Starting and Exiting vi
vi filename edit filename
vi -r filename recover filename
:w write
:w newfile write to newfile
:w! oldfile overwrite oldfile
:w >> oldfile append to oldfile
:q quit
:q! quit and discard unsaved changes
:wq write and quit
ZZ write and quit
Cursor Movement
j cursor down one line
k cursor up one line
h cursor left one character
l cursor right one character
G go to last line in file
1G go to first line in file
nG go to nth line
^ go to beginning of line
$ go to end of line
H Home position of current screen
M Middle line of current screen
L Last line of current screen
nw forward n words
nW forward n words(ignore punct.)
ne go to end of nth word
nE go to end of nth word(ignore punct.)
nb go to start of nth word
nB start of nth word(ignore punct.)
/string forward search for string
?string backward search for string
n next search
N previous search
Changing Text
cc change current line
nC change specified number of lines
Cw change word
ncw change specified number of words
C change from cursor to end of line
c$ change from cursor to end of line
c^ or cO change from cursor to start of line
cG change from cursor thru last line
c1G change from cursor thru lst line
r replace one character
R overwrite
s substitute one character for 1 or more
characters
ns substitute specified number of
characters for one or more characters
Deleting Text
dd delete current line
ndd delete specified number of lines
dw delete word
ndw delete specified number of words
x delete single character
nx delete specified number of characters
D delete from cursor to end of line
d$ delete from cursor to end of line
d^ or dO(zero) delete from cursor to start of line
dG delete from cursor to end of file
d1G delete from cursor to start of file
n1,n2d delete from line n1 to line n2
Screen control
D scroll down 1/2 screen
U scroll up 1/2 screen
F scroll forward 1 full screen
B scroll backward 1 full screen
L redraw screen
Delete and Paste(put)
dd delete current line
ndd delete specified number of lines
dw delete words
ndw delete number of words
P (upper case P) put lines/words before cursor
p (lower case p) put lines/words after cursor
Copying and Paste(Yank and Put)
yy yank current line into paste buffer
nyy yank n lines into paste buffer
yG yank current to last lines
y$ yank from cursor to end of line
yw yank current word
nyw yank n words
yW yank word (include adjoining
punctuation)
ynW yank n words (include adjoining
punctuation)
P (upper case P) put yanked line(s)/words above cursor
p (lower case p) put yanked line(s)/words below cursor
Search, Substitute,Delete
:g/text/d search for text and delete (current
line only)
:s/text/newtext/g search for text and replace with
newtext (one time only)
:1,$s/text/newtext/ search text, replace first occurrence
on each line with newtext
:1,$s/text/newtext/g search and replace all occurrences
of text with newtext
:nl,n2s/text/newteXtlg search for text and replace from line
ni to line n2 with newtext
Copying Text from File
:r filename read from filename, place into
current cursor position
:nr filename read from nth line of filename to
end of filename, place after cursor
Input Modes
a text append text to right of cursor
A text append text to end of line
I text insert text from beginning of line
I text insert text to left of cursor
o text open line below current line
O text open line above current line
Misc. Commands
u undo previous command
U undo change to current line
J join current with next line
nJ join n lines with current line
a (CR) (ESC) split line after current cursor position
i (CR) (ESC) split line before current cursor position
r (CR) replace current character with new line
:f display current file name
. (dot) repeat last command
~ invert caps
xp (transpose) switch 2 characters
noh turn off highlighting
Editing other files
:e filename edit filename
:e! filename clear buffer and edit file
:n edit next file in file list
:n edit new list of files
:rewind edit first file in file list
Shell Commands
:! command execute a command from vi
:! command% execute a command and supply the
current file name as a parameter
:!! execute the last shell command issued
:r! command redirect the output of the command given
to the current line
Setting vi options
:set displays the set values
:set all displays all options that can be set
:set list shows begin A and end of line $
:set nolist shuts of display of$ and A when list is on
:set nu turn on line numbering
:set nonu shut off line numbering
:set showmode or smd enables the display of the mode (insert, or
command mode)
:set noshowmode or nsmd shuts off mode display
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