vi commands

-----------------------------------Input commands (end with Esc)

a    Append after cursor
i    Insert before cursor
o    Open line below
O    Open line above
:r    file Insert file after current line

-----------------------------------Change commands (Input mode)

cw    Change word (Esc)
cc     Change line (Esc) - blanks line
c$     Change to end of line
rc      Replace character with c
R      Replace (Esc) - typeover
s       Substitute (Esc) - 1 char with string
S      Substitute (Esc) - Rest of line with text
.       Repeat last change

-----------------------------------Changes during insert mode

h        Back one character
w        Back one word
u        Back to beginning of insert

-----------------------------------Deletion commands

dd or ndd    Delete n lines to general buffer
dw              Delete word to general buffer
dnw            Delete n words
d)               Delete to end of sentence
db              Delete previous word
D               Delete to end of line
x                Delete character

-----------------------------------Recovering deletions

p    Put general buffer after cursor
P    Put general buffer before cursor

-----------------------------------Undo commands

u    Undo last change
U    Undo all changes on line

-----------------------------------Rearrangement commands

yy or Y        Yank (copy) line to general buffer
“z6yy          Yank 6 lines to buffer z
yw              Yank word to general buffer
“a9dd          Delete 9 lines to buffer a
“A9dd         Delete 9 lines; Append to buffer a
“ap              Put text from buffer a after cursor
p                 Put general buffer after cursor
P                Put general buffer before cursor
J                 Join lines

-----------------------------------Parameters

:set list                  Show invisible characters
:set nolist                Don’t show invisible characters
:set number             Show line numbers
:set nonumber         Don’t show line numbers
:set autoindent        Indent after carriage return
:set noautoindent    Turn off autoindent
:set showmatch       Show matching sets of parentheses as they are typed
:set noshowmatch   Turn off showmatch
:set showmode        Display mode on last line of screen
:set noshowmode    Turn off showmode
:set all                     Show values of all possible parameters

-----------------------------------File management commands

:w name        Write edit buffer to file name
:wq                Write to file and quit
:q!                 Quit without saving changes
ZZ                 Same as :wq
:sh                 Execute shell commands (d)

-----------------------------------Window motions

d               Scroll down (half a screen)
u               Scroll up (half a screen)
f                Page forward
b               Page backward
/string       Search forward
?string      Search backward
l                Redraw screen
g               Display current line number and file information
n               Repeat search
N              Repeat search reverse
G             Go to last line
nG           Go to line n
:n             Go to line n
z               Reposition window: cursor at top
z.              Reposition window: cursor in middle
z-              Reposition window: cursor at bottom

-----------------------------------Cursor motions

H    Upper left corner (home)
M    Middle line
L    Lower left corner
h    Back a character
j    Down a line
k    Up a line
^    Beginning of line
$    End of line
l    Forward a character
w    One word forward
b    Back one word
fc    Find c
;    Repeat find (find next c)

-----------------------------------Move text from file old to file new

vi                old
“a10yy       yank 10 lines to buffer a
:w               write work buffer
:e                new edit new file
“ap              put text from a after cursor
:30,60w      new Write lines 30 to 60 in file new

-----------------------------------Regular expressions (search strings)

^    Matches beginning of line
$    Matches end of line
.    Matches any single character
*    Matches any previous character
.*   Matches any character

-----------------------------------Search and replace commands

Syntax:

:[address]s/old_text/new_text/

Address components:

.                     Current line
n                    Line number n
.+m               Current line plus m lines
$                    Last line
/string/          A line that contains "string"
%                  Entire file
[addr1],[addr2] Specifies a range