Editing keys for VI editor

^   means hit the control key

All keys are active in the command mode, not the input mode.

^D      Down 1/2 page                   ^0      Cursor to beginning of line

^U      Up 1/2 page                     ^$      Cursor to end of line

^F      Forward 1 page                  H       Cursor to top of page

^B      Backward 1 page                 M       Cursor to middle of page

#G      Go to line number #             L       Cursor to end of page

                                        i       Insert text before cursor

^G      See current line number         a       Append text after cursor

[esc]   Get VI to listen and            I       Insert at beginning of line

        get out of insert mode          A       Append to end of line

^R      Redraw the screen               x       Delete char cursor is on

^L      Redraw the screen               X       Delete char before cursor

:q      Quit, leave VI                  o       Open line after current line

:w      Write changes to file           O       Open line before current line

:wq     Write, then quit                dd      Delete current line

-       Cursor up 1 line                cc      Change current line

[ret]   Cursor down 1 line              r       Replace next char with next

U       Restore current line                    char typed

u       Undo last change                R       Replace until [esc]

.       Redo the last change            s       Substitute chars

[space] Cursor forward 1 char           w  W    Cursor forward 1 word

[bksp]  Cursor backward 1 char          b  B    Cursor backward 1 word

)       Cursor forward 1 sentence       e  E    Cursor to end of current word,

(       Cursor backward 1 sentence              or to end of next word

fx      Find next x on current line     /text   Search forward for "text"

Fx      Find previous x on current      ?text   Search backward for "text"

        line                            n       Repeats previous search (next)

;       Repeat last search              N       Repeats previous search, but

,       Repeat last search, but in              in opposite direction

        opposite direction              >       Shifts text right

t  T    same as f and F, but stop       <       Shifts text left

        before char, not on it          The arrow keys move the cursor.

d*      Deletes whatever replaces the "*".  (movement commands)  

        - [return] [space] ^ $ 0 H L M w b e W B E ( ) f F t T ; , / ? n N are

        the movement commands that can be used with d (also called targets).

c*      same as d*, but changes instead of deleting.

p       Put - Inserts the most recently deleted text after the current line or 

        char.  Can put several times to make copies.

P       Put before the current line or cursor.

yy      Yank - Pick that does not delete.  Use p or P to put the yanked stuff.

        The "y*" command can use any targets that "d*" and "c*" can use.

m[a-z]  Set a mark, up to 26 ([a-z]) different marks.

'[a-z]  Go to named mark.

"[a-z]yy  Yank to named buffer, up to 26 ([a-z]) different buffers.

"[a-z]p   Put from named yanked buffer.



:set sw=n or            Set the shiftwidth (for < and >) to n.

:set shiftwidth=n        

:set nu                 See line numbers

:set ai                 Automatically indents next line the same amount as

:set autoindent         the current line.

^D      Detab - Moves to left of line started with autoindent.  Must be in 

        insert mode.

:set noai               Turns off autoindent.

:set noautoindent

!       Filter that allows you to execute shell commands from within VI.  Can 

        take any targets like "d*", "c*", "y*", ">", "<".

:       Allows access to the "full power" of the editor EX.

:r [filename]   Inserts the file [filename] at the current line.

Q       Go into the editor EX.  Gives you a permanent ":" at bottom of screen.

:vi     Return to the VI editor from EX.

:n     Go to next file.  (Enter VI with "vi file1 file2..."

:n!    Go to next file, without saving changes. 

:e [filename]   Edit another file.

:e!    Edit same file from last save.