Section 1: {^F} {ZZ}
To get out of this tutorial, type: ZZ (two capital Z's).
Learning a new computer system implies learning a new text editor. These
tutorial lessons were created by Dain Samples to help you come to grips with
UC Berkeley's screen oriented editor called vi (for VIsual). This tutorial
uses the vi editor itself as the means of presentation.
For best use of this tutorial, read all of a screen before performing any of
the indicated actions. This tutorial (or, at least, the first half of it) has
been designed to systematically present the vi commands IF THE INSTRUCTIONS
ARE FOLLOWED! If you are too adventuresome, you may find yourself lost. If
you ever find yourself stuck, remember the first line of this section.
OK, now find the control key on your keyboard; it usually has CTL or CTRL
written on its upper surface. Your first assignment is to hold the control
key down while you press the 'F' key on your keyboard. Please do so now.
Section 2: {^F} {^B}
Many of vi's commands use the control key and some other key in combination,
as with the control and the 'F' key above. This is abbreviated CTL-F, or ^F.
As you have probably guessed by now, ^F (CTL-F) moves you forward a fixed
number of lines in the file. Throughout the remainder of the tutorial when
you are ready to advance to the next section of text, hit ^F.
The opposite command is ^B. Just for fun, you might want to try a ^B to see
the previous section again. Be sure to do a ^F to return you here.
Determine what the cursor looks like on your screen. Whatever it is (a box,
an underscore, blinking, flashing, inverse, etc.) it should now be positioned
in the upper left-hand corner of your screen under or on the S of Section.
Become familiar with your cursor: to use vi correctly it is important to
always know where the cursor is.
Did you notice that when you do a ^F the cursor is left at the top of the
screen, and a ^B leaves the cursor near the bottom of the screen? Try the two
commands ^B^F again. And now do another ^F to see the next section.
Section 3: {^F} {^B}
You now have two basic commands for examining a file, both forwards (^F) and
backwards (^B).
Note that these are vi text editing commands: they are not commands for the
tutorial. Indeed, this tutorial is nothing but a text file which you are now
editing. Everything you do and learn in this tutorial will be applicable to
editing text files.
Therefore, when you are editing a file and are ready to see more of the text,
entering ^F will get you to the next section of the file. Entering ^B will
show you the previous section.
Time for you to do another ^F.
Section 4: {^F} {^B} {^M} (return key)
We will adopt the notation of putting commands in curly braces so we can write
them unambiguously. For example, if you are to type the command sequence
"control B control F" (as we asked you to do above) it would appear as {^B^F}.
This allows clear delineation of the command strings from the text. Remember
that the curly braces are NOT part of the command string you are to type. Do
NOT type the curly braces.
Sometimes, the command string in the curly braces will be rather long, and may
be such that the first couple of characters of the command will erase from
the screen the string you are trying to read and type. It is suggested that
you write down the longer commands BEFORE you type them so you won't forget
them once they disappear.
Now locate the return key on your keyboard: it is usually marked 'RETURN',
indicate hitting the return key. In fact, the control-M key sequence is
exactly the same as if you hit the return key, and vice versa.
Now type {^F}.
Section 5: {:q!} {ZZ} {^M} (return key)
Recognize that this tutorial is nothing more than a text file that you
are editing. This means that if you do something wrong, it is possible
for you to destroy the information in this file. Don't worry. If this
happens, type {ZZ} (two capital Z's) or {:q!^M} to leave the tutorial.
Restart the tutorial. Once in the tutorial, you can then page forward
with {^F} until you are back to where you want to be. (There are
easier ways to do this, some of which will be discussed later, but this
is the most straightforward.)
You may want to write these commands down in a convenient place for quick
reference: {:q!^M} and {ZZ}
We will assume that you now know to do a {^F} to advance the file
Section 6: {m} {G} {'} {z}
Now that you know how to get around in the file via ^F and ^B let's look at
other ways of examining a text file. Sometimes it is necessary, in the midst
of editing a file, to examine another part of the file. You are then faced
with the problem of remembering your place in the file, looking at the other
text, and then getting back to your original location. Vi has a 'mark'
command, m. Type {mp}. You have just 'marked' your current location in the
file and given it the name 'p'. The command string below will do three
things: position you at the beginning of the file (line 1), then return you to
the location 'p' that you just marked with the 'm' command, and, since the
screen will not look exactly the same as it does right now, the 'z' command
will reposition the screen. (You may want to write the string down before
typing it: once you type {1G} it will no longer be on the screen.)
So now type {1G'pz^M} - a one followed by a capital G, followed by the quote
mark, followed by a lower case 'p', then a lower case 'z', then a return
(which is the same as a ^M). The {1G} moves you to line 1, i.e. the beginning
of the file. The {'p} moves you to the location you marked with {mp}. The
{z^M} command will repaint the screen putting the cursor at the top of the
screen. (Now {^F}.)
Section 7: {m} {G} {'} {z}
Let's look at some variations on those commands. If you wanted to look at
line 22 in the file and return to this location you could type {mp22G'p}. Do
so now, observing that {22G} puts your cursor at the beginning of section 2 in
the middle of the screen.
Also note that, without the {z^M} command, the line with 'Section 7' on it is
now in the MIDDLE of the screen, and not at the top. Our cursor is on the
correct line (where we did the {mp} command) but the line is not where we
might like it to be on the screen. That is the function of the {z^M} command.
(Remember, ^M is the same as the 'return' key on your keyboard.) Type {z^M}
now and observe the effect.
As you can see, the 'Section 7' line is now at the top of the screen with the
cursor happily under the capital S. If you would like the cursor line (i.e.
the line which the cursor is on) in the middle of the screen again, you would
type {z.}. If you wanted the cursor line to be at the BOTTOM of the screen,
type {z-}. Try typing {z-z.z^M} and watch what happens.
{^F}
Section 8: {z} {m} {'}
Note that the z command does not change the position of our cursor in the file
itself, it simply moves the cursor around on the screen by moving the contents
of the file around on the screen. The cursor stays on the same line of the
file when using the z command.
This brings up an important point. There are two questions that the users of
vi continually need to know the answer to: "Where am I in the file?" and
"Where am I on the screen?" The cursor on your terminal shows the answer to
both questions. Some commands will move you around in the file, usually
changing the location of the cursor on the screen as well. Other commands
move the cursor around on the screen without changing your location in the
file.
Now type {ma}. Your location in the file has been given the name 'a'. If you
type {'p'a} you will see the previous location we marked in section 7, and
then will be returned to the current location. (You will want to do a {z^M}
to repaint the screen afterwards.) Try it.
{^F}
Section 9: {m} {''}
Now we can move about in our file pretty freely. By using the {m} command we
can give the current cursor position a lower-case-character name, like 'p',
'a', 'e', 'm', or 'b'. Using the {G} command preceded by a line number we can
look at any line in the file we like. Using the single quote command {'}
followed by a character used in an {m} command, we can return to any location
in the file we have marked.
However, try {m3}, or {mM}. You should hear a beep, or bell. Only lower-case
letters are acceptable to the {m} and {'} commands: numbers, upper-case
letters, and special characters are not acceptable.
If you type the {'} command with a character that is lower-case alphabetic but
that has not been used in an {m} command, or for which the 'marked' text has
been deleted, you will also get a beep. Try {'i}. You should get a beep
because the command {mi} has never been issued. (Unless you've been
experimenting.)
The command {''} attempts to return you to the location at which you last
modified some part of your file. However, my experience has been that it is
difficult to predict exactly where you will end up.
Section 10: {^M} {-}
Now do {ma}, marking your position at the top of the screen. Now hit {^M} (or
return) until the cursor is right ...
* <- here, over/under the asterisk. Now
type {mb'a'b} and watch the cursor move from the asterisk to the top of the
screen and back again.
The {^M} command moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line. Now type
{^M} until the cursor is right ...
* <- here. The command to move the cursor to the beginning of the
previous line is {-}. Practice moving the cursor around on the screen by using
{^M} and {-}. BE CAREFUL to not move the cursor OFF the screen just yet. If
you do, type {'az^M}.
Now we can move to any line within the screen. Practice moving around in the
file using the {^F}, {^B}, {-}, {^M}, {z}, and {'} commands. When you are
fairly confident that you can get to where you need to be in the file, and
position the cursor on the screen where you want it type {'az^M^F} (which, of
course, moves you back to the beginning of this section, repositions the
cursor at the top of the screen, and advances you to the next section).
Section 11: scrolling: {^M}
The cursor should now be on the S of 'Section 11', and this should be on the
first line of the screen. If it is not, do {^M} or {-} as appropriate to put
the cursor on the section line, and type {z^M}.
Type {mc} to mark your place.
Now type {^M} until the cursor is on the last line of this screen. Now do one
more {^M} and observe the result. This is called scrolling. When you
attempted to move to a line not displayed on the screen, the line at the top of
the screen was 'scrolled off', and a line at the bottom of the screen was
'scrolled on'. The top line with 'Section 11' should no longer be visible.
Now type {'cz^M} to reset the screen and type {^F} for the next section.
Section 12: {-} {z}
The {-} command moves the cursor to the previous line in the file. Now type
{-}, which attempts to move the cursor to the previous line in this file.
However, that line is not on the screen. The resulting action will depend on
your terminal. (Do a {^Mz^M} to reposition the file). On intelligent
terminals (e.g. VT100s, Z19s, Concept 100s), a top line is 'scrolled on' and
the bottom line is 'scrolled off'. Other terminals, however, may not have
this 'reverse scrolling' feature. They will simply repaint the screen with
the cursor line in the middle of the screen. On such terminals it is
necessary to type {z^M} to get the cursor line back to the top of the screen.
Section 13:
Up until this point, the tutorial has always tried to make sure that the first
line of each screen has on it the section number and a list of the commands
covered in that section. This will no longer be strictly maintained. If you
want the section line at the top of the screen, you now know enough commands to
do it easily: do {^M} or {-} until the cursor is on the section line and
then {z^M}. Also, from this point on, it may not be the case that a {^F} will
put you at the beginning of the next section. Therefore, be aware of where you
are in the file as we look at other commands. You may have to find your way
back to a particular section without any help from the tutorial. If you do not
feel comfortable with this, then it is suggested that you practice moving from
section 1 to section 13, back and forth, using {^M}, {-}, {^F}, and {^B}
commands for a while.
Also make liberal use of the mark command {m}: if, for example, you make a
habit of using {mz} to mark your current location in the file, then you will
always be able to return to that location with {'z} if the editor does
something strange and you have no idea where you are or what happened.
And finally, the proscription against experimentation is hereby lifted: play
with the editor. Feel free to try out variations on the commands and move
around in the file. By this time you should be able to recover from any gross
errors.
Section 14: {^E} {^Y} {^D} {^U}
Let us now look at a few other commands for moving around in the file, and
moving the file around on the screen. Note that the commands we have already
looked at are sufficient: you really don't need any more commands for looking
in a file. The following commands are not absolutely necessary. However,
they can make editing more convenient, and you should take note of their
existence. But it would be perfectly valid to decide to ignore them on this
first pass: you can learn them later when you see a need for them, if you ever
do.
First, let's clear up some potentially confusing language. In at least one
place in the official document ('An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi'
by William Joy, and Mark Horton, September 1980), the expression "to scroll
down text" means that the cursor is moved down in your file. However, note
that this may result in the text on the screen moving UP. This use of the
word 'scroll' refers to the action of the cursor within the file. However,
another legitimate use of the word refers to the action of the text on the
screen. That is, if the lines on your screen move up toward the top of the
screen, this would be 'scrolling the screen up'. If the lines move down
toward the bottom of the screen, this would be refered to as scrolling down.
I have tried to maintain the following jargon: 'scrolling' refers to what the
text does on the screen, not to what the cursor does within the file. For the
latter I will refer to the cursor 'moving', or to 'moving the cursor'. I
realize that this is not necessarily consistent with Joy and Horton, but they
were wrong.
{^E} scrolls the whole screen up one line, keeping the cursor on the same line,
if possible. However, if the cursor line is the first line on the screen, then
the cursor is moved to the next line in the file. Try typing {^E}.
{^Y} scrolls the screen down one line, keeping the cursor on the same line, if
possible. However, if the cursor line is the last line on the screen, then the
cursor is moved to the previous line in the file. Try it.
{^D} moves the cursor down into the file, scrolling the screen up.
{^U} moves the cursor up into the file, also scrolling the screen if the
terminal you are on has the reverse scroll capability. Otherwise the
screen is repainted.
Note that {^E} and {^Y} move the cursor on the screen while trying to keep the
cursor at the same place in the file (if possible: however, the cursor can
never move off screen), while {^D} and {^U} keep the cursor at the same place
on the screen while moving the cursor within the file.
Section 15: {/ .. /^M}
Another way to position yourself in the file is by giving the editor a string
to search for. Type the following: {/Here 1/^M} and the cursor should end up
right ...........................here ^. Now type {/Section 15:/^M} and the
cursor will end up over/on .....................here ^. Now type {//^M} and
observe that the cursor is now over the capital S five lines above this line.
Typing {//^M} several more times will bounce the cursor back and forth between
the two occurrences of the string. In other words, when you type a string
between the two slashes, it is searched for. Typing the slashes with nothing
between them acts as if you had typed the previous string again.
Observe that the string you type between the two slashes is entered on the
bottom line of the screen. Now type {/Search for x /^M} except replace the 'x'
in the string with some other character, say 'b'. The message "Pattern not
found" should appear on the bottom of the screen. If you hadn't replaced the
'x', then you would have found the string. Try it.
Section 16: {? .. ?^M} {n} (search strings: ^ $)
When you surround the sought-for string with slashes as in {/Search/}, the
file is searched beginning from your current position in the file. If the
string is not found by the end of the file, searching is restarted at the
beginning of the file. However, if you do want the search to find the
PREVIOUS rather than the NEXT occurrence of the string, surround the string
with question marks instead of slash marks.
Below are several occurrences of the same string.
Here 2 Here 2 Here 2
Here 2 Here 2.
Observe the effect of the following search commands (try them in the
sequence shown):
{/Here 2/^M} {//^M} {??^M}
{/^Here 2/^M} {//^M} {??^M}
{/Here 2$/^M} {//^M} {??^M}
The first command looks for the next occurrence of the string 'Here 2'.
However the second line of commands looks for an occurrence of 'Here 2' that
is at the beginning of the line. When the up-arrow is the first character of
a search string it stands for the beginning of the line. When the dollar-sign
is the last character of the search string it stands for the end of the line.
Therefore, the third line of commands searches for the string only when it is
at the end of the line. Since there is only one place the string begins a
line, and only one place the string ends the line, subsequent {//^M} and
{??^M} will find those same strings over and over.
The {n} command will find the next occurrence of the / or ? search
string. Try {/Here 2/^M} followed by several {n} and observe the
effect. Then try {??^M} followed by several {n}. The {n} command
remembers the direction of the last search. It is just a way to save a
few keystrokes.
Section 17: \ and magic-characters in search strings
Now type {/Here 3$/^M}. You might expect the cursor to end up
right......^ here. However, you will get "Pattern not found" at the bottom of
the screen. Remember that the dollar-sign stands for the end of the line.
Somehow, you must tell vi that you do not want the end of the line, but a
dollar-sign. In other words, you must take away the special meaning that the
dollar-sign has for the search mechanism. You do this (for any special
character, including the up-arrow ^) by putting a back-slash ('\', not '/') in
front of the character.
Now try {/Here 3\$/^M} and you should end up nine lines above this one. Try
{//^M} and note that it returns you to the same place, and not to the first
line of this paragraph: the back-slash character is not part of the search
string and will not be found. To find the string in the first line of this
paragraph, type {/Here 3\\\$/^M}. There are three back-slashes: the first takes
away the special meaning from the second, and the third takes away the special
meaning from the dollar-sign.
Following is a list of the characters that have special meanings in search
strings. If you wish to find a string containing one of these characters, you
will have to be precede the character with a backslash. These characters are
called magic characters because of the fun and games you can have with them
and they can have with you, if you aren't aware of what they do.
^ - (up-arrow) beginning of a line
$ - (dollar-sign) end of a line
. - (period) matches any character
\ - (backslant) the escape character itself
[ - (square bracket) for finding patterns (see section #SEARCH)
] - (square bracket) ditto
* - (asterisk) ditto
Without trying to explain it here, note that {:set nomagic^M} turns off the
special meanings of all but the ^ up-arrow, $ dollar-sign, and backslash
characters.
Section 18: {: (colon commands)} {ZZ}
In this section we will discuss getting into and out of the editor in more
detail. If you are editing a file and wish to save the results the command
sequence {:w^M} writes the current contents of the file out to disk, using the
file name you used when you invoked the editor. That is, if you are at the
command level in Unix, and you invoke vi with {vi foo} where foo is the name
of the file you wish to edit, then foo is the name of the file used by the
{:w^M} command.
If you are done, the write and quit commands can be combined into a single
command {:wq^M}. An even simpler way is the command {ZZ} (two capital Z's).
If, for some reason, you wish to exit without saving any changes you have made,
{:q!^M} does the trick. If you have not made any changes, the exclamation
point is not necessary: {:q^M}. Vi is pretty good about not letting you
get out without warning you that you haven't saved your file.
We have mentioned before that you are currently in the vi editor, editing a
file. If you wish to start the tutorial over from the very beginning, you
could {ZZ}, and then type {vi.tut beginner} in response to the Unix prompt.
This will create a fresh copy of this file for you, which might be necessary
if you accidentally destroyed the copy you were working with. Just do a
search for the last section you were in: e.g. {/Section 18:/^Mz^M}.
Section 19: {H} {M} {L}
Here are a few more commands that will move you around on the screen. Again,
they are not absolutely necessary, but they can make screen positioning easier:
{H} - puts the cursor at the top of the screen (the 'home' position)
{M} - puts the cursor in the middle of the screen
{L} - puts the cursor at the bottom of the screen.
Try typing {HML} and watch the cursor.
Try typing {5HM5L} and note that 5H puts you five lines from the top of the
screen, and 5L puts you five lines from the bottom of the screen.
Section 20: {w} {b} {0} {W} {B} {e} {E} {'} {`}
Up to this point we have concentrated on positioning in the file, and
positioning on the screen. Now let's look at positioning in a line. Put the
cursor at the beginning of the following line and type {z^M}:
This is a test line: your cursor should initially be at its beginning.
The test line should now be at the top of your screen. Type {w} several times.
Note that it moves you forward to the beginning of the next word. Now type
{b} (back to the beginning of the word) several times till you are at the
beginning of the line. (If you accidentally type too many {b}, type {w} until
you are on the beginning of the line again.) Type {wwwww} (five w's) and note
that the cursor is now on the colon in the sentence. The lower-case w command
moves you forward one word, paying attention to certain characters such as
colon and period as delimiters and counting them as words themselves. Now
type {0} (zero, not o 'oh'): this moves you to the beginning of the current
line. Now type {5w} and notice that this has the effect of repeating {w} five
times and that you are now back on the colon. Type {0} (zero) again. To
ignore the delimiters and to move to the beginning of the next word using only
blanks, tabs and carriage-returns (these are called white-space characters) to
delimit the words, use the {W} command: upper-case W. {B} takes you back a
word using white-space characters as word delimiters.
Note that the commands {wbWB} do not stop at the beginning or end of a line:
they will continue to the next word on the next line in the direction specified
(a blank line counts as a word).
If you are interested in the END of the word, and not the BEGINNING, then use
the {e} and {E} commands. These commands only move forward and there are no
corresponding 'reverse search' commands for the end of a word.
Also, we have been using the {'} command to move the cursor to a position that
we have previously marked with the {m} command. However, position the cursor
in the middle of a line (any line, just pick one) and type {mk}, marking that
position with the letter k. Now type a few returns {^M} and type {'k}.
Observe that the cursor is now at the beginning of the line that you marked.
Now try {`k}: note that this is the reverse apostrophe, or back-quote, or grave
accent, or whatever you want to call it. Also note that it moves you to the
character that was marked, not just to the line that was marked.
In addition, the {``} command works just like the {''} command except that you
are taken to the exact character, not just to the line. (I'm still not
sure which exact character, just as I'm still not sure which line.)
Section 21: {l} {k} {j} {h}
There are several commands to move around on the screen on a character by
character basis:
l - moves the cursor one character to the RIGHT
k - moves the cursor UP one line
j - moves the cursor DOWN one line
h - moves the cursor one character to the LEFT
Section 22: {i} {a} {I} {A} {o} {O} ^[ (escape key)
For this and following sections you will need to use the ESCAPE key on your
terminal. It is usually marked ESC. Since the escape key is the same as
typing {^[} we will use ^[ for the escape key.
Probably the most often used command in an editor is the insert command. Below
are two lines of text, the first correct, the second incorrect. Position your
cursor at the beginning of Line 1 and type {z^M}.
Line 1: This is an example of the insert command.
Line 2: This is an of the insert command.
To make line 2 look like line 1, we are going to insert the characters
'example ' before the word 'of'. So, now move the cursor so that it is
positioned on the 'o' of 'of'. (You can do this by typing {^M} to move
to the beginning of line 2, followed by {6w} or {wwwwww} to position the cursor
on the word 'of'.)
Now carefully type the following string and observe the effects:
{iexample ^[} (remember: ^[ is the escape key)}
The {i} begins the insert mode, and 'example ' is inserted into the line:
be sure to notice the blank in 'example '. The ^[ ends insertion mode,
and the line is updated to include the new string. Line 1 should look exactly
like Line 2.
Move the cursor to the beginning of Line 3 below and type {z^M}:
Line 3: These lines are examples for the 'a' command.
Line 4: These line are examples for the '
We will change line four to look like line three by using the append command.
We need to append an 's' to the word 'line'. Position the cursor on the 'e'
of 'line'. You can do this in several ways, one way is the following:
First, type {/line /^M}. This puts us on the word 'line' in Line 4
(the blank in the search string is important!). Next, type {e}. The 'e' puts
us at the end of the word. Now, type {as^[ (^[ is the escape character)}.
The 'a' puts us in insert mode, AFTER the current character. We appended the
's', and the escape ^[ ended the insert mode.
The difference between {i} (insert) and {a} (append) is that {i} begins
inserting text BEFORE the cursor, and {a} begins inserting AFTER the cursor.
Now type {Aa' command.^[}. The cursor is moved to the end of the line and the
string following {A} is inserted into the text. Line 4 should now look like
line 3.
Just as {A} moves you to the end of the line to begin inserting, {I} would
begin inserting at the FRONT of the line.
To begin the insertion of a line after the cursor line, type {o}. To insert a
line before the cursor line, type {O}. In other words {o123^[} is equivalent
to {A^M123^[}, and {O123^[} is equivalent to {I123^M^[}. The text after the
{o} or {O} is ended with an escape ^[.
This paragraph contains information that is terminal dependent: you will just
have to experiment to discover what your terminal does. Once in the insert
mode, if you make a mistake in the typing, ^H will delete the previous
character up to the beginning of the current insertion. ^W will delete the
previous word, and one of ^U, @, or ^X will delete the current line (up to the
beginning of the current insertion). You will need to experiment with ^U, @,
and ^X to determine which works for your terminal.
Section 23: {f} {x} {X} {w} {l} {r} {R} {s} {S} {J}
Position the cursor at the beginning of line 5 and {z^M}:
Line 5: The line as it should be.
Line 6: The line as it shouldn't be.
To make Line 6 like Line 5, we have to delete the 'n', the apostrophe, and the
't'. There are several ways to position ourselves at the 'n'. Choose
whichever one suits your fancy:
{/n't/^M}
{^M7w6l} or {^M7w6 } (note the space)
{^M3fn} (finds the 3rd 'n' on the line)
Now {xxx} will delete the three characters, as will {3x}.
Note that {X} deletes the character just BEFORE the cursor, as opposed
to the character AT the cursor.
Position the cursor at line 7 and {z^M}:
Line 7: The line as it would be.
Line 8: The line as it could be.
To change line 8 into line 7 we need to change the 'c' in 'could' into a 'w'.
The 'r' (replace) command was designed for this. Typing {rc} is the same as
typing {xic^[} (i.e. delete the 'bad' character and insert the correct
new character). Therefore, assuming that you have positioned the cursor on the
'c' of 'could', the easiest way to change 'could' into 'would' is {rw}.
If you would like to now change the 'would' into 'should', use the substitute
command, 's': {ssh^[}. The difference between 'r' and 's' is that 'r'
(replace) replaces the current character with another character, while 's'
(substitute) substitutes the current character with a string, ended with an
escape.
The capital letter version of replace {R} replaces each character by a
character one at a time until you type an escape, ^[. The 'S' command
substitutes the whole line.
Position your cursor at the beginning of line 9 and {z^M}.
Line 9: Love is a many splendored thing.
Line 10: Love is a most splendored thing.
To change line 10 into line 9, position the cursor at the beginning of 'most',
and type {Rmany^[}.
You may have noticed that, when inserting text, a new line is formed by typing
{^M}. When changing, replacing, or substituting text you can make a new line
by typing {^M}. However, neither {x} nor {X} will remove ^M to make two lines
into one line. To do this, position the cursor on the first of the two lines
you wish to make into a single line and type {J} (uppercase J for 'Join').
Section 24: {u} {U}
Finally, before we review, let's look at the undo command. Position
your cursor on line 11 below and {z^M}.
Line 11: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy hound dog.
Line 12: the qwick black dog dumped over the laxy poune fox.
Type the following set of commands, and observe carefully the effect of each
of the commands:
{/^Line 12:/^M} {ft} {rT} {fw} {ru} {w} {Rbrown fox^[} {w} {rj}
{fx} {rz} {w} {Rhound dog^[}
Line 12 now matches line 11. Now type {U} - capital 'U'. And line 12 now
looks like it did before you typed in the command strings. Now type:
{ft} {rT} {fw} {ru} {^M} {^M}
and then type {u}: the cursor jumps back to the line containing the second
change you made and 'undoes' it. That is, {U} 'undoes' all the changes on the
line, and {u} 'undoes' only the last change. Type {u} several times and
observe what happens: {u} can undo a previous {u}!
Caveat: {U} only works as long as the cursor is still on the line. Move the
cursor off the line and {U} will have no effect, except to possibly beep at
you. However, {u} will undo the last change, no matter where it occurred.
Section 25: review
At this point, you have all the commands you need in order to make use of vi.
The remainder of this tutorial will discuss variations on these commands as
well as introduce new commands that make the job of editing more efficient.
Here is a brief review of the basic commands we have covered. They are listed
in the order of increasing complexity and/or decreasing necessity (to say that
a command is less necessary is not to say that it is less useful!). These
commands allow you to comfortably edit any text file. There are other
commands that will make life easier but will require extra time to learn,
obviously. You may want to consider setting this tutorial aside for several
weeks and returning to it later after gaining experience with vi and getting
comfortable with it. The convenience of some of the more exotic commands may
then be apparent and worth the extra investment of time and effort
required to master them.
to get into the editor from Unix: {vi filename}
to exit the editor
saving all changes {ZZ} or {:wq^M}
throwing away all changes {:q!^M}
when no changes have been made {:q^M}
save a file without exiting the editor {:w^M}
write the file into another file {:w filename^M}
insert text
before the cursor {i ...text... ^[}
at the beginning of the line {I ...text... ^[}
after the cursor (append) {a ...text... ^[}
at the end of the line {A ...text... ^[}
after the current line {o ...text... ^[}
before the current line {O ...text... ^[}
delete the character ...
under the cursor {x}
to the left of the cursor {X}
delete n characters {nx} or {nX} (for n a number)
make two lines into one line (Join) {J}
find a string in the file ...
searching forward {/ ...string... /^M}
searching backwards {? ...string... ?^M}
repeat the last search command {n}
repeat the last search command in the
opposite direction {N}
find the character c on this line ...
searching forward {fc}
searching backward {Fc}
repeat the last 'find character' command {;}
replace a character with character x {rx}
substitute a single character with text {s ...text... ^[}
substitute n characters with text {ns ...text... ^[}
replace characters one-by-one with text {R ...text... ^[}
undo all changes to the current line {U}
undo the last single change {u}
move forward in the file a "screenful" {^F}
move back in the file a "screenful" {^B}
move forward in the file one line {^M} or {+}
move backward in the file one line {-}
move to the beginning of the line {0}
move to the end of the line {$}
move forward one word {w}
move forward one word, ignoring punctuation {W}
move forward to the end of the next word {e}
to the end of the word, ignoring punctuation{E}
move backward one word {b}
move back one word, ignoring punctuation {B}
return to the last line modified {''}
scroll a line onto the top of the screen {^Y}
scroll a line onto the bottom of the screen {^E}
move "up" in the file a half-screen {^U}
move "down" in the file a half-screen {^D}
move the cursor to the top screen line {H}
move the cursor to the bottom screen line {L}
move the cursor to the middle line {M}
move LEFT one character position {h} or {^H}
move RIGHT one character position {l} or { }
move UP in the same column {k} or {^P}
move DOWN in the same column {j} or {^N}
mark the current position, name it x {mx}
move to the line marked/named x {'x}
move to the character position named x {`x}
move to the beginning of the file {1G}
move to the end of the file {G}
move to line 23 in the file {23G}
repaint the screen with the cursor line
at the top of the screen {z^M}
in the middle of the screen {z.}
at the bottom of the screen {z-}
More information on vi can be found in the file vi.advanced, which you can
peruse at your leisure. From UNIX, type {vi.tut advanced^M}.