Using vi
- 1. Using vi
- 2. 2 Modes Command Mode vi starts in command mode. In command mode, everything you type is a command to do something, like: • move the cursor around • save, quit, open a new file • find and replace • copy and paste, etc. Insert Mode While in insert mode, everything you type is inserted into the document you’re editing.
- 3. Command Mode Insert Mode i - ...at the current cursor position I - ...at the beginning of the current line a - ...at the next character A - ...at the end of the current line o - ...below the current line O - ...above the current line ... plus lots more ways to get into insert mode Esc Ctrl-[ Ctrl-c Get into insert mode: Get into command mode: You switch between these two modes a lot as you’re editing
- 4. Editing in command mode • h j k l – Move cursor left, down, up, right • x – Delete a character • 5x – Delete 5 characters • dd – Delete a line • 5dd – Delete 5 lines • dj – Delete the line below the cursor • dk – Delete the line above the cursor • u - Undo
- 5. Copy and Paste Every time you delete something in vi, it gets stored in a buffer that can then be pasted into the file with p or P. To put something into the copy buffer without deleting it, you “yank” it using a variation of the y command. • yy – Yank the current line into the copy buffer
- 6. Search and Replace • /search_string<Enter> - Search for “search_string” in the document. Type n to jump to the next search result if there’s more than 1 • :%s/aaa/a/g<Enter> - Replace all occurrences of “aaa” with “a”. Search and replace commands use a regex language that supports wildcards, etc.
- 8. Saving, quitting, and opening files • :w, :wq, :q, :q! – Save, save-quit, quit. Add a ! to any of these commands to force- save or force-quit. • :e file.js – Start editing a new file • :sp file.js, :vsp file.js – Open a new file in a split window, horizontally or vertically. To move between windows, type Ctrl-w then a direction key (h,j,k,l).