VI Text Editor Reference Sheet

Roger Murray

October 19, 1994

Contents:

• Entering vi
• Movement
• Inserting Text
• Deleting Text
• Other Commands
• Saving and Exiting vi
• Some vi Settings

Entering vi

vi file        Open file for editing.
vi +n file     Open file and go to line n.
vi -r file     Recover a failed editing session.

Movement

            backward    forward
 character     h           l
      line     k           j
      word     b           w
  sentence     (           )
 paragraph     {           }
1/2 screen   CTRL-U     CTRL-D
  1 screen   CTRL-B     CTRL-F

The above commands can be prefaced by a number to indicate a desired repetition. For example, the command 5w moves the cursor five words to the right and the command 10k moves the cursor ten lines up.

0      Go to beginning of the current line.
$      Go to end of the current line.
nG     Go to line n.  (Default = last line)

Inserting Text

i               inserts text before the cursor.
a               appends text after the cursor.
A               appends text at the end of a line.
o               opens a new (blank) line below the cursor and enters insert mode.
O               opens a new (blank) line at the cursor and enters insert mode.
:r filename     inserts the contents of filename at the current line.

Pressing <ESC> will exit insert mode.

Deleting Text

x      deletes the character at the cursor.
dw     deletes the current word.
dd     deletes the current line.

As with the movement commands, these commands can be prefaced by a number to indicate a desired repetition. The command 3dw deletes the next three words, for example.

Other Commands

<CTRL-L>           redraws the screen.
.                   redoes the last command.
u                   undoes the last command that changed the buffer.
/string             searches for string.
n                   searches for the next occurrence of string.
N                   searches for the previous occurrence of string.
:s/from/to          replaces to for one from on one line.
:s/from/to/g        replaces to for every from on one line.
:%s/from/to/g       replaces to for every from on every line.
nY                  yanks a copy of the next n lines. (Default = 1)
P                   puts yanked or deleted line(s) at the current line.
p                   puts yanked or deleted line(s) after the current line.
rX                  replaces character at cursor with X
R                   begin replacing text at cursor (press <ESC> when finished).

Saving and Exiting vi

:w     save (don't quit)  [:w filename saves to filename]
:q     save and quit
:q!    quit (don't save)
:x     save if a change has been made, quit regardless
ZZ     same as :x

Some vi Settings

:set autoindent       Automatically indent at the same level as the line above.
:set number           Display line numbers.
:set showmode         Indicate if vi is in insert mode.
:set wrapmargin=n     Automatically wrap word in last n columns.
:set wrapscan         Searches reaching the bottom continue from the top.

To unset any of these options, use the prefix no. For instance, the command :set nowrapscan will turn off the wrapscan feature. To make settings permanent, place them in the file .exrc in your home directory.