Including the contents of another file

To read a file into vi at the current cursor position, switch to command mode and press :r, then type the name of the file. If the file is readable, its contents will be inserted below the cursor.

You can use addresses with this command, including 0 to specify a dummy line before the first line in the file. For example, if you want to add the file preamble at the top of soliloquy, used in a previous example, you would enter :0r preamble to produce:

   Hamlet's soliloquy from Act III Scene 1:
   

   	To be, or not to be: that is the question:
   	Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
   	The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
   .
   .
   .