A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux® 8

Input Mode

The Insert, Append, Open, Change, and Replace commands put vim in Input mode. While vim is in Input mode, you can put new text into the Work buffer. Always press the ESCAPE key to return vim to Command mode when you finish entering text. Refer to “Show mode” on page 453 if you want vim to remind you when it is in Input mode.

Inserting Text

The i (insert) command puts vim in Input mode and places the text you enter before the character the cursor is on (the current character). The I command places text at the beginning of the current line (Figure 10-13). Although i and I commands sometimes overwrite text on the screen, the characters in the Work buffer are not changed; only the display is affected. The overwritten text is redisplayed ...