vi(1)
vi --
screen-oriented (visual) display editor based on ex
Synopsis
vi [-t tag] [-r file]
[-l] [-L] [-wn] [-R]
[-x] [-C] [-c command]
file ...
view [-t tag] [-r file]
[-l] [-L] [-wn] [-R]
[-x] [-C] [-c command]
file ...
vedit [-t tag] [-r file]
[-l] [-L] [-wn] [-R]
[-x] [-C] [-c command]
file ...
Description
vi
(visual) is a display-oriented text editor based on
an underlying line editor
ex.
It is possible to use
the command mode of
ex
from within
vi
and vice-versa.
The visual commands are described on this
manual page;
how to set options
(like automatically numbering lines
and automatically starting a new output line when you press <Return>)
and all ex line editor
commands are described on the
ex(1)
manual page.
When using
vi,
changes you make to the file are reflected in what you see on your
terminal screen.
The position of the cursor on the screen indicates
the position within the file.
These utilities process and display supplementary code set characters
according to the locale specified in the LC_CTYPE
environment variable (see LANG on
environ(5)),
except that the character x given to the
r, f, F,
m, t, and T commands (see ``Command summary'' below)
must be a single-byte character.
All processing, including regular expression pattern
searching, is performed on characters, not columns or bytes.
In command mode, the utilities recognize arguments
to indicate the number of characters.
Multi-column characters are split over two lines when using the
full screen width.
The same number of ASCII
``>'' characters are displayed as the split character's display width.
Invocation options
The following invocation options are interpreted by
vi
(previously documented options are discussed in the
``Notices''
section of this manual page):
-t tag-
Edit the file containing the
tag
and position the editor at its definition.
NOTE:
Tags in the tag file must be in increasing order.
-r file-
Edit
file
after an editor or system crash.
(Recovers the version of
file
that was in the buffer when the crash occurred.)
-l-
Set up for editing LISP programs.
-L-
List the name of all files saved as the
result of an editor or system crash.
-wn-
Set the default window size to
n.
This is useful when using the editor over a slow speed line.
-R-
``Readonly''
mode; the
``readonly''
flag is set, preventing accidental overwriting of the file.
-x-
Encryption option; when used,
vi
simulates the
X
command of
ex
and prompts the user for a key.
This key is used to encrypt and decrypt
text using the algorithm of the
crypt command.
The
X
command
makes an educated guess to determine whether text
read in is encrypted or not.
The temporary buffer file is encrypted also,
using a transformed version of the key
typed in for the
-x
option.
See
crypt(1).
Also, see the
``Notices''
section at the end
of this manual page.
-C-
Encryption option;
same as the
-x
option, except that
vi
simulates the
C
command of
ex.
The
C
command is like the
X
command of
ex,
except that
all text read in is assumed to have been encrypted.
-c command-
Begin editing by executing the specified editor
command
(usually a search or positioning command).
The
file
argument indicates one or more files to be edited.
The
view
invocation is the same as
vi
except that the
``readonly''
flag is set.
The
vedit
invocation is intended for beginners.
It is the same as vi except that the
``report''
flag is set to 1, the
``showmode''
and
``novice''
flags are set,
and
``magic''
is turned off.
These defaults make it easier to learn how to use vi.
vi modes
Command-
Normal and initial mode. Other modes return to command mode
upon completion.
<Esc> (escape) is used to cancel a partial command.
Input-
Entered by setting any of the following options:
a A i I o O
c C s S R .
Arbitrary text may then be entered.
Input mode is normally terminated with <Esc> character,
or, abnormally, with an interrupt.
Last line-
Reading input for ``: / ?'' or ``!''; terminate
by pressing <Return>; an interrupt cancels
termination.
Command summary
In the descriptions,
<Return> stands for the return key
and <Esc> stands for the escape key.
Sample commands
Left, Right, Up & Down arrow keys-
used to move the cursor
h j k l-
same as arrow keys
itext<Esc>-
insert text
cwnew<Esc>-
change word to new
eas<Esc>-
pluralize word (end of word; append ``s''; escape from input state)
x-
delete a character
dw-
delete a word
dd-
delete a line
3dd-
delete 3 lines
u-
undo previous change
ZZ-
exit vi, saving changes
:q!<Return>-
quit, discarding changes
/text<Return>-
search for text
^U ^D-
scroll up or down
:cmd<Return>-
any ex or ed command
Counts before vi commands
Numbers can be typed as a prefix to some commands.
They are interpreted in one of these ways.
z G |-
interpret prefixed numbers as line/column numbers
^D ^U-
interpret prefixed numbers as the scroll amount
most of the rest-
interpret prefixed numbers as repeat effects.
Interrupting, canceling
<Esc>-
end insert or incomplete cmd
<Del>-
(delete or rubout) interrupts
File manipulation
ZZ-
if file modified, write and exit; otherwise, exit
:w<Return>-
write back changes
:w!<Return>-
forced write, if permission originally not valid
:q<Return>-
quit
:q!<Return>-
quit, discard changes
:e name<Return>-
edit file name
:e!<Return>-
reedit, discard changes
:e + name<Return>-
edit starting at end
:e +n name<Return>-
edit starting at line n
:e #<Return>-
edit alternate file
:e! #<Return>-
edit alternate file, discard changes
:w name<Return>-
write file name
:w! name<Return>-
overwrite file name
:sh<Return>-
run shell, then return
:!cmd<Return>-
run cmd, then return
:n<Return>-
edit next file in arglist
:n args<Return>-
specify new arglist
^G-
show current file and line
:ta tag<Return>-
position cursor to tag
In general, any
ex
or
ed
command (such as
substitute
or
global)
may be typed, preceded by a colon and followed by a <Return>.
Positioning within file
^F-
forward screen
^B-
backward screen
^D-
scroll down half screen
^U-
scroll up half screen
nG-
go to the beginning of the specified line (end default),
where n is a line number
/pat-
next line matching pat
?pat-
previous line matching pat
n-
repeat last / or ? command
N-
reverse last / or ? command
/pat/+n-
nth line after pat
?pat?-n-
nth line before pat
]]-
next section/function
[[-
previous section/function
(-
beginning of sentence
)-
end of sentence
{-
beginning of paragraph
}-
end of paragraph
%-
find matching ( ) { or }
Adjusting the screen
^L-
clear and redraw window
^R-
clear and redraw window if ^L is key
z<Return>-
redraw screen with current line at top of window
z--
redraw screen with current line at bottom of window
z.-
redraw screen with current line at center of window
/pat/z-<Return>-
move pat line to bottom of window
zn.-
use n-line window
^E-
scroll window down 1 line
^Y-
scroll window up 1 line
Marking and returning
``-
move cursor to previous context
´´-
move cursor to first non-white space in line
mx-
mark current position with the single-byte lower-case letter x
`x-
move cursor to mark x
´x-
move cursor to first non-white space in line marked by x
Line positioning
H-
top line on screen
L-
last line on screen
M-
middle line on screen
+-
next line, at first non-white
--
previous line, at first non-white
<Return>-
return, same as +
Down arrow or j-
next line, same column
Up arrow or k-
previous line, same column
Character positioning
^-
first non white-space character
0-
beginning of line
$-
end of line
l or -
forward
h or -
backward
^H-
same as <Bksp> (backspace)
space-
same as <Space> (space bar)
fx-
find next single-byte character x
Fx-
find previous single-byte character x
tx-
move to character prior to next single-byte character x
Tx-
move to character following previous single-byte character x
;-
repeat last f, F, t or T
,-
repeat inverse of last f, F, t or T
n|-
move to column n
%-
find matching ``( { )'' or ``}''
Words, sentences, paragraphs
w-
forward a word
b-
back a word
e-
end of word
)-
to next sentence
}-
to next paragraph
(-
back a sentence
{-
back a paragraph
W-
forward a blank-delimited word
B-
back a blank-delimited word
E-
end of a blank-delimited word
Corrections during insert
^H-
erase last character <Bksp>
^W-
erase last word
<erase>-
your erase character, same as ^H <Bksp>
<kill>-
your kill character, erase this line of input
\-
quotes your erase and kill characters
<Esc>-
ends insertion, back to command mode
<Del>-
interrupt, terminates insert mode
^D-
backtab one character; reset left margin of autoindent
^^D-
caret (^) followed by <Ctrl>-d (^D); backtab to beginning of line; do not reset left margin of autoindent
0^D-
backtab to beginning of line; reset left margin of autoindent
^V-
quote non-printable character
vi uses control notation for ASCII control characters,
and uses octal notation for 8-bit bytes that are not printable.
Insert and replace
a-
append after cursor
A-
append at end of line
i-
insert before cursor
I-
insert before first non-blank
o-
open line below
O-
open above
rx-
replace one character with the single-byte character x
Rtext<Esc>-
replace characters
~-
change lower case to upper case and vice-versa
Operators
Operators are followed by a cursor motion, and affect
all text that would have been moved over.
For example, since
w
moves over a word,
dw
deletes the word that would be moved over.
Double the operator, for example,
dd to affect whole lines.
d-
delete
c-
change
y-
yank lines to buffer
<-
left shift
>-
right shift
!-
filter through command
Miscellaneous operations
C-
change rest of line (c$)
D-
delete rest of line (d$)
s-
substitute chars (cl)
S-
substitute lines (cc)
J-
join lines
x-
delete characters (dl)
X-
delete characters before cursor (dh)
Y-
yank lines (yy)
Yank and put
Put inserts the text most recently deleted or yanked;
however, if a buffer is named
(using the ASCII lower-case letters ``a'' - ``z''),
the text in that buffer is put instead.
3yy-
yank 3 lines
3yl-
yank 3 characters
p-
put back text after cursor
P-
put back text before cursor
"xp-
put from buffer x
"xy-
yank to buffer x
"xd-
delete into buffer x
Undo, redo, retrieve
u-
undo last change
U-
restore current line
.-
repeat last change
"dp-
retrieve d'th last delete
Files
/var/preserve-
default directory where temporary work files are placed; it can be changed
using the directory option (see the
ex(1)
set command)
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/-
compiled terminal description database
/usr/share/lib/.COREterm/?/-
subset of compiled terminal description database
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxed.abi-
language-specific message file (see LANG on
environ(5)).
References
ctags(1),
ed(1),
edit(1),
ex(1)
Notices
Two options, although they continue to be supported,
have been replaced in the documentation by options that follow
the Command Syntax Standard (see
intro(1)).
A
-r
option that is not followed with an option-argument has been replaced by
-L
and
+command
has been replaced by
-c
command.
The encryption options are provided with the
Encryption Utilities package, which
is available only in the United States.
Tampering with entries in
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/
or
/usr/share/lib/.COREterm/?/
(for example, changing or removing an entry) can affect
programs such as
vi
that expect the entry to be present and correct.
In particular,
removing the ``dumb'' terminal may cause unexpected problems.
Software tabs using ``^T'' work only immediately after the
autoindent.
Left and right shifts on intelligent terminals do not make use of
insert and delete character operations in the terminal.
Author
vi
and
ex
were developed by
The University of California,
Berkeley California,
Computer Science Division,
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 25 April 2004