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.

Address Symbols

See Chapter 7 for more information on using patterns.

Options

! Indicates a variant form of the command, overriding the normal behavior.

The ! must come immediately after the command.

count

The number of times the command is to be repeated. Unlike in vi commands,

count cannot precede the command, because a number preceding an ex

command is treated as a line address. For example, d3 deletes three lines

beginning with the current line; 3d deletes line 3.

file

The name of a file that is affected by the command. % stands for the current

file; # stands for the previous file.

Alphabetical Summary of ex Commands

ex commands can be entered by specifying any unique abbreviation. In this

listing, the full name appears in the margin, and the shortest possible abbrevia-

tion is used in the syntax line. Examples are assumed to be typed from vi, so they

include the : prompt.

Symbol Meaning

1,$ All lines in the file.

x,y Lines x through y.

x;y Lines x through y, with current line reset to x.

0 Top of file.

. Current line.

num Absolute line number num.

$ Last line.

% All lines; same as 1,$.

x-nn lines before x.

x+nn lines after x.

-[num] One or num lines previous.

+[num] One or num lines ahead.

'x Line marked with x.

'' Previous mark.

/pattern/ Forward to line ...