Learning the vi and Vim Editors, 7th Edition

Multiwindow Editing

To create a new window in elvis, you use the ex command :split. You then use one of the regular ex commands, such as :efilename or :n to edit a new file. This is the simplest method; other, shorter methods are described later in this chapter. You can switch back and forth between windows with CTRL-WCTRL-W:

<preface id="VI6-CH-0">
<title>Preface </title>

<para>
Text editing is one of the most common uses of any computer system, and
<command>vi</command> is one of the most useful standard text editors
on your system.
With <command>vi</command> you can create new files, or edit any
existing Unix text file.
_____________________________________________________________________
# Makefile for vi book
#
# Arnold Robbins

CHAPTERS = ch00_6.sgm ch00_5.sgm ch00.sgm ch01.sgm ch02.sgm ch03.sgm \
        ch04.sgm ch05.sgm ch06.sgm ch07.sgm ch08.sgm
APPENDICES = appa.sgm appb.sgm appc.sgm appd.sgm

POSTSCRIPT = ch00_6.ps ch00_5.ps ch00.ps ch01.ps ch02.ps ch03.ps \
        ch04.ps ch05.ps ch06.ps ch07.ps ch08.ps \
        appa.ps appb.ps appc.ps appd.ps

The split screen is the result of typing elvis ch00.sgm followed by :split Makefile.

Like nvi, elvis gives each window its own status line. elvis is unique in that it uses a highlighted line of underscores, instead of reverse video, for the status line. ex colon commands are carried out on each window’s status line.

Table 17-1 describes the windowing ex mode commands and what they do.

Table 17-1. elvis window management commands

Command	Function
sp[lit] [