Basic vi Commands

Basic `vi` Commands	Back to Computer Technology > Tutorials
by Marisa Luvisetto 2000-12-20

BASIC MOVEMENT/DELETE COMMANDS
Command	Item	Forward	Backward	Repeat ⁽¹⁾
move	character	$\rightarrow$	$\leftarrow$	n
delete		`x`	`X`	y
move	word start ⁽²⁾	`w`	`b`	n
	word end	`e`		n
delete	word	`dw`	`db`	y
move	line	`$`	0	n
delete		`d$`	`d0`	y
move	file	`G`	`1G`	n
delete		`dG`	`d1G`	y
move	paragraph	`}`	`{`	n
delete		`d}`	`d{`	y
Absolute/Relative Direction
Command	Item	OpCode	Action	Repeat ⁽¹⁾
go to	line	:line_no	absolute line no.	n
delete	range	:n1,n2d	absolute line range n1<n2	n
		:.,+nd	relative line range form here to n	n
go to	lines	$:.\pm n$	move +n or -n lines from here	n
delete	lines	$:.\pm n$ d	delete one line at +n or -n lines from here	n
Using Markers
Command	Item	OpCode	Action	Repeat ⁽¹⁾
go to	marker	`a ⁽³⁾	move from here to marker a	n
		`'a` ⁽⁴⁾	move from here to line marked a	n
delete	marker range	d`a ⁽³⁾	delete from here to marker a	n
		`d'a` ⁽⁴⁾	delete from here to line marked a	n
(1) - repeat character is . (dot)
(2) - use uppercase codes `W, E, B` for whole words
(3) - use backquote to select marked position
(4) - use quote to select marked line

BASIC SEARCH OPERATORS
Item	Forward	Backward	Action	Repeat Count
string	`/`	`?`	search string in file ⁽¹⁾	n
`.*`	`/`	`?`	use wild match search	n
character	`f`	`F`	search char in line ⁽²⁾	y
Repeat Search Operators
Item	Operator		Action	Repeat Count
string	`n`		same direction of previous search	n
	`N`		opposite direction of previous search	n
character	`;`		same direction of previous search	y
	`,`		opposite direction of previous search	y
Setup Search Modifiers
setup	Action
`:se nows`	inhibit circular search and stop when EOF or BOF met
`:se ic`	ignore case of searched string, always match case of searched char
(1) - search strings are regular expressions
(2) - integer repeat count is prefixed to search operator
n.b. - search operator is prefixed to search item

BASIC SUBSTITUTE COMMANDS
Command	Action	Repeat count
`r`	overstrike one single character	y
`R`	overstrike chars up to `<esc>`	y
`cc`	replace line up to `<esc>`	y
`cw`	replace word forward up to `<esc>`	y
`cb`	replace word backward up to `<esc>`	y
`s`	substitute char up to `<esc>`	y
`:s/old/new/gc`	replace all occurence of regular expression `old`
	with string `new` in current line with confirm	n
`:50,100 s/old/new/gc`	as above on line range	n
`:s`	unconditionally repeat previous string replace	n
`:sc`	repeat previous string replace with confirm	n
n.b. - use `:se noic` to force case match
n.b. - use `:se nu` to display line numbers

BASIC RESTORE/UNDO COMMANDS
Command	Action
`:e!`	reread file and erase all changes
`u`	undo last change
`U`	restore current line
`xp`	exchange characters
`"1p`	restore buffer 1 after ⁽¹⁾
`"1P`	restore buffer 1 before
`"2p`	restore buffer 1 after
`"2P`	restore buffer 1 before
(1) - buffer range is 1:9, repeat operator (`dot`) on restore buffer 1
restores delete lines in reverse order

BASIC GENERAL COMMANDS
Command	Action
`Q`	switch from `vi` to `ex`
`vi`	switch from `ex` to `vi`
`^L`	refresh screen
`:#`	print current line with line no.
`:.=`	print line no. of current line
`:=`	print line no. of last line in current file
`:se nu`	set line no.
`:se noic`	set case match
`:se all`	list all editor parameters
`:se` param`?`	list current value of parameter
`/^L`	move over `<FF>`, the `eve` section delimiter
	to insert `^F` type `<ctrl>L`