Chapter 6. The vim Editor

Chapter 6. The vim Editor

IN THIS CHAPTER

Tutorial: Creating and Editing a File with vim 141

Introduction to vim Features 148

Online Help 149

Command Mode: Moving the Cursor 154

Input Mode 158

Command Mode: Deleting and Changing Text 160

Searching and Substituting 164

Yank, Put, and Delete Commands 171

The General-Purpose Buffer 171

Reading and Writing Files 174

The .vimrc Startup File 176

This chapter begins with a history and description of vi, the original, powerful, sometimes cryptic, interactive, visually oriented text editor. The chapter continues with a tutorial that explains how to use vim (vi improved a vi clone supplied with or available for most Linux distributions) to create and edit a file. Much of the tutorial and the balance of the chapter apply to vi and other vi clones. Following the tutorial, the chapter delves into the details of many vim commands and explains how to use parameters to customize vim to meet your needs. It concludes with a quick reference/summary of vim commands. The vim home page is www.vim.org.