Learning the vi Editor, Sixth Edition

D.2. Problems Saving Files

• You try to write your file, but you get one of the following messages:

  File exists
  File file exists - use w!
  [Existing file]
  File is read only

  Type :w! file to overwrite the existing file, or type :w newfile to save the edited version in a new file.

• You want to write a file, but you don't have write permission for it. You get the message "Permission denied."

  Use :w newfile to write out the buffer into a new file. If you have write permission for the directory, you can use mv to replace the original version with your copy of it. If you don't have write permission for the directory, type :w pathname/file to write out the buffer to a directory in which you do have write permission (such as your home directory, or /tmp).

• You try to write your file, but you get a message telling you that the file system is full.

  Type :!rm junkfile to delete a (large) unneeded file and free some space. (Starting an ex command with an exclamation point gives you access to UNIX.)

  Or type :!df to see whether there's any space on another file system. If there is, choose a directory on that file system and write your file to it with :w pathname. (df is the UNIX command to check a disk's free space.)

• The system puts you into open mode and tells you that the file system is full.

  The disk with vi's temporary files is filled up. Type :!ls /tmp to see whether there are any files you can remove to gain some disk space.^[1] If there are, create a temporary UNIX shell from which you can ...