vi(1) General Commands Manual vi(1)
NAME
vi, view, vedit - screen-oriented (visual) text editor
SYNOPSIS
tag] size] command] [file]...
UNIX Standard Synopsis
command] tag] size] [file]...
Obsolescent Options
command] tag] size] [file]...
tag] size] command] [file]...
tag] size] command] [file]...
Remarks
The program names and are separate personalities of the same program. This manpage describes the behavior of the personality.
DESCRIPTION
The (visual) program is a display-oriented text editor that is based on the underlying line editor (see ex(1)). It is possible to switch
back and forth between the two and to execute commands from within The line-editor commands and the editor options are described in ex(1).
Only the visual mode commands are described here.
The program is identical to except that the editor option is set (see ex(1)).
The program is somewhat friendlier for beginners and casual users. The editor option is set to and the and editor options are set.
In the terminal screen acts as a window into a memory copy of the file being edited. Changes made to the file copy are reflected in the
screen display. The position of the cursor on the screen indicates the position within the file copy.
The environment variable must specify a terminal type that is defined in the database (see terminfo(4)). Otherwise, a message is displayed
and the line-editor is invoked.
As with editor initialization scripts can be placed in the environment variable or in the file in the current or home directory.
Options
recognizes the following command-line options:
Suppress all interactive-user feedback. This is useful when editor commands are taken from scripts.
Set the
editor option (see ex(1)). Provides indents appropriate for code. The and commands in are modified to function with source
code.
Recover the specified
files after an editor or system crash. If no file is specified, a list of all saved files is printed. You must be the owner
of the saved file in order to recover it (superuser cannot recover files owned by other users).
Set the
editor option to prevent overwriting a file inadvertently (see ex(1)).
Execute the
tag command to load and position a predefined file. See the command and the editor option in ex(1).
Invoke visual mode
Useful with it has no effect on
Set verbose mode.
Editor commands are displayed as they are executed when input from a file or a source file (see the command in ex(1)).
Set the value of the
editor option to size. If size is omitted, it defaults to
Set encryption mode.
You are prompted for a key to allow for the creation or editing of an encrypted file. This 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 option (see the command in ex(1)).
Encryption option. Same as the
option, except that all text read in is assumed to have been encrypted. (Under UNIX Standard only, see standards(5))
(Obsolescent)
Begin editing by executing the specified command-mode commands. As with the normal command-line entries, the option-argument
can consist of multiple commands separated by vertical-line commands (|). The use of commands that enter input mode in this
manner produces undefined results. file Specify the file or files to be edited. If more than one file is specified, they
are processed in the order given. If the option is also specified, the files are read from the recovery area.
(Under UNIX Standard only, see standards(5)) If both the and (or the obsolescent options are given, the will be processed first, that is,
the file containing the tag is selected by and then the command is executed.
When invoked, is in is initiated by several commands used to insert or change text.
In input mode, ESC (escape) is used to leave input mode; however, two consecutive ESC characters are required to leave input mode if the
editor option is set (see ex(1)).
In command mode, ESC is used to cancel a partial command; the terminal bell sounds if the editor is not in input mode and there is no par-
tially entered command.
ESC a "bottom line" command (see below).
The last (bottom) line of the screen is used to echo the input for search commands and commands and system commands It is also used to
report errors or print other messages.
The receipt of during text input or during the input of a command on the bottom line terminates the input (or cancels the command) and
returns the editor to command mode. During command mode, causes the bell to be sounded. In general the bell indicates an error (such as
an unrecognized key).
Lines displayed on the screen containing only a indicate that the last line above them is the last line of the file (the lines are past the
end of the file). Terminals with limited local intelligence might display lines on the screen marked with an These indicate space on the
screen not corresponding to lines in the file. (These lines can be removed by entering a forcing the editor to retype the screen without
these holes.)
If the system crashes or aborts due to an internal error or unexpected signal, attempts to preserve the buffer if any unwritten changes
were made. Use the command line option to retrieve the saved changes.
The text editor supports the signal, and redraws the screen in response to window-size changes.
Command Summary
Most commands accept a preceding number as an argument, either to give a size or position (for display or movement commands), or as a
repeat count (for commands that change text). For simplicity, this optional argument is referred to as count when its effect is described.
The following operators can be followed by a movement command to specify an extent of text to be affected: and The region specified begins
at the current cursor position and ends just prior to the cursor position indicated by the move. If the command operates on lines only,
all the lines that fall partly or wholly within this region are affected. Otherwise the exact marked region is affected.
In the following description, control characters are indicated in the form which represents Whitespace is defined to be the characters
space, tab, and alternative space. Alternative space is the first character of the item described in langinfo(5) for the language speci-
fied by the environment variable (see environ(5)).
Unless otherwise specified, the commands are interpreted in command mode and have no special effect in input mode.
Scroll backward to display the previous window of text.
A preceding count specifies the number of windows to go back. Two lines of overlap are kept if possible.
Scroll forward a half-window of text.
A preceding count gives the number of (logical) lines to scroll, and is remembered for future and commands.
(input mode)
Backs up over the indentation provided by or to the next multiple of spaces. Whitespace inserted by at other than the
beginning of a line cannot be backed over using A preceding removes all indentation for the current and subsequent input
lines of the current input mode until new indentation is established by inserting leading whitespace, either by direct
input or by using
Scroll forward one line, leaving the cursor where it is if possible.
Scroll forward to display the window of text following the current one.
A preceding count specifies the number of windows to advance. Two lines of overlap are kept if possible.
(Under UNIX Standard only, see standards(5) The current line is displayed and the cursor is moved to the first nonblank
character of the current line or the first character if the line is a blank line.
Print the current file name and other information,
including the number of lines and the current position (equivalent to the command
Move one space to the left (stops at the left margin).
A preceding count specifies the number of spaces to back up. (Same as
(input mode)
Move the cursor left to the previous input character without erasing it from the screen. The character is deleted from
the saved text.
Move the cursor down one line in the same column, if possible.
A preceding count specifies the number of lines to move down. (Same as and
Clear and redraw the screen.
Use when the screen is scrambled for any reason.
Move to the first nonwhitespace character in the next line.
A preceding count specifies the number of lines to advance.
Same as and
Move the cursor up one line in the same column.
A preceding count specifies the number of lines to move up (same as
Redraw the current screen, eliminating the false lines marked with
(which do not correspond to actual lines in the file).
Pop the tag stack.
See the command in ex(1).
(input mode)
Insert whitespace. If at the beginning of the line, this inserted space can only be backed over using
Scroll up a half-window of text.
A preceding count gives the number of (logical) lines to scroll, and is remembered for future and commands.
In input mode,
quotes the next character to permit the insertion of special characters (including ESC) into the file.
In input mode,
backs up one word; the deleted characters remain on the display.
Scroll backward one line, leaving the cursor where it is, if possible.
Cancel a partially formed command;
sounds the bell if there is no partially formed command.
In input mode, terminates input mode. However, two consecutive ESC characters are required to terminate input mode if
the editor option is set (see ex(1)).
When entering a command on the bottom line of the screen command line or search pattern with or terminate input and exe-
cute command.
On many terminals, can be entered by pressing the ESC or ESCAPE key.
Exit and enter ex command mode. If in input mode, terminate the input first.
Take the word at or after the cursor as a tag and execute the
editor command (see ex(1)).
Return to the previous file (equivalent to
space Move one space to the right (stops at the end of the line). A preceding count specifies the number of spaces to go for-
ward (same as
erase Erase, where erase is the user-designated erase character (see stty(1)). Same as
kill Kill, where kill is the user-designated kill character (see stty(1)). In input mode, kill backs up to the beginning of
the current input line without erasing the line from the screen display.
susp Suspend the editor session and return to the calling shell, where susp is the user-designated process-control suspend
character (see stty(1)). See ex(1) for more information on the editor command.
An operator that passes specified lines from the buffer
as standard input to the specified system command, and replaces those lines with the standard output from the command.
The is followed by a movement command specifying the lines to be passed (lines from the current position to the end of
the movement) and then the command (terminated as usual by a return). A preceding count is passed on to the movement
command after
Doubling and preceding it by count causes that many lines, starting with the current line, to be passed.
Use to precede a named buffer specification.
There are named buffers through in which the editor places deleted text. The named buffers through are available to the
user for saving deleted or yanked text; see also below.
Move to the end of the current line.
A preceding count specifies the number of lines to advance (for example, causes the cursor to advance to the end of the
next line).
Move to the parenthesis or brace that matches
the parenthesis or brace at the current cursor position.
Same as the ex command (that is, repeats the previous command).
When followed by a
returns to the previous context, placing the cursor at the beginning of the line. (The previous context is set whenever
a nonrelative move is made.) When followed by a letter returns to the line marked with that letter (see the command),
at the first nonwhitespace character in the line.
When used with an operator such as to specify an extent of text, the operation takes place over complete lines (see also
When followed by a
returns to the previous context, placing the cursor at the character position marked (the previous context is set when-
ever a nonrelative move is made). When followed by a letter returns to the line marked with that letter (see the com-
mand), at the character position marked.
When used with an operator such as to specify an extent of text, the operation takes place from the exact marked place
to the current position within the line (see also
Back up to the previous section boundary.
A section is defined by the value of the option. Lines that start with a form feed or also stop
If the option is set, the cursor stops at each at the beginning of a line.
Move forward to a section boundary (see
Move to the first nonwhitespace position on the current line.
Move backward to the beginning of a sentence.
A sentence ends at a or followed by either the end of a line or by two spaces. Any number of closing and characters can
appear between the or and the spaces or end of line. If a count is specified, the cursor moves back the specified num-
ber of sentences.
If the option is set, the cursor moves to the beginning of a s-expression. Sentences also begin at paragraph and sec-
tion boundaries (see and
Move forward to the beginning of a sentence.
If a count is specified, the cursor advances the specified number of sentences (see
Move back to the beginning of the preceding paragraph.
A paragraph is defined by the value of the option. A completely empty line and a section boundary (see above) are also
interpreted as the beginning of a paragraph. If a count is specified, the cursor moves backward the specified number of
paragraphs.
Move forward to the beginning of the next paragraph.
If a count is specified, the cursor advances the specified number of paragraphs (see
Requires a preceding
count; the cursor moves to the specified column of the current line (if possible).
Move to the first nonwhitespace character in the next line.
If a count is specified, the cursor advances the specified number of lines (same as
The comma performs the reverse action of the last or command issued, by searching in the opposite direction on the current line.
If a count is specified, the cursor repeats the search the specified number of times.
The hyphen character
moves the cursor to the first nonwhitespace character in the previous line. If a count is specified, the cursor moves
back the specified number of times.
The underscore character
moves the cursor to the first nonwhitespace character in the current line. If a count is specified, the cursor advances
the specified number of lines, with the current line being counted as the first line; no count or a count of 1 specifies
the current line.
Repeat the last command that changed the buffer.
If a count is specified, the command is repeated the specified number of times.
Read a string from the last line on the screen,
interpret it as a regular expression, and scan forward for the next occurrence of a matching string. The search begins
when the user types a carriage return to terminate the pattern; the search can be terminated by sending (or the user-
designated interrupt character).
When used with an operator to specify an extent of text, the defined region begins with the current cursor position and
ends at the beginning of the matched string. Entire lines can be specified by giving an offset from the matched line
(by using a closing followed by a or ).
Move to the first character on the current line (the
is not interpreted as a command when preceded by a nonzero digit).
The colon character
begins an command. The and the entered command are echoed on the bottom line; the command is executed when the user
types a carriage return.
Repeat the last single character find using
or If a count is specified, the search is repeated the specified number of times.
An operator that shifts lines to the left by one
The can be followed by a move to specify lines. A preceding count is passed through to the move command.
When repeated shifts the current line (or count lines starting at the current one).
An operator that shifts lines right one
(see
If the option is set, reindents the specified lines, as if they were typed in with and set. can be preceded by a count to
indicate how many lines to process, or followed by a move command for the same purpose.
Scan backwards, the reverse of
(see
Execute the commands stored in the named
buffer. Be careful not to include a <return> character at the end of the buffer contents unless the <return> is part of
the command stream. Commands to be executed in ex mode should be preceded by a colon
The tilde switches the case of the character under the cursor (if it is a letter), then moves one character to the right, stopping
at the end of the line). A preceding count specifies how many characters in the current line are switched.
Append at the end of line (same as
Back up one word, where a word is any nonblank sequence,
placing the cursor at the beginning of the word. If a count is specified, the cursor moves back the specified number of
words.
Change the rest of the text on the current line (same as
Delete the rest of the text on the current line (same as
Move forward to the end of a word, where a word is any nonblank sequence.
If a count is specified, the cursor advances the specified number of words.
Must be followed by a single character;
scans backwards in the current line, searching for that character and moving the cursor to it, if found. If a count is
specified, the search is repeated the specified number of times.
Go to the line number given as preceding argument,
or the end of the file if no preceding count is given.
Move the cursor to the top line on the screen.
If a count is given, the cursor moves to count number of lines from the top of the screen. The cursor is placed on the
first nonwhitespace character on the line. If used as the target of an operator, entire lines are affected.
Insert at the beginning of a line (same as
followed by
Join the current line with the next one, supplying appropriate whitespace:
one space between words, two spaces after a period, and no spaces at all if the first character of the next line is a
closing parenthesis A preceding count causes the specified number of lines to be joined, instead of just two.
Move the cursor to the first nonwhitespace character of
the last line on the screen. If a count is given, the cursor moves to count number of lines from the bottom of the
screen. When used with an operator, entire lines are affected.
Move the cursor to the middle line on the screen,
at the first nonwhitespace position on the line.
Scan for the next match of the last pattern given to
or but in the opposite direction; this is the reverse of
Open a new line above the current line and enter input mode.
Put back (replace) the last deleted or yanked text before/above the cursor.
Entire lines of text are returned above the cursor if entire lines were deleted or yanked. Otherwise, the text is
inserted just before the cursor.
(Under UNIX Standard only, see standards(5)) In this case, the cursor is moved to last column position of the inserted
characters.
If is preceded by a named buffer specification (x), the contents of that buffer are retrieved instead.
Exit and enter command mode.
Replace characters on the screen with characters entered,
until the input is terminated with ESC.
Change entire lines (same as
A preceding count changes the specified number of lines.
Must be followed by a single character;
scan backwards in the current line for that character, and, if found, place the cursor just after that character. A
count is equivalent to repeating the search the specified number of times.
Restore the current line to its state before the cursor was last moved to it.
(Under UNIX Standard only, see standards(5)) The cursor position is set to the column position 1 or to the position
indicated by the previous line if the is set.
Move forward to the beginning of a word in the current line,
where a word is a sequence of nonblank characters. If the current position is at the beginning of a word, the current
position is within a bigword or the character at that position cannot be a part of a bigword, the current position shall
move to the first character of the next bigword. If no subsequent bigword exists on the current line, the current posi-
tion shall move to the first character of the first bigword on the first following line that contains the bigword. For
this command, an empty or blank line is considered to contain exactly one bigword. The current line is set to the line
containing the bigword selected and the current position is set to the first character of the bigword selected. A pre-
ceding count specifies the number of words to advance.
Delete the character before the cursor.
A preceding count repeats the effect, but only characters on the current line are deleted.
Place (yank) a copy of the current line into the unnamed buffer (same as
If a count is specified, count lines are copied to the buffer. If the is preceded by a buffer name, the lines are
copied to the named buffer.
Exit the editor, writing out the buffer if it was changed since
the last write (same as the command Note that if the last write was to a different file and no changes have occurred
since, the editor exits without writing out the buffer.
Enter input mode, appending the entered text
after the current cursor position. A preceding count causes the inserted text to be replicated the specified number of
times, but only if the inserted text is all on one line.
Back up to the previous beginning of a word in the current line.
A word is a sequence of alphanumerics or a sequence of special characters. A preceding count repeats the effect.
Must be followed by a movement command.
Delete the specified region of text, and enter input mode to replace deleted text with new text. If more than part of a
single line is affected, the deleted text is saved in the numeric buffers. If only part of the current line is
affected, the last character deleted is marked with a A preceding count passes that value through to the move command.
If the command is the entire current line is changed.
Must be followed by a movement command.
Delete the specified region of text. If more than part of a line is affected, the text is saved in the numeric buffers.
A preceding count passes that value through to the move command. If the command is the entire current line is deleted.
Move forward to the end of the next word, defined as for
A preceding count repeats the effect.
Must be followed by a single character;
scan the rest of the current line for that character, and moves the cursor to it if found. A preceding count repeats
the action that many times.
Move the cursor one character to the left (same as
A preceding count repeats the effect.
Enter input mode, inserting the entered text before the cursor (see
Move the cursor one line down in the same column (same as
and
Move the cursor one line up (same as
Move the cursor one character to the right (same as
Mark the current position of the cursor.
is a lowercase letter, that is used with the and commands to refer to the marked line or line position.
Repeat the last
or scanning commands.
Open a line below the current line and enter input mode;
otherwise like
Put text after/below the cursor;
otherwise like
Must be followed by a single character;
the character under the cursor is replaced by the specified one. (The new character can be a new-line.) If is preceded
by a count, count characters are replaced by the specified character.
Delete the single character under the cursor and enter input mode;
the entered text replaces the deleted character. A preceding count specifies how many characters on the current line
are changed. The last character being changed is marked with a as for
Must be followed by a single character;
scan the remainder of the line for that character. The cursor moves to the column prior to the character if the charac-
ter is found. A preceding count is equivalent to repeating the search count times.
Reverse the last change made to the current buffer.
If repeated, alternates between these two states; thus is its own inverse. When used after an insertion of text on more
than one line, the lines are saved in the numerically named buffers.
Move forward to the beginning of the next word
(where word is defined as in A preceding count specifies how many words the cursor advances.
Delete the single character under the cursor.
When is preceded by a count, deletes the specified number of characters forward from the cursor position, but only on
the current line.
Must be followed by a movement command;
the specified text is copied (yanked) into the unnamed temporary buffer. If preceded by a named buffer specification,
the text is placed in that buffer also. If the command is the entire current line is yanked.
Redraw the screen with the current line placed
as specified by the following options: specifies the top of the screen, the center of the screen, and the bottom of the
screen. The commands and are similar to and respectively. However, and do not attempt to maintain two lines of over-
lap. A count after the and before the following character to specifies the number of lines displayed in the redrawn
screen. A count before the gives the number of the line to use as the reference line instead of the default current
line.
Keyboard Editing Keys
At initialization, the editor automatically maps some terminal keyboard editing keys to equivalent visual mode commands. These mappings
are only established for keys that are listed in the following table and defined in the terminfo(4) database as valid for the current ter-
minal (as specified by the environment variable).
Both command and input mode mappings are created (see the command in ex(1)). With the exception of the keys, which simply toggle input
mode on and off, the input mode mappings exit input mode, perform the same action as the command mode mapping, and then reenter input mode.
On certain terminals, the character sequence sent by a keyboard editing key, which is then mapped to a visual mode command, can be the same
character sequence a user might enter to perform another command or set of commands. This is most likely to happen with the input mode
mappings; therefore, on these terminals, the input mode mappings are disabled by default. Users can override the disabling and enabling of
both the command and input mode keyboard editing key mappings by setting the and editor options as appropriate (see ex(1)). The and editor
options are alternative methods of addressing this problem.
terminfo command input map
entry mode map mode map name description
-------------------------------------------------------------------
key_ic i ^[ inschar insert char
key_eic i ^[ inschar end insert char
key_up k ^[ka up arrow up
key_down j ^[ja down arrow down
key_left h ^[ha left arrow left
key_right l ^[la right arrow right
key_home H ^[Ha home arrow home
key_il o^[ ^[o^[a insline insert line
key_dl dd ^[dda delline delete line
key_clear ^L ^[^La clear clear screen
key_eol d$ ^[d$a clreol clear line
key_sf ^E ^[^Ea scrollf scroll down
key_dc x ^[xa delchar delete char
key_npage ^F ^[^Fa npage next page
key_ppage ^B ^[^Ba ppage previous page
key_sr ^Y ^[^Ya sr scroll up
key_eos dG ^[dGa clreos clear to end of screen
-------------------------------------------------------------------
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
For information about the UNIX standard environment, see standards(5).
International codes and environment variables are explained in this section.
Environment Variables
overrides the system-selected horizontal screen size.
overrides the system-selected vertical screen size, used as the number of lines in a screenful and the vertical screen size in visual mode.
is a variable that shall be interpreted as the preferred command-line interpreter for use in and other commands with an operand of the form
For the command the program shall be invoked with the two arguments and If this variable is null or not set, the utility shall be used.
is a variable that shall be interpreted as the name of the terminal type. If this variable is unset or null, an unspecified default termi-
nal type shall be used.
determines the search path for the shell command specified in the editor commands, and
determines a list of ex commands that will be executed on editor startup, before reading the first file. The list can contain multiple com-
mands by separating them using a vertical line (|) character.
determines a pathname of a directory that will be searched for an editor startup file named
This variable shall determine the locale to be used to override any values for locale categories specified by the setting of or any envi-
ronment variables beginning with
determines the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error and informa-
tive messages written to standard output.
determines the collating sequence used in evaluating regular expressions and in processing the tags file.
determines the interpretation of text as single and/or multi-byte characters, the classification of characters as uppercase or lowercase
letters, the shifting of letters between uppercase and lowercase, and the characters matched by character class expressions in regular
expressions.
determines the language in which messages are displayed.
specifies options determining how text for right-to-left languages is stored in input and output files. See environ(5).
If or is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of is used as a default for each unspecified or empty
variable. If is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of If any internationalization
variable contains an invalid setting, the editor behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C". See environ(5).
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
WARNINGS
See also the section in ex(1).
Program Limits
places the following limits on files being edited. characters including 2-3 bytes for overhead. Thus, a line length up to 4092 characters
should cause no problem.
If you load a file that contain lines longer than the specified limit, the lines are truncated to the stated maximum length. Saving the
file will write the truncated version over the original file, thus overwriting the original lines completely.
Attempting to create lines longer than the allowable maximum for the editor produces a error message. The maximum file length of 234,239
lines is silently enforced.
o 256 characters per global command list.
o 128 characters in a file name in or mode. On short-file-name HP-UX systems, the maximum file name length is 14 characters.
o 128 characters in a previous insert/delete buffer.
o 100 characters in a shell-escape command.
o 63 characters in a string-valued option command).
o 30 characters in a program tag name.
o 32 or fewer macros defined by command.
o 512 or fewer characters total in combined macros.
Do not use the option to edit unencrypted files. The option is meant to be used only on files that are already encrypted. If the option is
used on files which are not yet encrypted, a write in the edit session is likely to corrupt the file.
AUTHOR
was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. The 16-bit extensions to are based in part on software of the Toshiba Corpora-
tion.
SEE ALSO
ctags(1), ed(1), ex(1), stty(1), write(1), terminfo(4), environ(5), lang(5), regexp(5), standards(5).
Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., ISBN 0-8053-4460-8, HP part number 97005-90015.
STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
vi(1)
