maart@cs.vu.nl (Maarten Litmaath) (09/15/87)
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VI-REFERENCE
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default values are mostly 1
^X denotes <ctrl>x
[x] denotes an optional x, <x> denotes the value of x, however,
<sp> = space
<cr> = carriage return
<lf> = linefeed
<a-z> = any element of the range
cursor movement
---------------
h, ^H : to the left
j, ^J, <lf>, ^N : down
l, <sp> : to the right
k, ^P : up
[nr]$ : to the end of the <nr>th line after the cursor
^ : to the first real character (no tab/space) on the line
[nr]- : to the first real character <nr> lines higher
[nr]+, [nr]<cr>, [nr]^M : to the first real character <nr> lines below
0 : to the first character on the line
[nr]| : to column <nr> (default column 0)
(tabs : only to the endpoint !)
[nr]w : <nr> words to the right
[nr]W : <nr> real words (followed by a tab/space) to the right
[nr]b : <nr> words back
[nr]B : <nr> real words back
[nr]e : to the end of the <nr>th word
[nr]E : to the end of the <nr>th real word
[nr]G : goto line <nr> (default EOF)
[nr]H : to the <nr>th line from top of the screen (home)
[nr]L : to the <nr>th line from bottom of the screen (last)
M : to the middle line of the screen
[nr]) : <nr> sentences forward
[nr]( : <nr> sentences backward
[nr]} : <nr> paragraphs forward
[nr]{ : <nr> paragraphs backward
]] : to the next section (default EOF)
[[ : to the previous section (default begin of file)
m<a-z> : put a mark at the cursor position
`<a-z> : back to the mark
'<a-z> : to the begin of the labeled line
`` : back to the cursor position before the latest absolute
jump (of which are examples "/{string}" and "[nr]G")
'' : to the begin of the line on which the cursor was
placed before the latest absolute jump
searching
---------
f{chr} : find the next {chr} on the line
t{chr} : to just before the next {chr} on the line (till)
F{chr} : to the previous {chr} on the line
T{chr} : to just after the previous {chr} on the line
; : repeat previous "f", "t", "F" or "T"
, : idem into reverse direction
/{string} : to the next {string}
?{string} : to the previous {string}
n : repeat previous "/{string}" or "?{string}" (next)
N : idem into reverse direction
:g/{string}/[command] : search globally after {string} [on each occurrence
executing the "ex" command]
^] : search in the tags file after the function under
the cursor and go to it
% : find the first parenthesis after the cursor, and
go to its match (also for { } and [ ])
undoing changes
---------------
u : undo the latest change
U : undo all changes on the line most recently edited
:q! : quit vi without writing
appending text (end with <escape>)
-------------- ===================
a : after the cursor
A : at the end of the line
i : before the cursor (insert)
I : before the begin of the line
o : on a new line after the current (open)
O : on a new line before the current
[nr]>{move} : shift the current line and the lines described by
by [nr]{move} one shiftwidth to the right (layout)
[nr]>> : shift <nr> lines one shiftwidth to the right
. : repeat the latest command
deleting text
-------------
Everything to be deleted can be saved into a buffer <a-z> :
type a double quote " and a letter <a-z> in front of the delete command.
Otherwise the deleted will go into the undo buffer only.
"<a-z>p : put the buffer to the right of the cursor
"<a-z>P : put the buffer to the left of the cursor
when dealing with complete lines : "p" like "o", "P" like "O"
[nr]x : delete <nr> characters under and after the cursor
[nr]X : <nr> characters before the cursor
[nr]dw : <nr> words after the cursor
[nr]dW : <nr> real words after the cursor
[nr]db : <nr> words before the cursor
[nr]dB : <nr> real words before the cursor
[nr]dd : <nr> lines downward
[nr]dk : <nr> lines upward
D : the rest of the line
[nr]d$ : idem plus <nr> - 1 next lines
d^ : the line upto the cursor
d{move} : from start to endpoint (e.g. "dG")
"<1-9> : these buffers contain the latest 9 deletions
("1 is the most recent)
[nr]<{move} : shift the current line and the lines described by
[nr]{move} one shiftwidth to the left
[nr]<< : shift <nr> lines one shiftwidth to the left
. : repeat the previous command
changing text (end with <escape>)
------------- ===================
r{chr} : replace the character under the cursor by {chr}
- no <esc>
R : overwrite the rest of the line
[nr]s : substitute <nr> characters
[nr]S : <nr> lines
[nr]cw : change <nr> words
[nr]cW : <nr> real words
[nr]cb : <nr> words before the cursor
[nr]cB : <nr> real words before the cursor
[nr]c$ : the rest of the line plus <nr> - 1 next lines
[nr]C : idem
c^ : the line upto the cursor
[nr]cc : <nr> lines
cf{chr} : upto the next {chr}
cF{chr} : from the previous {chr} upto the cursor
ct{chr} : till the next {chr}
cT{chr} : from after the previous {chr} upto the cursor
c{move} : from start to endpoint (e.g. "cG")
~ : switch lower and upper cases
[nr]J : join <nr> lines
. : repeat the previous command
copying text (yanking)
----------------------
In all these commands the "<a-z> can be left out, causing a copy to be
made only into the undo buffer.
"<a-z>p : put the buffer to the right of the cursor
"<a-z>P : put the buffer to the left of the cursor
when dealing with complete lines : "p" like "o", "P" like "O"
"<a-z>[nr]yl : copy <nr> characters under and after the cursor
"<a-z>[nr]yh : <nr> characters before the cursor
"<a-z>[nr]yw : <nr> words after the cursor
"<a-z>[nr]yW : <nr> real words after the cursor
"<a-z>[nr]yb : <nr> words before the cursor
"<a-z>[nr]yB : <nr> real words before the cursor
"<a-z>[nr]yy : <nr> lines
"<a-z>[nr]Y : idem (should be equivalent to "y$" though)
"<a-z>y{move} : from start to endpoint (e.g. "yG")
"<a-z>[nr]y$ : the rest of the line plus <nr> - 1 next lines
"<a-z>y^ : the line upto the cursor
"<a-z>y'm : the region from the line marked "m" to
the current line
"Xy3j : yank 3 lines and append them to buffer x (upper case
in the command)
commands while in append/change mode
------------------------------------
^V : deprive the next character of its special meaning
(e.g. <esc>) (lnext)
^D : one shiftwidth to the left
^^D, 0^D : remove all indentation on the current line
(there must be no other characters on the line)
^T : one shiftwidth to the right
^W : one word back (werase)
^H : one character back (erase)
^X : back to the begin of the change on the current line
(generally your kill character)
<del> : like <escape>
writing and quitting vi
-----------------------
:q : quit vi after writing
:q! : quit vi without writing
ZZ : write the file and quit vi
:wq : idem
:x : idem
:w : write the file
:w name : write to the file "name"
:w >> name : append the buffer to the file "name"
:w! name : overwrite the file "name"
:12,35 w name : write lines 12 to 35 to the file "name"
:e file : edit another file without quitting vi
- the buffers <a-z> are not changed (with the
exception of the undo buffer), so text can be
copied from one file to another this way
:n [file] : edit next file ("vi file1 file2 ...")
:n! [file] : idem, without writing the current buffer
:rew : edit previous file ("vi file1 file2 ...")
:e# : idem
:rew! : idem, without writing the current buffer
^^ : edit previous file (always)
display commands
----------------
^L : refresh the screen (sometimes ^P or ^R)
^R : sometimes vi replaces a deleted line by a '@',
to be deleted by "^R" (also with option noredraw)
[nr]^E : scroll <nr> lines downward
[nr]^Y : scroll <nr> lines upward
[nr]^D : scroll <nr> lines downward
(default the number of the previous scroll ;
initialization : half a page)
[nr]^U : scroll <nr> lines upward
(default the number of the previous scroll ;
initialization : half a page)
[nr]^F : <nr> pages forward
^B : 1 page backward
([nr]^B does not do what you expect)
If in the next commands the field <wi> is present, the windowsize will change
to <wi>. The window will always be displayed at the bottom of the screen.
[nr]z[wi]<cr> : put line <nr> at the top of the window
(default the current line)
[nr]z[wi]+ : put line <nr> at the top of the window
(default the first line of the next page)
[nr]z[wi]- : put line <nr> at the bottom of the window
(default the current line)
[nr]z[wi]. : put line <nr> in the centre of the window
(default the current line)
mapping and abbreviation
------------------------
:map <chr> <command> : whenever <chr> is typed, <command> is executed, e.g.
":map ^C :!cc %^M" to compile from within vi
(vi replaces % by the current file name)
:map : show all mappings
:ab <string1> <string2> : whenever <string1> is followed by a breakpoint (e.g.
a space or a comma) while in append mode, it will
be replaced by <string2>, e.g. ":ab p procedure".
a character preceded by a ^V is not considered a
breakpoint
:ab : show all abbreviations
switch and shell commands
-------------------------
Q, <del><del> : switch from vi to "ex"
: : an "ex" command can be given
:vi : switch from "ex" to vi
:sh : execute a subshell, back to vi by ^D
:!<command> : let the shell execute <command> without
quitting the editor
:!! : repeat the last shell command
[nr]!{move}<command> : the shell executes <command>, with standard input
formed by the text lines described by [nr]{move}.
next the standard output replaces those lines
(think of cb, sort, nroff, etc.)
[nr]!!<command> : the shell executes <command>, with standard input
formed by the current line and <nr> - 1 next lines.
next the standard output replaces those lines
:r!<command> : put the output of <command> onto a new line
:r name : read the file "name" into the buffer, after the cursor
vi startup
----------
vi [file] : edit the file and display the first page
(the shell variable PATH must contain the path of vi)
The editor can be initialized by the shell variable EXINIT, which looks like :
EXINIT='ex command | ex command | ...'
ex commands : set options
map ...
ab ...
export EXINIT (in the Bourne shell)
Sometimes it is possible (e.g. if the system crashed while you were editing)
to recover lost files by "vi -r file".
The most important options are :
ai : autoindent - while in append mode after a <lf>
the cursor will move directly below the first
real character of the previous line.
with "^D" one shiftwidth back, with "^T" one forward
aw : autowrite - write at every shell escape
(useful when compiling from within vi)
dir : directory - ":set dir=..."
the directory for vi to make temporary files
(default /tmp)
eb : errorbells - beeps when you goof
(not on every terminal)
ic : ignorecase - no distinction between upper and lower
cases when searching
list : <lf> is shown as '$', tab as '^I'
magic : some metachars can be used when searching.
^{string} - {string} must be at the begin of the line
{string}$ - {string} must be at the end of the line
. - matches any character
[a-z] - matches any character in the range
nu : number - numbers before the lines
para : paragraphs - ":set para={string}"
every pair of characters in {string} is considered
a paragraph delimiter nroff macro.
a space preceded by a \ indicates that the previous
character is a single letter macro.
":set para=P\ bp" introduces '.P' and '.bp' as
paragraph delimiters (for the "{" and "}" commands)
redraw : the screen remains up to date
report : ":set report=..." - vi reports whenever e.g. a delete
or yank command affects <report> or more lines
sect : sections - ":set sect={string}"
gives the section delimiters (for "[[" and "]]")
(see option para)
sh : shell - ":set sh=..."
tells which program is to be used for shell escapes
sw : shiftwidth - ":set sw=..."
gives the swiftwidth (default sw=8)
sm : showmatch - whenever you append a ')', vi tries to
show its match by putting for a moment the cursor
onto it (also with { })
terse : short error messages
ts : tabstop - ":set ts=..."
gives the length of a tab jump ;
warning : this is only IN the editor, outside of it
tabs have their normal length (default ts=8)
wa : writeany - no checks when writing (dangerous)
warn : warn you when you try to quit without writing
wi : window - ":set wi=..."
gives the number of lines vi is to show default
wm : wrapmargin - ":set wm=..."
when in append mode vi automatically puts a <lf>
whenever there is a breakpoint (e.g. a space or
comma) within <wm> columns from the right margin
ws : wrapscan - when searching, the end is considered
"stuck" to the begin of the file
:set option : turn some option on
:set no option : turn some option off ; no space between "no" and
the option (e.g. ":set nonu")
:set option=value : give some option a value
:set : show all non-default options and their values
:set option? : show an option's value
:set all : show all options and their values
--
### -------- | Maarten Litmaath
# |$...@.+### Hack | maart@cs.vu.nl
##+..c../| scene | Free University - Amsterdam
-------- |rsalz@bbn.com (Richard Salz) (09/16/87)
The extended summary is pretty nice, but has a couple of errors. U undo all changes to current line. If you edit a line heavily, then move off it, U doesn't work. f F t T ; Can be given a repeat count, in all contexts (e.g., d3fX works and is the same as 3dfX). ^^D (uparrow ^D) removes all indentation for one line, then restores current indent. Useful when entering code and you want to put in an #ifdef or such. All these summaries are nice and all, but folks: The "Introduction to Display Editing with VI" found with your Unix documentation really covers all this pretty well -- check out the command summary at the end. /r$ -- For comp.sources.unix stuff, mail to sources@uunet.uu.net.