Learning the vi Editor, Sixth Edition

4.1. More Command Combinations

In Chapter 2, you learned the edit commands c, d, and y, as well as how to combine them with movements and numbers (such as 2cw or 4dd). In Chapter 3, you added many more movement commands to your repertoire. Although the fact that you can combine edit commands with movement is not a new concept to you, Table 4.1 gives you a feel for the many editing options you now have.

Table 4.1. More Editing Commands

Change	Delete	Copy	from Cursor to ...
cH	dH	yH	top of screen
cL	dL	yL	bottom of screen
c+	d+	y+	next line
c5|	d5|	y5|	column 5 of current line
2c)	2d)	2y)	second sentence following
c{	d{	y{	previous paragraph
c/pattern	d/pattern	y/pattern	pattern
cn	dn	yn	next pattern
cG	dG	yG	end of file
c13G	d13G	y13G	line number 13

Notice how all of the above sequences follow the general pattern:

(number)(command)(text object)

number is the optional numeric argument. command in this case is one of c, d, or y. text object is a movement command.

The general form of a vi command is discussed in Chapter 2. You may wish to review Table 2.1 and Table 2.2 as well.