Advanced Vi Cheat Sheet
Click here for the Basic VI Cheatsheet
General Notes:
1. Before doing anything to a document, type the following command followed by a carriage return: :set showmode
2. VI is CaSe SEnsItiVe!!! So make sure Caps Lock is OFF.
Starting and Ending VI
| Starting VI |
| vi filename | Edits filename |
| vi -r filename | Edits last save version of filename after a crash |
| vi + n filename | Edits filename and places curser at line n |
| vi + filename | Edits filename and places curser on last line |
| vi +/string filename | Edits filename and places curser on first occurance of string | |
| vi filename file2 ... | Edits filename, then edits file2 ... After the save, use :n |
| | |
| Ending VI |
| ZZ or :wq or :x | Saves and exits VI |
| :w | Saves current file but doesn't exit |
| :w! | Saves current file overriding normal checks but doesn't exit |
| :w file | Saves current as file but doesn't exit |
| :w! file | Saves to file overriding normal checks but doesn't exit |
| :n,mw file | Saves lines n through m to file |
| :n,mw >>file | Saves lines n through m to the end of file |
| :q | Quits VI and may prompt if you need to save |
| :q! | Quits VI and without saving |
| :e! | Edits file discarding any unsaved changes (starts over) |
| :we! | Saves and continues to edit current file |
Status
| :.= | Shows current line number |
| := | Shows number of lines in file |
| Control-G | Shows filename, current line number, total lines in file, and % of file location |
| l | Displays tab (^l) backslash (\) backspace (^H) newline ($) bell (^G) formfeed (^L^) of current line |
Modes
| Vi has two modes insertion mode and command mode. The editor begins in command mode, where the cursor movement and text deletion and pasting occur. Insertion mode begins upon entering an insertion or change command. [ESC] returns the editor to command mode (where you can quit, for example by typing :q!). Most commands execute as soon as you type them except for "colon" commands which execute when you press the ruturn key. |
Inserting Text
| i | Insert before cursor |
| I | Insert before line |
| a | Append after cursor |
| A | Append after line |
| o | Open a new line after current line |
| O | Open a new line before current line |
| r | Replace one character |
| R | Replace many characters |
| CTRL-v char | While inserting, ignores special meaning of char (e.g., for inserting characters like ESC and CTRL) until ESC is used |
| :r file | Reads file and inserts it after current line |
| :nr file | Reads file and inserts it after line n |
| CTRL-i or TAB | While inserting, inserts one shift width |
Things to do while in Insert Mode:
| CTRL-h or Backspace | While inserting, deletes previous character |
| CTRL-w | While inserting, deletes previous word |
| CTRL-x | While inserting, deletes to start of inserted text |
| CTRL-v | Take the next character literally. (i.e. To insert a Control-H, type Control-v Control-h) |
Motion
| h | Move left |
| j | Move down |
| k | Move up |
| l | Move right |
| Arrow Keys | These do work, but they may be too slow on big files. Also may have unpredictable results when arrow keys are not mapped correctly in client. |
| w | Move to next word |
| W | Move to next blank delimited word |
| b | Move to the beginning of the word |
| B | Move to the beginning of blank delimted word |
| ^ | Moves to the first non-blank character in the current line |
| + or | Moves to the first character in the next line |
| - | Moves to the first non-blank character in the previous line |
| e | Move to the end of the word |
| E | Move to the end of Blank delimited word |
| ( | Move a sentence back |
| ) | Move a sentence forward |
| { | Move a paragraph back |
| } | Move a paragraph forward |
| [[ | Move a section back |
| ]] | Move a section forward |
| 0 or | | Move to the begining of the line |
| n| | Moves to the column n in the current line |
| $ | Move to the end of the line |
| 1G | Move to the first line of the file |
| G | Move to the last line of the file |
| nG | Move to nth line of the file |
| :n | Move to nth line of the file |
| fc | Move forward to c |
| Fc | Move back to c |
| H | Move to top of screen |
| nH | Moves to nth line from the top of the screen |
| M | Move to middle of screen |
| L | Move to botton of screen |
| nL | Moves to nth line from the bottom of the screen |
| Control-d | Move forward � screen |
| Control-f | Move forward one full screen |
| Control-u | Move backward � screen |
| Control-b | Move backward one full screen |
| CTRL-e | Moves screen up one line |
| CTRL-y | Moves screen down one line |
| CTRL-u | Moves screen up � page |
| CTRL-d | Moves screen down � page |
| CTRL-b | Moves screen up one page |
| CTRL-f | Moves screen down one page |
| CTRL-I | Redraws screen |
| z | z-carriage return makes the current line the top line on the page |
| nz | Makes the line n the top line on the page |
| z. | Makes the current line the middle line on the page |
| nz. | Makes the line n the middle line on the page |
| z- | Makes the current line the bottom line on the page |
| nz- | Makes the line n the bottom line on the page |
| % | Move to associated ( ), { }, [ ] |
Deleting Text
| Almost all deletion commands are performed by typing d followed by a motion. For example, dw deletes a word. A few other deletes are: |
| x | Delete character to the right of cursor |
| nx | Deletes n characters starting with current; omitting n deletes current character only |
| X | Delete character to the left of cursor |
| nX | Deletes previous n characters; omitting n deletes previous character only |
| D | Delete to the end of the line |
| d$ | Deletes from the cursor to the end of the line |
| dd or :d | Delete current line |
| ndw | Deletes the next n words starting with current |
| ndb | Deletes the previous n words starting with current |
| ndd | Deletes n lines beginning with the current line |
| :n,md | Deletes lines n through m |
| dMotion_cmd | Deletes everything included in the Motion Command (e.g., dG would delete from current position to the end of the file, and d4 would delete to the end of the fourth sentence). |
| "np | Retrieves the last nth delete (last 9 deletes are kept in a buffer) |
| "1pu.u. | Scrolls through the delete buffer until the desired delete is retrieved (repeat u.) |
Yanking Text
| Like deletion, almost all yank commands are performed by typing y followed by a motion. For example, y$ yanks to the end of the line. Two other yank commands are: |
| yy | Yank the current line |
| :y | Yank the current line |
| nyy or nY | Places n lines in the buffer-copies |
| yMotion_cmd | Copies everything from the curser to the Motion Command (e.g., yG would copy from current position to the end of the file, and y4 would copy to the end of the fourth sentence) |
| "(a-z)nyy or "(a-z)ndd | Copies or cuts (deletes) n lines into a named buffer a through z; omitting n works on current line |
| |
Changing text
| The change command is a deletion command that leaves the editor in insert mode. It is performed by typing c followed by a motion. For example cw changes a word. A few other change commands are: |
| C | Change to the end of the line |
| cc or S | Change the whole line until ESC is pressed |
| xp | Switches character at cursor with following character |
| stext | Substitutes text for the current character until ESC is used |
| cwtext | Changes current word to text until ESC is used |
| Ctext | Changes rest of the current line to text until ESC is used |
| cMotion_cmd | Changes to text from current position to Motion Command until ESC is used |
| << or >> | Shifts the line left or right (respectively) by one shift width (a tab) |
| n<< or n>> | Shifts n lines left or right (respectively) by one shift width (a tab) |
| <Motion_cmd or >Motion_cmd | Use with Motion Command to shift multiple lines left or right |
Putting text
| p | Put after the position or after the line |
| P | Put before the poition or before the line |
| "(a-z)p or "(a-z)P | Pastes text from a named buffer a through z after or before the current line |
Buffers
| Named buffers may be specified before any deletion, change, yank or put command. The general prefix has the form "c where c is any lowercase character. for example, "adw deletes a word into buffer a. It may thereafter be put back into text with an appropriate "ap. |
Markers
| Named markers may be set on any line in a file. Any lower case letter may be a marker name. Markers may also be used as limits for ranges. |
| mc | Set marker c on this line |
| `c | Go to beginning of marker c line. |
| 'c | Go to first non-blank character of marker c line. |
Search for strings
| /string | Search forward for string |
| ?string | Search back for string |
| n | Search for next instance of string |
| N | Search for previous instance of string |
| % | Searches to beginning of balancing ( ) [ ] or { } |
| fc | Searches forward in current line to char |
| Fc | Searches backward in current line to char |
| tc | Searches forward in current line to character before char |
| Tchar | Searches backward in current line to character before char |
| ?str | Finds in reverse for str |
| :set ic | Ignores case when searching |
| :set noic | Pays attention to case when searching |
| :n,ms/str1/str2/opt | Searches from n to m for str1; replaces str1 to str2; using opt-opt can be g for global change, c to confirm change (y to acknowledge, to suppress), and p to print changed lines |
| & | Repeats last :s command |
| :g/str/cmd | Runs cmd on all lines that contain str |
| :g/str1/s/str2/str3/ | Finds the line containing str1, replaces str2 with str3 |
| :v/str/cmd | Executes cmd on all lines that do not match str |
| , | Repeats, in reverse direction, last / or ? search command |
Replace
| The search and replace function is accomplished with the :s command. It is commonly used in combination with ranges or the :g command (below). |
| :s/pattern/string/flags | Replace pattern with string according to flags. |
| g | Flag - Replace all occurences of pattern |
| c | Flag - Confirm replaces. |
| & | Repeat last :s command |
Regular Expressions
| . (dot) | Any single character except newline |
| * | zero or more occurances of any character |
| [...] | Any single character specified in the set |
| [^...] | Any single character not specified in the set |
| \< | Matches beginning of word |
| \> | Matches end of word |
| ^ | Anchor - beginning of the line |
| $ | Anchor - end of line |
| \< | Anchor - begining of word |
| \> | Anchor - end of word |
| \(...\) | Grouping - usually used to group conditions |
| \n | Contents of nth grouping |
| \ | Escapes the meaning of the next character (e.g., \$ allows you to search for $) |
| \\ | Escapes the \ character |
[...] - Set Examples
| [A-Z] | The SET from Capital A to Capital Z |
| [a-z] | The SET from lowercase a to lowercase z |
| [0-9] | The SET from 0 to 9 (All numerals) |
| [./=+] | The SET containing . (dot), / (slash), =, and + |
| [-A-F] | The SET from Capital A to Capital F and the dash (dashes must be specified first) |
| [0-9 A-Z] | The SET containing all capital letters and digits and a space |
| [A-Z][a-zA-Z] | In the first position, the SET from Capital A to Capital Z
In the second character position, the SET containing all letters |
| [a-z]{m} | Look for m occurances of the SET from lowercase a to lowercase z |
| [a-z]{m,n} | Look for at least m occurances, but no more than n occurances of the SET from lowercase a to lowercase z |
Regular Expression Examples
| /Hello/ | Matches if the line contains the value Hello |
| /^TEST$/ | Matches if the line contains TEST by itself |
| /^[a-zA-Z]/ | Matches if the line starts with any letter |
| /^[a-z].*/ | Matches if the first character of the line is a-z and there is at least one more of any character following it |
| /2134$/ | Matches if line ends with 2134 |
| /\(21|35\)/ | Matches is the line contains 21 or 35
Note the use of ( ) with the pipe symbol to specify the 'or' condition |
| /[0-9]*/ | Matches if there are zero or more numbers in the line |
| /^[^#]/ | Matches if the first character is not a # in the line |
Notes:
1. Regular expressions are case sensitive
2. Regular expressions are to be used where pattern is specified |
Counts
| Nearly every command may be preceded by a number that specifies how many times it is to be performed. For example, 5dw will delete 5 words and 3fe will move the cursor forward to the 3rd occurence of the letter e. Even insertions may be repeated conveniently with this method, say to insert the same line 100 times. |
Ranges
| Ranges may precede most "colon" commands and cause them to be executed on a line or lines. For example :3,7d would delete lines 3-7. Ranges are commonly combined with the :s command to perform a replacement on several lines, as with :.,$s/pattern/string/g to make a replacement from the current line to the end of the file. |
| :n,m | Range - Lines n-m |
| :. | Range - Current line |
| :$ | Range - Last line |
| :'c | Range - Marker c |
| :% | Range - All lines in file |
| :g/pattern/ | Range - All lines that contain pattern |
Shell Functions
| :! cmd | Executes shell command cmd; you can add these special characters to indicate:% name of current file# name of last file edited |
| !! cmd | Executes shell command cmd, places output in file starting at current line |
| :!! | Executes last shell command |
| :r! cmd | Reads and inserts output from cmd |
| :f file | Renames current file to file |
| :w !cmd | Sends currently edited file to cmd as standard input and execute cmd |
| :cd dir | Changes current working directory to dir |
| :sh | Starts a sub-shell (CTRL-d returns to editor) |
| :so file | Reads and executes commands in file (file is a shell script) |
| !Motion_cmd | Sends text from current position to Motion Command to shell command cmd |
| !}sort | Sorts from current position to end of paragraph and replaces text with sorted text |
Files
| :w file | Write to file |
| :r file | Read file in after line |
| :n | Go to next file |
| :p | Go to previous file |
| :e file | Edit file |
| !!program | Replace line with output from program |
VI Settings
--noto
Note: Options given are default. To change them, enter type :set option to turn them on or :set no
optioni to turn them off.To make them execute every time you open VI, create a file in your HOME directory called .exrc and type the options without the colon (:) preceding the option
| Set | Default | Description |
|---|
| :set ai | noai | Turns on auto indentation |
| :set all | -- | Prints all options to the screen |
| :set ap | aw | Prints line after d c J m :s t u commands |
| :set aw | noaw | Automatic write on :n ! e# ^^ :rew ^} :tag |
| :set bf | nobf | Discards control characters from input |
| :set dir=tmp | dir = /tmp | Sets tmp to directory or buffer file |
| :set eb | noed | Precedes error messages with a bell |
| :set ed | noed | Precedes error messages with a bell |
| :set ht= | ht = 8 | Sets terminal hardware tabs |
| :set ic | noic | Ignores case when searching |
| :set lisp | nolisp | Modifies brackets for Lisp compatibility. |
| :set list | nolist | Shows tabs (^l) and end of line ($) |
| :set magic | magic | Allows pattern matching with special characters |
| :set mesg | mesg | Allows others to send messages |
| :set nooption | | Turns off option |
| :set nu | nonu | Shows line numbers |
| :set opt | opt | Speeds output; eliminates automatic RETURN |
| :set para= | para = LIlPLPPPQPbpP | macro names that start paragraphs for { and } operators |
| :set prompt | prompt | Prompts for command input with : |
| :set re | nore | Simulates smart terminal on dumb terminal |
| :set remap | remap | Accept macros within macros |
| :set report | noreport | Indicates largest size of changes reported on status line |
| :set ro | noro | Changes file type to "read only" |
| :set scroll=n | scroll = 11 | set n lines for CTRL-d and z |
| :set sh=shell_path | sh = /bin/sh | set shell escape (default is /bin/sh) to shell_path |
| :set showmode | nosm | Indicates input or replace mode at bottom |
| :set slow | slow | Pospone display updates during inserts |
| :set sm | nosm | Show matching { or ( as ) or } is typed |
| :set sw=n | sw = 8 | Sets shift width to n characters |
| :set tags=x | tags = /usr/lib/tags | Path for files checked for tags (current directory included in default) |
| :set term | $TERM | Prints terminal type |
| :set terse | noterse | Shorten messages with terse |
| :set timeout | | Eliminates one-second time limit for macros |
| :set tl=n | tl = 0 | Sets significance of tags beyond n characters (0 means all) |
| :set ts=n | ts = 8 | Sets tab stops to n for text input |
| :set wa | nowa | Inhibits normal checks before write commands |
| :set warn | warn | | Warns "no write since last change" |
| :set window=n | window = n | Sets number of lines in a text window to n |
| :set wm=n | wm = 0 | Sets automatic wraparound n spaces from right margin. |
| :set ws | ws | Sets automatic wraparound n spaces from right margin. |
Key Mapping
NOTE: Map allows you to define strings of VI commands. If you create a file called ".exrc" in your home directory, any map or set command you place inside this file will be executed every time you run VI. To imbed control characters like ESC in the macro, you need to precede them with CTRL-v. If you need to include quotes ("), precede them with a \ (backslash). Unused keys in vi are: K V g q v * = and the function keys.
Example (The actual VI commands are in blue): :map v /I CTRL-v ESC dwiYou CTRL-v ESC ESC
Description: When v is pressed, search for "I" (/I ESC), delete word (dw), and insert "You" (iYou ESC). CTRL-v allows ESC to be inserted
| :map key cmd_seq | Defines key to run cmd_seq when pressed |
| :map | Displays all created macros on status line |
| :unmap key | Removes macro definition for key |
| :ab str string | When str is input, replaces it with string |
| :ab | Displays all abbreviations |
| :una str | Unabbreviates str |
Other
| ~ | Toggle upper and lower case |
| J | Join lines |
| nJ | Joins the next n lines together; omitting n joins the beginning of the next line to the end of the current line |
| . | Repeat last text-changing command |
| u | Undo last change (Note: u in combination with . can allow multiple levels of undo in some versions) |
| U | Undo all changes to line |
| ; | Repeats last f F t or T search command |
| :N or :E | You can open up a new split-screen window in (n)vi and then use ^w to switch between the two.
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