RHCE033 Unit9 vim: An Advanced Text Editor

Objectives

Upon completion of this unit, you should be able to:

• Use the three primary modes of vi and vim
• Navigate text and enter Insert mode
• Change, delete, yank and put text
• Undo changes
• Search a document
• Save and exit

Introducing vim

1) New version of vi, the standard Unix text editor

• Executing vi runs vim by default

2) gvim: Graphical version of vim

• Applications + Programming –> Vi iMproved
• Provided by vim-X11 package

3) Advantages:

• Speed: Do more with fewer keystrokes
• Simplicity: No dependence on mouse/GUI
• Availability: Included with most Unix-like OSes

4) Disadvantages:

• Difficulty: Steeper learning curve than simpler editor. Key bindings emphasizes speed over intuitiveness

vim: A Modal Editor

1) Keystroke behavior is dependent upon vim’s “mode”

2) Three main modes

• Command mode (default): Move cursor, cut/paste text, change mode
• Insert mode: Modify text
• Ex Mode: Save, quit, etc

3) Esc exits current mode

4) EscEsc always returns to command mode

vim Basics

1) To use vim, you must at least be able to

• Open a file
• Modify a file (insert mode)
• Save a file (ex mode)

Openig a file in vim

1) To start vi:

• vim filename
• If the file exists, the file is opened and the contents are displayed
• If the file does not exist, vi creates it when the edits are saved for the first time

Modifying a File – Insert Mode

1) i begins insert mode at the cursor

2) Many other options exist

• A append to end of line
• I insert at the begining of the line
• o insert a new line (below)
• O insert a new line (above)

Saving a File and Exiting vim – Ex Mode

1) Enter Ex mode with:

• Creates a command prompt at bottom-left of screen

2) Common write/quit commands:

• :w writes (saves) the file to disk
• :wq wirtes and quits
• :q! quits, even if changes are lost

Using Command Mode

1) Default mode of vim

2) Keys describe movement and text manipulation commands

3) Commands repeate when preceded by a number

4) Example

• Right Arrow moves right one character
• 5, Right Arrow moves five characters

Moving  Around Command Mode

1) Move by characters: Arrow Keys, h, j, k, l

2) Move by word: w, b

3) Move by sentence: ), (

4) Move by paragraph: }, {

5) Jump to line x: xG

6) Jump to end: G

Search and Replace Comomand Mode

1) Search as in less: /, n, N

2) Search/ Replace as in sed

• Affects current line by default
• Use x,y range of % for whole file

:1, 5s/cat/dog/

:%s/cat/dog/gi

Manipulating Text Command Mode

	Change (replace)	Delete (cut)	Yank (copy)
Line	cc	dd	yy
Letter	cl	dl	yl
Word	cw	dw	yw
Sentence ahead	c)	d)	y)
Sentence behind	c(	d(	y(
Paragraph above	c{	d {	y{
Paragraph below	c}	d}	y}

Undoing Changes Command Mode

1) u undo most recent changes

2) U undo all changes to the current line since the cursor landed on the line

3) Ctrl+r redo last “undo” change

Visual Mode

1) Allows selection of blocks of text

• v starts character-oriented highlighting
• V starts line-oriented highlighting
• Activated with mouse in gvim

2) Visual keys can be used in conjuction with movement keys: w, ), }, arrow, etc

3) Highlighted text can be deleted, yanked, changed, filtered, search/replace, etc.

Using multiple “Windows”

1) Multiple documents can be viewed in a single vim screen

• Ctrl+w, s splits the screen horizontally
• Ctrl+w, v splits the screen vertically
• Ctrl+w, Arrow moves between windows

2) Ex-mode instructions always affect the current window

3) :help windows displays more window commands.

Configuring vi and vim

1) Configuring on the fly

• :set or :set all

2) Configuring permanently

• ~/.vimrc or ~/.exrc

3) A few common configuration items

• :set number
• :set autoindent
• :set text (vim only)
• :set wrapmargin=15
• :set ignorecase

4) Run: help option-list for a complete file

Learning more

1) vi/ vim built-in help

• :help
• :help topic
• Use :q to exit help

2) vimtutor command

End of Unit9

1) Questions and Answers

2) Summary

• Use the three primary modes of vi and vim
• Move the cursor and enter Insert mode
• Change, delete, yank and put text
• Undo changes
• Search a document
• Save and exit