Linux in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition

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Chapter 9: The vi, ex, and vim Editors

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition

Copyright © 2006 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

Status-Line Commands

Most commands are not echoed on the screen as you input them. However, the

status line at the bottom of the screen is used to edit these commands:

/ Search forward for a pattern.

? Search backward for a pattern.

: Invoke an ex command.

! Invoke a Unix command that takes as its input an object in the buffer and

replaces it with output from the command. You type a motion command

after the ! to describe what should be passed to the Unix command. The

command itself is entered on the status line.

Commands that are entered on the status line must be entered by pressing the

Enter key. In addition, error messages and output from the Ctrl-G command are

displayed on the status line.

vi Commands

vi supplies a large set of single-key commands when in command mode. vim

supplies additional multi-key commands.

Movement Commands

Some versions of vi do not recognize extended keyboard keys (e.g., arrow keys,

Page Up, Page Down, Home, Insert, and Delete); some do. All, however, recog-

nize the keys in this section. Many users of vi prefer to use these keys, as it helps

them keep their fingers on the home row of the keyboard. A number preceding a

command repeats the movement. Movement commands are also used after an

operator. The operator works on ...