VI

VI REFERENCE CHEAT SHEET

VI is your friend if you are working on Linux or Unix platforms.

visual (vi) editor

vi is a command line editor that is widely-used on Linux/Unix based platforms and is automatically loaded with virtually all versions of Linux/Unix.

Here are some of the most common

commands to assist you in getting started:

         INPUT MODE COMMANDS

         i        Inserts text before cursor

         I        Inserts text at the beginning of the current line

         a        Appends text after cursor position

         A       Appends text at the end of the current line

         o       Opens a line below

         O      Opens a line above

         DELETE COMMANDS

         dw     Deletes Word from current position

         dd     Deletes the entire line

         D      Deletes from current position to end of current line

         x       Deletes character at cursor position

         CHANGE TEXT

         cw     Changes word

         cc      Changes the line

         C       Changes to the end of the line

         r        Replaces the single character under the cursor

         J        Joins lines

         MOVE CURSOR

         e        Moves to the end of the word

         w       Moves to the next word

         $       Moves to the end of the line

         l        Moves one space right

         k       Moves one line up

         j        Moves one line down

         h       Moves one space left

         H      Moves cursor to the top line on the screen

         L       Moves cursor to the bottom line on the screen

         M      Moves cursor to the middle line on the screen

         ^       Moves cursor to the beginning of the line

         fx      Moves cursor to first occurance of x

         MARKING LOCATIONS

         mx    Marks current position with letter x

         `x      Moves cursor to mark x

         'x       Moves cursor to beginning of the line containing mark x

        

         SCREEN CONTROL

         CTRL-d               Scrolls forward one-half screen

         CTRL-u               Scrolls backwards one half screen

         CTRL-f               Scrolls forward one screen

         CTRL-b               Scrolls backward one screen

         CTRL-l                Refreshes screen

         z                 Redraws screen with current line on top

         z-                Redraws screen with current line on bottom

         [number]G Places cursor at line number

         MOVING TEXT

         yy               Yanks one line into buffer

         p                 Puts yanked lines below cursor position

         P                Puts yanked lines above current position

        

         ESCAPE OR LAST LINE MODE COMMANDS

         :w[file]       Writes current buffer as file

         :q                Quits file

         :q!              Quits file without saving changes

         :wq             Writes changes to file and quits

         :r[file]         Reads file  

         :e[file]        Edits file

         :!command Executes a command in the shell

         :n                Moves to line n

         :f                Prints out current line and file name

         INFO

         CTRL-G              Shows size of file, current filename, and current line

         OTHER FUNCTIONS

         u                 Undoes last command

         /string                  Searches forward for string

         ?string                 Searches backward for string

         n                 Finds next string

         .                  Repeats last command

         ESC           Moves from text input mode to command mode.

                            ** Note ** Use this to enter Last Line mode

         CTRL-V              Inserts any character including special characters

         ~                Changes character to opposite case

         ZZ              Saves file and exits

         TIPS

         5dd             Deletes five lines

         10yy           Yanks 10 lines

         10CTRL-d scrolls down ten lines

         QUICK BASIC TUTORIAL

         $vi new.file          - this command is used at the command line and tells the editor

                              to open and places you in full screen mode at which point you

                              can begin creating the file named new.file

         i                  - to insert text

         The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs back - text

         ESCAPE             - to enter last line mode

         :wq             - to write and exit the file

            $                      - back to the command line