vi Reference Sheet

Visual Display Editor(vi) Command Reference Sheet

Starting vi
Command	Meaning
vi filename	Open or create a file
vi	Open a new file to be named later
vi –r filename	Recover a crashed file
view filename	Open a file as read-only

Three Modes of operation in vi
1	Command mode: Allows positioning and editing commands to perform functions. Entered via Esc, from entry mode, or Ret from Last-line mode.
2	Entry mode: Allows you to enter text. Entered via typing; A i I o O c C s S or R from command mode.
3	Last-line mode: Initiated from command mode by entering advanced editing commands like :, /, ?, !.

Input Commands		Deleting Text
Command	Meaning	Command	Meaning
a	Append text after the cursor	x or dl	Delete character at the cursor
A	Append text at the end of the line	X or dh	Delete character to the left of the cursor
i	Insert text before the cursor	dw	Delete word (or part of word to left of cursor)
I	Insert text at the beginning of the line	#dw	Delete # of words
o	Open a new line below the cursor	dd	Delete line containing the cursor
O	Open a new line above the cursor	#dd	Delete # of lines
Positioning Commands		D or d$	Delete line to left of cursor (from cursor position to the end of the line)
Command	Meaning	dG	Delete to the end of the file
h, Left Arrow, or Back Space	Move left one character	d1G	Delete from beginning of file to cursor
j or Down Arrow	Move down one line	:#1,#2d	Delete lines #1 through #2
k or Up Arrow	Move up one line	Undoing Repeating and Changing Text
l, Right Arrow or Spacebar	Move left (forward) one character	Command	Meaning
0	Move to beginning of current line	cw	Change word (or part of word) at cursor location to the end of the word
$	Move to end of current line	#cw	Change # number of words
w	Move forward one word (including punctuation)	c#b	Change backwards # of words
W	Move forward one word (past punctuation)	cc or S	Replace entire current line
b	Move back one word (including punctuation)	C or c$	Change from cursor to end of line
B	Move back one word (past punctuation)	c0	Change from cursor to beginning of line
e	Move to end of current word	s	Substitute string for character(s)
E	Move to end of word (past punctuation)	R	Overwrite or replace characters on line
(	Move to beginning of sentence	r	Replace character at cursor with one other character
)	Move to end of sentence	i (Return)	Break line
{	Move to beginning of paragraph	J	Join current line and line below
}	Move to end of paragraph	xp	Transpose character at cursor and character to the left
]]	Move to next section/function	~	Change case of letter at cursor
[[	Move to previous section/function	u	Undo previous command (only goes back one level.)
%	Find matching ( ) or { }	U	Undo all changes to current line
-	Move up to beginning of previous line	:u	Undo previous last-line command
Return	Move down to beginning of next line	Copying and Pasting Text
H	Move to top of screen	Command	Meaning
M	Move to middle of screen	yy or Y	Yank a copy of line
L	Move to bottom of screen	p	Put yanked or deleted line below current line
G	Go to last line of file	P	Put yanked or deleted line above current line
#G	Go to # line of file	:#1,#2 co #3	Copy lines #1 through #2 and put after line #3
:#	Go to line #	:#1,#2 m #3	Move lines #1 through #2 to line #3
CTRL-f	Page forward one screen	Saving and Quitting
CTRL-d	Scroll down one-half screen	Command	Meaning
CTRL-b	Page back one screen	:w	Save changes
CTRL-u	Scroll up one-half screen	:w new_filename	Write buffer to new filename
CTRL-E	Scroll window down one line	:wq or ZZ	Save changes and quit vi
CTRL-Y	Scroll window up one line	:q!	Quit without saving changes. ('!' bang forces the system to perform action)

Setting Options		Reading Files and Commands
Command	Meaning	Command	Meaning
:set nu	Show line numbers	:r filename	Insert (read) file at line after cursor
:set nonu	Hide line numbers	: # r filename	Insert file after line #
:set ic	Searches should ignore case	:r !command	Insert output from command after current line
:set noic	Searches should be case-sensitive	:!command	Run command from subshell
:set list	Display invisible characters such as Tab and end-of-line	:sh	Create subshell. (Exit returns to vi)
:set nolist	Turn off the display of invisile characters	Searching and Replacing Text
:set showmode	Display current mode of operation	Command	Meaning
:set noshowmode	Turn off mode display	/string	Search forward for string
:set lisp	Inserts indents in appropriate lisp format	?string	Search backward for string
:set nolisp	Turn off lisp formatting	n	Find next occurrence of string
:set ai	Insert mode will indent each line equal to the line above	N	Find previous occurrence of string
:set noai	Turns off autoindent	:%s/old/new/	Search and replace first occurrence of old with new
:set all	Displays list of all available options	:%s/old/new/g	Search and replace all occurrences of old with new