Vi Editor User's Guide
Contents
1. 3 2 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual vi Regular Expressions Term Definition word An unbroken string of 1 letters digits and underscores _ or 2 characters other than letters digits underscores and white space depending upon context big word An unbroken string of characters other than white space unnamed buffer A buffer containing the last text yanked or deleted window The part of the file that is visible on the terminal line A string of characters followed by a newline character A line of text may take up more than one row on the screen current character The character beneath the cursor current line The line containing the cursor Ay Control character x e g B means control B ASCH 2 return M or the Return key command mode The normal operating mode of the editor Each key typed is taken as a command insert mode The mode used for manually adding text to a file Characters that are typed while in insert mode are inserted into the text replace mode Like insert mode except that characters typed replace characters in the buffer char Any ASCII character named buffer One of 26 buffers with names a through z mark name A lowercase letter that names one of 26 marks that can be used to save a position in the file buffer vi Regular Expressions Regular expressions are u2. Not used Not used Not used The first non whitespace character on the current line 3 14 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Command Summary Command Description The first non whitespace character on the current line mark The position line and column previously marked with mark a single lowercase letter mae If mark is move to the position that was current just before the last absolute movement command a Enter insert mode after the current character nb Back to the beginning of the nth previous word c Change the region of text delimited by the movement operand If the end of the text region is within the current line vi marks it with a mark dollar sign enters replace mode until the cursor reaches the mark and then enters insert mode for additional typing Otherwise vi deletes text from the current position through the end of the region and enters insert mode d Delete the region of text Equivalent to using c and immediately pressing Esc to leave insert mode ne Forward to the end of the nth following word fchar Next instance of char on current line g Not used nh Left n characters 1 by default Within current line only i Enter insert mode before the current character nj Down n lines 1 by default in the same column if possible nk Up n lines 1 by default in the same column if possib
3. ignorecase If set search commands ignore case list If set tabs in the file are made visible on the screen as I magic If not set set nomagic special characters described on page need not be quoted with a backslash tabstop Width in spaces of a tab stop used also for shifting text wrapscan If set searches wrap around from one end of the file to the other Vi Editor User s Guide 3 11 Editor Initialization Editor Initialization When vi starts up it looks for the variable VIINIT in the user s shell environment If VIINIT is not set vi looks for a file called virc in the user s home directory What it looks for is a list of colon commands delimited by newlines which it executes After executing commands found in VIINIT or HOME virc then vi looks for a vire file in the current working directory Because the commands in a local virc take effect after those described above the local file may be used to set parameters for editing a special set of files grouped in one directory If vi is started with the t option it uses a tag file created by ctags or some other method to start and load the file containing a requested tag If a positioning command see page 3 is given before any tag or file names vi starts at the specified position rather than at the beginning of the file Command Summary The following table lists all of the vi commands as described above in ASCII order
4. The matching parenthesis bracket or brace mark Single quote The beginning of the line previously marked with mark a single lowercase letter If mark is move to the beginning of the line that was current just before the last absolute movement command such as G or itself 3 4 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Secondary Movement Commands Command mark Description Back quote The position line and column previously marked with mark a single lowercase letter If mark is back quote move to the position that was current just before the last absolute movement command The first non whitespace character on the nth line below The first non whitespace character on the nth line above Search forward Prompts on the last line of the screen for a search pattern default last pattern searched for Search backward Prompts on the last line of the screen for a search pattern default last pattern searched for n Search forward for last pattern searched for N Search backward for last pattern searched for fchar Next instance of char on current line tchar Character preceding next instance of char on current line Fchar Previous instance of char on current line Tchar Character following previous instance of char on current line r Repeat last t or f command r Repeat last T or F command nH
5. s Guide 3 17
6. Unused characters are noted Table 3 13 Command Mode Command Summary Command Description A Not used B Move a full window backward AC Abort a search in progress or a colon command being entered D Move half a window forward E Move the window down one line The cursor moves only if the current line scrolls off the screen F Move a full window forward G Display information about the current position and file buffer n H Left n characters 1 by default Within current line only aT Forward to the next tab stop n gJ Down n lines 1 by default in the same column if possible n K Up n lines 1 by default in the same column if possible n L Right n characters 1 by default n M First non whitespace character on the nth line below default carriage return n N Down n lines 1 by default in the same column if possible SO Not used AP Not used Ag Not used XON character for flow control aR Redraw the screen aS Not used XOFF character for flow control AT Not used sU Move half a window backward 3 12 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Command Summary Command V Description Not used W Not used SK Not used RY Move the window up one line The cursor moves only if the current line scrolls off the screen Z Put the current editing session in the background and return to the invoking sh
7. current line same as c D Delete remainder of the current line same as d nk Forward to the end of the nth following big word EF char Previous instance of char on current line nG The nth line of the file default last line nH Beginning of nth line from top of text default 1 home I Move to the first non whitespace character of the current line and enter insert mode J Join the next line with the current line K Not used nL Beginning of line nth row from bottom of text default 1 M Not used N Search backward for last pattern searched for 0 Add a blank line above the current line move to the new line and enter insert mode nP Insert text from the unnamed buffer n times before the current position Insert before the current line if the buffer contains lines of text Q Not used R Enter replace mode a variant of insert mode Typing overwrites characters on the current line As soon as the current line is completely overwritten enter insert mode S Change the current line same as cc Tchar Character following previous instance of char on current line U Multi level undoing through the 9 most recent changes By contrast repeating u has no net effect on the file Vv Not used nW Forward to the beginning of the nth following big word nX Delete n characters to the left of current character Y Copy remainder of the current line into the unnamed buffer same as y ZZ Save the current file and leave vi
8. end of the text region is within the current line vi marks it with a mark dollar sign enters replace mode until the cursor reaches the mark and then enters insert mode for additional typing Otherwise vi deletes text from the current position through the end of the region and enters insert mode d Delete the region of text Equivalent to using c and immediately pressing Esc to leave insert mode Y Copy text unchanged from the region to the unnamed buffer lt Shift each line of the region left one tab stop gt Shift each line of the region right one tab stop i Filter the region through a LynxOS utility or other program Prompts for a command Standard output of the command replaces the text in the region 3 6 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Text Changing Commands Text Changing Commands Without Operands Other text changing commands do not require operands because they operate on predefined regions of text such as individual characters or lines and enter insert mode in various ways A repeat count n may be given with many of these commands default 1 Table 3 6 To Change a Predefined Text Object Command Description i Enter insert mode before the current character T Move to the first non whitespace character of the current line and enter insert mode Enter insert mode after the current character Move to the last character of the current line and enter inser
9. selects just that one line If range consists of two line specifiers separated by a comma it selects all lines from the first to the second inclusive regardless of the order in which the two line specifiers are entered If no range is given the default may be the current line or the entire file depending on the command The range specifier is an abbreviation for 1 selecting the entire file Vi Editor User s Guide 3 9 Colon Commands Colon Commands That Specify Files The colon commands described in the following table determine the file to be edited Table 3 10 Command Colon Commands That Determine the File Being Edited Description edit file Start editing another file If file is not given the default is to reload the version of the current file found on disk the last saved version or the original if it has not been saved If file is then vi switches to the alternate file which is either the most recent file edited in this vi session or the file most recently named in a colon command even if that command failed If the current file has not been saved vi does not switch files unless the autowrite flag is set It may be forced to switch by typing edit file but all changes to the current file are then lost next Edit the next file in the parameter list that was given when vi was invoked If the current file has not been saved vi does not switch files unless the autowrite flag is set It may be force
10. Beginning of nth line from top of text default 1 home nL Beginning of line nth row from bottom of text default 1 n M First non whitespace character on the nth line below default carriage return All the position movement commands can be used as operands to various change delete and substitute commands described farther on Secondary Movement Commands Use secondary movement commands to move quickly through the file or to reposition the window in the file Secondary movement commands cannot be used as operands to commands that change text Table 3 4 Secondary Movement Commands Command B Description Move a full window backward D Move half a window forward E Move the window down one line The cursor moves only if the current line scrolls off the screen io Move a full window forward U Move half a window backward AY Move the window up one line The cursor moves only if the current line scrolls off the screen Vi Editor User s Guide 3 5 Text Changing Commands Command Description Zs Scroll the current line to the middle of the window z Scroll the current line to the bottom of the window z Return Scroll the current line to the top of the window Text Changing Commands There are two kinds of commands that change text those that are used with arguments and operands movement commands and those that are used alone
11. CHAPTER amp Vi Editor User s Guide This chapter contains a user s guide to the vi editor adapted from the LynxOS documentation set for LightStream 2020 users It is organized as follows Introduction Editing Basics Terminology vi Regular Expressions Position Movement Commands Secondary Movement Commands Text Changing Commands Colon Commands Miscellaneous Commands Editor Initialization Command Summary Notes on LynxOS vi Introduction The vi program is a full screen text editor for creating and modifying files Although it was designed for use as a software development tool vi is suitable for a wide variety of editing tasks The vi program determines the type of terminal on which it is being run by examining the TERM environment variable and the etc termcap file or the TERMCAP environment variable Any terminal defined in the etc termcap file can be used as long as it supports at least cursor positioning and screen erase On a LightStream 2020 node TERM is set to vt100 in the profile command file at login time To change the value type TERM value at the bash prompt For example to set it to xterm enter the following commands LSnode 1 TERM xterm LSnode 1 tset LSnode 1 See the LightStream 2020 Installation Guide for instructions for changing the default terminal type that takes effect upon logging in Vi Editor User s Guide 3 1 Editing Basics Editing Basi
12. The effect of any command that changes text can be repeated with the command or undone with the u or U command Consequently the sequence of entering insert mode adding text and returning to command mode can be repeated several times or undone if the added text is unsatisfactory Several of the text changing commands put a copy of the changed text into the unnamed buffer These commands are c d s x and X Use p or P to retrieve the changed text Text Changing Commands With Operands The most important of the text changing commands in vi operate on a variable region of text determined by an argument or operand of the command For example with a single command one may change the next three words or delete lines up to the first instance of some pattern or horizontally shift lines between the current position and some marked line Each of the commands that take operators or arguments is normally followed by one of the primary movement commands The current cursor position defines one end of the region to be changed and the movement command defines the other end Alternatively if a command is doubled it affects the entire current line for example dd deletes the current line If a repeat count n is included it can be typed before the change command or before the movement command Table 3 5 To Change a Region Delimited by a Movement Command Command Description Change the region of text delimited by the movement operand If the
13. any regular expression see page If the replacement string rep contains the character amp the current instance of pat is substituted for it If the replacement string rep contains the sequence n where n is a single digit from 1 to 9 that sequence is replaced by the nth portion of pat that is bracketed by and Examples Change every instance of cat to dog s cat dog g Remove all leading and training spaces in a file Jos 4 1 Note that the pattern grouped in and explicitly specifies that the pattern end with a non space This is because vi always matches the longest patterns and sub patterns Parenthesize the first string of capital letters on the current line 8 A Z amp range W file range W file range W gt gt file Write the lines in range to file If range is omitted write the entire file in the absence of file use the current file name Use w to overwrite an existing file Use w gt gt to append to the end of an existing file The range parameter of the above commands consists of one or two of the following line specifiers Table 3 9 Specifier Line Specifier Strings Used to Specify Range of Colon Commands Definition The current line The last line of the file n Line number n of the file a decimal integer mark Line previously marked by the 1 character mark with the m command If range consists of only one line specifier it
14. be set See the ta command on page ZZ Save the current file and leave vi See also xit on page os Abort a search in progress or a colon command being entered Z Colon Commands Put the current editing session in the background and return to the invoking shell To resume editing use the appropriate shell command to bring vi back into the foreground The command accesses a family of commands which cannot easily be expressed by one or two keystrokes When is typed vi prompts for a colon command Colon commands may be abbreviated one need type only enough characters to distinguish the intended command from other colon commands then press Return or Esc to terminate the command Several colon commands can be put on a single line separated by characters in the manner of a shell pipeline 3 8 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Colon Commands Colon Commands with a Range of Lines The following colon commands operate on a range of lines within a file Table 3 8 Command Colon Commands Description range s patlrepl g The s command substitutes the replacement text rep in place of the pattern text pat on each line included in the range If range is omitted the default is the current line If the optional g is included at the end of the command each occurrence of pat is replaced otherwise only the first instance on each line is affected The pattern pat may be
15. cs If vi is started with no arguments it creates a new empty file which can be given a name and written to disk at any time It may be started with the name of a new or existing file on the command line See Editor Initialization on page 10 for more details The editor marks lines on the screen which are not part of the file with a single tilde The editor always forces at least one line to exist The editor is always in command mode or insert mode with some variants of insert mode Command mode is the initial state of the editor and is the mode from which nearly all editing commands are issued Insert mode is used to add or modify text Several commands switch the editor from command mode to insert mode with side effects described below Getting Started Because of the way vi is designed one must know a large number of commands before editing becomes really convenient However a few simple commands are enough for rudimentary file operations and are certainly enough for a careful typist to create new documents The first thing to learn is how to get to insert mode since this is the normal way to add text to a file The editor starts in command mode and the entire keyboard is hot any key pressed results in immediate action of some kind The i key puts the editor in insert mode Unfortunately there is no indication of this change visual or otherwise In insert mode all printable characters that are typed are inserted into
16. d to switch by typing next but all changes to the current file are then lost quit Exit vi If the current file has not been saved vi does not terminate unless the autowrite flag is set It may be forced to exit by typing quit but all changes to the current file are then lost read file Read the contents of file into the file buffer after the current line rewind Change to the first parameter in the parameter list given when vi was invoked The other parameters in the list can then be reexamined with the next command If the current file has not been saved vi does not switch files unless the autowrite flag is set It may be forced to switch by typing rewind but all changes to the current file are then lost ta tag Look up the string tag in a file named tags in the current working directory Lines in this file are of the following form tag filename pattern When it finds tag vi changes to the file filename if it is different from the current file and moves to the first instance of pattern in that file The tags file is usually constructed automatically by the ctags program if the files contain C source code or by some other program for other types of files If the current file has not been saved vi does not switch files unless the autowrite flag is set It may be forced to switch by typing ta tag but all changes to the current file are then lost xit Exit vi after saving the current file buffer Se
17. e also ZZ on page 3 10 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Colon Commands Commands That Tailor the Editing Environment Several colon commands can be used to create keyboard shortcuts The set command can be used to manipulate the vi editor parameters described in the table on page 10 These commands are as follows Table 3 11 Command Commands That Tailor the Editing Environment Description map key string map key string Assign user definable strings to particular characters If key is typed in command mode vi behaves as if string had been typed instead but see below for map If key is typed in insert mode vi behaves as if string had been typed instead The same key can be used twice once for insert mode and once for command mode unmap key unmap key Remove any mapping established for key in command mode Remove any mapping established for key in insert mode set flag set noflag set var value Set flag to TRUE Set flag to FALSE Set var to the numeric value value The following vi editor parameters may be manipulated by set commands Table 3 12 Parameter Editor Parameters That May be Set With the set Command Description autoindent If set when text is added vi indents each new line by the same amount as the previous line autowrite If set vi writes the file to disk automatically when it switches between files or when it is stopped with Z
18. ell To resume editing use the appropriate shell command to bring vi back into the foreground Not used in command mode exits insert mode Not used Interpret characters from the current position to the end of the word as a tag name and go to that tag position If this requires editing a new file the current file must first be saved or the autowrite flag must be set See the ta command below under Colon Commands AA Toggle between the current file buffer and the last file buffer edited Not used n space Right n characters 1 by default Filter the region through a LynxOS utility or other program Prompts for a command Standard output of the command replaces the text in the region letter Use the buffer named letter for the following command P or p inserts from letter instead of from the unnamed buffer and commands that write into the unnamed buffer write into letter as well Not used v ae The end of the current line oe The matching parenthesis bracket or brace Repeat last search replace command see Colon Commands mark Single quote The beginning of the line previously marked with mark a single lowercase letter If mark is single quote move to the beginning of the line that was current just before the last absolute movement command such as G or itself Not used Not used Not used The first n
19. lashes Position Movement Commands There are two kinds of movement commands Position movement commands move the current position in the file based on file contents These commands are shown in the following table Note that uppercase and lowercase letters are distinct There are commands for nearly every editing situation but only a few are needed by beginners for simple editing With most position movement commands optionally type an integer n before the command with no space to repeat the movement n times The default is 1 Table 3 3 Position Movement Commands Command Description nh or nH Left n characters 1 by default Within current line only nj or nJ Down n lines 1 by default in the same column if possible or nN nk or n K Up n lines 1 by default in the same column if possible nl or n L Right n characters 1 by default or nspace AY Forward to the next tab stop nw Forward to the beginning of the nth following word nw Forward to the beginning of the nth following big word nb Back to the beginning of the nth previous word nB Back to the beginning of the nth previous big word ne Forward to the end of the nth following word nE Forward to the end of the nth following big word nG The nth line of the file default last line 0 The first character of the current line a Ore The first non whitespace character on the current line The end of the current line
20. last text changing command Change case uppercase or lowercase of the current character if it is alphabetic and move right one character Vi Editor User s Guide 3 7 Miscellaneous Commands Miscellaneous Commands The following commands are useful and important but defy ready categorization Table 3 7 Miscellaneous Commands Command mmark Description Mark the current line with mark a single lowercase letter for future reference by movement and change commands SR Redraw the screen G Display information about the current position and file buffer Toggle between the current file buffer and the last file buffer edited letter Use the buffer named letter for the following command P or p inserts from letter instead of from the unnamed buffer and commands that write into the unnamed buffer write into letter as well letter Perform commands found in the buffer named letter as if they were typed on the keyboard To put commands into a buffer create a new line in the main file and then delete it into the buffer The command repeats the effects of an invocation of buffered commands the u and U commands repeat the effects of individual commands in the buffer Interpret characters from the current position to the end of the word as a tag name and go to that tag position If this requires editing a new file the current file must first be saved or the autowrite flag must
21. le nl Right n characters 1 by default mmark Mark the current line with mark a single lowercase letter for future reference by movement and change commands n Search forward for last pattern searched for o Add a blank line below the current line move to the new line and enter insert mode np Insert text from the unnamed buffer n times after the current position Insert after the current line if the buffer contains lines of text q Not used rchar Replace the current character with char s Change the current character same as c1 tchar Character preceding next instance of char on current line u Undo the effects of the last text changing command v Not used nw Forward to the beginning of the nth following word nx Delete n characters to the right starting with current character y Copy text unchanged from the region to the unnamed buffer zreturn Scroll the current line to the top of the window Scroll the current line to the bottom of the window Scroll the current line to the middle of the window Not used Not used Not used Vi Editor User s Guide 3 15 Notes on LynxOS vi Command Description Change case uppercase or lowercase of the current character if it is alphabetic and move right one character Notes on LynxOS vi The following list summarizes the salient differences between the version of vi running under LynxOS and other popular versions of the vi editor Ma
22. ny of the differences are enhancements Differences that reflect bugs found in other versions are not listed here U undoes the last text change for up to 9 changes In other versions U undoes all changes made to the current line since it became the current line After an undo command that causes a change in file position LynxOS vi remembers the previous position so that returns The unnamed buffer is not deleted after the edit colon command so that text can be more easily transferred from one file to another the p and P commands accept a repeat count Backspace can be used to delete whitespace inserted automatically in autoindent mode Other vi versions only recognize D for this purpose The and regular expression operators are supported The Y command is defined as y to be consistent with the C and D commands Other versions of vi treat Y as if it were yy There is no open mode a terminal must support cursor movement to be used with LynxOS vi All shift commands can be repeated with the command The n command always searches forward and the N command always searches backward In other versions of vi the n command searches in the most recent search direction and N searches in the opposite of the most recent direction LynxOS vi reads startup commands from the VIINIT environment variable instead of the EXINIT variable 3 16 LightStream 2020 NP O S Reference Manual Notes on LynxOS vi Vi Editor User
23. on whitespace character on the nth line below Single quote Repeat last T or F command The first non whitespace character on the nth line above Repeat the effect of the last text changing command Search forward Prompts on the last line of the screen for a search pattern default last pattern searched for The first character of the current line Not used except to specify repeat counts to other commands Used to introduce a colon command Repeat last t or f command Shift each line of the region left one tab stop Vi Editor User s Guide 3 13 Command Summary Command Description Not used gt Shift each line of the region right one tab stop Search backward Prompts on the last line of the screen for a search pattern default last pattern searched for letter Perform commands found in the buffer named letter as if they were typed on the keyboard Put commands into a buffer by creating a new line in the main file and then deleting it into the buffer Use the command to repeat the effects of an invocation of buffered commands u and U commands only repeat the effects of individual commands in the buffer A Move to the last character of the current line and enter insert mode after that character nB Back to the beginning of the nth previous big word C Change text in the
24. sually used for searching Most characters match themselves in a search request but the characters shown in the following table have special meanings Table 3 2 Regular Expressions Used in vi Expression Definition Matches any single character chars Matches any char listed in the brackets x y is a range of characters where the ASCII value of x precedes that of y chars Matches any char not listed in the brackets A Matches the beginning of a line when used as the first character in a regular expression Matches the end of a line when used as the last character in a regular expression Matches zero or more instances of the preceding item which may be a normal char or a 1 character wildcard such as or chars Matches one or more instances of the preceding item es Matches zero or one instances of the preceding item lt Matches the beginning of a word gt Matches the end of a word Vi Editor User s Guide 3 3 Position Movement Commands This feature may be turned off with the command set nomagic as described on page 10 To search for one of these special characters precede it by a backslash to prevent special interpretation When special searching characters make several matches possible in a single line vi matches the longest string possible This becomes important for search replace commands Note Parentheses and angle brackets are interpreted literally and need not be preceded with backs
25. t mode after that character Add a blank line below the current line move to the new line and enter insert mode Add a blank line above the current line move to the new line and enter insert mode Delete n characters to the right starting with current character Delete n characters to the left of current character Join the next line with the current line np Insert text from the unnamed buffer n times after the current position Insert after the current line if the buffer contains lines of text nP Insert text from the unnamed buffer n times before the current position Insert before the current line if the buffer contains lines of text Enter replace mode a variant of insert mode Typing overwrites characters on the current line As soon as the current line is completely overwritten enter insert mode rchar Replace the current character with char Change the current character same as c1 Change the text in the current line same as c Delete the remainder of the current line same as d Copy the remainder of the current line into the unnamed buffer same as y Change the current line same as cc Undo the effects of the last text changing command Multi level undoing through the 9 most recent changes By contrast repeating u has no net effect on the file Repeat last search replace command see Colon Commands Repeat the effect of the
26. the file before the current character The return key terminates a line and moves to the next line on the screen The backspace key H control H can be used to back up and fix typing errors but only within the current line Similarly W erases over the most recently typed word and U erases up to the beginning of the line The Esc key or control returns from insert mode to command mode In command mode the h key moves one character left I moves one character right k moves one line up and j moves one line down These keys form the line hjkl on the keyboard The editor sounds the bell if it is asked to move to a meaningless position such as before the beginning of a line or after the end of the file The x key deletes individual characters To delete a line type d twice in succession If something is deleted accidentally recover it by typing u Type i to re enter insert mode at any time There are two ways to terminate the editing session Type uppercase Z twice to save the current file and leave the editor Type the string q plus carriage return to abort the editing session without saving changes made to the file Terminology The following terms are used in the descriptions of commands Table 3 1 Terms Used in Command Descriptions Term Definition text Any series of ASCII characters buffer A unit of memory used to hold text file buffer The buffer that holds the file being edited white space Tabs and spaces
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search