The vim Editor (ch 6) IT244 - Introduction to Linux / Unix Instructor: Bo Sheng 1.

1

The vim Editor (ch 6)

IT244 - Introduction to Linux / Unix Instructor: Bo Sheng

2

What’s vim

• vi iMproved• Text editor

– Scripts– Codes (C, Java, HTML)– Configure files and short notes

– No format

3

Get Started

• Starting vim– vim practice

– Emergency exit• ESC, then “:q!”

4

Command and Input Modes

5

Command and Input Modes

• Command mode example– :set number

• Enter input mode– i / a : insert / append

• Back to command mode (ESC)• Save the file and quit

– ZZ

6

Moving the Cursor

• In command mode– Space, enter– Arrow keys– h, j, k, l

• In input mode– Arrow keys

7

Edit Text

• Delete text– In command mode

• x: delete a character• dw: delete a word• dd: delete a line

– In input mode• backspace

8

Edit Text

• Add text– In command mode

• i: insert (at the current cursor)• a: append (precede the current cursor)• o/O: open a new line (below/above)

• Undo and redo– In command mode

• u • :redo

9

Edit Text

• Work buffer– Your editing is not automatically saved

• Readonly mode– view filename– vim -R filename

• Write to disk– :w [filename]

• Quit (:q)

10

More about Moving the Cursor

• Space, Enter, {h,j,k,l}• Search for a character in a line

– f/F– fc, fa, Fc– Repeat the last search: ;

• Moving by words– w/W, b/B, e/E

11

More about Moving the Cursor

• Moving by words

12

More about Moving the Cursor

• Moving by lines– j/k, up arrow/down arrow– Enter/-

13

More about Moving the Cursor

• Moving by sentences/paragraphs– ) , ( , } , {

• Moving within the screen– H/M/L: top/middle/bottom line

14

More about Moving the Cursor

15

More about Moving the Cursor

• Page down/up– CTRL+D / CTRL+U (half screen)– CTRL+F / CTRL+B (full screen)

• Line numbers– :set number– #G

16

Input Mode

• Insert text– i/I , a/A, o/O

17

Delete Text

• Table 6-1 (Pg 181)– dw, d3w– d0, d$– d), d(, d4), d{, d}– dd, 5dd, dL– d (enter), D

18

Change Text

• Table 6-2 (Pg 182)– cw, c3w– c0, c$– c), c(, c4), c{, c}– cc, 5cc, cL

• Change case– ~, 5~

19

Search and Replace

• Search for a character– f/F, t/T, ;– 2ft– d2ft

• Search for a string– /, ?– Search ‘/’ and ‘?’– No string argument, n/N

20

Search and Replace

• Incremental search– :set incsearch– :set noincsearch

• Special characters in search strings– ^: /^the– $: /,$– .: /l..e– *: /com*e

21

Search and Replace

• Special characters in search strings– \<: /\<th– \>: /s\> /\<and\>

– []: /dis[ck]– [^abc], [a-z], [0-9], …

22

Search and Replace

• Replace a string– :[g][address]s/search-string/replace-string[/options]

– Address• Line number: “5”, “10,100”, “.,.+10”• Work buffer: “1,.”, “.,$”, “%”• Matching strings: “/to/”, “g/to/”

23

Search and Replace

• Replace a string (examples)– :s/Linux/linux– :1,.s/Linux/linux/g– :%s/Linux/linux/g– :g/to/s/Linux/linux/g– :1,$s/\<one\>/1/g– :s/Linux/”&”/g

24

Copy and Move Text

• Yank (y)– y (enter), Y, yy– Copy text into a General-Purpose buffer

• Put (p/P)– Copy text from the General-Purpose buffer– Deleted text is also in the General-Purpose

buffer

25

Read and Write Files

• Exit (zz)• Read files

– [address]:r [filename]– :r hello

• Write to files– [address]:w [filename]– :1,5w!– :w >> filename

26

Execute Shell Commands in vim

• Spawn a new shell– :sh– ps -f– Return to vim: CTRL+D, exit

• Directly execute– :!command– :!ls– !!cat hello

27

Execute Shell Commands in vim

• Directly execute– Use parts of the file as standard input– vim months– :1,5!sort