illumos: manual page: vedit.1

VI(1HAS) User Commands VI(1HAS)

NAME

vi, view, vedit - screen-oriented (visual) display editor based on ex

SYNOPSIS

/usr/bin/vi [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]] [-S]
[-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/bin/view [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]] [-S]
[-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/bin/vedit [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]] [-S]
[-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/xpg4/bin/vi [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]]
[-S] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/xpg4/bin/view [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]]
[-S] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/xpg4/bin/vedit [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]]
[-S] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/xpg6/bin/vi [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]]
[-S] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/xpg6/bin/view [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]]
[-S] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

/usr/xpg6/bin/vedit [-| -s] [-l] [-L] [-R] [-r [filename]]
[-S] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-x] [-wn] [-C]
[+command | -c command] filename...

DESCRIPTION

The vi (visual) utility is a display-oriented text editor based on an
underlying line editor ex. It is possible to use the command mode of ex
from within vi and to use the command mode of vi from within ex. The
visual commands are described on this manual page; how to set options
(like automatically numbering lines and automatically starting a new
output line when you type carriage return) and all ex line editor
commands are described on the ex(1) manual page.

When using vi, changes you make to the file are reflected in what you see
on your terminal screen. The position of the cursor on the screen
indicates the position within the file.

The view invocation is the same as vi except that the readonly flag is
set.

The vedit invocation is intended for beginners. It is the same as vi
except that the report flag is set to 1, the showmode and novice flags
are set, and magic is turned off. These defaults make it easier to learn
how to use vi.

OPTIONS

The following options are supported:

Invocation Options

The following invocation options are interpreted by vi (previously
documented options are discussed under NOTES):

- | -s
Suppresses all interactive user feedback. This
is useful when processing editor scripts.

-C
Encryption option. Same as the -x option, except
that vi simulates the C command of ex. The C
command is like the X command of ex, except that
all text read in is assumed to have been
encrypted.

-l
Sets up for editing LISP programs.

-L
Lists the name of all files saved as the result
of an editor or system crash.

-r filename
Edits filename after an editor or system crash.
(Recovers the version of filename that was in
the buffer when the crash occurred.)

-R
Readonly mode. The readonly flag is set,
preventing accidental overwriting of the file.

-S
This option is used in conjunction with the -t
tag option to tell vi that the tags file can not
be sorted and that, if the binary search (which
relies on a sorted tags file) for tag fails to
find it, the much slower linear search should
also be done. Since the linear search is slow,
users of large tags files should ensure that the
tags files are sorted rather than use this flag.
Creation of tags files normally produces sorted
tags files. See ctags(1) for more information
on tags files.

-t tag
Edits the file containing tag and position the
editor at its definition. It is an error to
specify more than one -t option.

-v
Starts up in display editing state, using vi.
You can achieve the same effect by typing the vi
command itself.

-V
Verbose. When ex commands are read by means of
standard input, the input is echoed to standard
error. This can be useful when processing ex
commands within shell scripts.

-wn
Sets the default window size to n. This is
useful when using the editor over a slow speed
line.

-x
Encryption option. When used, vi simulates the X
command of ex and prompts the user for a key.
This key is used to encrypt and decrypt text
using the algorithm of the crypt command. The X
command makes an educated guess to determine
whether text read in is encrypted or not. The
temporary buffer file is encrypted also, using a
transformed version of the key typed in for the
-x option. If an empty encryption key is entered
(that is, if the return key is pressed right
after the prompt), the file is not encrypted.
This is a good way to decrypt a file erroneously
encrypted with a mistyped encryption key, such
as a backspace or undo key.

-command | -c command
Begins editing by executing the specified editor
command (usually a search or positioning
command).

/usr/xpg4/bin/vi and /usr/xpg6/bin/vi
If both the -t tag and the -c command options are given, the -t tag
option is processed first. That is, the file containing tag is selected
by -t and then the command is executed.

OPERANDS

The following operands are supported:

filename
A file to be edited.

COMMAND SUMMARY

The vi command modes are summarized in this section.

vi Modes
Command
Normal and initial mode. Other modes return to command mode
upon completion. ESC (escape) is used to cancel a partial
command.

Input
Entered by setting any of the following options:

a A i I o O c C s S R

Arbitrary text can then be entered. Input mode is normally
terminated with the ESC character, or, abnormally, with an
interrupt.

Last line
Reading input for : / ? or !. Terminate by typing a carriage
return. An interrupt cancels termination.

Sample Commands

In the descriptions, CR stands for carriage return and ESC stands for the
escape key.

<-, ->
down-arrow
up-arrow
arrow keys move the cursor

h j k l
same as arrow keys

itextESC
insert text

cwnewESC
change word to new

easESC
pluralize word (end of word; append s; escape from input
state)

x
delete a character

dw
delete a word

dd
delete a line

3dd
delete 3 lines

u
undo previous change

ZZ
exit vi, saving changes

:q!CR
quit, discarding changes

/textCR
search for text

^U ^D
scroll up or down

:cmdCR
any ex or ed command

Counts Before vi Commands

Numbers can be typed as a prefix to some commands. They are interpreted
in one of these ways:

line/column number
z G |

scroll amount
^D ^U

repeat effect
most of the rest

Interrupting, Canceling
ESC
end insert or incomplete command

DEL
(delete or rubout) interrupts

File Manipulation

ZZ
if file modified, write and exit; otherwise, exit

:wCR
write back changes

:w!CR
forced write, if permission originally not valid

:qCR
quit

:q!CR
quit, discard changes

:e nameCR
edit file name

:e!CR
reedit, discard changes

:e + nameCR
edit, starting at end

:e +nCR
edit, starting at line n

:e #CR
edit alternate file

:e! #CR
edit alternate file, discard changes

:w nameCR
write file name

:w! nameCR
overwrite file name

:shCR
run shell, then return

:!cmdCR
run cmd, then return

:nCR
edit next file in arglist

:n argsCR
specify new arglist

^G
show current file and line

:ta tagCR
position cursor to tag

In general, any ex or ed command (such as substitute or global) can be
typed, preceded by a colon and followed by a carriage return.

Positioning Within a File

F
forward screen

^B
backward screen

^D
scroll down half screen

^U
scroll up half screen

nG
go to the beginning of the specified line (end default),
where n is a line number

/pat
next line matching pat

?pat
previous line matching pat

n
repeat last / or ? command

N
reverse last / or ? command

/pat/+n
nth line after pat

?pat?-n
nth line before pat

]]
next section/function

[[
previous section/function

(
beginning of sentence

)
end of sentence

{
beginning of paragraph

}
end of paragraph

%
find matching ( ) or { }

Adjusting the Screen

^L
clear and redraw window

^R
clear and redraw window if ^L is -> key

zCR
redraw screen with current line at top of window

z-CR
redraw screen with current line at bottom of window

z.CR
redraw screen with current line at center of window

/pat/z-CR
move pat line to bottom of window

zn.CR
use n-line window

^E
scroll window down one line

^Y
scroll window up one line

Marking and Returning

``
move cursor to previous context

a'a'
move cursor to first non-white space in line

mx
mark current position with the ASCII lower-case letter x

`x
move cursor to mark x

a'x
move cursor to first non-white space in line marked by x

Line Positioning

H
top line on screen

L
last line on screen

M
middle line on screen

+
next line, at first non-white space character

-
previous line, at first non-white space character

CR
return, same as +

down-arrow
or j
next line, same column

up-arrow
or k
previous line, same column

Character Positioning

^
first non-white space character

0
beginning of line

$
end of line

l or ->
forward

h or <-
backward

^H
same as <- (backspace)

space
same as -> (space bar)

fx
find next x

Fx
find previous x

tx
move to character following the next x

Tx
move to character following the previous x

;
repeat last f, F, t, or T

,
repeat inverse of last f, F, t, or T

n|
move to column n

%
find matching ( ) or { }

Words, Sentences, Paragraphs
w
forward a word

b
back a word

e
end of word

)
to next sentence

}
to next paragraph

(
back a sentence

{
back a paragraph

W
forward a blank-delimited word

B
back a blank-delimited word

E
end of a blank-delimited word

Corrections During Insert

^H
erase last character (backspace)

^W
erase last word

erase
your erase character, same as ^H (backspace)

kill
your kill character, erase this line of input

\
quotes your erase and kill characters

ESC
ends insertion, back to command mode

Control-C
interrupt, suspends insert mode

^D
backtab one character; reset left margin of autoindent

^^D
caret (^) followed by control-d (^D); backtab to
beginning of line; do not reset left margin of autoindent

0^D
backtab to beginning of line; reset left margin of
autoindent

^V
quote non-printable character

Insert and Replace

a
append after cursor

A
append at end of line

i
insert before cursor

I
insert before first non-blank

o
open line below

O
open line above

rx
replace single character with x

RtextESC
replace characters

Operators

Operators are followed by a cursor motion and affect all text that would
have been moved over. For example, since w moves over a word, dw deletes
the word that would be moved over. Double the operator, for example dd,
to affect whole lines.

d
delete

c
change

y
yank lines to buffer

<
left shift

>
right shift

!
filter through command

Miscellaneous Operations

C
change rest of line (c$)

D
delete rest of line (d$)

s
substitute characters (cl)

S
substitute lines (cc)

J
join lines

x
delete characters (dl)

X
delete characters before cursor dh)

Y
yank lines (yy)

Yank and Put

Put inserts the text most recently deleted or yanked; however, if a
buffer is named (using the ASCII lower-case letters a - z), the text in
that buffer is put instead.

3yy
yank 3 lines

3yl
yank 3 characters

p
put back text after cursor

P
put back text before cursor

"xp
put from buffer x

"xy
yank to buffer x

"xd
delete into buffer x

Undo, Redo, Retrieve
u
undo last change

U
restore current line

.
repeat last change

"dp
retrieve d'th last delete

USAGE

See largefile(7) for the description of the behavior of vi and view when
encountering files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte ( 2^31 bytes).

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

See environ(7) for descriptions of the following environment variables
that affect the execution of vi: LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE,
LC_TIME, LC_MESSAGES, NLSPATH, PATH, SHELL, and TERM.

COLUMNS
Override the system-selected horizontal screen size.

EXINIT
Determine a list of ex commands that are executed on editor
start-up, before reading the first file. The list can contain
multiple commands by separating them using a vertical-line (|)
character.

LINES
Override the system-selected vertical screen size, used as the
number of lines in a screenful and the vertical screen size in
visual mode.

FILES

/var/tmp

default directory where temporary work files are placed; it can be
changed using the directory option (see the ex(1) command)

/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/*

compiled terminal description database

/usr/lib/.COREterm/?/*

subset of compiled terminal description database

ATTRIBUTES

AUTHOR

vi and ex were developed by The University of California, Berkeley
California, Computer Science Division, Department of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science.

NOTES

Two options, although they continue to be supported, have been replaced
in the documentation by options that follow the Command Syntax Standard
(see Intro(1)). An -r option that is not followed with an option-argument
has been replaced by -L and +command has been replaced by -c command.

The message file too large to recover with -r option, which is seen when
a file is loaded, indicates that the file can be edited and saved
successfully, but if the editing session is lost, recovery of the file
with the -r option is not possible.

The editing environment defaults to certain configuration options. When
an editing session is initiated, vi attempts to read the EXINIT
environment variable. If it exists, the editor uses the values defined in
EXINIT; otherwise the values set in $HOME/.exrc are used. If $HOME/.exrc
does not exist, the default values are used.

To use a copy of .exrc located in the current directory other than $HOME,
set the exrc option in EXINIT or $HOME/.exrc. Options set in EXINIT can
be turned off in a local .exrc only if exrc is set in EXINIT or
$HOME/.exrc. In order to be used, .exrc in $HOME or the current directory
must fulfill these conditions:

o It must exist.

o It must be owned by the same userid as the real userid of the
process, or the process has appropriate privileges.

o It is not writable by anyone other than the owner.

Tampering with entries in /usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/* or
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/* (for example, changing or removing an entry)
can affect programs such as vi that expect the entry to be present and
correct. In particular, removing the "dumb" terminal can cause unexpected
problems.

Software tabs using ^T work only immediately after the autoindent.

Left and right shifts on intelligent terminals do not make use of insert
and delete character operations in the terminal.

Loading an alternate malloc() library using the environment variable
LD_PRELOAD can cause problems for /usr/bin/vi.

The vi utility currently has the following limitations:

1. Lines, including the trailing NEWLINE character, can contain
no more than 4096 bytes.

If a longer line is found, Line too long is displayed in the
status line.

2. The editor's temporary work file can be no larger than 128Mb.

If a larger temporary file is needed, Tmp file too large is
displayed in the status line.

May 16, 2007 VI(1HAS)