Solaris Tips and Tricks : Introducing VI

Introducing VI
Vi Commands Used To Edit Files Positioning The Cursor
Appending Commands
Deleting Text
Changing Text
Insert Mode

Copying and Pasting Text
Saving Changes and Quiting
Displaying and Hiding Line#
Searching and Replacing
Refreshing The Screen And Including Files

Command	Meaning
vi File Name	Open or Create File
vi	Open New File To Be Named
vi -r File Name	Recover Crashed File
view File Name	Open File Read-Only
vipw	Edit the /etc/passwd file, setting locks and doing appropriate processing.
There are three modes of operation:	Command Mode Insert Mode Last Line Mode

Command	Meaning
h	Move left one character
j	Move down one line
k	Move up one line
l	Move right one character
w	Move right one word
W	Move right one word (Past Punctuation)
b	Move left one word
B	Move left one word (Past Punctuation)
e	Move to end of current word
Return	Move down one line
Backspace	Move left one character
H	Move to top of screen
M	Move to middle of screen
L	Move to bottom on screen
Control-f	Scroll forward one screen
Control-d	Scroll forward one-half screen
Control-b	Scroll backward one-half screen
G	Go to last line of file
1G	Go to first line of file
21G	Go to 21st line of file

Command	Meaning
a	Append text after cursor
A	Append text at line end
i	Insert text before cursor
I	Insert text at beginning of line
o	Insert line below cursor
O	Insert line above cursor

Command	Meaning
a	Append text after cursor
A	Append text at line end
i	Insert text before cursor
I	Insert text at beginning of line
o	Insert line below cursor
O	Insert line above cursor

Command	Meaning
CW	Change word (or part of word) to right of cursor
cc	Change line
c	Change from cursor to end of line
s	Substitute string for characters from cursor forward
r	Replace character at cursor with one other character
r Return	Break line

Command	Meaning
J	Join current line and line below
xp	Transpose character at cursor and character to the right
~	Change case of letter (upper or lower )
u or :u	Undo previous command
	Undo all changes to cuurent line

Command	Meaning
y	Yank or copy line
Y	Yank or copy line
p	Put yanked or deleted line below current
P	Same as above

The SET command is used from last-line mode to control these options, as indicated in the table.

Command	Meaning
:set nu	Show line numbers
:set nonu	Hide line numbers; setting is case sensitive
:set ic	Searches should ignore case
:set noic	Searches should be case sensitive
:set list	Display invisible characters

Command	Meaning
/string	Search for string
?string	Search backward for string
n	Find next occurrence of string in search direction
N	Find previous occurrence of string in search direction
:%s/old/new/g	Search and replace

Command	Meaning
Control-1	Clear (refresh) scrambled screen
:r file name	Insert (read) file after cursor
:34r file name	Insert file after line 34