Scribd
Upload
13 views4 pages

Manual VI

VI/VIM is a powerful text editor commonly found on Linux and UNIX systems, ideal for remote work without graphical interfaces. The document outlines basic commands for file manipulation, navigation, and customization, including keyboard shortcuts and visual mode features. It also covers how to set up a .vimrc file for personalized settings and install plugins using vimplug.

Uploaded by

Yuri Menezes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
13 views4 pages

Manual VI

VI/VIM is a powerful text editor commonly found on Linux and UNIX systems, ideal for remote work without graphical interfaces. The document outlines basic commands for file manipulation, navigation, and customization, including keyboard shortcuts and visual mode features. It also covers how to set up a .vimrc file for personalized settings and install plugins using vimplug.

Uploaded by

Yuri Menezes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

VI / VIM editor

VI / VIM is a simple and powerful editor. If you are accessing a remote


workstation or cluster where you don't have the option to launch
graphical programs, VIM is a great option. Almost any Linux or UNIX
system has VI editor preinstalled. Recent OS will likely have VIM
(Vi IMproved) instead of classic VI editor. You can check the version
of VI by:

vi --version

 Open / create a file_name to read and/or write:

vi file_name

 Go into INSERT mode by (check in the bottom of the window


for --INSERT--) by pressing [shift]+[I] or simply [I].

 Go into REPLACE mode (check in the bottom for --REPLACE--) by


pressing [shift] + [R].
 Go into readonly / normal mode by pressing [esc].
 To save file, first go into readonly mode ([esc]) and then type:

:w

 To exit vim, first go into readonly mode ([esc]) and then:

:q

 You can combine both to save and exit (keyboard


shortcut [Shift]+[Z Z]):

:wq

 Exit without saving (keyboard shortcut [Shift]+[Z Q]):

:q!

 Search in the file: Type / followed by the phrase you are looking
for. Press N go to next match. You can search backwards using ?
 See line numbers: :set nu
 Hide line numbers: :set nonu
 Spellcheck: :set spell
 Turn off spellcheck: :set nospell
 Set user spell file: :set spellfile=~/.vim/en.utf-8.add
 Browse files and folders using file explorer: :E

Keyboard shortcuts
Key
Description
bindings
G Go to the end of the file
5G Go to specific line of the file (here line 5)
5H Move relative to the top line on the screen
Move relative to the bottom line on the
3L
screen
gg Go to the beginning of file
control + F Scroll forward one page
control + B Scroll backward one page
$ Go to the end of line
0 Go to the beginning of line
dd Delete a whole line
Undo (or type :u; :2u (undo twice)
u
or :U (undo all))
control + R Redo
control + L Redraw / reload
z= Spelling suggestions
zg Add new word to the user dictionary
zug Remove word from the dictionary
. Repeat last command
db Delete one word backwards
dw Delete one word forwards
d$ / D Delete to the end of line
d0 Delete to the beginning of line

 Compare two files:

vi -d file.txt file_edit.txt

 Move a line up / down: this can be achieved by few key


combinations. To move one line above its current position: ddkP.
o dd to delete current line and put it in default register
o k or j to move up or down
o P to paste above current line.

visual mode
Enter Visual mode by pressing v, V or [control] + v for visual
character, line or block modes, respectively. Select text using the
arrow keys on the key board. You can:

 Press c it will clear the selected part and enter into insert mode.
 Press y to copy (yanked).
 You can paste in another location in VIM by pressing p.
 Press "+y to copy to system clipboard, you can paste in another
program using your system shortcut like [command] +
v or [control] + v.
 Comment multiple lines:
o Enter block visual mode: [control] + v
o Select the lines (first col) using up / down arrow keys
o Enter insert mode: [shift] + i
o Type commenting character e.g., #
o Press [esc].
 Un-comment multiple lines:
o Enter block visual mode: [control] + v
o Select the lines (one or multiple columns) using arrow
keys
o Press x followed by [esc].

vimrc
You can customize your vi editor by creating a ~/.vimrc file and saving
your settings there. Like:

syntax on
set tabstop=4
set ruler
colorscheme darkblue
set textwidth=80
set cc=81
set autoindent
set spell
hi SpellBad ctermbg=Yellow
hi SpellBad ctermfg=DarkRed
set spellfile=~/.vim/en.utf-8.add

" Syntax highlight for custom filetypes


au BufRead,BufNewFile *.in set filetype=fortran
au BufRead,BufNewFile *.out set filetype=fortran
au BufRead,BufNewFile matplotlibrc set filetype=python

set hlsearch
hi Search ctermbg=LightBlue
hi Search ctermfg=black

 Convert tabs to spaces. Add the following to your .vimrc:

set tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 expandtab


Convert existing tabs to spaces by :retab (once the above settings are
added).

Plugins
 Installing vimplug:

curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

 Installing plugins using vimplug: add this to your .vimrc

call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')
Plug 'junegunn/goyo.vim'
call plug#end()

Save the file :w. Then install plugins by issuing :PlugInstall.

You can modify or add your own settings to a plugin. For example, if
you want to call Limelight along with Goyo. Go to

~/.vim/plugged/goyo.vim/autoload/goyo.vim

and add a line Limelight. You may add other settings, say, set
spell etc.

You might also like