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VI Notes

 ·  ☕ 5 min read  ·  ✍️ Ben Mason

vi notes

Searching and Replacing in vi

Edit Modes

  • i – activates text insert mode, inserting text immediately under the current position of the cursor
  • R – Replace / Overwrite
  • a – append text, after the cursor
  • A – append text, after end of line
  • I – insert text, before first non-whitespace character
  • o – open new line below cursor in Insert Mode
  • O – open new line above cursor in Insert Mode

Movement

  • l – moves the cursor one character to the right
  • h – moves the cursor one character to the left (2h moves the cursor two characters to the left)
  • j – moves the cursor one line down (3j moves the cursor three lines down)
  • k – moves the cursor one line up
  • G – moves the cursor to the last line of text if not preceded by a modifying integer
  • nG – moves the cursor to the desired line (5G moves the cursor to the fifth line)
  • w – moves to next word
  • $ – end of line
  • 0 – begining of line
  • % – Navigate to matching brace or parenthis
  • >% – indent between selected braces
  • >> – indent line

Deletion

  • x – deletes the character immediately under the cursor
  • X – deletes a single character to the left of cursor
  • D – removes the text on the current line from the character under the cursor to the end of the line
  • dw – deletes the character immediately under the cursor and the remaining characters to the right of it in the same word
  • dd – deletes the entire line containing the cursor, and the cursor then moves to the next line
  • cw – deletes the character under the cursor and to its right in the same word and allows new characters to be typed in to replace them
  • cc – erases the current line and allows replacement text to be typed in
  • cb – deletes the characters to the left of the cursor in the current word and allows replacement characters to be typed in
  • /string – search
  • ? – Search backwards
  • n – Next forward results
  • N – Previous backwards result
  • :%s/pattern/replace/g – Global Search and replace

Sort

Sort lines | Vim Tips Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

  • :%sort! – Sort in reverse
  • :%sort u – Sort, removing duplicate lines
  • :%!sort -M – Sort using the external Unix sort utility, respecting month-name order (“respecting month-name order” means January < February < … < December)
  • :sort n – Numeric sort (this way, 100 doesn’t precede 20 in the sort)
  • :g/start/+1,/end/-1 sort n – Sort subsections independently, in this example sort numbers between “start” and “end” markers
  • :296,349sort Sort only specific lines using ranges (sort lines 296 to 349, inclusive)

make

Using makefiles can save time when compiling lots of source files into one program. vim can run the makefile without leaving the editing session:

:map <f9> :make – map the F9 key to run make
:set makeprg – change what :make does

:make will compile if you are using a Makefile. Use these to examine the compile errors:

:copen – open a mini-window with make output, hit enter on an error to jump to line
:cclose – closes the mini-window
:cw – toggles the mini-window (if errors exist)

syntax

:set syntax=.... – set value
:set option – set a bool option
:set nooption – disable option
can add ! to the end of a option it toggle

line numbers

:set nonumber – disable line numbers
:set number – enable line numbers

paste mode

  • do not auto endent when pasting
    :set paste
    :set nopaste

invisable characters

:set list – show invisable characters
:set nolist – disable show invisable chars

:set listchars+=space:␣ – Show white space when list enabled
:set listchars=eol:¬,tab:>·,trail:~,extends:>,precedes:<,space:␣ – set other chars in list view

file management

  • :enew – Create new blank file
  • :q – closes (quits) a file to which no changes have been made
  • :q! – quits without saving any changes
  • :w – writes (i.e., saves) the current file to disk
  • :wq – writes the buffer contents to disk (i.e., saves changes) and quits
  • :r – inserts text into the currently open file from another file (:r lettuce.txt inserts text into the currently open file from the file named “lettuce.txt”)
  • :w>> – appends the text from the currently open file into another file (:w>> cabbage appends the text from the currently open file into the file named “cabbage”)
  • ZZ – same as :wq

others

vi Complete Key Binding List
vim tips and tricks: indenting
Summary of Commands in vi

  • ctl-w w – switch between split pains
  • ctl-n – complete text
  • . – repeat last command
    • xp – transposes two adjacent characters
  • deep – transposes two adjacent words
  • ddp transposes two adjacent lines
  • ~ – changes case of the character under the cursor
  • J – joins the current line with the next line
  • u – undo reverses the effects of the most recent command that has changed the buffer
  • U – undoes all changes made to the current line during the current visit to it
  • ggVGu change whole file to lower case
    • gg – goes to first line of text
    • V – turns on Visual selection, in line mode
    • G – goes to end of file (at the moment you have whole text selected)
    • u – lowercase selected area

Plugins

DrawIt

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Ben Mason
WRITTEN BY
Ben Mason
Computer Security – Reverse Engineering – Malware – Electronics Hobbyist – Sometimes Photographer – Spaceflight – Cat Enthusiast

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