Using the Vi Text Editor

This document is intended to provide you with the basic information you need Introduction
to use the vi text editor from your WAM/Glue or OIT cluster UNIX account. This
document assumes that you are using your account from some kind of terminal Note: Access to WAM labs at
window — either by dialing in from home, by using a Mac or PC in a computer the University is limited. You
lab or office at the University, or by using a terminal window generated by the must have a valid University ID
“xterm” program on a UNIX workstation. Information on how to connect to to use the labs.
the OIT host computers with a terminal program is available on-line at http:
//www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/applications/terminal.

Vi is a full-screen text editor that is almost universally available on UNIX-based Note: For more about using
computer systems. This editor is available on the UNIX systems and the WAM the OIT UNIX cluster, refer to
workstations. Vi is useful for editing program files, entering data, composing Introduction to the OIT UNIX
mail messages, and plain text editing. System. It is available on-line
at http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/
documentation/unix/cluster.shtml.
There are other text editors that can be used on UNIX systems; one of the most
You may also take the Peer
popular of these is pico. Pico is available on all of the UNIX systems maintained Training Course, Introduction to
by OIT. Another text editor available on UNIX systems is emacs. Documents
UNIX. Call 301.405.2941.
describing basic pico and emacs commands are available on-line at http:
//www.helpdesk.umd.edu/documentation.

In this document the word current, when used in reference to some unit of text, Conventions Used in
identifies the location of the cursor. For example: current character, current This Document
word, current line.
Note: UNIX is case-sensitive.
This document also uses several fonts to help clarify the meaning of the text: This means it makes a difference
whether you type commands or
fixed Literal commands you type appear in fixed format. filenames in UPPER or lower
italic Variables used with commands will appear in italic case. Thus FILE3 is different
format. from file3.
[] Optional variables will appear in square brackets.

To edit a file with vi, type any of the following commands at the UNIX system Starting Vi
prompt:

vi create a new, unnamed file

vi filename edit an existing file or create a new file named filename
vi -r filename recover an edit session that was interrupted by a
system crash (this may not recover all of the changes
you made to your file in your last editing session)
vi -R filename open the file in Read Only mode

Office of Information Technology Updated October 2004

University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
 Using the Vi Text Editor
Vi Modes Vi has two modes: input mode and command mode. While in input mode,
everything you type is inserted into your document (including command mode
commands). While in command mode, everything you type is executed as a
command to edit your document. To change from input mode to command
mode, press the Esc key. There are several ways to change from command
mode to input mode that are listed below.

Entering Input Mode All of the following commands will change your mode from command to input:

i enter input mode before the cursor

I enter input mode at the start of the current line
a enter input mode after the cursor
A enter input mode at the end of the current line
o create a new line below the cursor and enter input mode on it
O create a new line above the cursor and enter input mode on it

Moving Around Within The following commands allow you to move around the current text appearing
the Current Text on your screen. Most of the commands can be preceded by a number, which
Window will move the cursor that number of characters, words, or lines. For example,
4j would move the cursor down four lines. When a number is not specified, one
space or line is assumed.

Please Note: Be careful when using the arrow keys on your keyboard as they
often do not work properly with vi and may cause unpredictable results.

[num] h move num spaces to the left

[num] Backspace move num spaces to the left
[num] l move num spaces to the right
[num] Spacebar move num spaces to the right
[num] j move down num lines in the same column
[num] k move up num lines in the same column
[num] Return move to the beginning of the numth line down
[num] + move to the beginning of the numth line down
[num] – move to the beginning of the numth line up
[num] w move right to the beginning of the numth word
following the current word
[num] e move right to the end of the numth word counting the
current word
[num] b move left to the beginning of the numth previous word
^ or 0 move to the beginning of the current line
$ move to the end of the current line
H move to the beginning of the first line on the screen
M move to the beginning of the middle line on the screen
L move to the beginning of the last line on the screen

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Using the Vi Text Editor
These commands allow you to change the portion of your document that Moving Around the
appears on your screen and to move around the document quickly. Entire Document
Ctrl-f move forward a screen
Ctrl-b move back a screen
Ctrl-u move up half a screen
Ctrl-d move down half a screen
num G move to the specified line (use Ctrl-g to display line number)
:num move to the specified line
G move to the last line in the file
:$ move to the last line in the file

Vi has search commands to find a particular section of your document quickly. Searching for Text
/ pattern search forward through the document for the next occurrence of
the pattern (or string of text)
? pattern search backward through the document for the next occurrence
of the pattern (or string of text)
n repeat search in the same direction
N repeat search in opposite direction
f char search forward from the cursor in the current line for a single
character (char)
F char search backward from the cursor in the current line for a single
character (char)
; repeat single character search in either direction (f or F)

Below is an example of vi’s searching feature. Pressing the ESC key, followed
by the slash (“/”) to indicate a search (which will take you down to the command Example Search
line), followed immediately by a searchstring (where searchstring in this example
is EDITOR), vi will position the cursor at the location of the search string.

# Run user environment customizations identified in your /.environment

# file. This is the place to include your own environment variables,
# tap commands, and other system wide setup commands. You can also
# cancel default behaviors listed above with “unsetenv” or “setenv”.
# ~/.environment is not sourced if NOCALLS is set (i.e., if
# the xlogin “SYSTEM”option is selected).
# The below line, if commented out, will cause X windows to automatically
# come up if logging in on the console.
setenv NO_X_WINDOWS 1 Note: The cursor
was located at the
# uncomment the following three lines if your prefer vi beginning of the
#setenv EDITOR /usr/ucb/vi document when the
#setenv VISUAL /usr/ubc/vi
search was
#setenv TEXEDIT “/usr/ucb/vi +%d %s”
initiated.
# comment these out if you want vi or emacs
setenv EDITOR /usr/local/bin/pico
setenv VISUAL /usr/local/bin/pico
setenv TEXEDIT “/usr/local/bin/pico +%d %s”
~
~
~
~
~
/EDITOR /searchstring

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 Using the Vi Text Editor
Deleting Text The following commands allow you to delete single characters, words, or whole
lines of text with a single command. Most can be preceded by a number to delete
more than one character, word, or line at a time. For example, 3dd would delete
three lines at once. When the number is not specified, one character, word, or
line is assumed. These commands put the deleted text into the buffer, which
can then be placed elsewhere in the document by using the put commands.
While in input mode, you can use the Backspace key to correct mistakes on
the current line of text.

x delete character under cursor

[num] x delete num characters from cursor forward
X delete character before the cursor
[num] X delete num characters before the cursor
[num] dw delete num words starting with the current word at the cursor
D delete text from the cursor to the end of the current line
[num] dd delete num lines starting with the current line

Copying (“Yanking”) Vi allows you to copy or delete blocks of text and place them elsewhere in your
and Pasting Text document. The put commands below insert any text which has been put into the
buffer by the delete commands above or the yank (copy) commands below:

[num] yw copy num words into the buffer, starting with the current word
at the cursor
[num] yy copy num lines into the buffer, starting with the current line
[num] Y copy num lines into the buffer, starting with the current line
p put any text in the buffer after or below the cursor
P put any text in the buffer before or above the cursor

Below illustrates the copying feature. In this example, the cursor is positioned
before uncomment, typing 4yy yanks 4 lines into the buffer, then the cursor
moves to a destination position where the text is placed. Typing p, places the
contents in the buffer below the cursor.
# Run user environment customizations identified in your /.environment
# file. This is the place to include your own environment variables,
# tap commands, and other system wide setup commands. You can also
# cancel default behaviors listed above with “unsetenv” or “setenv”.
# ~/.environment is not sourced if NOCALLS is set (i.e., if
# the xlogin “SYSTEM”option is selected).
# The below line, if commented out, will cause X windows to automatically
# come up if logging in on the console.
setenv NO_X_WINDOWS 1

position of cursor # uncomment the following three lines if your prefer vi

before 4yy performed #setenv EDITOR /usr/ucb/vi
#setenv VISUAL /usr/ubc/vi
position of cursor #setenv TEXEDIT “/usr/ucb/vi +%d %s”
before p performed # uncomment the following three lines if your prefer vi
#setenv EDITOR /usr/ucb/vi
#setenv VISUAL /usr/ubc/vi
Note: The four lines #setenv TEXEDIT “/usr/ucb/vi +%d %s”
have been duplicated
immediately below # comment these out if you want vi or emacs
their original position. setenv EDITOR /usr/local/bin/pico
setenv VISUAL /usr/local/bin/pico
setenv TEXEDIT “/usr/local/bin/pico +%d %s”
~
4 University of Maryland
Using the Vi Text Editor
Vi has several commands that allow you to change an existing piece of text Changing Text
without first deleting it; the change commands overtype the current text.

[num] cw change num words, starting at the cursor in the current word—
the word(s) will be replaced by any text you type until you press
Esc
C change the current line from cursor to end—the current line will
be replaced by any text you type until you press Esc
r replace the current character (you do not need to press Esc)
R edit the current line from cursor to end in typeover mode—you
will remain in typeover mode until you press Esc (you can press
Return to insert more lines before pressing Esc)
s replace the current character—the current character will be
replaced by any text you type until you press Esc
S replace the entire current line—the current line will be replaced
by any text you type until you press Esc

There are several ways to save your document and exit vi. Be sure to use the Saving Your File and
save command often when editing an important document. Quitting Vi
:w save changes (i.e., write) to your file
:w filename save changes (i.e., write) to the file specified
:q quit vi (when you haven’t made any changes)
:q! quit without saving changes
:wq or ZZ save changes to file and then quit
:! cmd execute a single command (cmd) and return to vi Note: The :! and :sh commands
: sh start up a new UNIX shell—to return to vi from the shell, type make it easy to execute UNIX
exit or Ctrl-d commands without exiting vi.

Vi has several options which affect the way vi functions and alter your editing
environment. These options can be set by hand from within vi (must be reset
every time you use vi), or they can be made permanent (i.e., set automatically)
by creating a .exrc file and including the commands there or setting the EXINIT
environment variable in your .login or .cshrc file. (Do not alter the .login or
.cshrc files.) Use the set all command to get a list of all of the options.

:set list the currently set editor options

:set all list all of the editor options
:set option=value set an option that takes a numeric or string value
:set option turn on a toggled option
:set no option turn off a toggled option

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 Using the Vi Text Editor
Miscellaneous Vi The following commands are helpful when using vi:
Commands
u undo the last change
U undo the changes made to the current line
. repeat your last command again
“ return to your previous position
‘ ‘ return to the beginning of the line at your previous position in
the document
Ctrl-l redraw the screen if it has been altered by output from some
other program or a transmission error (such as a talk request)
Ctrl-g print the line number of the current line and how many lines are
in the document
% show matching (), {}, or [] when the current character is one of
the characters
[num] J join num lines together, starting with the current line (delete the
Returns between the lines)
:r filename read a file into the document below the current line
~ change the case of the current character

More Information? For technical assistance with the vi editor, one point of contact is the OIT Help
Desk. There are many ways to contact this resource:

Walk in: Computer & Space Sciences Building, room 1400, Monday -
Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Phone: 301.405.1500, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Web site: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/

You can also submit a problem report to the OIT Help Desk by typing request
at the UNIX command prompt.

6 University of Maryland