Contents
Introduction
This document is intended to provide you with the basic
information you need to use the
vi text editor from your WAM/Glue or OIT cluster UNIX
account. This document
assumes that you are using your account from some kind of
terminal window - either
by dialing in from home, by using a Mac or PC in a computer lab or
office at the
University, or by using a terminal window generated by the
"xterm" program on a
UNIX workstation. Information on how to connect to the OIT host
computers with a terminal program is available on-line at
http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/applications/terminal/.
Note: Access to WAM labs at the University is
limited. You must have
a valid University ID to use the labs.
Vi is a full-screen text editor that is almost
universally available on
UNIX-based computer systems. This editor is available on the UNIX
systems and the WAM
workstations. Vi is useful for editing program files,
entering data, composing mail
messages, and plain text editing.
There are other text editors that can be used on UNIX
systems; one of the most popular
of these is pico. Pico is available on all of the
UNIX systems maintained by
OIT. Another text editor available on UNIX systems is
emacs.
Conventions Used in This Document
In this document the word current, when used in
reference to some unit of text,
identifies the location of the cursor. For example: current
character, current word,
current line.
This document also uses several fonts to help clarify the meaning of
the text:
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fixed
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Literal commands you type appear
in fixed format.
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italic
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Variables used with commands will
appear in italic format.
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[ ]
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Optional variables will appear in
square brackets.
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Note: UNIX is case-sensitive. This means it makes a
difference whether you type commands or filenames in UPPER or lower
case. Thus FILE3 is different from file3.
Starting Vi
To edit a file with vi, type any of the following
commands at the UNIX system
prompt:
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vi
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create a new, unnamed file
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vi filename
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edit an existing file or create a
new file named filename
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vi -r
filename
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recover an edit session that was
interrupted by a system
crash (this may not recover all of
the changes you made to
your file in your last editing
session)
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vi -R
filename
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open the file in Read Only mode
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Vi Modes
Vi has two modes: input mode and command mode. While in
input mode, everything
you type is inserted into your document (including command mode
commands). While in command
mode, everything you type is executed as a command to edit your
document. To change from
input mode to command mode, press the Esc key. There are
several ways to change
from command mode to input mode that are listed in Entering Input
Mode.
Entering Input Mode
All of the following commands will change your mode from
command to input:
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i
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enter input mode before the cursor
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I
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enter input mode at the start of
the current line
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a
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enter input mode after the cursor
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A
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enter input mode at the end of the
current line
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o
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create a new line below the cursor
and enter input mode on it
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O
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create a new line above the cursor
and enter input mode on it
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Moving Around Within the Current Text Window
The following commands allow you to move around the current
text appearing on your
screen. Most of the commands can be preceded by a number, which
will move the cursor that
number of characters, words, or lines. For example, 4j
would move the cursor down
four lines. When a number is not specified, one space or line is
assumed.
Please Note: Be careful when using the arrow
keys on your keyboard as
they often do not work properly with vi and may
cause unpredictable
results.
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[num] h
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move num spaces to the left
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[num] Backspace
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move num spaces to the left
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[num] l
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move num spaces to the
right
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[num] Spacebar
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move num spaces to the
right
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[num] j
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move down num lines in the
same column
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[num] k
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move up num lines in the
same column
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[num] Return
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move to the beginning of the
numth line down
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[num] +
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move to the beginning of the
numth line down
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[num] -
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move to the beginning of the
numth line up
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[num] w
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move right to the beginning of the
numth word
following the current word
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[num] e
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move right to the end of the
numth word counting
the current word
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[num] b
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move left to the beginning of the
numth previous
word
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^ or 0
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move to the beginning of the
current line
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$
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move to the end of the current
line
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H
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move to the beginning of the first
line on the screen
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M
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move to the beginning of the
middle line on the screen
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L
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move to the beginning of the last
line on the screen
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Moving Around the Entire Document
These commands allow you to change the portion of your document
that appears on your
screen and to move around the document quickly.
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Ctrl-f
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move forward a screen
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Ctrl-b
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move back a screen
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Ctrl-u
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move up half a screen
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Ctrl-d
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move down half a screen
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num G
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move to the specified line (use
Ctrl-g to display
the current line number)
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:num
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move to the specified line
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G
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move to the last line in the file
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:$
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move to the last line in the file
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Searching for Text
Vi has search commands to find a particular section of
your
document quickly.
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/ pattern
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search forward through the
document for the next
occurrence of the pattern
(or string of text)
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? pattern
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search backward through the
document for the next
occurrence of the pattern
(or string of text)
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n
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repeat search in the same
direction
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N
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repeat search in opposite
direction
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f char
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search forward from the cursor in
the current line for a
single character (char)
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F char
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search backward from the cursor in
the current line for
a single character (char)
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;
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repeat single character search in
either direction
(f or F)
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Example Search
Below is an example of vi's searching feature. Pressing
the ESC key, followed
by the slash ("/") to indicate a search (which will take you down
to the command line),
followed immediately by a searchstring (where
searchstring in this example is
EDITOR), vi will position the cursor at the location
of the search string.
Note: The cursor was located at the beginning of
the document when the
search was initiated.
Deleting Text
The following commands allow you to delete single characters,
words, or whole lines of
text with a single command. Most can be preceded by a number to
delete
more than one character, word, or line at a time. For example,
3dd would delete
three lines at once. When the number is not specified, one
character, word, or line is
assumed. These commands put the deleted text into the buffer,
which can then be placed
elsewhere in the document by using the put commands explained
later in this guide. While
in input mode, you can use the Backspace key to correct
mistakes on the current
line of text.
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x
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delete character under cursor
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[num] x
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delete num characters from
cursor forward
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X
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delete character before the cursor
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[num] X
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delete num characters
before the cursor
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[num] dw
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delete num words starting
with the current word
from the cursor on
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D
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delete text from the cursor to the
end of the current
line
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[num] dd
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delete num lines starting
with the current line
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Copying ("Yanking") and Pasting Text
Vi allows you to copy or delete blocks of text and place
them elsewhere in your
document. The put commands below will insert into the document any
text which has been
put into the buffer by the delete commands above or the yank
(copy) commands below:
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[num] yw
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copy num words into the
buffer, starting with the
current word from the cursor on
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[num] yy
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copy num lines into the
buffer, starting with the
current line
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[num] Y
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copy num lines into the
buffer, starting with the
current line
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p
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put any text in the buffer after
or below the cursor
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P
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put any text in the buffer before
or above the cursor
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The example below illustrates the copying feature. In this
example, the cursor is
initially positioned before the word uncomment, next type
4yy to yank 4
lines into the buffer, then move the cursor to a destination
position where you will
place the text. Type p, to place the contents in the
buffer below the
cursor.
Note: The four lines have been duplicated
immediately below their original
position.
Changing Text
Vi has several commands that allow you to change an
existing piece of text
without first deleting it; the change commands overtype the
current text.
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[num] cw
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change num words, starting
at the cursor in the
current word - the word(s) will be
replaced by any text
you type until you press
Esc
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C
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change the current line from
cursor to end - the current
line will be replaced by any text
you type until you
press Esc
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r
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replace the current character (you
do not need to press
Esc)
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R
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edit the current line from cursor
to end in typeover
mode - you will remain in typeover
mode until you press
Esc (you can press
Return to insert more
lines before pressing Esc)
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s
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replace the current character -
the current character
will be replaced by any text you
type until you press
Esc
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S
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replace the entire current line -
the current line will
be replaced by any text you type
until you press
Esc
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Saving Your File and Quitting Vi
There are several ways to save your document and exit
vi. Be sure to use the
save command often when editing an important document.
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:w
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save changes (i.e., write) to your
file
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:w filename
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save changes (i.e., write) to the
file specified
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:q
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quit vi (when you haven't
made any changes)
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:q!
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quit without saving changes
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:wq or ZZ
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save changes to file and then quit
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:! cmd
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execute a single command
(cmd) and return to vi
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:sh
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start up a new UNIX shell - to
return to vi from
the shell, type exit or
Ctrl-d
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Note: The :! and :sh commands
make it easy to execute
UNIX commands without exiting vi.
Vi has several options which affect the way vi
functions and alter your
editing environment. These options can be set by hand from within
vi (must be
reset every time you use vi), or they can be made permanent
(i.e., set
automatically) by creating a .exrc file and including the
commands there or
setting the EXINIT environment variable in your .login or
.cshrc file. (Do
not alter the .login or .cshrc files.) Use the
set all command
to get a list of all of the options.
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:set
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list the currently set editor
options
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:set all
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list all of the editor options
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:set option=value
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set an option that takes a numeric
or string value
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:set option
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turn on a toggled option
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:set no option
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turn off a toggled option
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Miscellaneous Vi Commands
The following commands are helpful when using vi:
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u
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undo the last change
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U
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undo the changes made to the
current line
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.
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repeat your last command again
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"
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return to your previous position
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' '
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return to the beginning of the
line at your previous
position in the document
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Ctrl-l
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redraw the screen if it has been
altered by output from
some other program or a
transmission error (such as a
talk request)
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Ctrl-g
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print the line number of the
current line and how many
lines are in the document
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%
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show matching (), {}, or [] when
the current character
is one of the characters
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[num] J
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join num lines together,
starting with the
current line (delete the
Returns between the
lines)
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:r filename
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read a file into the document
below the current line
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~
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change the case of the current
character
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