Introducing Vi

Command	Meaning
vi File Name	Open or Create File
vi	Open New File To Be Named
vi -r File Name	Recover Crashed File
view File Name	Open File Read-Only
vipw	Edit the /etc/passwd file, setting locks and doing appropriate processing.
There are three modes of operation:	Command Mode Insert Mode Last Line Mode

Vi Commands Used To Edit Files Positioning The Cursor

Command	Meaning
h	Move left one character
j	Move down one line
k	Move up one line
l	Move right one character
w	Move right one word
W	Move right one word (Past Punctuation)
b	Move left one word
B	Move left one word (Past Punctuation)
e	Move to end of current word
Return	Move down one line
Backspace	Move left one character
H	Move to top of screen
M	Move to middle of screen
L	Move to bottom on screen
Control-f	Scroll forward one screen
Control-d	Scroll forward one-half screen
Control-b	Scroll backward one-half screen
G	Go to last line of file
1G	Go to first line of file
21G	Go to 21st line of file

Appending Commands

Command	Meaning
a	Append text after cursor
A	Append text at line end
i	Insert text before cursor
I	Insert text at beginning of line
o	Insert line below cursor
O	Insert line above cursor

Deleting Text

Command	Meaning
x	Delete Character at the cursor
X	Delete character to the left of the cursor
dw	Delete word (or part of word to right of cursor)
dd	Delete line containing the cursor
D	Delete part of line to right of cursor
dG	Delete to end of file
d1G	Delete from beginning of file to cursor
:5,10d	Delete lines 5 through 10

Changing Text

Command	Meaning
CW	Change word (or part of word) to right of cursor
cc	Change line
c	Change from cursor to end of line
s	Substitute string for characters from cursor forward
r	Replace character at cursor with one other character
r Return	Break line

Insert Mode

Command	Meaning
J	Join current line and line below
xp	Transpose character at cursor and character to the right
~	Change case of letter (upper or lower )
u or :u	Undo previous command
	Undo all changes to cuurent line

Copying and Pasting

Command	Meaning
y	Yank or copy line
Y	Yank or copy line
p	Put yanked or deleted line below current
P	Same as above

Saving Changes and Quitting

Command	Meaning
:w	Save changes (write buffer)
:w new file	Write buffer to named file
:wq	Save changes and quit Vi
:q!	Quit without saving changes

Displaying and Hiding Line#

The SET command is used from last-line mode to control these options, as indicated in the table.

Command	Meaning
:set nu	Show line numbers
:set nonu	Hide line numbers; setting is case sensitive
:set ic	Searches should ignore case
:set noic	Searches should be case sensitive
:set list	Display invisible characters

Search and Replace

Command	Meaning
/string	Search for string
?string	Search backward for string
n	Find next occurrence of string in search direction
N	Find previous occurrence of string in search direction
:%s/old/new/g	Search and replace

Refresh the Screen and Including Files

Command	Meaning
Control-1	Clear (refresh) scrambled screen
:r file name	Insert (read) file after cursor
:34r file name	Insert file after line 34