru current inclusive :1,.w top |
| .,72 lines current thru 72 inclusive :.,72w
middle |
| .,$ lines current thru end inclusive :.,$w bottom |
| 1,$ lines 1 thru end inclusive (default for w)
:1,$w all :w all |
| .,.+9 lines current thru 10 after current :.,.
+9w ten.lines |
| ^G or :f displays current file information and current
line number |
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Multiplier used with other commands
h, j, k, l move the cursor one space in that direction
5h moves the cursor 5 to the left almost the same as hhhhh
3j moves the cursor down 3 lines almost the same as jjj
x deletes the one character the cursor is currently on
5x deletes that one character and the 4 that follow it almost the same as xxxxx
dd deletes the one current line
D deletes to the end of the current line can't modify with the use of a multiplier
Scopes in larger units used for movement, deletion or other
| w,W |
beginning of next word |
| b,B |
beginning of current word or previous word |
| e, E |
end of current word or next |
| (, ) |
beginning and end of sentence |
| {, } |
beginning and end of paragraph |
| ^, $ |
beginning and end of line |
| H, L |
beginning and end of screen |
Examples:
| dW |
deletes to the beginning of the next space delimited word |
| { |
moves the cursor to the beginning of the current
paragraph if you are not |
| de |
deletes to the end of the current word if you are not already
there only |
changing using scope
| cW |
Allows you to remove to the beginning of the next space
delimited word and then replace it until you press <esc> |
| c) |
allows you to remove to the end of the current sentence and
then replace it until you press <esc> |
| cc |
allows you to remove the current line and then replace it
until you press the <esc> |
Movement only commands
| :$ |
move to last line in buffer |
| :# |
move to line number given |
| ^D, ^U |
down or up 1/2 screen |
| ^B, ^F |
backward or forward 1 whole screen |
Yanking and putting also using the scopes from above yank puts a copy of text
"yanked" into a pasting buffer for further use
It does not modify the current work buffer
| yW |
will put a copy of the text to the beginning of the next
space delimited word into the pasting buffer |
| y} |
will put a copy of all text between the current point of the
buffer and the end of the current paragraph into the pasting buffer |
| yy |
will put a copy of the current line into the pasting buffer |
every time a delete or yank is done, the contents of the general pasting buffer changes
P,p will paste from the pasting buffer before or after the text currently in the work
buffer
Named buffers
named with a " (quote) followed by a lower case alphabetic character and then can
be used with either delete or yank
26 of them plus the general purpose pasting buffer only maintained within the current
vi session (once you quit they are gone)
| "fdd |
deletes the current line from the work buffer and places a
copy of the line deleted into the f pasting buffer in addition to the general purpose
pasting buffer |
| "ky} |
does not change the work buffer, but puts a copy of the text
to the end of the current paragraph into the k pasting buffer in addition to the general
purpose pasting buffer |
| "mp |
puts the text from the m pasting buffer into the work buffer
after the cursor |
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| "y6yy |
yanks the current line and the 5 that follow it and puts all
of the 6 lines of text into the y pasting buffer in addition to the general pasting buffer |
Searching in vi
| /string command to search forward from point of cursor |
| ?string command to search backward from point of cursor |
Meta-characters :
| \< |
beginning of word |
| \> |
end of word |
| ^ |
beginning of line |
| $ |
end of line |
| . |
wildcard for 1 character |
| [ ] |
to select class of characters |
| * |
multiplies character before it |
| /b.*o |
b followed by any number of characters and then
an o |
| /\<of\> |
the whole word of will not match to off |
| /[srd]$ |
matches to s, r or d at the end of a line |
| n |
find next in the same direction |
| N |
find next in the opposite direction |
Substituting in vi
:[address]s/srchstring/replstring[/g]
default address is the one current line
default repetition is to do only the first on a line need to add the /g for all on each
line search string may have meta-characters
Replacement string may not
:s/a/e replaces the first a on the current line with an e
:1,$s/a/e replaces each first a on a line with an e
:1,$s/a/e/g replaces all a's in the buffer with e's
Selective Changes
use regular / to find the first occurrance of the string make the change if you want to
use the n to find the next
use the . to repeat the change
. repeats the last command given in vi that made a change to the buffer
Editing another file
replaces the current work in the buffer does not destroy named buffers
| :e file1 |
replaces contents of the current buffer (assuming no change)
with the contents of file1 |
| :e! file1 |
replaces contents of the current buffer (even if there was a
change) |
| :e! |
a major undo --- makes the buffer match the file it is
associated with |
Adding another file to the buffer
:[address]r [filename]
adds the contents of the named file or the file associated with the buffer to the
current buffer does not destroy named buffers current position of the cursor
:3r file1 brings in the contents of file1 at line 3
:r brings in the file associate with the buffer at the current line of the buffer
Shell access
| :sh |
starts an interactive shell - a new layer ^D or exit to
return |
| :! |
command allows you to do one shell command without changing
the buffer |
| :!ls |
displays the listing of the directory |
| !! |
command allows you to bring the output of one shell command
into the current buffer |
| !!who |
brings in the list of current users |
Markers in the work buffer
26 markers available within each work buffer (associated with that session) named for
the 26 lower case letters of the alphabet
- move to one end of the block
- place the marker by using the command m and the name of the marker
ma mb mc .... my mz
- from anywhere else in the work buffer, refer to that place or the area between the
current position and that place by using an '
apostrophe followed by a letter
examples
- put a marker into the work buffer by using the command mf
then move somewhere else in the file and get back to that position
by using the 'f
- put a marker into the work buffer by using the command mm
then move to somewhere else in the work buffer and delete
the text between the line of the current position of the cursor
and the line indicated by the marker (inclusive) by d'm
-put a marker into the work buffer by using the command md
-the text into a named buffer by "ay'd
-put the marker into the work buffer by using the command mq
then move to somewhere else in the work buffer and use
a shell utility to sort the lines between by using the !'qsort
bill
jan
amy
tom
fred
SET UP OF THE VI EDITOR
3 ways to personalize operation
1) have a file named .exrc in current or home directory
2) set the options as a last line command
3) have a shell variable named EXINIT which contains setup directions
every variable has an opposite rather than turning a variable on and off so the only
command needed is set
| set number |
displays line numbers in the current buffer |
| set nonumber |
does not display line numbers in the current buffer |
| magic/nomagic |
Meta characters are "magic" or not |
| showmode/noshowmode |
not on ULTRIX displays mode in bottom left corner |
| flash/noflash |
Screen flashes rather than beep |
| ignorecase/noignorecase |
case sensitivity in search |
| list/nolist |
Displays some hidden characters such as tab and eoln |
| wrapscan/nowrapsc n |
do searches continue from top at bottom when
reach the other end |
| tabstop=value |
specifies size of tab |
| autoindent/noautoind nt |
regularly spaced tabstops |
| shiftwidth = value |
tells how far apart those tab stops are to be |
| wrapmargin = value |
tells to do auto wrapping of the line actually
does put in the hard return |
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