Some vi tips

categories:

• Linux
• RHCE

This is my personal vi reminder. Feel free to share your tips !

Search and replace a string globally in a document : :.,$s/search_string/replacement_string/g

Searching for a string : Type “/” followed by the string e.g. : /pattern

Disabling highlighted patterns : Type “:nohl” to disable highlighting

Comment out several lines at once (I like that one) : 1. Ctrl + V (visual block) 2. Select the lines you want to be commented out 3. Shift + I (insert mode) 4. Add the "#" character on the first line 5. Press escape

Copy and paste several lines : 1. Shift + V (visual line) 2. Select the lines 3. Press "Y" (x lines yanked) 4. Go where you want the block to be pasted and press "p"

Cut and paste several lines : 1. Let's say you want to cut 3 lines, put your cursor on the first of the 3 lines 2. Type : 3dd 3. Locate your cursor where you want the block to be pasted 4. Type "p"

Some key combinations : dd : Delete current line D : Delete from cursor to end of line d$ : Delete from cursor to end of line d0 : Delete from cursor to beginning of line dw : Delete from cursor to end of current word db : Delete from cursor to beginning of current word yy : Copy current line (use "p" to paste)

Here’s a great cheatsheet from http://www.worldtimzone.com/res/vi.html Some advices here may be redundant with the above tips

Cursor movement

* h - move left
* j - move down
* k - move up
* l - move right
* w - jump by start of words (punctuation considered words)
* W - jump by words (spaces separate words)
* e - jump to end of words (punctuation considered words)
* E - jump to end of words (no punctuation)
* b - jump backward by words (punctuation considered words)
* B - jump backward by words (no punctuation)
* 0 - (zero) start of line
* ^ - first non-blank character of line
* $ - end of line
* G - Go To command (prefix with number - 5G goes to line 5)

Note: Prefix a cursor movement command with a number to repeat it. For example, 4j moves down 4 lines. Insert Mode - Inserting/Appending text

* i - start insert mode at cursor
* I - insert at the beginning of the line
* a - append after the cursor
* A - append at the end of the line
* o - open (append) blank line below current line (no need to press return)
* O - open blank line above current line
* ea - append at end of word
* Esc - exit insert mode

Editing

* r - replace a single character (does not use insert mode)
* J - join line below to the current one
* cc - change (replace) an entire line
* cw - change (replace) to the end of word
* c$ - change (replace) to the end of line
* s - delete character at cursor and subsitute text
* S - delete line at cursor and substitute text (same as cc)
* xp - transpose two letters (delete and paste, technically)
* u - undo
* . - repeat last command

Marking text (visual mode)

* v - start visual mode, mark lines, then do command (such as y-yank)
* V - start Linewise visual mode
* o - move to other end of marked area
* Ctrl+v - start visual block mode
* O - move to Other corner of block
* aw - mark a word
* ab - a () block (with braces)
* aB - a {} block (with brackets)
* ib - inner () block
* iB - inner {} block
* Esc - exit visual mode

Visual commands

* > - shift right
* < - shift left
* y - yank (copy) marked text
* d - delete marked text
* ~ - switch case

Cut and Paste

* yy - yank (copy) a line
* 2yy - yank 2 lines
* yw - yank word
* y$ - yank to end of line
* p - put (paste) the clipboard after cursor
* P - put (paste) before cursor
* dd - delete (cut) a line
* dw - delete (cut) the current word
* x - delete (cut) current character

Exiting

* :w - write (save) the file, but don't exit
* :wq - write (save) and quit
* :q - quit (fails if anything has changed)
* :q! - quit and throw away changes

Search/Replace

* /pattern - search for pattern
* ?pattern - search backward for pattern
* n - repeat search in same direction
* N - repeat search in opposite direction
* :%s/old/new/g - replace all old with new throughout file
* :%s/old/new/gc - replace all old with new throughout file with confirmations

Working with multiple files

* :e filename - Edit a file in a new buffer
* :bnext (or :bn) - go to next buffer
* :bprev (of :bp) - go to previous buffer
* :bd - delete a buffer (close a file)
* :sp filename - Open a file in a new buffer and split window
* ctrl+ws - Split windows
* ctrl+ww - switch between windows
* ctrl+wq - Quit a window
* ctrl+wv - Split windows vertically