VI(1) User Commands VI(1) NAME vi - visual text editor SYNOPSIS vi [file] DESCRIPTION vi is a visual-oriented text editor. It is used to create, display, modify and otherwise manipulate text files. This version of vi implements most of the commands in the standard vi utility. It does not allow wildcard or escape characters in the search or replacement strings, and it cannot execute shell commands. It also does not implement the undo command. vi can also run a in line-oriented mode, which is know as the ex mode. The ex mode is entered by typing the 'Q' command. The ex mode can be terminated, and visual-oriented editing can be resumed by typing the 'V' command. The 'V' command has been extended to include an optional parameter that defines the number of lines used in the visual mode. The ex mode can also be invoked for one command by typing a ':', '/", or '?' character. If invoked with a file argument, a copy of the file is read into the editor's buffer. Changes are made to this copy and not directly to file itself. Changes must be written back to the file before exiting vi. In both the vi and ex modes, editing is done in two distinct modes: command and input. When first invoked, vi is in command mode. In this mode commands are used to move the cursor, scroll up or down in the file, or delete or copy text. In the input mode, lines of text can be inserted before or after the current line, or even within the line itself. The vi commands are summarized below: Q - Quit from vi mode, and go into ex mode. Y - Yank "count" lines to the copy buffer. Default is 1 line. p - Push the lines in the copy buffer to the edit buffer. : - Exit to the ex mode for one command. / - Search forward for the follwing text string. ? - Search backward for the follwing text string. n - Move to the next line matching the last search string. N - Move to the previous line matching the last search string. CR - Move down one line. Same as "j". j - Move down one line. k - Move up one line. h - Move left one space. l - Move right one space. ^F - Move forward one screen. ^B - Move back one screen. ^D - Move down one-half screen. ^U - Move up one-half screen. G - Go to the line given by "count". The default is the last line. J - Join "count" lines to current line. The default is one line. dd - Delete "count" lines. The default is one line. x - Delete "count" characters. The default is one. r - Replace a character. O - Open up a new line above the current line, and go into insert mode. A - Append characters after the end of the current line. I - Insert characters at the beginning of the current line. i - Insert characters before the current column. a - Append characters after the current column. $ - Move to the last character in the line. 0 - Move to the first character in the line. 1-9 - Set the count to a decimal number, including zero characters. ESC - Escape from the insert mode, or ignore previous command characters. In the ex mode, commands are executed on single lines, or a range of lines. All ex commands are entered as a complete line of text, terminated by the enter key. This version of ex only allows one command per line. As with the visual mode, editing is done in either the command or input mode. When invoked, ex is in command mode. A typical ex command might look like: ,s/old/new/g which replaces all occurrences of the string old with new. When an input command, such as 'a' (append), 'i' (insert) or 'c' (change), is given, ex enters input mode. In this mode, no commands are available; instead, the standard input is written directly to the editor buffer. Lines consist of text up to and including a newline character. The input mode is terminated by entering a single period (.) on a line. All ex commands operate on whole lines or ranges of lines; e.g., the 'd' command deletes lines; the 'm' command moves lines, and so on. It is possible to modify only a portion of a line by means of replacement, as in the example above. However even here, the 's' command is applied to whole lines at a time. In general, ex commands consist of zero or more line addresses, followed by a single character command and possibly additional parameters; i.e., commands have the structure: [address [,address]]command[parameters] The address(es) indicate the line or range of lines to be affected by the command. If fewer addresses are given than the command accepts, then default addresses are supplied. LINE ADDRESSING An address represents the number of a line in the buffer. ex maintains a current address which is typically supplied to commands as the default address when none is specified. When a file is first read, the current address is set to the last line of the file. In general, the current address is set to the last line affected by a command. A line address is constructed from one of the bases in the list below, optionally followed by a numeric offset. The offset may include any combination of digits, operators (i.e. + and -). Addresses are read from left to right, and their values are computed relative to the current address. One exception to the rule that addresses represent line numbers is the address 0 (zero). This means "before the first line," and is legal wherever it makes sense. An address range is two addresses separated either by a comma or semicolon. The value of the first address in a range cannot exceed the value of the second. If only one address is given in a range, then the second address is set to the given address. If only one address is expected, then the last address is used. Each address in a comma-delimited range is interpreted relative to the current address. In a semicolon-delimited range, the first address is used to set the current address, and the second address is interpreted relative to the first. The following address symbols are recognized. . The current line (address) in the buffer. $ The last line in the buffer. n The nth, line in the buffer where n is a number in the range [0,$]. n,m Lines n through m, where n is less than or equal to m. - The previous line. This is equivalent to -1. -n The nth previous line, where n is a non-negative number. + The next line. This is equivalent to +1. +n The nth next line, where n is a non-negative number. % The first through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent to the address range 1,$. ; The current through last lines in the buffer. This is equivalent to the address range .,$. /re/ The next line containing the regular expression re. The search wraps to the beginning of the buffer and continues down to the current line, if necessary. // repeats the last search. ?re? The previous line containing the regular expression re. The search wraps to the end of the buffer and continues up to the current line, if necessary. ?? repeats the last search. REGULAR EXPRESSIONS Regular expressions are patterns used in selecting text. For example, the ex command g/string/ prints all lines containing string. Regular expressions are also used by the 's' command for selecting old text to be replaced with new. This version of ex does not use any wildcard or escape characters. COMMANDS All ex commands are single characters, though some require additional parameters. ex commands must fit in a single line, and cannot be continued to another line. In general, only one command is allowed per line. The only exceptions are the 'g' and 'v' commands, which can be followed by an 's', 'p', 'l' or 'n' command. ex recognizes the following commands. The commands are shown together with the default address or address range supplied if none is specified (in parenthesis). (.)a Appends text to the buffer after the addressed line, which may be the address 0 (zero). Text is entered in input mode. The current address is set to last line entered. (.,.)c Changes lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are deleted from the buffer, and text is appended in their place. Text is entered in input mode. The current address is set to last line entered. (.,.)d Deletes the addressed lines from the buffer. If there is a line after the deleted range, then the current address is set to this line. Otherwise the current address is set to the line before the deleted range. e file Edits file, and sets the default filename. If file is not specified, then the default filename is used. Any lines in the buffer are deleted before the new file is read. The current address is set to the last line read. e! file Edits file unconditionally. This is similar to the e command, except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning. The current address is set to the last line read. (1,$)g/re/command Applies command to each of the addressed lines matching a regular expression re. The current address is set to the line currently matched before command is executed. At the end of the 'g' command, the current address is set to the last line affected by command. The allowable commands are 's', 'p', 'l' and 'n'. The 'p' command is used if command is not specified. (.)i Inserts text in the buffer before the current line. Text is entered in input mode. The current address is set to the last line entered. (.,.+1)j Joins the addressed lines. The addressed lines are deleted from the buffer and replaced by a single line containing their joined text. The current address is set to the resultant line. (.,.)l Prints the addressed lines unambiguously. The current address is set to the last line printed. (.,.)m(.) Moves lines in the buffer. The addressed lines are moved to after the right-hand destination address, which may be the address 0 (zero). The current address is set to the new address of the last line moved. (.,.)# Prints the addressed lines along with their line numbers. The current address is set to the last line printed. (.,.)p Prints the addressed lines. The current address is set to the last line printed. q Quits the editor. q! Quits the editor unconditionally. This is similar to the q command, except that unwritten changes are discarded without warning. ($)r file Reads file to after the addressed line. If file is not specified, then the default filename is used. If there was no default filename prior to the command, then the default filename is set to file. Otherwise, the default filename is unchanged. The current address is set to the last line read. (.,.)s/re/replacement/ (.,.)s/re/replacement/g Replaces text in the addressed lines matching a regular expression re with replacement. By default, only the first match in each line is replaced. If the 'g' (global) suffix is given, then every match to be replaced. It is an error if no substitutions are performed on any of the addressed lines. The current address is set to the last line affected. (.,.)t(.) Copies (i.e., transfers) the addressed lines to after the right- hand destination address, which may be the address 0 (zero). The current address is set to the last line copied. Tn Change to the terminal mode specified by "n", or toggle the terminal mode if "n" is not specified. A value of 0 species the dumb terminal mode, and 1 specifies the PST terminal. (1,$)v/re/command-list Applies command-list to each of the addressed lines not matching a regular expression re. This is similar to the 'g' command. Vn Enter the visualization mode, and set the number of display lines to 'n' if specified. (1,$)w file Writes the addressed lines to file. Any previous contents of file is lost without warning. If there is no default filename, then the default filename is set to file, otherwise it is unchanged. If no filename is specified, then the default filename is used. The current address is unchanged. (.)P Copies (puts) the contents of the cut buffer to after the addressed line. The current address is set to the last line copied. (1,$)x file Writes the addressed lines to file and exits. Any previous contents of file is lost without warning. If no filename is specified, then the default filename is used. (.,.)y Copies (yanks) the addressed lines to the cut buffer. The cut buffer is overwritten by subsequent 'y', 'j', 'd', or 'c' commands. The current address is unchanged. (.+1)zn Scrolls n lines at a time starting at addressed line. If n is not specified, then the current window size is used. The current address is set to the last line printed. ($)= Prints the line number of the addressed line. (.+1)newline Prints the addressed line, and sets the current address to that line. OPTIONS file Specifies the name of a file to read. The default filename is set to the specified file. SEE ALSO B. W. Kernighan and P. J. Plauger, Software Tools in Pascal , Addison- Wesley, 1981. LIMITATIONS vi is limited to 200 characters per line. If an input line is greater than 200 characters it will be broken up into multiple lines. The input file must terminate lines with a newline (LF) character. Files will be written using the UNIX LF line termination. The size of the file is limited by the amount of buffer memory available to vi. AUTHOR Dave Hein COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, Dave Hein MIT License (See license.txt in the root directory) This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is no warranty, to the extent permitted by law. SPINIX utility March 2012 VI(1)