vim my_file_name # open/create file with vimOnce you are in Vim the most important commands are i , : and ESC. The i key brings you into the insert mode for typing. The ESC brings you out of there. And the : key starts the command mode at the bottom of the screen. In the following text, all commands starting with : need to be typed in the command mode. All other commands are typed in the normal mode after hitting theESC key.
Modifier Keys to Control Vim
i # INSERT MODE ESC # NORMAL (NON-EDITING) MODE : # commands start with ':' :w # save command; if you are in editing mode you have to hit ESC first!! :q # quit file, don't save :q! # exits WITHOUT saving any changes you have made :wq # save and quit R # replace MODE r # replace only one character under cursor q: # history of commands (from NORMAL MODE!), to reexecute one of them, select and hit enter! :w new_filename # saves into new file :#,#w new_filename # saves specific lines (#,#) to new file :# go to specified line number
Help
Online Help
- Purdue University Vi Tutorial
- Animated Vim Tutorial: http://www.linuxconfig.org/Vim_Tutorial
- Useful list of vim commands:
Help from Command Line
vimtutor# open vim tutorial from shell
Help in Vim
:help # opens help within vim, hit :q to get back to your file
:help <topic> # opens help on specified topic
:help_topic| CTRL-] # when you are in help this command opens help topic specified between |...|, CTRL-t brings you back to last topic
:help <topic> CTRL-D # gives list of help topics that contain key word
: <up-down keys> # like in shell you get recent commands!!!!
Moving Around in Files
$ # moves cursor to end of line A # same as $, but switches to insert mode 0 (zero) # moves cursor to beginning of line CTRL-g # shows at status line filename and the line you are on SHIFT-G # brings you to bottom of file, type line number (isn't displayed) then SHIFT-G # brings you to specified line#
Line Wrapping and Line Numbers
:set nowrap # no word wrapping, :set wrap # back to wrapping :set number # shows line numbers, :set nonumber # back to no-number mode
Working with Many Files & Splitting Windows
vim -o *.txt # opens many files at once and displays them with horizontal split, '-O' does vertical split vim *.txt # opens many files at once; ':n' switches between files :wall or :qall # write or quit all open files :args *.txt # places all the relevant files in the argument list :all # splits all files in the argument list (buffer) horizontally CTRL-w # switch between windows :split # shows same file in two windows :split <file-to-open> # opens second file in new window :vsplit # splits windows vertically, very useful for tables, ":set scrollbind" let's you scroll all open windows simultaneously :close # closes current window :only # closes all windows except current one
Spell Checking & Dictionary
:set spell # turns on spell checking :set nospell # turns spell checking off :! dict <word> # meaning of word :! wn 'word' -over # synonyms of word
Enabling Syntax Highlighting
:set filetype=perl # Turns on syntax coloring for a chosen programming language. :set syntax on # Turns syntax highlighting on :set syntax off # Turns syntax highlighting off
Undo and Redo
u # undo last command U # undo all changes on current line CTRL-R # redo one change which was undone
Deleting Things
x # deletes what is under cursor dw # deletes from curser to end of word including the space de # deletes from curser to end of word NOT including the space cw # deletes rest of word and lets you then insert, hit ESC to continue with NORMAL mode c$ # deletes rest of line and lets you then insert, hit ESC to continue with with NORMAL mode d$ # deletes from cursor to the end of the line dd # deletes entire line 2dd # deletes next two lines, continues: 3dd, 4dd and so on.
Copy & Paste
yy # copies line, for copying several lines do 2yy, 3yy and so on p # pastes clipboard behind cursor
Search in Files
/my_pattern # searches for my_pattern downwards, type n for next match ?my_pattern # seraches for my_pattern upwards, type n for next match :set ic # switches to ignore case search (case insensitive) :set hls # switches to highlight search (highlights search hits)
Replacements with Regular Expression Support
:s/old_pat/new_pat/ # replaces first occurrence in a line :s/old_pat/new_pat/g # replaces all occurrence in a line :s/old_pat/new_pat/gc # add 'c' to ask for confirmation :#,#s/old_pat/new_pat/g # replaces all occurrence between line numbers: #,# :%s/old_pat/new_pat/g # replaces all occurrence in file :%s/\(pattern1\)\(pattern2\)/\1test\2/g # regular expression to insert, you need here '\' in front of parentheses (<# Perl) :%s/\(pattern.*\)/\1 my_tag/g # appends something to line containing pattern (<# .+ from Perl is .* in VIM) :%s/\(pattern\)\(.*\)/\1/g # removes everything in lines after pattern :%s/\(At\dg\d\d\d\d\d\.\d\)\(.*\)/\1\t\2/g # inserts tabs between At1g12345.1 and Description :%s/\n/new_pattern/g #Replaces return signs :%s/pattern/\r/g #Replace pattern with return signs!! :%s/\(\n\)/\1\1/g # insert additional return signs :%s/\(^At\dg\d\d\d\d\d.\d\t.\{-}\t.\{-}\t.\{-}\t.\{-}\t\).\{-}\t/\1/g # replaces content between 5th and 6th tab (5th column), '{-}' turns off greedy :#,#s/\( \{-} \|\.\|\n\)/\1/g # performs simple word count in specified range of text :%s/\(E\{6,\}\)/<font color="green">\1<\/font>/g # highlight pattern in html colors, here highlighting of >= 6 occurences of Es :%s/\([A-Z]\)/\l\1/g # change uppercase to lowercase, '%s/\([A-Z]\)/\u\1/g' does the opposite :g/my_pattern/ s/\([A-Z]\)/\l\1/g | copy $ # uses 'global' command to apply replace function only on those lines that match a certain pattern. The 'copy $' command after the pipe '|' prints all matching lines at the end of the file. :args *.txt | all | argdo %s/\old_pat/new_pat/ge | update # Command 'args' places all relevant files in the argument list (buffer); 'all' displays each file in separate split window; command 'argdo' applies replacement to all files in argument list (buffer); flag 'e' avoids stop at error messages for files with no matches; command 'update' saves all changes to files that were updated.
Useful Utilities in Vim
Matching Parentheses
- Place curser on (, [ or { and type % # curser moves to matching parentheses
Printing and Inserting Files
:ha # prints entire file :#,#ha # prints specified lines: #,# :r <filename> # inserts content of specified file after cursor
Convert Text File to HTML Format
:runtime! syntax/2html.vim # run this command with open file in Vim
Shell Commands in Vim
:!<SHELL_COMMAND> <ENTER> # executes any shell command, hit <enter> to return :sh # switches window to shell, 'exit' switches back to vim
Using Vim as Table Editor
v # starts visual mode for selecting characters V # starts visual mode for selecting lines CTRL-V # starts visual mode for selecting blocks (use CTRL-q in gVim under Windows). This allows column-wise selections and operations like inserting and deleting columns. To restrict substitude commands to a column, one can select it and switch to the command-line by typing ':'. After this the substitution sytax for a selected block looks like this: '<,'>s///. :set scrollbind # starts simultaneous scrolling of 'vsplitted' files. To set to horizontal binding of files, use command ':set scrollopt=hor' (after first one). Run all these commands before the ':split' command.
Modify Vim Settings
The default settings in Vim are controlled by the .vimrc file in your home directory.
- useful .vimrc sample
- when vim starts to respond very slowly then one may need to delete the .viminf* files in home directory