A quick tour of vi

vi is the standard UNIX system tool for editing text. There are a few simple commands that you need to learn before you can use vi. These commands allow you to:

• start vi

• insert text

• search for text

• move around inside a file

• delete text

• save your changes and quit vi

vi kubla_khan

Start editing a new file called kubla_khan. vi displays a nearly empty screen with the cursor in the top left-hand corner. See ``Starting vi'' for more details about the options available when starting vi.

i

Switch to insertion mode so that you can start to enter text. See ``Entering text'' for more information about commands that you can use to enter text.

   

Type the following lines of text, pressing <Enter> to go to a new line. If you type a wrong letter, either leave it for correction later or press <Bksp> to move the cursor over it and enter the correct character:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Beta, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

<Esc>

Return to command mode.

/Beta<Enter>

Search for the word ``Beta''. The cursor is placed under the ``B''. See ``Searching for text'' for more information.

xxxx

Delete the word ``Beta''. Each time you press ``x'', vi deletes the character under the cursor. See ``Deleting and restoring text'' for details of other commands that remove text. ``Using buffers to cut and paste text'' describes more sophisticated techniques that you can use to move blocks of text in vi.

iAlph<Esc>

Insert the word ``Alph'' and return to command mode. If you make a mistake while entering ``Alph'', press <Esc> to return to command mode and press u to undo the change.
Pressing u again undoes the undo. You should also refer to ``Replacing and modifying text'' for information about replacing a single text string, and ``Substituting text'' for details of how to search for and substitute several instances of a text string.

:w<Enter>

Save the changes you have made to the file kubla_khan. You should do this fairly frequently while you are editing to protect your work against accidental loss. See ``Saving files and quitting vi'' for more information about saving to files.

k

Move to the previous line. This is one of the cursor movement commands available in command mode. The effect of pressing ``k'' is immediate; you do not need to press <Enter>. See ``Moving around a file'' for more details.

   

The edited file should now look like the following:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

:x<Enter>

Save the changes to kubla_khan and quit vi.