Greg Hinkel's UNIX Tip of the Week for June 9, 1996

Using vi more efficiently

Here's a few ideas that may help you navigate in "vi" more quickly.

In Command Mode

     	Movement
     	Commands	Action
     	----------------------
	  w		move ahead one word (or group of punctuation marks)
	  W		move ahead one word, skipping punctuation
	  b		move back one word (or group of punctuation marks)
	  B  		move back one word, skipping punctuation
	  e		move ahead to the end of the word (or punct. marks)
	  E   		move ahead to the end of the word, skipping punctuation

	  )     	move to next sentence
	  (  		move to previous sentence
	  }		move to next paragraph
	  {		move to previous paragraph

	  G		move to last line in file.  Preceed "G" with a number
			and move to that line number.  10G moves to line number
			10.
	  ^f		(Control-f) scroll forward one screen
	  ^b		(Control-b) scroll backward one screen
	  ^d		(Control-d) scroll forward one-half screen
	  ^u		(Control-u) scroll backward one-half screen

	  Note:  All of these commands can be preceeded by a count, i.e.,
		  4w moves ahead 4 words
		  2{ moves ahead 2 paragraphs
		  8^f jumps ahead 8 screens of text


        Search
        Commands	Action
        ----------------------
	  /pattern	Search forward for pattern
	  ?pattern	Search backward for pattern
	  n		Repeat last search in same direction
	  N		Repeat last search in opposite direction


	Insert
	Command		Action
	----------------------
	  i		insert text before cursor
	  a 		append text after cursor
	  o		open a new line below the current line
	  I		Insert text at beginning of line
	  A		Append text at end of line
	  O		Open a line above the current line

	Note:  Press the escape key (Esc) to get out of "insert mode"


	Delete
	Command		Action
	----------------------
	  x		delete character under cursor
	  dw		delete from current cursor position to end of word
	  D		delete from current cursor position to end of line
	  dd		delete the current line

	Note:  All of these commands can be preceeded by a count, i.e.,
		4x deletes 4 characters from the current cursor position
		14dw deltes 14 words from the current position
		36dd deletes 36 lines from the current position

	Change or
	Replace		Action
	----------------------
	  r		replace character under cursor (no Esc)
	  cw		replace current word beginning at current position.
			6cw changes the next 6 words.
	  s		replace current character with any number of characters
	  R		replace many characters beginning at current position
	  S		replace the entire line
	  C		replace from current position to end of line
	  
	Note:  Press the escape key (Esc) to get out of "insert mode" for all
	       of these except for the "r" command.


	Next tip will be some "advanced" vi commands.

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Greg Hinkel / (hinkelgc AT ornl.gov)
Last Modified: Friday, 02-Sep-2005 12:53:23 EDT
Visitors: 5377 since March 18, 1996