vi Text Editor

Introduction

vi (visual) is a display orientated interactive text editor. Using vi you may edit an old file or you may create a new file. The user may enter new text, delete text, delete lines of text, open new lines of text, and replace old text with new text.

Accessing the vi editor

Type: vi filename

The screen should clear and the text from your file should appear on the screen. The vi editor does not work directly with your file, instead it operates on a copy of your file. So you may make as many changes as you want and not affect your original file if you do not save your file when you exit vi. Note that Unix does not keep different versions of a file.

How to Save/Quit

:w	write buffer
:q	quit
:wq	save file and exit vi
:q!	abandon buffer (quit and don't save)
ZZ	same as :wq save file and exit vi
ctrl Z	suspend vi

How to Move the Cursor -

You will use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move your cursor around on the screen. If for some reason the arrow keys do not work on your terminal you may also use the following keystrokes to navigate.

k	line up
j	line down
l	right space
h	left space
ctrl D	scroll down
w	word forward
b	word backward
e	end of word
0 (zero)	beginning of line
$	end of current line
G	end of file
ctrl-B	page backwards one page
ctrl-F	page forward in the file
line number and press G	go to a specific line number

How to Insert Characters

(To exit insert mode press esc.)

a	after cursor
A	at end of line
i	before cursor
I	at beginning of line
o	open line below
O	open line above
yw	yank word (copy word - press p to paste the word elsewhere)
yy or Y	yank line (copy line - press p to paste the word elsewhere)
p	put

Change

cw	word
cc or S	line
C	rest of line
s	under cursor
r	replace character

Delete

dw	word
dd	line
D	rest of line
x	under cursor
X	before cursor
xp	transpose

Other Commands

u	undo change
.	repeat
/word	find down (word is the word you are trying to find)
?	find up
n	next
ctrl-L	refresh the screen